PTO Today

If you’ve worked a fundraiser with a cash-or-check-only policy, then you know your parent group could be even more successful if people were allowed to use credit cards.

Well, now we have a solution to that problem. PTO Today has teamed up with PayAnywhere to offer an easy-to-use mobile payment option to parent groups.

PayAnywhere is a free credit card processing app and secure credit card reader that attaches to a mobile phone and allows you to accept credit card payments with an easy swipe. You can use it at fundraisers, book fairs, auctions, or other school events.

To keep it simple, PayAnywhere has no setup or cancellations fees, plus groups do not have to meet a minimum monthly usage requirement. For each transaction, there’s a flat 2.69 percent fee.

Details on PayAnywhere are on our site here.

PayAnywhere supports Apple iOS, Android, and BlackBerry smartphones. Every transaction is encrypted to make sure that customer data is secure.

The company is offering customer support by email, phone, or live chat. You can also check out its online tutorials at PayAnywhere.com/support.

Parent group embezzlement stories are back in the news and it’s hard not to get discouraged hearing about school communities—and, specifically, kids—losing out on so much.

But check out this story. It is guaranteed to make you smile.

This time last year, the PTA at Springfield Elementary in Plant City, Fla., had about $25,000 in the bank. Last month, it had to start over with $545.

Its former treasurer was arrested and charged with stealing $17,000. The remaining funds went to pay outstanding bills.

“We were shocked, just shocked,’’ says Kris Trottier, the new PTA president at Springhead, who had worked with the former treasurer. “She was disorganized and always had an excuse for things, but I never thought in a million years that she would have taken money.’’

The group was obviously discouraged. Plus Trottier says she worried that parents would get angry at the whole PTA and not want to trust it anymore.

But just the opposite is happening.

Since word got out about the alleged embezzlement, community members, including another PTA in Plant City, have sent money to help Springhead PTA get back on its feet.

“It just broke our heart,’’ says Yvonne Fry, president of the parent group at nearby Tomlin Middle School, which donated $500.  “That school worked so hard. We felt we couldn’t just stand for it.’’

Local businesses and a church also have kicked in. The total amount donated so far: $2,500.

One donation came from a senior citizen, who delivered a $200 check to the PTA, noting that she had been a student at Springhead 60 years ago and wanted to help support the school.

But this story isn’t just about the cash. Trottier says she held a meeting this week about the upcoming Harvest Festival and was amazed at the turnout. Parents are determined to help make this event a success, the PTA president says. For example, parents came up with a plan to seek donations to make themed-baskets that will be raffled at the festival.

“Everyone is letting us know they are here for us,’’ Trottier says.

So, way to go Plant City community, for giving us a different kind of story.

Embezzlement stories are dark—full of disappointment for PTOs that worked so hard.  Even the stories of the folks who committed the crime can tug at you because they often are tales of hardships that drove people to make really dumb choices.

But the Plant City folks remind us that sometimes communities really are, well, communities.

As Yvonne Fry says, “ I feel it is our responsibility to help restore something so broken like that.’’

Here’s a look at some of the work PTOs and PTAs have done this week on behalf of families, kids, and schools:

• The PTO at the South Park School in Rapid City, South Dakota, held a carnival recently to raise funds for its pack and food program. Even though the school had rainy weather, it still managed to raise over $1,000. The pack and food program is for families who do not necessarily have enough food for the weekends. Children get food-filled backpacks to take home with them.
• Walking programs increasingly popular: Parent volunteers at the Ridgecrest Elementary School in Largo, Fla., coined the name Walk A Way Train for a parent volunteer program to help students walk safely to and from school each day. Parents walk with the students and report the program not only addresses the safety issue but also helps students interact in more positive way with peers as they make their way to and from school.
• Turning bad news into something good: Several Atlanta-area parent groups  reported they were reviewing their financial procedures after a news story broke that a local parent was accused of stealing PTA funds. In reaction, a parent from a neighboring group said they are making sure to have “two sets of eyes’’ on fundraiser money before it goes to the bank.  Periodic reviews of financial procedures are always a good idea and our story on financial controls offers five great tips to help that process.
• Would this work at your school? The PTA at the Euclid School in Hasbrouck Heights, N.J., decided to try something new and create a school cookbook.  The PTA formed a cookbook committee that solicited recipes from parents, students, and teachers. They received 150 recipes and put it together in a book they named: Alphabet Soup: Our Euclid School Family of Recipes. The group is selling the cookbook for $10

A new spending survey conducted by PTO Today shows that school parent groups are increasingly feeling pressure to provide more money and manpower to help their schools offset education budget cuts.

The survey results, which first appeared in our March 2012 issue, show the bind many parent groups are in: While their schools need them to help out more than ever, their members are often struggling with their own personal economic woes, making it all the harder to fund projects. As a result, PTO leaders must get a lot more creative and often work even harder.

In our report, more than half of the 600 leaders surveyed said their parent group had been asked to do more to financially support their school, while 44% reported their groups had been asked to help with more volunteering. In addition, 26% reported a decline in fundraising in the last year.

The data builds on a trend we’ve been seeing for years. Increasingly, parent groups are asked to help fund what we once considered the basics to run a school as the schools get whacked with budget cuts. So, instead of focusing on funding the so-called extras, PTOs and PTAs are being called upon to help fund core educational components, from personnel, such as librarians and front-office staff, to programs like art, music and even gym.

And at least two stories in the news this week underscore these PTO Today findings:

• In a Long Island Business News article published on March 26, a selection of parent groups are highlighted that maintain budgets in excess of half a million dollars to help fund core functions, including kindergarten assistants.  The story points out that at the Carpenter Community Charter School in Studio City, Calif., families are encouraged to give a “recommended’’ amount of $700 per child. The PTA president is quoted as saying, “We can’t conceive of a world where music isn’t integral.’’

• On March 23, the Arizona Daily Sun posted an article that shows how school parent groups in that state are taking on more sophisticated fundraising projects, such as buying iPads and funding running tracks. Parent groups are brainstorming to come up with fundraising strategies to help them meet these loftier goals.  So is your group feeling the pressure? What are you doing to help balance what are sometimes competing needs; as you respond to your school but at the same time try not to push parents too much?

So is your group feeling the pressure? What are you doing to help balance what are sometimes competing needs; as you respond to your school but at the same time try not to push parents too much?

We’ve had another round of parent group embezzlement stories lately. Earlier this month, a Wheeling, West Virginia woman, who had served as a parent group treasurer, pleaded guilty to stealing more than $10,000. These stories make you wonder if it’s a statement about our tough economic climate. But, when someone goes out and allegedly buys a life-size nutcracker, along with alcohol, cigarettes and an X-box on the PTO’s dime, one can’t help but think this is not a story about economics. Unfortunately, parent group embezzlement has sadly been happening for years.

Sometimes, we hear accounts of parent group leaders who didn’t set out to commit a crime, but instead thought maybe they could “borrow’’ a bit from the PTO till and then, before they knew it, they had lost control. Whatever the reason for stealing, it can devastate a group, financially, and even emotionally, until they can build themselves back up.

But parent groups can take a few simple steps to prevent embezzlement, including having someone other than the treasurer review the bank statements and checks each month, doing a yearly independent audit and considering bonding insurance. Check out the PTO Today video blog to get more details on this embezzlement prevent plan.

Also, this article on protecting your parent group has some great advice from groups that have their own embezzlement stories to tell.

A hearty congrats to all parent group volunteers for a job well-done in the 2011-12 school year! It’s exciting to see articles cropping up about how PTOs and PTAs are spending the money they worked so hard to fundraise this school year. So fun and inspiring to read about the range of ways that fundraising funds are spent. Several caught my eye:

• Energy efficient water fountains
• A butterfly pavilion
• An outdoor classroom
• Relief for tornado victims
• Mountain bikes for a mountain biking class

And of course, technology and enrichment programs are the most popular way to spend earned fundraising dollars!

How did your school/parent group choose to spend the money you raised this school year? We’d love to hear your stories.

While you’re winding down this year and planning for next, here’s a key addition for your to do list: Audit your books. If the word “audit” makes you shudder with thoughts of the IRS and CPAs, hear me out. The kind of audit I’m talking about is a simple but thorough review of your financial records for the year. It can be done in an afternoon by a committee of two or three people — or even a single intrepid volunteer.

The process consists of reviewing all financial transactions that occurred during the year to make sure they were entered correctly: checks written, bank statements, deposit slips, etc. Even if you have the world’s greatest treasurer, you should have an audit. Thousands of dollars likely move in and out of your account during the year; it’s very important to double-check that those transactions were recorded properly.

For more details on running an audit, putting financial controls into place, and managing your finances, these articles on ptotoday.com are a good resource:

• Annual Audit: How and Why
• 5 Smart Financial Controls
• What Every Treasurer Should Know

Protecting your money is the responsibility of the entire board. Your treasurer puts in a lot of hours managing that money. Give her the support and your members the peace of mind of this important backup system.

A few simple financial controls can protect your parent group’s bank account as well as your volunteers who are handling money:

Accept cash at one place only. For carnivals and similar events, sell tickets at a single pay station. The fewer people who handle money, the better.

Create a paper trail. Always use paper receipts for cash transactions. For carnivals, tally each sale and compare the number of tickets taken at each booth with the total dollars collected.

Work in pairs. Always have two people present whenever cash is being collected or counted. After the cash is counted, have each counter initial a form certifying how much money is being turned over to the treasurer.

Make deposits immediately. Never let cash—or checks, for that matter—sit for a few days. Funds should be deposited as soon as they’re turned over to the treasurer. If your event is at night, lock the money in the school safe and deposit it the next morning.

Keep it simple. Never take IOUs. Never mingle parent group cash with your own. Don’t ever deposit PTO money in your account, then write a check to the group for the same amount. And never float a loan to the group, then take the money out of cash receipts as repayment.

Cover yourself. Get bonding insurance for your group. It’s well worth the cost. You can find insurance information at ptotoday.com/insurance.

In this week’s video blog Tim answers the much-asked questions: Can we carry money over to the next school year? — and —  How much money should we carry over to the new school year?

Related links:
Budget Basics for PTOs
How to Manage Your Budget
What Every Treasurer Should Know

Does your PTO or PTA have a rule of thumb for how much money you carry over to the next school year?

Parent groups deal with a lot of checks, and eventually you’re likely to get one that bounces. Follow these steps to handle an insufficient funds check:

Contact the person privately. Start with the assumption that this is an honest mistake. In the vast majority of cases, that will be true. Never threaten to tell others, such as the person’s employer, about the bad check. Such threats are rarely helpful and may be illegal.

Send a letter. If you are having trouble getting payment, send a certified letter, return receipt requested. State the check number, date, and amount, the bank it’s drawn from, and who the check was written to. Set a date when payment is due (10 days is standard). Site your state’s check deception law. Keep a copy of the letter for your records. (Download an editable bounced check letter from the File Exchange.)

Contact the bank. Banks often will tell you whether an account has sufficient funds to cover a check. You might be able to put the check through a second time and receive payment.

Take legal action. If the person refuses to pay, you may go to small claims court or notify the police. In most states writing a bad check is a misdemeanor. In either case, your certified letter provides important documentation.

Check Dos and Don’ts

Do require contact information on all checks.
Don’t accept postdated checks.
Do set a service charge for handling bounced checks.
Don’t accept checks from people you’ve had trouble with in the past.
Do review checks to make sure they’re complete before depositing them.

For more tips, read “Dealing With Bad Checks” in the ptotoday.com archives.