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Fundraising Tips To Include In Your School Council Procedural By-Law
Source:
All Saints Catholic Elementary School, DPCDSB.
Adapted.

In the School Council procedural by-law [see the Ministry of Education A Guide for Members], school councils outline the policies and procedures relating to fund raising policies. These policies may differ from school to school and board to board. However, there are some basic tips that can help your fund raising go a bit more smoothly.

• Make sure that all fund raising done is in accordance with federal, provincial and municipal laws. All raffles and lotteries must be approved by the School Council and must follow all municipal laws. Each must have an approved licence in order to sell the tickets outside the school.



• All fund raising done by the school must be in accordance with the policies of the School Board in which your school reside and the school itself.



• All fund raising is done on behalf of the school. All persons associated with the fund raising should conduct themselves, and all activities should be conducted with professionalism and with the school's reputation in mind. As a volunteer, you are representing your school and are assisting in carrying out the School Mission Statement.



• All support and marketing material must be in good taste and follow the spirit and respect of the school.



• When determining the amount to be fund raised by the school in a given school year, the 'target' amount to be raised should be based on the economic needs of the school taking into account the school's budget, the requests of teachers, feedback from parents and direction from the School Council and the Principal. (Under-funding will leave key needs unmet. Over-funding may result in "fund raising burnout" in the parents and students.)



• All fund raising activities undertaken by the school, teachers, parents, students, or any other group, should be done for the benefit of the entire student body and shall not be grade or group specific. All funds from all fund raising activities are to be turned over to the School Council for distribution.



• All fund raising activities conducted by the school must be approved by the School Council and the Principal.



• Review additions and deletions to any existing roster of fund raising activities. The School Council and the Principal will make the final decision, taking into account teacher, students, and parent feedback.



• The particular fund raising events and the dates for these events, for a given school year should be made available preferably at the end of the previous school year. This is particularly important in the case of a major fall fund raiser, which must be ready to go when school starts in September.



• Each type of fundraising event should have its own committee that will plan, oversee, and execute the event. Each committee should have a chairperson, who will be responsible for the operation of the committee. The chairperson will then determine the number of volunteers required by the committee. [Parents who are unable to commit to sitting on Council should be encouraged to participate on these short term committees.]



• The School Council Fund Raising Chairperson will act as a liaison between the School Council and the Committee Chairpersons to ensure the various fund raising committees are able to execute their events as planned.



• If possible, all committee chairs should be in place by the end of the previous school year so they can start working on their events early in the current school year. The School Council Fund Raising Chairperson should report to the School Council as to this status at the last meeting of the previous year.



• All monies should be collected by the treasurer in conjunction with the committee chairperson for each event and directly deposited into the authorized school council accounts. It is still permissible for school councils to maintain their own account providing that cheques written on the account are approved by the school council treasurer and members of council by way of a resolution recorded in the school council meeting minutes. As well, all issued cheques must have two signatures - the school council chair and/or treasurer and the principal.



• All monies should be collected by the treasurer in conjunction with the committee chairperson for each event and directly deposited into the authorized School Council accounts. Cheques written on the account should be approved by the School Council Treasurer and must have two signatures.



• All donations of gifts in kind must be recorded and stores in a safe place, preferably, the school. While this may not always be possible during the planning of an event, all prizes must be awarded within one week of an activity's conclusion.



• All contributors must be documented by the particular committee or team and thank you letters should be sent to recognize all donations.



• The new Public Sector Accounting Board (PSAB) reporting guidelines require that school-generated funds must be included in the financial statements of the Board.**



• Remember to thank the members of your team for a job well done!

** NOTE:
The purpose of these new guidelines is to increase accountability in what money is raised within schools and how it is spent. When one considers the amount of public money that is generated in our schools through fundraising activities, be it from school councils, student councils, athletics, or other groups and clubs within our schools, it represents a lot of parent dollars. Depending on the demographics of an area the money generated by school councils may be into the thousands of dollars. How this money is spent varies from school to school.

Until this legislation was introduced, many school councils and/or parent groups maintained their own accounts. Often, little regard was given to the "safe handling" of funds generated for both the parents protection as well as the schools protection. Accountability was only as good as the current Treasurer's knowledge on the subject.

It came as a surprise to very few parents that funds raised, and assets purchased legally belonged to the School Board in which the school resides. Of course it does, as the money is public money raised within the school community with the understanding it will benefit school and school council activities.

The Ministry of Education's document, School Councils A Guide for Members (2002), states "School Councils should be aware that, because the school board is a corporate entity and the school is not, any funds raised by the School Council (and any assets purchased with those funds) belong, legally, to the board." Fundraising for schools by School Councils is a partnership between the school, the board and the fundraising group.

Internal auditors in many school boards are assuring school councils that the school council funds can be kept in separate bank account which can be accessed whenever they want. All that is needed is the principal as a signing officer.

Many Boards have implemented standardized accounting software programs in all their schools to track such funds (which remain in the school council name). Many school councils have welcomed the chance to permit the school to maintain its accounting records and duly provide a monthly statement of transactions to the Council.

In some areas, school boards are holding information sessions with their umbrella school council groups and schools to solicit their views and input in developing guidelines and practices with respect to the receipt, expenditure and recording of school generated funds. The key word is consistency. It is important for school boards to be consistent when developing guidelines and to make sure that they are being adhered to. In schools, principal's methods vary and school councils are transient.

Having said this, it does not dispel the concerns and fears of those raising the funds that the Ministry of Education will at some future time use our fundraising successes against us by reducing the General Legislative Grant to our schools. Parents must make sure that this does not happen as there have been enough cutbacks to our Schools already. Boards must solicit school councils' views with developing policies or guidelines regarding fundraising. As directed by the Business and Finance Division, Ministry of Education, in their memorandum to school boards (22 April 2004), "school boards will be required to include in their financial statements the revenue, expenditures, assets and liabilities of all the organizations considered to be part of the 'reporting entity'. This requirement is part of the reporting standard set by the accounting profession... School councils and local communities should know that the inclusion of school fund information in a board's financial statements will in no way alter the existing control and management of school-generated funds and activities. Nor will it alter a school's ability to use the funds for the purposes for which they were raised. School councils will still be able to raise funds and make decisions about the use of those funds in the same way as before."

And further, that "[t]he reporting of school funds in a board's financial statements will not affect the total amounts allocated by the province to school boards or the amount allocated by the province to any individual school board. Summary information on school funds will be presented at the board level. School fund information will not be reported in the financial statements on a school-by-school basis."

Many School boards have established guidelines for school generated funds in their GAP [General Administrative Policy] documents. Get involved — be informed of new legislation as it is developed, because that's the best way to avert any potential negative ramifications that may piggy-back on these new guidelines.

See: Reporting of School Funds: Guidelines for School Generated Funds

— Maureen Nolasco, Editor