Gifting Recap

Gifting Recap

Funds:

·  Money collected in excess of what was budgeted (example: $100.00 budgeted for direct donation campaign but $300.00 was donated)

·  Money not spent on events that have already taken place (example: $300.00 budgeted for registration but only $100.00 was spent.)

·  CAUTION: make sure all receipts have been turned in for the completed event before you use the unspent funds for gifting.

Role of Presidents/EVPs:

·  Meet with your treasurer to find out how much money is available for gifting. If money is coming from completed events, contact the VP AND the event chair to ensure that all receipts have been submitted.

·  Discuss a gifting vision with each other (presidents and EVPs) and then with your board.

·  Meet with your principal and discuss a gifting plan. Your gifting chair should be part of this meeting but does not have to be.

o  Discuss the vision of the principal on items they would like to see purchased.

o  Discuss how teacher and staff can be polled to find out their needs (examples: gifting request forms put in teacher mailboxes by the gifting chair, request forms to team leaders only, the principal sends out all requests and the PTA is hands off during the process.)

o  This is a team effort unless the principal does not want to be involved.

·  Appoint the gifting chair and recommend or appoint committee members subject to ratification by the Executive Board.

o  Consider asking for gifting committee volunteers at the Association meeting to try to include parents who are not executive board members.

o  Inform the association at a membership meeting or via a newsletter/eBlast that a committee has been formed.

o  Remember, gifting is a hot button issue. Make sure you are being transparent.

Chairperson:

·  Appointed by the PTA president

·  Meets with president to determine strategy for sending out gifting requests

·  May or may not meet with the principal, as determined by the president

·  Sends out gifting requests upon approval of president and principal

·  Sets the date of the gifting meeting

·  Creates a handout for the committee with a summary of the gifting requests in a format approved by the president (example: lumping all requests by grade or department, not showing names of individuals requesting gifting funds). This should be given out at the meeting and not emailed. This is a confidential document.

·  When the committee has decided on gifting items, the chairperson creates the gifting report that is given to the Exec Board and the association.

·  Gifting chair ensures that the gifting report is signed by the members of the committee and copies are given to the recording secretary and president.

Committee:

·  Read your standing rules to see if they contain committee information

·  Should include at least one member who is not on the Executive Board

·  Make sure principal is involved (and make sure they are a current (paid) PTA member if they want to vote)

·  Committee should determine how gifting can impact the most students or should review and take into consideration the gifting plan from previous years.

·  All members should vote or reach a consensus on the items to be gifted. Majority rules in any vote.

·  Committee members should make sure they sign the gifting report.

·  Committee should be made aware that gifting is a sensitive issue at every school and the deliberations made by the committee should be kept confidential and unbiased by personal feelings about staff members, teachers and administrators.

·  Personal notes and gifting handouts should be left with the gifting chair at the end of each meeting unless the gifting chair and/or president has asked an individual to perform a task where notes may be necessary.

Executive Board Approval:

·  Email the gifting committee report to the board before the board meeting when at all possible.

·  Make sure the report is detailed and includes amounts to be gifted and the cost of items that will be purchased with gifting money.

·  Give a presentation (chair or president) on the gifting process:

o  who was given input (individual teachers turned in forms, grades or departments decided as a group, were staff members asked like front office, health office, technology or special education.

o  Any vision by the committee or any philosophy that the committee was using as a guideline, for example, the committee wanted to help the principal achieve a short term goal for campus wide program for recycling, or a long term goal for reading fluency across all grades.

o  How the principal was involved

o  Was any other campus fundraising organization polled about their vision or budget in relation to gifting items (booster clubs, ASB, parent support groups).

·  Make sure the gifting report has a grand total or an amount that it is not to be exceeding.

·  Indicate what items will be part of a fiduciary agreement and what items will be paid upon receiving a request for reimbursement.

·  Make a motion for the Executive Board to approve the gifting report as presented and make sure the motion includes a grand total amount or an amount that is not be exceeded.

·  Board cannot change the gifting report.

o  They could choose to not approve of a specific item and approve the rest as written.

o  They should not approve the report if they are not in agreement or want changes (besides the deletion).

o  Changes must be sent back to the committee with a recommendation by the board.

Strongly suggest to presidents:

·  You don’t allow the gifting committee to meet until you have seen the gifting requests.

·  Do not allow the gifting chair to email their final report without you reviewing the report.

·  Do NOT let the gifting chair report at a board meeting if you have not seen the report.

·  Check the minutes (both board and association meeting) that contain the gifting report for accuracy. Every item should be listed with a total next to it and a grand total at the end. You may want the minutes to include what is going in a fiduciary agreement and what is not going in an agreement.

·  PEF should be a line item in your budget. See CAPTA.org toolkit (finance section) under Education Foundations.

·  PTA insurance doesn’t cover school buses so those funds need to be paid to the school district so they can pay the bus companies.

·  Realize that all gifts to the school, regardless of how they are funded, are property of the school/school district, and can be moved or discarded as the school district sees fit.