President: Kim Henderson
Newsletter Editor Pro Tem: MaryAnne Shults

Volume V, Issue 3
January/February 2006

NEXT MEETING

by Kim Henderson,

The school year is half over. Stop, take a breath and look at all your PTA has already accomplished. It is a good time for your board to re-evaluate their goals. Did your fundraiser make more or less than you expected and how will it affect your budget? Are you offering parent education opportunities? Are your programs meeting your goals? And what about meeting attendance and school volunteers? Are you including and encouraging all your population to attend? Many of you are electing your nominating committees this month. Do not start thinking the year is over. You still have plenty of time to impact your students, community and school site.

This is also a good time to ask for help. Make sure your foundation is secure as you continue to build your PTA. If you haven't attended council meetings regularly, plan to attend or send someone to each of the future meetings. We want to work together while still recognizing the individuality of each school and help to meet each of their needs. Your input and ideas might make the difference for someone else attending the meeting. You will also find out you are not the only school with the challenges you face. At the roundtables we try to come up with ideas and suggestions but also help you meet others with similar issues. The Council is here to offer support and ideas.

This year also provides us a great opportunity to attend the PTA Convention in Anaheim on May 10-13. You can register as a delegate and attend on behalf of your school. Or if funds are tight, volunteer and attend parts of convention free. Other training opportunities will be available through the Council and 4th District in the Spring. Make sure you get new and returning officers to attend.
I want each of you to know how important you are. I appreciate all you do at each of your schools. There are wonderful things going on in this district and the PTAs deserve a lot of the credit. I know it is not always easy. Thank you for your effect at making your PTA the best it can be. Thank you also to my board for without them I would be useless.

Fourth District PTA is planning their Spring Training Workshops to held in Costa Mesa on May 31. There will be a morning and evenings sessions. Take this opportunity to network with other PTA members from around the county. Watch www.fourthdistrictpta.org for further info. Our council training will tentatively be the week after.

Is Your Mid-Year Audit Completed?

By Kim Brown, Council Auditor,

PTAs must be audited twice a year and any time that there is a change in the financial officers. An audit determines the accuracy of the books, detects inconsistencies or errors, provides recommendations for corrective action, protects the financial officers, verifies that funds were sent through channels as appropriate, and assures the membership that the association's resources were managed in a businesslike manner within the regulations established for their use.

Most unit PTA bylaws state that the mid-year audit should be done during January. Information on how to perform an audit can be found in the California State PTA Toolkit on pages 227-230. If you don?t have a copy of the Toolkit, you can find the information online at www.capta.org by clicking on "Finance. Basic Policies. PTA Audit."

The auditor's report should be submitted to the unit executive board at the February board meeting. The auditor's report is then formally adopted at the next association meeting by the membership. Once the audit has been accepted by the unit membership and recorded in the minutes of the meeting, a copy must be sent to the PTA council Auditor. Audits to the council auditor are due at the next council meeting on February 16.

If you have any questions about performing an audit for your unit or need assistance, please contact me via the email shown above.

Par 5 for 2005!
Membership Drives are in line for a great score

By Kelly Pitman, Council Membership Chairman,

Membership drives should be coming to an end. All dues for membership for the 2005-06 school year must be submitted by the February council meeting otherwise membership will actually be applied to the 2006-07 school year!

Please remember that any members wanting to attend the PTA State Convention must have a membership card to register at the convention. Also, your Nomination Committee should be formed shortly and will be starting the process for naming those who would like to run for office for the 2006-2007 school year. Please have your membership chair make sure that your current board members, committee chairs and any person desiring to be on your ballot is a paid PTA member. As always, should you have any questions regarding membership, please feel free to contact me.

Sponsorship Guidelines

From the January/February issue of "The Communicator"
By MaryAnne Shults, VP of Communications, 4th District PTA

The law permits a non-profit organization such as PTA, without payment of income taxes and without risking loss of tax exemption, to both:
* Engage in sales activities if any of four conditions are met with respect to such sales activity.
* Receive corporate sponsorships.
PTA and qualified corporate sponsorships
Corporate sponsorship is a means of funding in which a corporation provides cash, products, or know-how to a charitable or educational organization in return for acknowledgement of thanks. The acknowledgement of thanks generally takes the form of public recognition for the sponsor?s support.
Sponsorships are an appropriate means of funding projects and programs that promote the objectives of an organization. Certain guidelines must be followed to ensure that the PTA?s Noncommercial policy is adhered to.
ACCEPTABLE: Acknowledgements - It is acceptable to include the transmission or display of a sponsor?s logos and slogans that do not contain comparative or qualitative description of its products and services. It may include sponsor locations, telephone numbers, and value-neutral description of a sponsor?s product line or services.
UNACCEPTABLE: Acknowledgements that include advertising (Endorsements) - To the extent that the acknowledgement exceeds mere identification and, instead, promotes the sponsor?s product or services, the recognition may instead be treated as advertising rather than acknowledgement. Price information would generally be treated as advertising rather than acknowledgement. Any inducements to buy, sell, rent, or lease a sponsor?s product or service would likewise be treated as advertising rather than donor acknowledgement.
Following PTA?s Noncommercial Policy
* Do not make a qualitative judgment on the sponsor?s products or services.
* Do not include comparative language or language that implies good quality in the acknowledgement.
* Do not permit the sponsor to write the acknowledgement of thanks.
* Do not ask your members or the public to buy the products or services of the sponsor.
* Do not advertise or endorse a product or service.
Permissible Activities
* Give the corporate sponsor an acknowledgement of thanks in return for the donation.
* Identify the sponsor?s name, a picture of their product, an address, phone number, Web page.
* Include the logo or slogan of the sponsor.
* Provide free product samples.
Prohibited Activities
* Do not include any comparative statements.
* Do not ask for someone to purchase a product.
Specific Sponsorship Contract Issues
* It is NOT acceptable for PTA to enter into a partnership (share of NET PROFITS) of a business.
* The PTA may provide a hypertext link from the PTA?s Web site to the sponsor?s Web site. But PTA must be seen to be ?passively? allowing its name and logo to be used. PTA may not be too actively involved in soliciting traffic to the site.
* The PTA may not be characterized as endorsing the products offered on the site. This not only violates PTA noncommercial policy, but also may result in Unrelated Business Income Tax (UBIT).

Additional information regarding PTA Fund-raising, Sponsorships and PTA?s Noncommercial Policy can be found in Section 5.9 of the Finance Section of the California State PTA Toolkit. Information on the Noncommercial Policy is also located in the Bylaws for Local PTA/PTSA Units, Article III, a & b.

REFLECTIONS

Congratulations to
M. GIBBS
Portola Hills Elementary

M's photo, entitled "I wonder why puddles look like mirrors" was awarded the Award of Excellence at the Fourth District PTA's Reflections Exhibition held January 7 and 8, 2006 at Chapman University's Guggenheim Gallery. It was sent on to the California State PTA for further judging in this National PTA's Reflections Program.

Upcoming Events - Mark Your Calendar

February 2006
13-17	M-F	Take Your Family to School Week
14	Tue.	School Board Meeting	SVUSD Board Rm.	7:00 PM
16	Thur.	SVPTA Council Meeting	SVUSD Board Rm.	6 PM, Exec. Board; 7:30 PM, General Meeting
17	Fri.	PTA Founder's Day
20-22	M-W	NO SCHOOL - February Recess
March 2006
13-20	M-F;M	Parent Conferences (Elementary)
14	Tue.	School Board Meeting	SVUSD Board Rm.	7:00 PM
16	Thur.	EdSource Conference	Sheraton Suites Fairplex, Pomona
30	Thur.	SVPTA Council Meeting	SVUSD Board Rm.	8:45 AM, Exec. Board; 10 AM, General Meeting
30	Thur.	Fourth District PTA Administrators' Dinner *	Doubletree Hotel, Irvine	6:15 PM
* Please note that your reservations for the Admin. Dinner must be received at the Fourth District PTA's office by THURSDAY, MARCH 9.

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