same as PALS.
focus is community. & everything is free to families.
50% goes to educational support -field trips/assemblies/computers/library
15% school support -character counts program/teacher - classrm support
15% cultural support - art- music -talent show- plays productions
15% community svcs - newlstter, directory, scholarships, hospitality, fairs

Our school supports the educational curriculum of the school by providing assemblies, class trips and a mini grant program for the purchasing of educational material.
We also create family fun events where we are able to have our families come out and have fun together. These can be simple and low/no cost but will create a sense of community within the school. Reading nights, Bingo night, Movie night, Game night...
We do have major events in the fall, winter and end of year that are carnival-type events that we fully fund. Again, families are invited.

I don't believe in the PTO using any funds or creating any events where parents only will benefit---unless its a fundraising event! Unless you make money from the Jazz night, I would use the money for the students; especially since you don't seem to have a large resource for income. In our school & with our PTO, the kids come first.

DLF- thank you. We had our meeting last night where the current president turned everything over to the new board. I asked everyone to come to our next meeting (in 2 weeks) with a wish list of the things they would like to do this year. I also asked the school counselor to attend with a wish list of her own that revolved around community projects for the families since she has access to those resources.

These are our 4 Pillars of support.

I. Morale and Spirit
II. Educational
Enhancement
III. Facilities Maintenance
and Upgrades
(our PTO dues go into a "Sun Fund" that we use specifically to enhance the structure/upgrades of the school)
IV. Community Support

I think it is incredibly important that the PTO create a community atmosphere for the school and bring together the talents of the parents to support the educational mission of the administration and teachers. If you do become a "cash cow" you will lose the spirit of those folks that contribute. It is very easy to support both aspects. Check out adoptaclassroom.com and get your school enrolled (if it isn't already). Pick a project that will enhance the education process and then throw in some events (we do 3 free ones for every fundraiser) that everyone can enjoy.

To answer those specific questions, we have very, very few folks involved in our meetings however our events ROUTINELY bring in 400-500 participants (no kidding). We generally raise about 30k a year and that is above and beyond the adoption of classrooms that put 14,000 dollars directly into our teachers classrooms. We do some charity work (currently collecting toys to send to an orphanage in Afghanistan) as well as special programs for targetted groups at the school (we held our first special needs targetted event called Dreamcatcher's Day).
If you are only in it for the money, your parent body will become disenchanted with your efforts and you will not receive the type of outcomes you are hoping for. Have a brainstorming session with your board and see what everyone is on board with as your goals for the group. That will start the "team" moving.

Good Luck!!!

pals;133625 wrote: our goal is to bring together students, staff, families and community for the better of all. Our money is put back into free family fun nights, or school events that are done at no charge to everyone. We have never charged a dime for anything including our fall festival carnival with lots of prizes.
Each group is different, I would caution to not forget those events for your families, supplies and filed trips are nice but don't forget that family aspect...

You make some great points. I certainly want to do family events. Our big event we are planning is the school carnival at the end of the year. However, our district has very tight budgets and most of the fun things for the kids during the school hours comes out of the teachers own wallet.

My husband and I are very involved in our children's classrooms and we purchase special projects out of our own money for our boy's teachers. For example, in the fall we purchased and I maintained monarch caterpillars for my 3rd graders class to go along with their science study. We did the same last month for my kindergartener class. When they have rewards or fun things, it always ends up being the teachers who pay for that. My husband and I always offer to help out, but what about the other classes?

65% of the students at our school are at or below the poverty level, so other parents simply can not afford to help. I'm hoping the PTO can.

Our volunteers are minimal and as of this year, our teacher involvement with the PTO was minimal. I know there is some history there and I hope to change that all. Also, I was told for this last year, fund raising net only ended up being $3500 for the entire year. I'm planning a huge effort on my behalf and a lot of begging from corporations and businesses to change that. I hope we can have the best of both worlds, but I have to say right now my predictions for our budget would be 65% for the staff and 35% for after school family activities.

I guess my questions are:

1. Do teachers attend your meetings and if so, what % of the staff would that be.

2. Do many parents attend the meetings? Can you give an estimate of how many.

3. What do you do with the money % wise?

our goal is to bring together students, staff, families and community for the better of all. Our money is put back into free family fun nights, or school events that are done at no charge to everyone. We have never charged a dime for anything including our fall festival carnival with lots of prizes.
Each group is different, I would caution to not forget those events for your families, supplies and filed trips are nice but dont forget that family aspect...