WOW! We start our teachers out with $30 at the beginning of each year. In the fall we have a Harvest Carnival in which the teachers and their students build/create a booth and work it. Whatever they take in is posted into their individual Teacher Funds. Each fund averages about $150 to $250 after Harvest Carnival. If they want extra money, they have to come up with an idea to raise money or take it out of their pocket (which they do all the time). At the end of the year if they have any money they didn't spend, we absorb it back into the "big picture". Maybe you could try having Penny Wars. This works very well between grades, classes, or our personal favorite your local Taverns. Those people are very competitive. GOOD LUCK
KDW, In addition to granting requests, most years we have a major project we finance (unless it is a bad year for the school budgets and we know it is going to be a lean year. This past year we granted $13,000 to automate and update our two libraries and added an additional $2000 worth of books into our classrooms. The year before that we resurfaced and overhauled our outdoor basketball courts for $9000 as well as installed accoustial sound panels in our middle school gym/auditorium for $6500. We have in the past financed a $30,000 playground, $15,000 in computers... Those are just some of the big ticket items off the top of my head. We do all the other stuff that is typical, assemblies, reward programs, software,scholarships, graduation awards, transportation for trips,etc... gosh the list is endless. (I did keep a spreadsheet for four years on what we did do though. It is pretty impressive! )
In addition to granting requests of the teachers, do your PTOs also have a larger project you are working on in addition to the smaller requests for the teachers? Ex: computers, equipment...
I know we have assemblies and other budgeted items, but I am wondering if there are other school purchases in the process at the same time.
We are a Pre-K thru 12 PTO. Each teacher fills out a "wish list" and the super and principals go over the lists and decide what can be purchases through the school budget and what is most important to have. They compile that list and give it to us in the spring for approval.
We are a Pre-K thru 12 PTO. Each teacher fills out a "wish list" and the super and principals go over the lists and decide what can be purchases through the school budget and what is most important to have. They compile that list and give it to us in the spring for approval.
We do not give teachers money right off the bat. What we do is have mini grant request forms and they are given to each and every teacher and specials teachers at the beginning of the year with a cover letter explaining if they need something to submit the request form and we vote on it at the next general meeting. We usually grant all requests. There are some teachers you never hear from and some who utilize the forms and submit requests. During the mid year mark, depending on our financial status (how well our fundraisers did during the year) we put out another FYI: we have money... do you need anything? It usually generates a round of requests and it has worked for us for the past several years.
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