It's not impossible for a group to function without a budget, but having one can certainly make life easier. Being able to start off your year with a clear layout of what you expect to bring in, what expenses you will have, and where the profits will go makes it easier for committee chairs and officers to do their work on programs and events because they will know exactly how much they can spend and what to expect in the way of income. If you know ahead that you only have $300 to use for prizes at the carnival, then you will shop wisely, look for donations, and be more creative. If you know that last year's book fair sold $6000 in books in 3 days, then you know that it's going to be a busy 3 days and you will need lots of volunteers to work.
Having a budget makes your organization look more professional in the eyes of the parents and school staff. This can go a long way in drawing more parents into your group. A group that has clear goals and communicates financial info clearly just seems more like a group people want to join. They clearly see where you are going and can more easily determine where they might want to jump in and help. It can also help boost fundraisers if parents know what was raised last year and how that money was spent and what the intentions are for this year's funds.
Perhaps the lack of budget comes from a fear that it will be a hard task to accomplish. Budgets don't have to be huge, complicated financial statements. A simple spreadsheet showing each event/program and their related income and expenses from last year and the projections for the current year are all you really need.
Yes you need budgets, it sounds like whom ever has been running the show, hasn't been very organized. Does your PTO have a treasurer who keeps track of money in/money out?
Our budgets, from what I know, are set based on the previous year's income/expenses. I co-chair our school auction and we were budgeted to make a certain amount (we surpassed that goal this year...yippee!!) and were budgeted for expenses. Each event, dance, ice cream social, etc. then has a certain budget they can spend toward expenses for that event.
If there are no budgets, your school either has so much money, they throw caution to the wind, or someone isn't minding the store.
Good luck, it sounds like you may be the one the get these gals in line.
This is my first year in the PTO. For some reason, we (members) do not have an insight as to what are our budgets for any given fundraiser or event. We are simply told there's no budget. Although we have to depend on families and businesses to make donations, do they not realize that not all expenses are accounted for?
Has anyone else encountered the same issue?
It's hard for me to believe that the President who has served 3 terms doesn't find this odd.
I come from a corporate enviroment and every year, we are asked to submit projected expenses in order to determine some type of budget.
I would like to bring this up at our next board and I was hoping to get some feedback from anyone who has experienced this. I'd also like to collect any facts I can use as back up when I bring up the issue as to why it would be important to create budgets.
