Thank you for the advice. I spent a good deal of time yesterday on the phone with our president and she did agree that the current planned proposal coming to the table is not a very good one. She has called another meeting with the committee to resteer the direction they are heading so it is a successful event. So I am a little more relaxed about this.

Note: Past records I was able to aquire show no budgets ever having been put in place and I have tried to lay out a general budget but am constantly revising it.. with no past to go on and new to this district is has been challenging.

Note2: I agree Santa shops cause a good deal of controversy and hopefully this will be the last year for one and next year we can work with teachers and the art department and incorporate a craft plan so the students can all participate and all make something special for their parents.

Again thank you for the advice and I will let you know what happens at this meeting. [img]smile.gif[/img]

If you're sure it's going to get voted down, then relax. It does seem like an awful lot of money, plus I would be concerned with the lack of ability to insure that all the items purchased actually ended up at the "shop". There are so many companies that do this kind of event, I would feel much more comfortable using them. Also, if you have leftovers, I believe some will take those items back and deduct that from your bill.

It might be nice to for you to have a backup idea if you're going to speak out against the current plan, but it sounds like maybe the committee already had some too. It might be a push, but I'd bet your group could get one of the other ideas quickly put together so the event wouldn't have to be canceled.

On a side note, I'm not a big fan of Santa shops. There is always the sad risk of one child coming with tons of money and another with nothing. We do a program during the school day where the kids make crafty items to give as gifts. The kids love it and so do the parents.

Hi! Do you have a budget in place yet? If so, you can refer to the budgeted amount for the event when you discuss this as a group. If not, get a budget in place ASAP based on past years' income and expense figures. Good luck!

Hello, I am new to posting here but have spent several months reading posts. Here it is. In September I was elected treasurer of our PTO, upon review of their books I found that the group was using the schools EIN but had their own bank account and was soley responsible for how the monies were to be spent, major red flag, not a legal way to run the group. They had no insurance, were not incorporated and have used the schools Tax-exempt number through the form of school issued po's to purchase many things in the past. I went to the president and let her know what I thought needed to be changed and why. She agreed and over the last 2 months I have pitched persuaded and got the issues changed, we are now operating on our own EIN, have incorporated, and have filed for 501(c)(3), application pending. I have also, as it is my right, according to our by-laws, put into place accounting forms that I require be used when requesting money. This has made me enimies on repeat offenders of the "oh I spent this for this and need a check" because I require a receipt and will not reimburse them with out a form filled out and a receipt attached to it. Hmmm...makes you wonder in the past what was going on that such a simple thing is making them so mad. Here is the problem, there is a parent volunteer that is a control freak and wants a lot of recognition for very little effort. Prior to my being elected she was named as the chair for our monthly market day fundraiser and has done a decent job, there are issues but they are being worked out. In october a board member (not myself) agreed to be the chair for our secret santa event. At the committee meeting yesterday this lady showed up to over and made all of the plans for secret santa and forced her ideas on everyone in the room. Their were to board members present at the meeting (again myself not included here) and they allowed her to make some really bad decisions. She is planning on coming to the meeting next week and asking the group to cough up 3500 dollars for her to go spend at the local dollar store to put on the secret santa event. This in my opinion is just ridiculous. The committee was presented with other (better) options yet this lady insisted that her buying everything at the dollar store was the best thing to do. I know the first thought in everyones mind is "if I so against this why didn't I attend the meeting?" Answer: Two other board members were already signed on the committee and I thought the best uses of the groups money was going to be represented by their attendance. 1. 3,500 I feel to be extremely excessive irreguardless of where it is spent at because we only have 567 students on current enrollment and as with any event you can not plan a budget based on 100% participation. 2. Our major fundraiser will not be held until the spring therefor giving us limited money for the next 6 months. This dollar amount will for the most part deplete our available funds. Granit some of the money may be made back but not all and there is no guarantee on how much. When this lady was asked about the possibility of returning any unpurchased items she was not interested in doing that because she had other things going on. AHHHHH.... Here's where I need advice, at the meeting next week I fully intend to vote down this finacial request as I am certain the majority of the group will as well. How should it be handled when this happens and this lady walks out..which I can again guarantee will happen..it's her way or she's leaving..past experience with her has proven this. I do not want our children to go with out this event because they do look forward to it. Should I do some research and have available a back up when the you know what hits the fan? Or Should I leave it up to the board members already on this committee and just sit in the back ground. I am NOT looking to be a hero here but in our small farm town people are going to be really upset that our group spent money they raised in such an irresponsible manor and it is going to make any future events very difficult. Again this is my opinion and maybe I am way off...but my reasoning for this is that if parents wanted their children to buy presents for family members at the dollar store(mediocure quality)they would take them there and let them, we are not providing any quality to the children with this event. Secret Santa is supposed to be quality and fun, not cheap and tacky. Please help me decide how to handle this...I am so torn, stick to my guns and vote this down, or stand back and let it flop. Besides in the end if it does get through it will end up involving me because I can not give that kind of money to a parent volunter and say go have fun let me know what's left. To Stressed to say anymore...I know I have rambled on and on so thank you for reading on and on..please help..trying to keep a possitive attitude that this will all work out well..