Taking Credit Cards with your PTA

Many PTAs are asking if they can take credit cards for membership and for fundraising items.  Utah PTA requires the following guidelines to be met:

1. Check with your Region Director to find out if your school district has a policy for or against PTAs using credit cards in their school.  We must always follow district guidelines as we are guests in their schools.

2. Local PTAs should NOT start accepting credit cards unless there are at least three check signers and Utah PTA strongly suggest that they are bonded board members. (Bonding can be purchased for $90 a year and will cover any board member who touches money, up to $10,000 through AIM Insurance, a Sponsor of Utah PTA)

3. Local PTAs must be following proper procedures as a board with the following:

a. Holding monthly board meetings

b. Giving a verbal treasurer's report at each board meeting

c. Monthly reconciliation of bank statements

d. Minutes taken at every board meeting and printed out for the next meeting

e. All financial guidelines on page 23 of the Treasurer's Handbook must be adhered to

IF all of these guidelines are met, then the individual boards can start exploring the use of accepting credit cards for membership or fundraising purposes.  It must be made as a motion at a board meeting where a quorum is present, it must be voted on and it must be recorded in the minutes.

The only resource Utah PTA will recommend is for locals to go to http://www.learnjbf.com/takepaymentsindex.php.  Just Between Friends has been a partner with National PTA for membership and they have now established taking credit card payments for memberships and setting up a store for their individual PTA.