OOPS Got interruped in my reply and accidentally posted it.

As I was Saying...
Grants:
You are a 501 C3 which means you get to allocate your funds as you see fit.
I would suggest you devise a system of Grants. Anyone who wants a project funded, teacher, student, parent, principal etc. must complete a grant request. They must specify the purpose, the timing and the onjective of the request as well as the expected cost which the PTO then opts to fund or not.

Pre-Allocate your funds:
Categorize your funds. For example you can say that 50% of funds raised in any year go to a capital improvement, 15% go to teacher recognition and appreciation 25% go to field trips and assemblies, 10% to parties. (that is just an example, but that lets you cap what she can access without playing into the power struggle....we don't want to fund that...well we have X dollars for that purpose this year, is that what you think is the best recongition choice for the staff?)

Communicate directly to staff:
We do a newsletter which goes to all parents, staff, School Board and local area residents. We use it to highlight good things teachers and students are doing, to publicize upcoming events/fundraisers (both ours and the school's) and to generate goodwill toward the staff and the PTO as well. We have found this really tends to cut down on cross scheduling (intentional or unintentional) because everyone gets the information as soon as its added.

Hmmm... sounds like a delight to work with.
I would suggest the following:
1. Grants:

All gifts must p

I'm surprised no one has asked you about that "two admin, one PTO" thing yet...that sounds really challenging! I know it's not the gist of your question, so I won't dwell on it either, but have your parents/admin considered splitting so you can serve each school in its own unique way?

Back to your specific issue....We don't give our teachers money (check or gift card)outright, on the advice of the IRS. Their recommendation was for us to collect receipts/copies from our teachers up to the amount we allocate, and then we cut a check. The point is that a 501c3 must take measures to ensure its money is spent in accordance with its mission. I suppose a gift card to a teachers' supply store might ensure proper spending, but we go the receipt route. And every year, despite our several reminders, there are still a couple of teachers who never claim their reimbursement. Anyway, if your principal is pressuring you to dole our gift cards, you could use the big bad IRS as the reason why you can't.

We partner with our principal by setting 3 or 4 budget categories with a fixed amount, but give him discretion to spend. There are some parameters on the categories (ex: Educational Materals money can only be spent on ....educational materials!), but we don't vote/discuss/approve any of the individual expenditures. He knows at our first meeting, when we approve our annual budget, how much money he has in each of these categories, so he can plan for the year. Maybe that's a compromise - we make the money and set some rules, but he can spend the money as he sees fit within our rules. Works well for us, but we have the benefit of having "broken him in" a few years ago as a new principal. Good luck working things out with yours.

I am so confused! At our school the Principal is advised of our fundraisers and offers her opionon as to what day would be best for an assembly, but other than that, she has no imput or vote. She is at our meetings to act as a witness or ask any questions but never has she had the authority to state wether we can or can not do anything. She never has had any say in our budget or spending. Nor should they ever. A PTO is a seperate "company" from the school. They (Principla) can not run it or write checks, that would just lead to trouble. Pricipals have thier own budgets to worry about. We offer our Pricipal a Pricipals fund of $2000 and we don't care how she spends it! If she is in need of something else, just like our Teachers, they must do a special request and have the Teacher Liason bring it up during our regulary scheduled monthly meetings. We also offer food with our meetings, so we have a great turn out! I don't care why they show up, only that they do [img]smile.gif[/img]

I wouldn't hold off. Any employer needs to know when their employee is doing good and not so good. Our new director was happy to hear the PTO has had a good relationship with the three Principals we have but it didn't start off that way. I told him the good, bad, and the amends we have made but there is still a "bad taste" from that first very rough year.

Keep the meeting informative and really use it to gain his/her support and advise about how to handle this 'list' and her Jekel side. We love the Dr. Hyde just need your advise for the Mr. Jekell! Also ask that this can be kept confidential, you don't want to rock any boats just need advise/ideas/support.

I told our new director that we were never allowed to be a "real" PTO and I'm excited to work with im but I am overwhelmed by his ideas and suggestions. My honesty (and his!) has allowed us a great working relationship. Something that has worked for us too is we look at our list realistic. We have a plan, not so much a wish list.

Please do call the super's office to talk to someone.

Your group needs an objective, systematic method for hearing requests for funds.

This is what works for us:

Any member can submit a 'Wish List' request.

The request is logged by an officer and passed to the principal. She decides if it is appropriate, ie has educational benefit, is nt against policy. If the item falls into a budget category, the board will pay out at its next meeting. If it is not budgeted for, The board puts it on the agenda for a general meeting.

When we get a receipt on an approved item, the check goes out.

There can be no surprises. The process can be slow, but that is on purpose. We didn't want people approaching us in the halls asking, "Can you pay for X?" and expecting an approval right then. (the old way.)