parents

Booster Club Budget 101
Whether you’re supporting the football team, marching band, or robotics club, a well-planned booster club budget is your roadmap for making smart fundraising and spending decisions all year long. This guide will walk you through creating and managing an effective budget that keeps your organization financially strong for the students and programs you care about.…

15 Treasurer To-Do’s to Start the 2025–2026 School Year Strong
As a new school year begins, it’s the ideal time for volunteer treasurers to get organized. Whether you’re supporting a PTO or PTA, booster club, sports team or another volunteer-run group, tackling a few essential financial tasks now will set your organization up for a smooth and successful year ahead. High Priority: Must-Do Items 1.…

PTA vs. PTO: What’s the difference?
This article was written in 2013 and updated on July 15, 2025, to provide the most current information about parent organizations and their structures. When your school is ready to establish a parent organization, one of the first decisions you’ll make is whether to form a PTA (Parent Teacher Association) or a PTO (Parent Teacher…

How to Start a PTO or PTA at Your Child’s School
Whether it’s the need for playground equipment or funding for a class field trip, classroom supplies, technology upgrades, extracurricular programs or staff appreciation events, there are many reasons Parent Teacher Organizations (PTOs) or Parent Teacher Associations (PTAs) get started. In a nutshell, a PTOs and PTAs support a variety of activities and initiatives designed to enhance the…

How to Create Effective Standing Rules for Your PTO
As an essential component of organizational governance, standing rules play a vital role in maintaining continuity, clarity, and efficiency within your Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) or Association (PTA). Whether you are creating or revising your PTO’s standing rules, let’s explore how to get started. What are Standing Rules? A list of standing rules help to…

5 Ways to Set Your Booster Club Up for Success This New Year
As the calendar turns and the new year unfolds, booster clubs find themselves in a key time to set the stage for the remaining months of the school year. While most boosters have their financial start date on July 1st, the post-holiday period offers a unique opportunity to re-evaluate your plan, reinvigorate the group and…

Stepping Out Together: 10 Rules of Parent Group Board Retreats (PTA, PTO)
Parent Teacher Organizations (PTOs) and Parent Teacher Associations (PTAs) play a vital role in fostering collaboration between parents, teachers and the school community. As a parent group board, the bond you forge sets the stage for how smoothly everything else will work. One powerful way to strengthen these bonds, build teamwork and set future goals…

10 Easy Fundraising Ideas for Basketball Teams
Whether you’re a coach, parent or player, the funds it takes to run a youth basketball team can add up. Fees can include uniforms, equipment, balls, court fees, travel fees, hoops, nets, referee and coach fees and more. Running a fundraiser can help alleviate the financial burden for families. So, where do you start? Create…

Getting Started as the PTA Treasurer
By definition, the PTO or PTA Treasurer is responsible for all funds that pass through the organization’s doors. This includes money collected at events and fundraisers, disbursement of funds and ensuring accurate bookkeeping. Being the PTA treasurer can seem like a big responsibility at first, but not when the role has been properly defined. Once…