Our PTO uses this spreadsheet to track business donations, particularly for our annual Spring Carnival, which regularly brings in donations of cash, goods and services in excess of $5,000. (That's a lot for a town of 20,000 people in one of the poorest areas of the state!)

This spreadsheet helps us keep track of donations by event and overall. There are columns for PTO contact, if the item has been received, if the donor has been given a receipt, and if a thank-you has been sent; the business type, business name, contact name, address, phone, e-mail and Web site; and a description of the donation and its value. An automatic addition function keeps a running total of donations.

At the end of the year, we use the database to create a list of all business donors. One of our parents is the ad representative for the local newspaper, which donates a half-page ad for us to thank our donors. We also list them on our Web site and in the school directory that is distributed to all families every fall. The database also helps us generate customized solicitation letters and address labels for thank-you notes. And of course, the following year we know who contacted which business, and which business donated what!