PTO Today

This may sound strange, but I believe “the kids’ money” is the most damaging phrase uttered at PTO and PTA meetings. Seriously, no three words have led to more bad decisions for school parent groups.

Usually, the phrase is used to shut down debate on what may be a very good idea. Training for new officers? Volunteer appreciation? A professional DJ for the big school dance (instead of the volunteer dad with his iPod and speakers)? All of these things get shot down with “We can’t spend our dollars on that because it’s the kids’ money.”

The implication is that PTO or PTA dollars can only be spent on items tangible to the students (a field trip, a whiteboard, classroom supplies, a playground), and that is short-sighted thinking.

Your dollars should be spent (wisely and with the long term in mind) on things that will help you reach your goals. If your goals are to increase involvement and make your school a great community, then officer training, involvement tools, volunteer appreciation, and even that DJ who costs a bit more all can be terrific investments.

You should definitely be careful stewards of your group’s funds. But the best groups understand that investing in your group in ways the kids can’t touch — making your leaders better, making your events better, making your whole school a great place for families and volunteers and teachers and kids — is the best way to make sure your group’s dollars benefit the kids in the long run.

Agree or disagree? I’d love to continue this discussion/debate over on the message boards.

Very excited to announce to you today the launch of our newest service for parents and teachers and PTOs and PTAs: TeacherWishList.com.

If your teachers and school are like most, then 1) teachers are spending nearly $500 of their own money each year on classroom supplies, and 2) parents try to help out where they can.

That’s why we developed TeacherWishList.com — we’re taking the old-fashioned printed wish list and making it a lot more new-fashioned using the web and email tools and even social media. Teachers can load their lists (or parents or your PTO can load the lists for them) and then share and update the lists and basically get the help they deserve.

My advice: Check out Teacher Wish List yourself (and recommend it to your teacher friends). For PTOs and PTAs, we’ve also put together a free kit to help your parent group introduce Teacher Wish List to the whole school. It has posters for the teachers’ lounge, letters to teachers and parents, and more. Get a kit for your school at TeacherWishList.com/freekit.

For a limited time, there are also some great giveaways with Teacher Wish List. Each week, our partners at Bounty are giving 10 teachers $462 (the amount they spend on average out of their own pockets), and participating schools will be entered to win a $25,000 creative classroom makeover, as well. It’s great stuff! And we here at PTO Today have added a bit to the pot with $462 grants for PTOs and PTAs that get their whole school involved (start by ordering the free kit).

Look for more updates on Teacher Wish List in the weeks and months ahead. We’d love your feedback on how we can make it an even better solution for your teachers, your parents, and your school.

Before you make definitive plans for next year’s PTO or PTA calendar, have you sat down with your principal and asked about her top two or three priorities for next year? If not — have that conversation first.

Parent involvement and family and volunteer activities of all kinds are great. But parent involvement that brings parents into discussions about and solutions for key school challenges is the most powerful. Perhaps reading scores are a struggle. If so, a Family Reading Night (with collaboration from your reading staff) might be a better fit than the annual Science Night. Or you could add a book swap and book club to the school calendar. Or volunteer parent readers and tutors. You get the idea.

The same kind of thinking and collaboration can apply to all kinds of priorities, but only if you have that conversation with your principal and/or staff. The challenges might be related to academics, social skills, safety, physical fitness, or something else. Working together with school staff, you can multiply your impact.

Here are a few more links on that kind of collaboration:

• Make It an A+ Year
• Help Build Student Achievement
• Make the Principal Your Partner

P.S. — Speaking of reading, I wanted to give you a heads up about a fun summer reading list sweepstakes from our sister site, SchoolFamily.com. Head over to the SchoolFamily Facebook page and share your favorite children’s book for a chance to win a $200 Amazon gift card. Good luck!

Believe it or not, now is the right time to do some assessing of your PTO or PTA. Sure, rest. You’ve earned it. But also try to find some time (even just trading emails) with your fellow leaders to think about the big picture of your group before you get back into the craziness of a new year.

One question to ask: Does your group have a signature event, something big and successful that you’re known for?

Many groups have lots of OK events. Those groups struggle to get new volunteers and the results of the events are OK, too.

The cool thing about signature events is that not only do they become more effective and more memorable and more fun (positively changing the reputation of your group in the process), they also attract volunteers more easily. Self-servingly, people are much more likely to volunteer at an event with cachet than at another just OK family night.

How can you do it? If you have too many middling events, drop a few and use the extra energy on expanding and improving the others. Take your Family Reading Night and blow it out into a communitywide reading week with the mayor and local celebrities. Add the best local DJ to your dinner-dance. Put some creative muscle around your marketing and PR for these events. You get the idea.

Here are just a few links to profiles of PTOs that have done just this:

• Million Minute Reading Challenge
• School Spirit in the Spotlight
• A Special Day for Grandparents

How can you make it work at your school?

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.

A hearty congratulations to newly-elected officers! We have heard from many of you that you’re excited about your new role, but also a little nervous. No need to worry, we’ve got you covered! In this video, Tim gives some good advice to get you started.

Here is the article that Tim refers to in the video:  A Tale of Two Volunteers.

New parent group officers in years past also gave the following articles a thumbs up:

23 Essential Tips for New Presidents

38 Ideas to Start the Year Right

7 Steps to Grow Involvement

Build Support for New Ideas

16 Tips for Executive Board Members

The Truth About Cliques

Another tip for newbies: Make sure you register your new officers with PTO Today to stay on top of all the new programs and tools (and to receive a free Communication Handbook.) Also, if you are interested in receiving a tip a week from Tim and learning about the next free giveaway or sample offer from PTO Today and our partners, be sure to opt in to our Leader Lowdown Newsletter.

One last piece of advice: connect with other leaders! Sometimes being a parent group leader can be isolating. Our message boards, Ask a Question section, Facebook page and Twitter feed are great ways to chat with other leaders and swap stories and ask questions… maybe even brag a little.

Again, congrats!

What can you do now that will have your group better prepared for August and September?

I’m serious. I know you’re tired. I know you have spring fever as bad as the kids. But I always hear groups saying “We’ll take care of that this summer.” And I hardly ever see anything getting taken care of in the summer.

The result: a rush of last-minute craziness the week school starts (when you’re already slammed) and — worse yet — missed opportunities to make a great impression during the most important impression time of the year. Ugh.

So, what can you do? Work now to get a couple of new leaders in key spots for the new school year. Don’t save that for August. Send something home now to all the new families for next year welcoming them to your school. You’ll forget that step or be too busy in August. Pick a date now for a welcome event for new families or parents. Update your PTO website now (because all the new families will be checking it out this summer). You get the picture.

Want some inspiration? Try these links from the site:

Make Planning a Priority

PTO Year-End To Do List

“Sign Fairy” Eases First-Day Jitters”

And if you get a minute to share on our message boards, we’d love to hear about what your group is doing to get set up for next year.

It’s really easy (and tempting!) to take the rest of the year off. Try not to. You can have a big impact on next year with a bit more effort now. Good luck!

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?