A slide had to be removed from the playground 2 years ago because of vandalism, it was deemed unfixable and still be safe for childrens use. We started a fund for a new piece to take its place last year and saved $5000. This year it has been a hard sell to save money for that - some parents want to have the teachers request - grant style, money for items for their classrooms. We already set aside money for field trips for each class and previous years have reviewed requests from teachers for new technology or items that would be helpful for them as they came to the PTG. We also have a budget for activites that we put on throughout the year. Since forecasting for fundraising is hard in these economic times, some of our concern is that teacher grants will come first (which needs of the teachers should) but the playground may suffer for the next 5 years and my child will not see the end result. I've seen this happen, we started saving for a new sound system for the music department when my son was in Kindergarten. It just got installed over the summer and my son is now in 7th grade.
It is important to have a "mission statement" or "purpose statement". After putting that together, every penny spent can only be spent if it adheres to the purpose statement. That may mean spending the money on teachers, parents and the students or just for field trips. It really depends on the purpose of your organization.
Good thoughts. However, fundraisers for specific items must be spent on specific items and transparent in budgets must be paramount. Long term goals are good but possibly hard to wrap your groups head around. When your school has crumbling steps, has to ask for parents to paint the building, and is letting plants die to cut the water bill... volunteer training might be a tough sell. Unless it is training in concrete work!
I agree that you need to spend money on some untangible things in order to reach your goals. In my district, it is hard to get everyone on board with spending money on appreciation gifts for the staff and volunteers. I believe that if we appreciate the efforts that people give to our schools that they will be more likely to help out again. Everyone likes to feel appreciated!
Hooray!!!! You have said what I have been trying to emphasize for years!
I no longer have children in school. I am still very involved in the school district. I am printing this article and sharing it to all the schools I have tried to convince.
Your right it was always used as a shutdown response and over and over I watched frustrated members walk away.
I sure hope this article opens the eyes of many school parent organizations.
The PTO/A should be used to enhance the entire school enviroment. And there is nothing wrong with using some to help a sister school in need.
Funds should be used for the means they were raised. That's why it's important to specify their use ahead of time. For example, we have specific fund raisers and a separate account for field trips.
