Hi everyone!,
I have a LONG story to tell and hopefully some of you out there will have some helpful advice to a new PTO President!!
Okay! I'll start from the beginning! I have volunteered for the PTO for the past 2 years and have only done things I was asked to do and tried to make it to meetings and so on! Last year I was asked by the ex-president (from the year before) if I would be interested in running for a board member position! I wasn't sure if I was ready for such a task--after she told me that if they didn't find at least 2 of the 4 positions to be filled--the PTO would go under--for GOOD! After some serious thought and a commitment from the previous president to help me through this I agreed! Well--I was voted in as president! YIKES! The first couple weeks went alright--the ex-president was helpful in my 14 million questions but I was still struggling as there was NO written notes as to what needed to be done or when! I was going through files from years ago to get info! Well, the ex-president started becoming distant to me as I was changing some things as I went along (for example--at our annual celebration (carnival) I gave free ticket coupons to all the parent/teacher volunteers! Something I thought was neccessary!! AND for our fall book fair I moved the spot they have used for about 5 years to a much more visable spot--which seemed to help since we did make MORE money!!). So....now I was stuck in a position that I had no idea what to do and absolutely NO help at all! To make things worse this ex-president was the treasurer on the last years board--so she still had the checkbook and account info--here I was president and had NO idea what our monetary status was and she would NOT communicate with me! So, I finally got tired of waiting and went to our principal after getting a bank statement which included large checks written to a fundraising company that I knew nothing about! I thought there was something out there I didn't know about! Well, the principal was a tad upset and called her--I don't know what was said between the two of them but after that I received a letter that she had written to him (the principal) where she stated she would no longer have anything to do with the PTO while the current board members were in office! UGH!

There is my first question to you all--what do I do? Should I talk to her or leave it alone and move on?

So, since then I have battled with our principal over fundraising issues! He allows us to do certain things and other are a HUGE no-no! His basic rule for fundraising is that we need to be able to make a large amount of money at once and it cannot intterupt the children's learning! Here is a list of the events we do NOW:
****Jog-a-thon (which is coming up this month
and he wants up to promote it--our P.E.
teacher runs most of this event and this is
his last year with us--he wants up to use
that to boost it! Any ideas would be
great!!!!!)
****Book fairs (twice a year)--all of the
proceeds of the book fair go to the school
librarys and we get NO help from the school
librarian--we asked if we could set up the
book fair in a semi-permanent spot that she
could keep her eye on and run during times
we wouldn't normally have it open--she said
NO!
I told my volunteers that at our spring
book fair we would not give ALL
proceeds to the library if they were not
willing to help--is that too harsh???
(We got this idea from visiting another
school in our town--their librarian runs
the whole book fair--their PTO isn't
involved hardly at all!)
*****Lunchtime candy,pop,popcorn,pickle or chip
sales (we are allowed to sell these items
during the lunch time recesses!)
*****T-shirt sales
(we changed our school mascot this year and
we are currently working on getting t-
shirts made with the new mascot)
*****our annual celebration (the PTO sponsers and
volunteers to put on this annual event
which usually brings us about $1500-$2000--
this is by far our biggest fund raiser)
*****candy gram sales (each holiday we sell
simple cards with a candy suprise inside
for 50 cents each or three of $1) (our
student council helps with this so we split
proceeds with them!)
*****we participate in the box tops for education
and campbells' labels programs but recently
our principal began questioning these as
well--he says that we spend too much time
on things that bring in such a little
amount of money! I don't agree considering
we have one mom who takes care of both of
these programs 100% so the way I look at it
is as long as we have her we might as well
participate--even if the reward is small!
*****He has allowed us to participate in some of
the stores card percentage programs. He
has allowed the Albertson's card and the
Bashas receipt program and the Target card
program but NOT the K-Mart card program!
His answer to the K-Mart card program was
that we didn't want to start a war of the
stores!! Don't ask!!!! LOL
*****We have participated in the cartridge
recycling program although I have no idea
HOW to go about this and without the help
of the ex-president any information on this
program would be greatly appreciated!
That's about it I think!
He will NOT allow us to do the following:
*****Secret Santa workshops--he says this will
take away from the children's learning!!
*****Candy or magazine product sales--NO door to
door sales which I understand--that is a
safety issue but he does allow children to
get jog-a-thon commitments--he does say they
are NOT to go door to door which I feel he
could do for a fundraiser--parents,
grandparents, friends and family would be
willing to purchase some things I think--
What do you all think? Is there really any
money to be made in these?
There were some other small things taken to
him that he did not improve of but those are
the two that are sticking in my head right
now!

He has also agreed to allow us to have a monthly famiy night--where we could do crafts or show movies and sell items to make money! Now we just need to figure out which movies to show at this--any ideas or please tell HOW you go about this at your school if you do it now! We discussed this at our last PTO meeting and we came up with the idea of sending home a form asking parents what movies they would suggest and using the movie with the most votes and starting this program in March!

I would like to expand our sales to include items such as school supplies (pencils, erasers, folders, water bottles, pins, pencil grips, zipper pulls and stickers--all with our new school mascot on them--which is a bobcat by the way!) and would like to sell the by paper (sending home an invoice that the parents can fill out-attach money and return to the teacher or school office--then the items will be sent to the student at school) --Does that sound like a good idea or not? I crunched numbers today to see where to get the best price and what kind of profit could be made and it does look promising while keeping the prices low!

Our school has about 520 children and we are grades K-5! We are an active student council who is eager to help us anytime but then that means splitting proceeds as well!

If you have any ideas on how to deal with our principal or any fundraising ideas (and how to take the ideas to him! LOL) I would be forever grateful!

Well, I have been told that our principal DOES NOT like change at all and I have learned that! How do I deal with him? I have also had teachers and staff come up to me and compliment me on the changes I have accomplished and the parent involvement I have been able to bring in! So...I must be doing something right! Any and all advice would be greatly greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance everyone!
Ange

I'd like to respond to the book fair part of your question. Our PTO covers two schools, at one school we have the book fair in the library because there is no other available space. The other school lets us use their multi-purpose room, so it's not an issue.

Our librarians do not help us at all with the book sale, nor are they expected to. I volunteer weekly in the library, so I know the staff well. The book fair is PTO, it's not part of the job description of the librarian. While it would be lovely if they could help, we understand that they have jobs to do. I don't think you should hold it against the librarian if she does not want to help.

As to what to with the proceeds...........Every year we meet with the administrators and ask where the books are most needed. Last year book fair funds went predominantly to our schools literacy closets. (We have big schools- app. 18-20 classes in each grade. Literacy closets will have, say, 20 copies of a particular novel that teachers can check out for classroom use.) This year, because the closets were well stocked, we used the money differently. Scholastic sent a special teacher book fair to our school a week after the event. We gave each teacher a $100 gift certificate to buy whatever they wanted for their classroom libraries. We gave the reamainder (over $2500 each) to the school librarians.

Anyway, my point is I would ask the principal where he feels books are most needed in the school. If he feels the library needs the funds, you should give the books to the library. Don't punish the librarian because she doesn't want to take responsibility for working the fair.

Also, we take our profits in books because we get a higher percentage that way. You can always take the profits in cash and put the funds in your general PTO account. We don't do that because we like to correlate the book fair with bringing more books to the schools, but it is an option.

Wow, there's a lot there, busymom.

Let me offer an idea for just a small part. You mentioned two struggles: family nights and your book fair.

How about combining the two a bit. I love the idea of a Family Reading Night. Some groups ask families to bring in their favorite books and read together. Other groups have town celebrities reading to the kids (the HS football quarterback, the mayor, etc.). While all this reading/community fun is going on, what a great nioght for an extended Book Fair?

Worth a shot, I hope.

Tim

Holy Cow! I thought I was having a tough year!!
The former Prez from my group has made me her favorite target to blame for ANYTHING!! I'm NOT kidding! My VP defends me and my 'honor' till she is blue (I was told she did again last night at a school board meeting- l o n g s t o r y.
Let her go, you just have to let it go. The parents that are still with you have obviously either not known of the past or really don't care!--That's good!
As far as the Principal, are you making THAT big of changes or little ones to improve on what was already done? I wonder if he is the type of person that needs to know you "bought Miracle Whip instead of Best Foods Mayo" ---does that make sense? He needs to know what it is you are changing before you just do it. I know you know it's 'his school' but I'm afraid you may look like "that PTO Prez" in not a very good light soon. My Principal doesn't mind change as long as I have reason on paper to explain how it would help or better the situation. In the past the PTO hosts Science Programs from the museum, this year due to the lack of help and I can't personally be at each assembly, the principal was disappionted but not mad at me. The former Prez, THAT is a whole other story!!

Hang in there- and THANK YOU for all that you are doing!!

Geez.. this bring me to a whole NEW topic... How can y'all have so many fundraisers/money making events in one years??

Spirit items and book fair aside I was told as a PTO you could only have 2 nontaxable funraisers a year!!

Topics: Book Fair- Our librarian handles THE ENTIRE EVENT and all proceeds go in to her library account.

Door to door selling: I agree with this. WE DO NOT ALLOW this. But we do have an annual catalog fundraiser. It is where we receive the majority of our funds. This year alone we profited aprox. $16,000. We budget $11,000 each year. So you can see that we do rather well. I would continue to push the issue here.. If you are surviving off of a few thousand dollars here and there then think of what you could do with the extra funds.

Our school is also about 555 students strong (K-5)

As for the other cranky board members. I have a few of those myself. Mostly because they don't 'appreciate' my "style" of doing thing too *laugh*... So i'll share with you what my friend (who was president last year)told me:

"You have to be a duck and let it roll off of you."

Thanks to all of you for your help! (Especially 'mykidsmom' for being able to relate--I'm just glad that my ex prez isn't confrontational! I guess things could be worse huh?)
As for Tim's idea about combining the book fair and family night? We did!! Our spring book fair is coming up and we are going to have a family event night--right before our monthly PTO meeting for that month as well! SO, thanks so much for the idea--I'll let you know how it goes!
Julier--I took your ideas on book fair money and teachers--I spoke to our book fair coordinator (who is also our VP!) and we have found a way around the whole mess! We are going to allow teachers to fill their classroom wish lists at no charge to them (while still allowing parents to donate books to a classroom if they wish to!) AND give our volunteers a percentage OFF of their book purchases and give the proceeds to the librarian! We considered going to the principal and asking where books were needed but every other time we have done that he just says" you let me take care of that end you just worry about the library!" I don't understand it sometimes but that's not really an option I guess! He says that the teachers get all they NEED from budget and there is NO arguing with him! SO.....thanks for your advice--we are using it!
Mykidsmom--Thanks for understanding where I was coming from on this issue! I didn't mean to sound so harsh and you saw through that--only because unfortunately you are going through that same crap as I am!! Our principal IS one of those people that has to have every single detail hammered out before even considering an idea--as far as I can tell anyway! Sometimes things just seem like a HUGE waste of my time by having to spend so much time on ideas he shoots down within a few minutes of discussion--BUT what can ya do? Thanks for the words of encouragement and help! Good luck to you in your battle!
More_than_a_mom---Where did you hear about only doing 2 fundraisers per year? That is news to me but if it's true I guess I need to know that! Also, could you tell me what catalog fundraiser your school uses? Or is that confidential information???? If so, don't but if you can share I would appreciate that! I'm up for anything!!! ) Thanks for your help and I'm trying to live by your quote!!!
Thanks to you all--AGAIN! Where would I be without all of YOU!?!
Talk to you all soon!