A finished handoff binder, cover to cover

Where the EIN letter lives

Red "PTO Essentials" folder in the front-office file cabinet + Shared Drive → 01 Legal. EIN 82-XXXXXXX (147C replacement letter, 2024 — the original was lost in a garage, ask Dana).

Where the IRS determination letter lives

Same folder + same Drive path. Scanned copy also attached to our Google for Nonprofits profile.

Where the current bylaws live

Shared Drive → 01 Legal → bylaws-adopted-2025-04.pdf. Last amended April 2025 (added staggered terms).

Insurance carrier, policy number, renewal month

AIM (through the district co-op quote), policy #PTO-4471, renews July. ~$265/yr. Certificate of insurance needed for the carnival — request 3 weeks ahead.

State registrations & their deadlines

State charitable registration renews October 31 (online, ~15 min, $25). Secretary of State annual report due with it.

Fiscal year + who files the 990 and when

July 1 – June 30. Treasurer files the 990-N in October (due Nov 15). 2025 confirmation is in 01 Legal → IRS.

Bank, branch, current signers

First Community Bank, Main St branch. Signers: Priya (treasurer) + Marcus (president), updated July 2026. Ask for Rosa at the branch — she knows us.

Payment platforms and their registered emails

Cheddar Up (events + spirit wear) and Zeffy (donations), both registered to treasurer@maplewoodpto.org.

The group's email accounts and who holds admin

Google Workspace for Nonprofits: president@, treasurer@, secretary@, hello@. Admin account is admin@ — recovery phone is the president's, update it at handoff!

Website, social accounts, newsletter tool — and their admins

maplewoodpto.org (Namecheap, renews March, auto-pay on the PTO card). Facebook page + group: admins are president + secretary. Newsletter via Buttondown, hello@ login.

Where the files live and who owns the drive

Google Shared Drive "Maplewood PTO" — owned by the org account, folders 01 Legal / 02 Money / 03 Events / 04 Minutes. Everything goes here. If it's not in the Drive, it doesn't exist.

Where the passwords live

Bitwarden organization vault, shared with all four officers. The vault owner login is in a sealed envelope in the red folder. No passwords live in this binder on purpose.

Principal & front office

Dr. Alvarez — prefers email (jalvarez@district.org), replies early morning. Wants a heads-up before any all-school flyer. Genuinely supportive; bring her coffee order (oat latte) to planning meetings.

Custodian / facilities contact

Mr. Beck. Event setup requests via the front-office form, two weeks ahead minimum. He will move mountains if you thank him publicly at the year-end assembly.

Go-to vendors

Bounce house: JumpTime ($400/day, book by January for field day). Pizza: Antonio's (60% off for school events, ask for Gina). Shirts: InkSpot (~$7/shirt at 200+, art due 4 weeks out).

Business sponsors

Hilltop Dental (Gold, $500, renews Sept — banner + newsletter). Maple Hardware (Silver, $350 — trunk-or-treat booth). Contact log in 03 Events → Sponsors. They say yes when asked in person.

The people who always say yes

Sam T. — will chair anything food-related, brilliant at it. The Nguyens — setup/teardown crew, just text them. Dana — institutional memory back to 2019, ask her anything.

Our annual events, month by month

Sept: Back-to-School Bash (president, $600). Oct: Trunk-or-Treat (Sam, $400). Nov–Dec: Holiday Shop (secretary, $1,500 float). Feb: Bingo Night ($250). Mar: Fun Run — the big one (committee of 3, nets ~$14k). May: Teacher Appreciation Week ($2,000). Jun: Field Day ($800).

The book-early list

Fun-run vendor by October (spring slots gone by Thanksgiving). Field-day inflatables by January. Holiday Shop inventory order by October 1. Carnival insurance rider: 3 weeks.

What worked this year

Moving the favorites survey to teacher work week (98% response). Sunday-evening reminder emails. Splitting fun-run duties across three chairs instead of one martyr.

What flopped or exhausted us

Movie night in January — 30 people, freezing gym, skip it or move to spring. Catalog fundraiser — families hated it, margin was terrible; the fun run replaced it and nobody misses it.

Where the budget lives + balance at handoff

02 Money → budget-2026-27 (built in the PTO Kit Budget Builder — the dashboard link is in the vault). Balance at handoff July 1: $6,847.12.

The monthly treasurer rhythm

Treasurer report at every general meeting, one page, same format (beginning balance / in / out by category / ending / vs budget). Reconciliation the weekend the statement lands. Reports archived in 02 Money → Reports.

The pre-approved startup fund

$750, pre-approved in the adopted budget: teacher work-week breakfast, back-to-school table supplies, September copies. Anything else waits for the budget vote.

How reimbursements work

Form in 02 Money → Reimbursements (also taped inside the cash box lids). Receipts required, 30-day submission rule, June 15 hard cutoff before books close.

What to do in your first 30 days

1) Read the bylaws (20 min, really). 2) Coffee with Dr. Alvarez — just listen. 3) Bank signer appointment (bring the election minutes + resolution — Rosa has the checklist). 4) Get into the Bitwarden vault and change the admin recovery phone. 5) Send the staff favorites survey during work week. 6) Read last year's minutes in 04 Minutes.

What I wish I'd known

You don't have to attend everything. The job is making sure things have owners, not owning things. August feels like drowning and October feels like flying — hold on. And the quiet dads at pickup will volunteer if you ask them for something specific with an end time.

The relationships that matter most

Dr. Alvarez (monthly coffee, no agenda). Mr. Beck (public thanks, twice a year). Rosa at the bank. Gina at Antonio's. The kindergarten teachers — they recruit next year's volunteers for you.

Unfinished business & open threads

Google for Nonprofits verification for the new domain is mid-appeal (thread in president@ inbox). Hilltop Dental renewal ask due September. The playground-grant application draft is in 03 Events → Grants — deadline February 1.