Your Parent Teacher Group’s fall carnival is the biggest event and fundraiser of the season! With rides, food, and games, the whole community will be filled with excitement and buzz. You hope this event will allow the budget to breathe a little more for the coming year, but unfortunate events could happen that may put your Parent Teacher Group at risk. Here are a few mishaps to watch out for.
Your Volunteer Steals From Your Group
Before anyone enters the fall carnival they will have to go to the ticket booth to buy tickets for rides and games. In order to help the local high school, you ask for senior volunteers to help students fill up their mandatory volunteer hours. One such volunteer is Jake, who has been given the task of selling tickets to excited parents and kids upon arrival. As more enter and the money collects, Jake remembers how he is saving up to buy an expensive pair of new shoes. He quickly slips a few bills into his pocket every time someone buys tickets, thinking that your organization won’t miss this bit of money.
AIM knows that every penny is essential to your Parent Teacher Group’s success. AIM covers you with our Fidelity Bond Coverage, so you won’t lose your hard-earned fundraising dollars due to theft.
A Child Is Injured At Your Parent Teacher Group Fall Carnival
To keep the classic fall carnival theme, your Parent Teacher Group decided to have pony rides this year. Your organization has hired a reliable pony ride vendor and the attraction is a success. That is until a pony gets spooked and injures a child. The parents rush to the child’s aid, but they are angry and place fault for her injuries on your group. They demand your Parent Teacher Group pay for the coming doctor’s visit.
When accidents happen parents will jump to their children’s aid. The parental instinct to protect their kids is what brings them to place blame on a Parent Teacher Group. Medical bills can be expensive, but with General Liability your organization doesn’t have to worry about dipping into the budget. AIM can cover medical bills of up to $5,000 or more depending on your coverage.
Property Owned by Your Parent Teacher Group Gets Damaged
There are many games for all attendees to play at a fall carnival. Boat races, dart balloons, and a football toss are among a few. At the football toss, one of the kids is aiming for the small red hoop hanging 8 feet away. He tosses it with all his 5th grade might, but sadly, his accuracy isn’t so sharp. He picks up another ball and throws it again. Unfortunately, he misses the hoop but manages a line drive to the cotton candy machine. You don’t even have a chance to call “heads up!” before the cotton candy machine topples off the table. Immediately, you know a new machine will have to be purchased before your next event.
If your Parent Teacher Group is covered by our Property Insurance, you can rest easy knowing AIM will cover your organization’s property from a variety of perils.
The School Carnival Neighbors Are Unhappy
As the night goes on there are still a lot of people at the school carnival. This is wonderful news for your Parent Teacher Group, but not such good news for the surrounding neighbors. Turns out some people aren’t too happy about the fall carnival. They complain that the noise is too much and that the traffic is a nuisance. This could cause a problem if they organize together and decide to sue your organization for not notifying them of the event time and gaining proper approval.
If these neighbors do come back later asking for retribution by suing your officers for public disturbance, your Parent Teacher Group won’t have to worry about losing all its funds. Directors & Officers Insurance will cover your officers for the decisions they make on behalf of the organization.
One Of Your Members Embezzles From Your Parent Teacher Group
After the school carnival has ended, your Parent Teacher Group has a meeting to discuss the earnings from the event. As everyone is talking about the costs and profit, you begin to realize that these numbers just aren’t adding up. Everyone turns to trusted Treasurer Mitch for answers. Unfortunately, what we didn’t know until now was that Mitch’s family was having a hard time paying rent lately. He said he was only behind a little, but every month he seemed to need just a bit more. It soon added up to over $1,500. Every time Mitch took money, he thought he’d be able to pay it back before it was even missed. This is a prime example of embezzlement and a situation that often spirals out of control.
Treasurer Mitch quickly resigned and isn’t providing details but in most cases, the missing funds can be covered with Embezzlement Insurance. Although a difficult situation, your Parent Teacher Group can continue on.
Keep Parent Teacher Group Events Successful
Ask any PTA, PTO, or Booster Club member and you’ll soon find out that many events don’t go quite as planned. Sometimes it’s a lack of planning, but just as often it is the unavoidable and unpredictable that occurs. We hope that you and your group are never put in these circumstances, but accidents happen and mistakes are made.
AIM is here to help Parent Teacher Groups just like yours, get out of difficult situations just like these. Just one of these situations can quickly become costly, but thankfully each of these incidents—and more—can be covered with AIM Insurance. With our four main coverage types and several upgrade options, your group can rest assured that every fundraising event, is still a great success!
AIM is here to help your organization succeed. Check out our other blogs for fundraising inspiration, tips, PTA, PTO, and Booster Club guidance, and more!