Some of our fundraising dollars must go to administrative expenses. Here’s a breakdown of those costs:

Childcare for PTO Meetings

We want all parents and teachers in our community to be able to participate in our meetings. Every opinion counts! We try to arrange volunteers to provide childcare whenever possible, but we do budget for paying a provider at every meeting.

Bank Service Charges

Fear not: we’re not paying for bounced checks and regular account maintenance fees. But we do pay some service charges for our business account. We may need to put a stop payment on a check, for example. We don’t always use our entire budget for service charges, but we need to make sure those funds are available.

Membership Renewal

We are a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, which has important implications on our ability to raise funds for the school without paying taxes on what we collect. This status also means parents’ donations to us are deductible from personal income taxes. We do need to file paperwork annually to keep up our 501(c)(3) status, name, and other necessities of the “business.”

Insurance

The school district requires that we carry insurance — and we’d want it even if they didn’t. Fall River’s own insurance offers no protection during PTO events. If anyone damages school property (accidentally, of course!) or gets injured at an event we organize, we’re responsible. Our insurance covers us there.

We also carry Directors & Officers insurance which further protects the individuals serving on the executive board. In past court cases, PTO boards have had to defend their personal assets (homes and savings) as the people ultimately responsible for problematic events.

Other Expenses

This is our catchall category. When we need to mail a letter, we have some money available without having to bring it up at a general meeting.