Field guide · The PTO year
The PTO year: what your board should do every month
Boards don't burn out because the work is hard — they burn out because the work arrives as a surprise. The wheel below is the whole year, grounded in how hundreds of real parent groups actually operate, so that nothing lands on you the week before. Checklists assume a July–June fiscal year and 501(c)(3) status.
July
⏰ deadlineThe quiet reset
July is the parent-group new year: the fiscal year rolls over (most groups end June 30), officer transitions finish, and next year gets sketched while school is out.
The July checklist →August
⏰ deadlineBack to school
August is the highest-goodwill month of the whole year: staff return before students, families show up to orientation ready to say yes, and everything you launch now compounds.
The August checklist →September
⏰ deadlineThe launch month
September is launch month: the first general meeting, the membership drive, the fall fundraiser kickoff, and sponsorship season all land at once.
The September checklist →October
⏰ deadlinePeak season
October is peak event season: the fall festival or trunk-or-treat, the fundraiser closing, and conference-week meals stack into one month.
The October checklist →November
⏰ deadlineGratitude and the 990
November is the deadline-and-gratitude month: the IRS Form 990 is due November 15 for June-30 fiscal years, and staff hit the pre-break wall.
The November checklist →December
Holiday shop and half-time
December is a short sprint then silence: the holiday shop runs, school events stack up, and then everything stops for two weeks.
The December checklist →January
⏰ deadlineThe restart
January is the re-engagement month: families went quiet over break and won't return on their own.
The January checklist →February
⏰ deadlineThe engine room
February looks quiet from the outside and is the busiest planning month on the inside: spring event logistics, grant deadlines, and election machinery all start here.
The February checklist →March
⏰ deadlineNominations open
March opens election season while the spring fundraiser peaks.
The March checklist →April
⏰ deadlineElections and the last push
April is when the next board becomes real: elections happen (with quorum!), Teacher Appreciation Week enters final prep, and the spring fundraiser closes out.
The April checklist →May
⏰ deadlineAppreciation week and the handoff
May runs on two tracks: Teacher Appreciation Week (the first full week of May) and the transition machinery for the incoming board.
The May checklist →June
⏰ deadlineClose the year properly
June decides whether next year starts from strength or from zero: the fiscal year ends June 30 for most groups, and everything that isn't written down or handed over evaporates over summer.
The June checklist →The three deadlines that actually bite
- IRS Form 990 — November 15 (for a June 30 fiscal year end). The 990-N e-postcard takes ten minutes, and three consecutive missed years means automatic revocation of tax-exempt status. Most PTO horror stories start here. File in October.
- 1099-NEC — January 31. For any unincorporated contractor you paid $600+ in the prior calendar year — DJs, performers, bounce-house operators. Collect W-9s before you pay anyone and this is painless.
- Your own bylaws' clocks. Meeting notices, nominating-committee formation (often 60–90 days before elections), election notices (often 30 days). Nobody emails you a reminder about these — read your bylaws in July and put the dates on the calendar.
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