Fwd: Question about pass-through donations

[Sophie Che]

Hell all,

I got a response from the PTAC treasurer about the Teacher & Staff appreciation donations.

We have the following options:

1. Stay as-is, ie. categorize it as a regular PTA income/expense item.
• Cons: When we spend it, it cannot be gift cards. And no matter how much we collect, the expense must be not more than 5% of our annual expense budget which is $5,700. We have already collected more than $5,700 now.
2. Categorize it as pass-through income/expense. The two amounts need to match.
• Pros: We can write checks to room parents or to the lead of room parents.
• Cons: There are no receipts and may raise concerns during auditing. But we can document it and include the decision in meeting minutes as a record.

I think, since we are likely to receive > $5,700 donations, option 2 is better for us. We can add "Teacher & Staff appreciation donation receipts (pass-through)" and "Teacher & Staff appreciation donation disbursements (pass-through)" to the budget. And we will still keep the existing "Expense > Community Program > Teacher & Staff appreciation" in our budget for coffee, luncheton, etc as last year.

Some parents are questioning whether PTA is allowed to collect and distribute Teacher & Staff appreciation donations. I think this can remedy their concerns -- We are just using CheddarUp to collect money but the money does NOT belong to PTA. All of the donations will be forwarded to the lead of room parents and they will work together to decide how to spend the money.

WDYT? If we decide to go with option 2, I can add something in the CheddarUp collection and we may also consider rewording the message in the newsletter, explicitly saying that the donation does not belong to PTA.

  

Thank you!

Best wishes,

Sophie

Fairmeadow PTA Treasurer

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Julie Lin <ptactr...@paloaltopta.org>
Date: Mon, Nov 27, 2023 at 12:20 PM
Subject: Re: Question about pass-through donations
To: Sophie Che <sophie.fai...@gmail.com>

Sophie,

Since the donations are already collected by PTA for staff appreciations, you have couple of options to record it in your book:

- you can still categorize it as Staff Appreciation Donation (Income), but when you expense it under Staff Appreciation Expense, it can't be gifts or gift cards. It can be used for Staff Appreciation Lunches, provided the expenses are not more than 5% of your annual budget.

- If the donation collected is intended for gift cards, the only way to categorize it is Staff Appreciation Donation Pass-Through (Income), and expensed under Staff Appreciation Pass-Through (Expenses). Those 2 amounts need to match. Writing checks as pass-through staff appreciation expense to all the room parents will also create problems during your auditing, as no receipts will be available for auditing purposes. I would recommend fully documenting it and including it in your minutes for record keeping purposes. 

Using a pass-through category is something that is not recommended, and only as a last resort. This is because pass-through income is not included in your revenue on your tax form, thus affecting the PTA annual revenue. (Pass-through membership is the only exception). I would recommend PTA not to collect any more Staff Appreciation donations if your intention is for teachers gift cards/gifts. 

Thanks

Karrie and Julie

On Mon, Nov 27, 2023 at 10:55 AM Sophie Che <sophie.fai...@gmail.com> wrote:

Hi Julie,

This year we collect teacher/staff appreciation donations via CheddarUp for easier tracking. I understand that PTA and school are not allowed to give teacher/staff gift cards. I wonder if we mark these donations as pass-through donations and forward them to our room parents lead, then can room parents send gift cards to teachers / staff with those donations?

Thank you!

Best wishes,

Sophie

Fairmeadow PTA Treasurer

--

Julie Lin

Treasurer - Palo Alto Council of PTAs (2023-2024)

[Annie Rubin]

If the check is written to me, for instance, then I can use it to buy gift cards?

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[Sophie Che]

Yes, there is no restriction for parent volunteers on how to spend the money.

Thank you!

Best wishes,

Sophie

Fairmeadow PTA Treasurer

[Annie Rubin]

I think this is our best option then. I would think  teachers and staff would appreciate the gift card over a wish list item? Thoughts?

[Fairmeadow Pta]

I'm a bit concerned this will be difficult to manage. We would be writing checks to so many people. What if we had one or two people purchase all of the gift cards then they would be the only people who would get reimbursed? Also we would then give identical gifts to all the staff (not the same amounts of course). 

What do others think?  Iris? 

I was going to send the survey to the staff tonight, but this may change things? 

Please let me know your thoughts. I'm also happy to get on a quick google meet tonight if people would like to discuss? 

Thanks

Soumaya 

[Iris Wong]

I think we should still send the survey and ultimately, if they choose the “wishlist” option, we can always go and purchase Amazon giftcards.

On Nov 28, 2023, at 19:36, Fairmeadow Pta <fairme...@gmail.com> wrote:



[Sophie Che]

We would be writing checks to so many people. What if we had one or two people purchase all of the gift cards then they would be the only people who would get reimbursed? Also we would then give identical gifts to all the staff (not the same amounts of course). 

Maybe I didn't explain clearly. For option 2, there is no "reimbursement". I will write one or two checks with all of the donation money to the lead of room parents (likely to be @Annie Rubin  :). My plan is to write one check for holiday gifts and then another check in May/June with the rest of the donations at the end of the school year.  And then Annie can discuss with room parents and school to determine how much goes to teachers and how much goes to staff. The point is that PTA should not be involved with spending the money.

I was going to send the survey to the staff tonight, but this may change things? 

Survey is to determine what teachers / staff want which is orthogonal to the problem here. Option 2 gives us more flexibility and also gives more money to teachers and staff (if PTA gets involved, then it should be no more than $5,700). So I think survey would still be helpful but please make sure that it is not from the PTA president but more as an internal survey / discussion among teachers and staff.

 

Thank you!

Best wishes,

Sophie

Fairmeadow PTA Treasurer