Hello,
We are starting a new PTO in our school and I am in charge of starting it up.
It has been brought to my attention that the principal gets 20% of all raised monies from fundraisers. Can he take this from the PTO's? please let me know. Thank you

Unless your activity is held off campus, doesn't rely on the assistance of teachers/staff/stundents, and doesn't use the school name - it is to some degree a school-affiliated event. This is true of any fundraiser of a school related group.

That being the case, you have a partnership of sorts. So what are the expectations on both sides? Often, it's that the PTO will own/run these fundraisers, teachers and/or students will assist, and later the funds earned will be spent towards the benefit of the school.

But other terms are certainly possible. That school gets a percentage is one. That you refuse or negotiate otherwise is also possible.

These days, both parent groups AND the schools are forced to hold fundraisers. So look at the big picture. There is only so much money to go around. If the school holds a separate fundraiser that they fully own, is that better for you? If they are guaranteed a percentage, will the principal push harder that those few teachers who really don't help - will this time? If the PTO is now working with less funds than planned because of the shared percentage, are the expectations of what they are funding/furnishing decreasing?

I doubt seriously that the principal intends this as a shakedown. He may see it as a strategy that might work for everyone's benefit rather than him adding more fundraisers into the mix.

If your PTO is independent you can always say "no". But then what are the consequences?

Talk to your principal. Find out what is driving this idea, how it would work, what the PTO gets out of it. Then make your decision accordingly.

Fundraisers of almost any campus-affiliated group involve a partnership.

Thank you for reply. As this is a starting PTO, we haven't set anything down as far as guidelines or anything yet. We are officially kicking off in January. In my school, there has never been a successful PTO, so the pressure is pretty heavy. The idea behind getting PTO going is to help the school help our children; especially during such tough economic times. I am not in any way against helping out where the school needs it, I just want to make sure we make the right decisions. Because we are just starting, we do not have a budget set yet because we don't have any funds to start. Our beginning fundraisers have to be something that doesn't cost to kick off. We are looking to do a 50/50 raffle in January to help a family who was struck down by a car. Then we want to run a bake sale to get a base fund going for the PTO. I will be speaking to the principal, but I just wanted to get opinions and feedback from people who have experience with running PTO's. Thank you again.

If you're just looking for general "is this common?" feedback, then: No, that's a very unusual set-up. I've rarely if ever heard of a principal getting an automatic cut, especially in a public school setting.

Indeed, the automatic cut seems odd. Our principal gets the "revenue share" from school photos, but that's the only discretionary funding he gets.

On the other hand, he certainly does get to have input on the other expenditures, eg the PTO donated $20k for smartboards at the end of last year, on the principal's and staff's recommendation.

Actually, the 20% sounds bizarre, when I think about the details. Eg, our PTO pays for all the field trips and enrichment; why should the principal get 20% of the money you raise to fund those items? If more than 20% of the total budget goes to field trips, does that mean that the principal has no funds left?

I agree with JHB, you have to talk to the principal about what 20% really means.

I actually rather like this idea. The school's increasingly need money of their own that isn't run through the PTO. The alternative is adding more fundraisers. And if it's a principal-owned fundraiser, then he has the pick of which one, timing, facilities, etc. Rather than compete with your own principal, this actually could work. Plus it gives the school even more of a vested interest in assuring the success of PTO fundraisers. Would I blindly hand over 20%? No. But if it could be a win-win for both sides - then probably yes.

While we may not have seen the percentage request, we have seen increased activity in the schools adding fundraisers or taking over some that had previously been thought of as the PTO's - and not necessarily with any reduced expectation of what the PTO would continue to provide.

I've seen several examples in our schools, but probably closest is our middle school dances. It used to be there were about 8 each year, using school facilities, teachers as chaperones, and the principal as a DJ. Different school groups (including PTO) signed up to run a dance, keeping all proceeds from ticket sales ($12-$1500), concenssions, pictures, and anything else they had planned. When nutrition rules changed and the vending machines were taken out of the schools, the principal HAD to replace those funds. The dances were changed so the school got ticket sales proceeds the sponsor group kepts the other revenue. That then sent 8 organizations scrambling to add more fundraisers to replace the big chunk they had always counted on.