Parent-Teacher Organizations Are Staples Wthin Every School

While school expenditures are being trimmed thinner each year, Parent-Teacher Organizations (PTO) are becoming even more important within each school's community. PTO's are a lifeline when it comes to ensuring that the students have the supplies and enrichment programs that make for a more complete learning experience. To do this, fundraising is essential and PTO's have found themselves working harder to balance such an important budget.

But PTO's do much more than just fundraise to help pay for school supplies and equipment. They raise funds for things that do not fall within the realm of a typical classroom experience. The funds that are raised are returned to the teachers as teacher appreciation gifts and luncheons; they are returned to the students as field trips, enrichment programs, and graduation gifts to help them experience things outside of the classroom curriculum; and they help create a sense of community among school families through family fun events, ice cream socials, and school performances.

PTO's have become a staple within every school system. Their fundraising efforts help alleviate added costs to parents and bring educational supplies and programs to students for little and, in most cases, no cost. The question for many PTO's, however, is how do they raise the funds needed to support the school community and what are some of the ways to give these funds back?

This question should actually be answered in reverse. Every business should develop a budget and a PTO is no exception. Prior to the start of the school year, the PTO should make a list of the supplies and programs that they would like to provide to the students, teachers, and the school as a whole. Does the library need new books? What classroom supplies do the teachers need? How many field trip buses will need to be subsidized? What enrichment programs will be provided? The list must be in detail and must include costs.