PACT Charter School
Original Creation Date: March 3, 2011
Last Approved By: PACT Charter School Board of Directors
Last Approved Date: July 11, 2024
Year Reviewed: 2024-2025
PURPOSE
The purpose of this policy is to address fundraising efforts at PACT Charter School.
GENERAL STATEMENT OF POLICY
- The PACT Charter School Board recognizes a desire and a need for fundraising.
- The School Board also recognizes a need for restraint to prevent fundraising activities from becoming too numerous and demanding on employees, students, and the general public.
- The School Board has the responsibility to monitor, supervise, and control all fundraising activities associated with official school programs and activities, except extracurricular activities.
- School District employees who supervise official school programs or extracurricular activities shall not organize, conduct, or involve students in fundraising activities unless the fundraising activity has been approved by the Fundraising Admin Team.
DEFINITIONS
- Fundraising is the selling of a product, providing a service or activity, or requesting donations. School fundraising directly supports school programs and students.
- Student organizations are groups that are sponsored by the school and approved by Administration. They are designed to provide opportunities for students to participate, on an individual or group basis, in school and public events for the development of skills and other designated purposes. Student organizations are directed or supervised by PACT staff or volunteers.
- PACT is not allowed to contribute monetary funds to any charitable organization (i.e Pennies for Patients). Providing services to such organizations is allowed (i.e. Feed My Starving Children)..
TYPES OF FUNDRAISING
For this policy, fundraising activities are grouped under the following categories:
- Student Organization Solicitations
- Student Organizations include:
- Student activities which include the sale of admission tickets to the general public and/or which are integrated into the curriculum (e.g., performances, theater productions).
- Student activities which include banquets, individual class clubs, language (e.g., Spanish club), music clubs and/or contests, speech, drama, student council, National Honor Society, student concessions (non-sports related), yearbook, and senior class trip.
- All School Fundraisers
- These are activities where all students, families, and staff have the opportunity to participate and contribute to the activity. They are typically done for particular school-related items and may also be an ongoing and rotating fundraiser for the whole school (such as the sale of SCRIP).
- Charitable Giving Campaigns
- The campaign is being conducted to provide money for a charitable cause not necessarily directly related to any district goal. Students sell a product, their effort (e.g., walk-a-thon), a service (e.g., car wash), or contribute money, ONLY IF FUNDS RAISED ARE NEVER DEPOSITED TO SCHOOL ACCOUNTS. Checks would have to be made payable to the intended charity
- A campaign that is conducted to provide goods and services for a charitable cause does not need to go through the fundraising request process. However, for awareness, fundraising requests a verbal or electronic communication before the start date of the campaign.
- Student Organizations that do not fall under the guidelines of Fundraising include:
- Minnesota State High School League
- Booster Club
- PACT Panther Parent Teacher Organization
- Grant writing
GUIDELINES FOR APPROVAL OF FUNDRAISING ACTIVITIES
- The Fundraising Admin Team will consider fundraising proposals and approve or disapprove fundraising activities in collaboration with Administration. The administration should approve all requests by any group within the school to raise funds for items or services to be purchased with those funds.
- Preference may be given to expenditures that directly enhance the learning experience of PACT students.
- Preference will also be given to expenditures that meet the PACT school goals.
- Exceptions to this may be funds raised for a specific item or service. Records must be kept on the amounts raised for designated projects (revenues and expenditures).
- Administration will keep the School Board informed of approved fundraisers.
IMPLEMENTATION GUIDELINES
- Student safety must be a top priority.
- Participation in fundraising activities is voluntary. No student will be excluded from an event or program due to non-participation by the student or their parents in fundraising activities. Note: Fundraising efforts may be used to lower the cost of activities for students. Choosing not to participate may increase the cost for the student.
- Parents/guardians must be notified prior to student participation in fundraising activities outside of the school setting.
- Group (i.e., class, team, or grade) incentives are the preferred means to motivate and reward students when fundraising.
- Door-to-door sales. Parental supervision and caution are advised.
- Door-to-door fundraising activities will be of a limited nature.
- Fundraising activities during the school day will be limited and must not conflict with state laws and regulations relating to food service programs.
- District funds cannot be used to offset, fund in advance or pre-pay expenses for charitable fundraisers.
- All fundraised monies will follow and comply with accepted accounting procedures. Reporting requirements are as follows:
- The person responsible for the fundraising should work with the Business Office and with Fundraising to detail and report on expenses, gross revenue, and net revenue, a number of students or families involved, date started and completed, and recommendations for repeating or not repeating in the future.
- For ongoing fundraising activities, quarterly and annual reports must be provided.
- All fundraising activities must comply with state law.
- The School District expects all students, parents, staff, and volunteers who participate in approved fundraising activities to represent the school, the student organization, and the community in a responsible manner. All rules about student conduct and student discipline extend to student fundraising activities.
- Funds that are raised should complement, not replace, state and federal funding.
- Fundraising goals must be developed in advance of the fundraising activity, including specifying the beneficiary of the funds and their specific purpose, and be approved by the appropriate committee and Administration.
- The individual who requested funds must report back to the Fundraising Admin Team with the completed fundraising form and a copy of the envelope supplied to Administration indicating the profit and expense of the fundraiser.
USE OF ALL SCHOOL FUNDS
- Fundraising events for the whole school must have a specific purpose designated for the fundraised funds raised.
- School fundraisers (e.g., SCRIP, Read-a-Thon, donations from individuals or organizations that have not designated a specific purpose) will have funds placed into the All School Fundraising account.
- The proposed use of undesignated school fundraised funds will be designated by the Fundraising Admin Team and consider school goals when making decisions.
- SCRIP program will maintain an approved minimum balance by Administration and/or the Business Account Specialist in order to preserve the SCRIP programming operations.
- Fundraising funds approved over $1000.00 will be presented to Administration for final approval.
- Guidelines for the use of funds raised by individual students
- All fundraising throughout the student’s enrollment at PACT Charter School is to benefit a specified group or activity (Class of 20XX, Spanish Trip, etc.).
- Fundraised earnings may be earmarked for the specific student who put forth the effort. However, if that student is not going to use these funds for the intended purpose (see #c below), those funds revert to the specified group's control for redistribution. The funds are NEVER the individual student's funds.
- A parent or student may NOT request to "gift" either unused or excess earnings to another specific student or parent chaperone (within the same class OR in a different class).
- Unused or excess funds raised will not be refunded to the student.
- Acceptable use of Fundraised Funds is limited to the following:
- Payment for the student’s portion of the specified activity (Senior Retreat or School-sponsored trip) or payment for the student’s Graduation Night Party Fee
- Fundraised funds can ONLY be used to benefit:
- An enrolled student or board-sponsored organization at PACT Charter School.
- A chaperone assigned by Administration to accompany the group
- Unused funds that were designated for trip or activity, which is repeated annually, or within two-years will be shifted into the designated “Class Over/Under” assigned account.