I will qualify my response by noting that our PTO does *not* do any of the traditional fundraisers (gift wrap, candy, etc.). 90% of our $13k budget comes from a 1-evening "Fun Fair" (silent auction, raffle, games, food, etc.), with the balance from voluntary contributions (we don't have dues); a spaghetti supper; & a few other minor things.
Having said that, I can't imagine submitting to the entire membership a resolution (or series thereof) re. fundraising decisions. That's what your fellow parents have entrusted you & the other officers to decide upon. Fulfill your fudiciary responsibilities & make recommendations based on your best judgement. Then incorporate those recommendations into your proposed budget for the next school year & let the parents discuss and, ultimately, approve or disapprove that budget. But to take the approach you describe in your message is asking a large group of individuals to unnecessarily micromanage the affairs of your organization.
Before you have a vote a specific question/motion needs to be made. It would be way to complicated to address the issues they way you have explained them. They need to be broken down ie: the first motion should be the number of fundraisers your group should have... after that someone needs to make a motion as to which fundraisers you would like to do (based on the results of the first vote). Your Board should have the fundraiser options narrowed down to maybe five or six choices and have examples and explanations as to the details of each. Depending on the amount of people who are attending your meetings you could probably do a vote by hand...if you have many people and feel comfortable a ballot could be used with all of the "board approved" options and let them fill in the ballots by first choice, second choice etc. The key to this type of discussion/voting is sticking to Robert's Rules...it will keep everything rolling along smoothly without getting stuck in the never ending discussion of parents who only want to their personal favorite fundraiser to be chosen. My best advice is to keep the fundraising to a bare minimum (we have only one per year) and it is a catalog type sale with meat, wrapping paper etc. and we always exceed our goal...and we also tell the parents straight up that we will only have one per year and if it does not do well we will adjust our budget accordingly. They were sceptical the first year, but after that they went all out because they seen we stood by our word. In your case organization and the board keeping control of the discussions is the key!! Good luck and let us know how it all turns out
I need the help of many of you board members out there. Our last PTSO Meeting was focused entirely on fundraising...how many we want to have next year? what we want to sell? do we want to offer a flat fee donation to parents? etc, etc...Now for our April meeting we will be voting on these questions and making our decisions for the 2002-2003 school year in regard to fundraising. Does anyone else do a vote simliar to this? We have voted in the past on a particular fundraiser..for instance last year we asked yes or no to a Innisbrook Gift Wrap (huge nightmare - never use them) and so that was an easy one. However this time we are giving parents a few more choice in regard to timing, quantity, etc. I would really appreciate seeing any documentation, ballot sheets, etc. in regard to this topic. Please email me your help in Word format please to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
I really appreciate your help and thank you in advance. If your documents are not in word please send them to our school fax # 503-657-2497. Thanks again...
