I was just talking this over with our Principal the other day. I told him we needed to carry over $1500 to be comfortable in starting next year. Since then we have decided to have a great big "picnic" a few days before school starts and invite everyone and their parents. I was concerned that we have decided to start our fall fundraiser so early next year and I don't want parents first impression of the PTO as a fundraiser. Plus I think this event will help the students meet their teachers and see their school in an informal atmosphere and aleviate any of their feers and answer parents questions or concerns. And it will help if the officers are there meeting people and talking about the PTO on an informal basis. If this works out I think we'll try to have it every year. Anyway, because of this I think we'll carry over $5,000 just to be safe.
I didn't realize how different our group is until I read this thread. Our group has an unwritten understanding what we make in fundraisers is what we have for next year. Kinda nice coming in knowing you have cash on hand and can send home a note/newsletter saying HI and not a order form (as Tim put it [img]smile.gif[/img] ).
Being a small group and feeling really good knowing we have a balance of $2000 (yes that is ALL of it!) is good, really it is!
I'll just add one point of clarification. There are no "laws" about how much can be carried over. If your bylaws don't specify an amount (and most/many I've seen don't), then your board and your membership can make that call any way they like.
I agree that carrying over *too* much isn't a great idea, but I think PTOs tend to be too concerned with spending every dollar in the year its brought in.
Why do I care? Well, if your group can carry over a good amount, then you can start your new year with events and services rather than fundraisers. Is your first (or nearly first)message home to parents in the Fall an order form for gift wrap? I think that's a mistake. Better to connect with your parents/community through involvement events first (you'll actually sell more gift wrap this way, too) and fundraise later. Trick is: you can't hold off on the fundraisers unless you've carried over enough for a great fundraiser-free start.
First check your bylaws to see what they require. Other than that, there is no set rule as to how much has to be carried over, nor is there any rule that says you have to spend everything in the year earned.
Most PTOs carry over a reasonable amount to help start the next year until funds come in then. How much depends on what your PTO needs to do. For us, our bylaws state $2000 as the carryover amount. We are often more conservative and try for the $3000.
If you are building funds for a large purchase or multi-year project (like a playground) much more can be carried over. But you want to be careful to earmark those funds and keep that identified on treasury reports so there's no misunderstanding that you are just raising funds and sitting on them.
Aside from a reasonable carryover and anything earmarked for a special projects, most PTOs want spend the funds so that the current students benefit from their own fundraising efforts.
Our PTO board keeps coming up with the same question and we assume there is an answer out there somewhere...What is the $ amount that can be 'carried over' from year-to-year in the PTO account. We did a whole lot of fundraising this year and now have a surplus of funds that we want to carry over into next year. Are there limits?
