jrzgirl, the IRS doesn't care how much or how long you hang onto money. That's a common misconception for non-profits. What the IRS (and your members should care about) is how your money was earned, and how you spent the money that you did spend during the year. That info is reported on your PTO's annual Form 990 (if you're a 501c3). But I digress.
John, your members can certainly vote how they want the money allocated. If you vote to set it aside for a specific long-term project, be sure to hold to that promise, even if it's years out. I remember reading here that such a vote is a kind of contract with your members, but I'm not an attorney. Optionally, you can include it in your budget for next year and have loads of fun! Probably a combination of both approaches would be most appropriate. After all,the parents who supported your windfall fundraising this year should see their own children benefit from the money.
We don't have a limit on funds carryover which works well for us. We put all of our membership fee into a futures fund so that when the time comes to remulch or upgrade software we have it available without delaying for a fund raiser. The rest is going toward the development of our quad areas....that is what we raise for and spend during the year...d
Check your bylaws. Ours say we can't carry over more than $800 unless specifically earmarked for something. Of course, we always have ideas for the money so we use those in our records. If those things don't come through, the money will always be spent on something else for the kids.
I think as long as your not looking to carry over and continually keep lots of money in the account, the IRS won't have a problem.
We always carry over our funds,too. You can carry as much over as your group wants. If you are saving for a big project then I would put it in the savings acct. Good luck!
We always carry over funds from year to year. Unless your bylaws say otherwise, there aren't any IRS regulations that say you can't. We always have a long-term goal each year in addition to our short-term goals.
