When back-to-school comes around, teachers and school administrators start the search for room parents. But what exactly do room parents do? 

A room parent (also called a class parent) facilitates communication between parents and teachers, school administrators, and parent-teacher organizations (PTO)—while also supporting the teacher in any needs that arise. 

A crucial duty of room parents is raising funds for upcoming class events, field trips, teacher gifts, back-to-school nights, classroom supplies, and so much more. 

This post will give insight into making collecting donations and being a room parent seamless.

So are you interested in being a room parent in the future, or are you preparing for your duties as school starts back up?

Braid Money Pools are a flexible and free way to collect donations from other parents, caregivers, and classroom supporters. 

Intrigued? Keep reading to see exactly how to collect contributions for your classroom with Braid. 

In this post, you’ll learn:

  • The duties of a room parent
  • How to streamline classroom donations 
  • How to set up a classroom budget with Braid
  • How to manage classroom expenses with others
  • How to track classroom expenses 

Ready to set up your classroom budget with Braid Money Pools? Click here to get started. 

What are the duties of a room parent?

First, let's find out—what are some essential tasks expected of a room parent? 

The expectations for a room parent may vary from school to school, grade to grade, and teacher to teacher.

The classroom facilitation and communication you offer as a room parent may take different forms and require different responsibility levels. 

The role can be a minor volunteer commitment shared with other parents or a time-consuming, significant responsibility that requires multiple hours per week.

Here are some responsibilities a room parent may be in charge of: 

Meet with teachers: Chat with the assigned teacher to discuss the role they would like the room parent to play.

Meet with other stakeholders: Like co-room parents and the school's room parent administrator, regularly. 

Send letters: Send home a letter with kids to collect the contact info of all parents in the class. Some schools may give room parents this information. 

Plan and organize activities: Such as "Back-to-School Night", field trips, events, and more. 

Post events: To a classroom website, newsletter, or blog. 

Shop for events and gifts: Shop for enrichment activities, class parties, field trips, and more. Purchase gifts for teachers for special occasions, such as holidays, Teacher Appreciation Day, birthdays, the end of the school year, wedding or baby showers, and more.

Recruit other parents in the class: Other parents could help maintain an email database, draft newsletters, volunteer in the classroom, chaperone field trips, or start a telephone chain. 

Attend meetings: Like those of the school's Parent Teacher Association (PTA.)  

Contact parents: Ask for donations of supplies for the classroom or events (i.e., tissue boxes, cupcakes for parties, or arts and crafts.) 

Collect monetary donations: Solicit cash donations from other parents and seek out donations for the class from local businesses, community leaders, and other individuals besides parents of the children in the class.

Send out reminders to parents: Contact them via phone, email, and notes that go home with the children about meetings, field trips, events, fundraising, and needs for volunteers or donations. 

Act as a resource: Be a guide for parents by answering questions related to the class. 

How to streamline classroom expenses with Braid Money Pools

As you can surmise from that list, a key duty for room parents is collecting money for classroom expenses. 

And one of the main financial pain points room parents encounter? The need to mix funds from several donation sources. Perhaps someone is donating cash, someone else is writing a check, and someone else wants to contribute via an app.

Or worse, a room parent must pay from their bank account or using their credit card until all the donations are sorted and accounted for. It gets messy! 

With Braid Money Pools, you can create one central place for parents and classroom supporters to donate via a Pool Link. The classroom money will all be stored in one money pool, which you can easily spend using a Braid-issued debit card. 

Paying for classroom expenses is simple with Braid Money Pools. Click here to start yours today!

How to set up your classroom budget with Braid

One of the biggest responsibilities of a room parent is figuring out a classroom budget. From back-to-school nights to end-of-year teacher gifts, there are quite a few things to raise money for throughout the school year. 

Some room parents may prefer collecting money for specific events, like a field trip or an upcoming class semester. Other parents may pool money for long periods, like all expenses for the fall semester. 

No matter which avenue you select, Braid gives you the chance to grow your classroom budget however you'd like. 

For example, you can collect money in one pool if you know you'll need to raise funds for pre-planned expenses. 

Or, you can set up one pool for each budget category, like:

  • "Classroom Supplies"
  • "Nature Center Field Trip"
  • "Ms. Bell's Christmas Gift"
  • Etc.! 

Getting started with Braid is simple—all you need is to download the app, and you can have your pools set up in just a few minutes. It's safe, quick, and secure.

How to invite other parents to donate using Braid

Braid Pools are a dedicated place to raise funds for your assigned classroom. Here’s how parents can donate using a Braid Pool Link: 

  • Contributors can add money into the pool via debit card without fees. 
  • Alternatively, they can contribute with a credit card for a 3% fee. 

To make things clear for contributors, customize your Pool Link so other parents and classroom supporters know what they're donating to.

You can:

  • Update the pool description
  • Add a photo
  • Choose a color theme and default icons. 

 For example, your Pool Link might be braid.co/p/Ms-Bells-Class or braid.co/p/Class-Field-Trip-Fund.   

Then, you can share the Pool Link via email, newsletter, social media post, text message, QR code, or group chat. 

You can even post the link address to your classroom website or blog, so other people can easily reference it. 

After sharing the link, everyone can donate with a debit card for free or by credit card for a 3% fee. They don't even need to download Braid. 

Room parents (or anyone collecting money for group expenses) enjoy using Braid because it's a dedicated place to grow your classroom budget separately from personal checking or savings accounts. 

Once funds are added to the classroom pool, you and your chosen admins won't accidentally spend them on anything else. They're safely stored in the Braid Pool until you're ready to spend them on classroom expenses. 

Click here to how to start a free Money Pool for my classroom expenses.

How to manage your classroom donations with other room parents or teachers

Do you have a co-room parent or parents, or are you gathering money for a teacher to spend? You can easily manage the classroom budget together. 

Start by sending them an invitation link. Once they download Braid, they can join the pool using this link. Then, they can track pool balances and transactions, spend with the Braid card, and more. 

Sharing spending responsibilities with your assigned teacher or other parents helps lighten the load of your room parent role. For example, the teacher may want to select buy her preferred supplies, or another parent may volunteer to pick up pizza for a class party. 

Having a collaborative classroom budget keeps the process streamlined, too. You don't have to worry about who is paying for what because the whole pool is paying.

How to spend for your classroom with the Braid card

One of the most fantastic features of Braid as a money pool app? Every pool comes with a free digital debit card. If you'd prefer to carry the Braid card in your wallet, you're free to order a physical card. 

With the Braid card, you can spend classroom pool funds directly—no need to transfer them to your personal bank account. You can use your card wherever Mastercard is accepted. 

The Braid card is safe, secure, and confidential. If you lose your physical debit card or need to prevent future spending on the digital card, you can quickly freeze them on the Braid app. There's no need to call the bank. 

How can I track my classroom expenses?

Keeping track of classroom budgets can be tricky when there are so many moving parts. Sometimes, so many different purchases can get lost in the shuffle. 

From impromptu parties to those moments when school supplies are low, it's important to track your donations. 

You can successfully stick to your classroom budget with Braid. The app has two essential features to track your pool balance and transactions:

  • A feed updated in real time, where you can view transactions and contributions
  • A pool balance where you can see how much you’re left with. 

And if your classroom pool balance is dipping too low while you're waiting on more donations, you can easily add money via bank transfer or debit card for free or with your credit card for a 3% fee.