As school expenses are reduced each year, Parent Teacher Organizations (PTOs) are becoming even more important within the community of each school. PTOs are a lifeline when it comes to ensuring that students have the enrichment materials and programs that make the learning experience more complete. To do this, fundraising is essential and PTOs have found themselves working extra hard to balance such an important budget.

But PTOs do much more than just raise funds to help pay for school supplies and equipment. They raise funds for things that do not fall within the scope of a typical classroom experience. Funds raised are returned to teachers as teacher appreciation gifts and luncheons; given back to students as field trips, enrichment programs, and graduation gifts to help them experience things outside of the classroom curriculum; and help build a sense of community among school families through fun family events, ice cream socials, and school performances.

PTOs have become a staple within every school system. Their fundraising efforts help alleviate additional costs for parents and provide educational supplies and programs to students for little, and in most cases no cost. However, the question for many PTOs is how do they raise the necessary funds to support the school community and what are some of the ways to pay these funds back.

This question should actually be answered in reverse. Every business must develop a budget and a PTO is no exception. Before the start of the school year, the PTO should make a list of the supplies and programs they would like to provide to students, teachers, and the school as a whole. Does the library need new books? What school supplies do teachers need? How many excursion buses will have to be subsidized? What enrichment programs will be provided? The list must be detailed and must include costs.

Diversify what you plan to subsidize. By doing this, everyone will feel satisfied in some way. Let’s say the PTO offers some enrichment programs in science and art, buys some new sports equipment, and contributes to the cost of buses for field trips, but doesn’t help with the purchase of some much-needed school supplies. Teachers may feel that they have been overlooked and their participation in the PTO may decrease. Similarly, you don’t want parents to feel like most of the PTO budget goes to school supplies or is not evenly distributed among students in all grades.

Remember, every member of the school community is important. They may not be PTO members this year, but you are still hoping to recruit them next year. Analyze the needs of the school as a whole and then branch out. The principal or principal of the school is a great resource who is usually involved in all events at the school and can assist the PTO in ensuring that everyone’s needs are met.

Once the PTO understands why they are fundraising and the anticipated expenses, they can find a productive solution to raise the funds. However, this part of the equation is much more complicated. You need to determine what types of fundraisers will help you achieve your fundraising goal and ensure they are implemented successfully. Do this by creating a list consisting of trusted fundraisers that have done well in the past. Perhaps these include bake sales, book fairs, bake sales, etc. Find out how you can improve on these old resources by visiting online sites like PTO Ideas, where you can find out what other schools are doing and get some new ideas.

Also include on your list one or two new fundraisers to try. Perhaps your goal this year is to create a 24/7/365 school website that potentially makes money through affiliate marketing and advertising. Again, do some research to determine what is a good fit for your organization. For example, a corral plaza dance might be a big event in the country, but you’d be hard-pressed to find a barn in a downtown metropolitan area.

Live auctions are another example. An auction can be a huge undertaking for someone who has never planned one before. PTO Ideas explains exactly how to implement an auction and what it takes to make the event a success. The site provides details on how to get sponsorships, publicity, what type of room to reserve, how to develop and decorate around a theme, where to find an auctioneer, how much to charge for tickets, what printed material will be needed, what food and drinks to serve , how to display auction items, how to incorporate a silent auction, raffle, and gift baskets, 50+ auction item ideas you can solicit from parents, teachers, students, and businesses, and more!

Other things to consider when choosing fundraising events are the needs and spending habits within your own community, where you will hold the event, who will attend the event, and whether you need money up front to host the event. Larger events, such as auctions and golf tournaments, will require some cash on hand during the planning stages to pay for supplies, advertising, catering, and other items that are not sponsored donations.

Also, when will the event take place? Post a calendar of events and fundraisers. Evenly spread fundraisers throughout the school year and make sure there are no conflicting events at the same time. Try not to overwhelm parents with fundraising requests. Pick a limited number of quality events and make them work for you. And remember, at larger events you can always offer merchandise for sale that complements your fundraiser. For example, advertise and sell tickets to a screening event, but then at the event offer drinks, lunch items, and raffle tickets for sale. Parents will be less overwhelmed with fundraising requests this way than if they sent out a separate flyer to purchase raffle tickets.

Finally, understand how you will implement the event. The answer to this is actually derived from the PTO’s own organizational chart. A PTO typically consists of board members (presidents, vice president, secretary, treasurer). Each of these board members is responsible for overseeing the committees. A committee is formed for each fundraising event and consists of a board member, designated committee chair, and several volunteer PTO members. The number of volunteers on each committee is based on the workload of planning the fundraising event. For example, the Auction Committee may have twenty volunteers, while the Garage Sale Committee may only require five.

Each committee chair must provide the implementation procedures to their volunteers. Print the instructions from the PTO Ideas website or draw your own; but tell them exactly what you would like them to do and how to do it. Then remember to thank them for helping!

Parent-teacher organizations have become very important to America’s schools. Research various types of fundraising programs in depth to choose the ones that are best suited to your school and best meet the needs of those you will be marketing to. It is critical that fundraising organizations understand the needs and spending habits within their own community and offer affordable programs. In turn, the community will feel that it can happily help and support the school.