Michigan PTA Money Saving Ideas and School Activity Budgeting Help

    Michigan school PTA organizations across the state are working hard to maintain activities, projects, and enrichment assemblies programs at their schools, while working with shrinking parent involvement and Michigan state school budget cuts. Cuts in budgets for PTA groups, does not have to mean cutting back on the services and activities provided to your school community. There are many simple things that can be done to reduce costs and save money - without jeopardizing the goals and mission of your parent group.

    Teaming up with other schools in your Michigan school district to form a buying co-op is one of the easiest and most effective ways to cut your costs. Having a co-op allows you to contract services and make purchases for supplies and school equipment in bulk, which gives you more negotiating power for a lower per unit price.

    Michigan PTA co-ops work great for scheduling school assemblies in Michigan and family night enrichment programs, as many Michigan school assembly performers offer block booking discounts for shows at multiple schools booked on the same day or consecutive days.

    Here is an example of how block booking discounts may work when your schools wants to schedule an assembly performance:

    Imagine your school is interested in booking a science assembly program for your Michigan elementary students. The normal fee for such this science assembly program may be $650 for a performance at your Michigan school. If you were to have two other schools in your district that were interested in the same program, however, the assembly presenter could now perform a program at your school in the morning, another school in the afternoon, and the final school the next day. The presenter can now offer a discounted fee to all the schools because they are doing more shows and only have to travel to your area one time. The new "block booking" fee for this Michigan science assembly may now be $450 per school. That means all three schools in your district just saved $200 off their science assembly program.

    Michigan PTA buying co-ops can be beneficial in negotiating the best price for almost any service or product. With email mailing lists and networking services such as Facebook and Twitter, it is easy to communicate with other Michigan PTA groups and find out who would be interested in participating in block booking an assembly program or making a group purchase of equipment or supplies.