PTA crisis! Help!

[Hollierthanthou]

Parents in my child's school started fundraising for a new PTA. However, no formal roles were given as no one wanted to be chair, treasurer or secretary. Now we have money but can't put it anywhere as we don't have a bank account because we don't have formal roles.
Help!

What form is this money in? Folding cash?

Did you take cheques payable to something that doesn't exist?

You either need to get properly constituted and open a bank account, or arrange for the money to be paid to the school for now for safe keeping.

If you want to accept money from other people for something, then you really will have to sort out formal roles and constitutions etc.

It is in cash. For September, we are sorted and are applying the constitution but at the moment, cash as been raised but nowhere to store it/use it.

Could you not ask the school for help?
School bank account and separate line in budget to identify it? Would that be allowed as a temporary work around?

Thank you. I will ask about that.

Are you a member of parentkind? Used to be PTA UK? If not I'd recommend it. Around £100 and includes insurance, access to info and a Model Constitution which might help.

Do you have people performing those defined roles now?

I'm PTA treasurer and happy to answer any questions if it helps?

We will be from a member of Parentkind from next week.

My overall concern is that we, as a PTA, have raised lots of money without an official committee so there is nowhere to put funds or even have a formal financial account.
The school have been good in that they have allowed us to store the money in the safe but it just isn't manageable/proper.
I'm concerned that if we start a PTA in September, how can I say on a financial form that we already have x amount of money (nearly £7000).

What was the money raised for? Anything in particular?

I have lofty ambitions of ending each school year with £0 in the bank as we've used all the money to improve the education of the current crop of children. Never bloody works though.

Yes, our goal was two-fold.

We wanted to raise money to purchase Computing equipment and to improve our current library but the money can't just be spent with no financial trail surely?

Definitely discuss with Parentkind.
In the meantime do you have any evidence of where the money has come from? Return slips, website adverts, leaflets etc? Did anyone keep any records of income and expenditure? Any receipts?

Also with that amount of money you may need to register as a charity - from memory the threshold is £5k

Storing money in a safe which access to is tightly controlled is far more 'proper' than anything else in the short term.

If you don't have a PTA bank account at the moment, there's nowhere else that it can really go. Have you got the bank account set up? You will need designated people in designated roles to do this, so you could get this going now. Setting up a business account with the Co-op or the like is straightforward, just a bit of a faff with different people needing to sign etc.

Oh sorry, just re-read that you're not starting a formal PTA until Sept.

The options are to either have a meeting, elect to positions and start the process of opening a bank account now, or wait until September.

Either way, possibly not sort-outable before summer holidays. If I remember correctly, the bank forms ask for anticipated turnover rather than opening deposit.