That's not exactly right. Magazines are definitely a fundraisier with repeat business. Everyone gets magazines and all you have to do is renew the ones you already get. There are also the ones bought as gifts and the ones bought by out of town relatives who will definitely not be going to market day. I'd much rather spend my time doing something as easy as magazines and not be unloading trucks and paying a premium for groceries. It's definitely an ongoing yearly fundraiser. Why do you think all the middle schools do it? You could make the $3000+ in a couple of weeks.
The thing about Market Day is that it is a consumable product....people are going to come back for more, month after month. Magazines are more of a single event fundraiser, Market Day is the entire school year...or year around if you like! And that is 10% plus any extra promotions they are giving for a given month. And the work really isn't that much. One day a month you have pick up other than that, you tape up some posters, send home material and collect order forms. That could be 3000+ every year for something people are buying anyways!
"Life is not measured by the breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away."
10% is very low. There is a lot of work with this kind of fundraiser. If you have a school with only 450 students, why not try magazines. You can make $7.50 per magazine. You could easily make $4000 and there is almost no work. Try firstclassproducts.net to get 50% profit. It's great!
All lines in the budget should balance, so yes, she should be recording her expenses. Every line on the budget should have a income and and expense. Some things may not have anything recorded for them, well because if you didn't bring in money in on postage..lol, well you get my point. But back to the Market Day expenses, I'm still not sure what expenses there could be. There should be sampling at all the Market Day pick ups, but the rep is in charge of that, she brings them. And unless your Market Day is selling to people outside the school, then there shouldn't be any expenses on mailing stuff, everything gets home via the children.
But IF there are legit expenses, then YES, they should be recorded. Not just make the Profit lower, if that is what your explaining. Then yes, the numbers aren't going to match up. Sound to me like the your Market Day Chair doesn't want to record the expenses so no one questions what they are!!!
"Life is not measured by the breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away."
Our Market Day progam raises about $6,000 for the school, and the chairs expenses are usually around $25-30 a month, except for January, where the expenses were around $400 (that statement is completely missing from the treasurer file). I'm guessing we donated some roasts or pies.....I've requested a copy of that statement from the chair, even though it's from last year.
Our chair has been doing this a long time, and it is my first year on the board. Her expenses are for things like snacks and cookies for the volunteers, or parents who are waiting for their food to be packed at the sale. I have volunteered for Market Day, and do remember eating goodies while I worked, so I know she does provide them. They are also supposed to be for stamps/envelopes for mailings she makes.
That said....Do you think we should be recording the "profit" that Market Day tells us we've received and then put the expenses of the chair into expenses? Otherwise, the numbers in the PTO books don't match Market Days and the expenses just "disappear" in my opinion.
Do you think it's within my rights to request the chair to provide me with a detail of the expenses? I don't want to step on toes, and I really don't think the chair is doing anything wrong. I just want to get the accounting right.
There shouldn't be any on going expenses for Market Day. We are just starting Market Day and we did put 100.00 in expenses in our year budget, but that was only because we are going to buy the materials to make some "mailboxes" at the front and back entrance to the school so the children can put their order forms right in there. We of course don't expect all the order forms to be put in there but we are hoping that with the effort we are making with it the teachers will not be upset about collecting the few that do end up in their classrooms. That is one of the many reasons that Market Day failed at our school when it was tried before. I'm super excited about getting Market Day started though! Novemeber with the pie sales will be our first month. We just got our order forms last week...yeah!!!
"Life is not measured by the breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away."
