Many activities are not covered in the principal’s campus budget and that is where campus fundraisers come into play. We applaud our students for their success in extracurricular activities involving robotics, math, computer coding, debate, FFA, and the list goes on and on, before we even mention athletics. Success invariably leads to travel and more success leads to even more travel, which leads to more fundraisers. Principals on different campuses may be following their own procedures, and each group or club sponsor on individual campuses may also be following their own procedures, resulting in considerable variations in practices across a district. It’s probably safe to say that in some districts no one in the central office has a complete list of all of the campus fundraisers happening across the district. All is good until someone comments that they thought more money had been raised. To improve consistency in fund raising practices considerations include:
- Require approval in writing from the principal and central business office before a new fundraiser is started;
- Establish caps on the number of fundraisers per group, club or activity per school year;
- Require financial reports be filed with the principal and business office at the conclusion of each fund raising activity;
- Ensure all campuses and club sponsors have a copy of the campus activity manual and business procedure manual;
- Require consistent practices in recording ALL exchanges of money on either a tabulation sheet and receipt book;
- Require use of only authorized receipt books with pre-numbered receipts;
- Require consistent cash handling and financial management practices by ALL campuses and sponsors as specified in the campus activity manual;
- Prohibit cash-on-hand being used as a “local bank” to cover purchases, check cashing, loans, advances or reimbursements;
- Require all fundraiser financial records, including used receipt books, be consistently stored for safe keeping in accordance with the district’s record retention procedures;
- Require principals, club and group sponsors, and athletic staff attend periodic training on financial management practices for campus activity funds; and
- Implement a local policy that upon dissolution of any “Agency Fund” organization that any remaining cash balance be transferred to the campus principal’s activity fund or other designated account(s).