Managing Your Money
Every school has different policies regarding fundraising, managing cash, checks and providing security for funds. Please be certain to follow the policies of your administration, should they exist.
Here are some options that are available to use through H2O for Life.
Submit payments directly to H2O for Life
You can send donations directly to H2O for Life. Some schools prefer to send one check when their fundraising is over. Others send periodic payments after events or when they have checks to deposit. Either method works just fine for H2O for Life. However, the sooner you start sending money into H2O for Life, the sooner we can start to submit payments to our NGO partners to get “water flowing.” This will also ensure your online thermometer rises accordingly! Our address is:
H2O for Life
4756 Banning Avenue, Suite #207
White Bear Lake, MN 55110
Who should the checks be made out to?
If you have donors who are writing checks, it is best to have them write the check out to “H2O for Life.” This way, they can enjoy the tax exempt benefits available to them as defined by the IRS. If donors write checks to your school or organization, they may still benefit from tax exempt rules, but H2O for Life cannot guarantee it.
Endorsing a check for deposit
If you are sending your checks directly to H2O for Life, and the checks are made out to H2O for Life, there is no need to endorse the checks. We will do that on our end before depositing the checks. If the checks are made out to your school or organization and you want to send them directly to H2O for Life, this becomes a third party check. Third party checks must be endorsed by the school or organization that is on the “Pay to the Order of” line on the check. Simply endorse the check by writing the following on the back of the check:
Pay to the order of H2O for Life (Signature of authorized signer)
Coins
Coins sure can add up to big numbers, but they can also be tough to manage. It is a great job to have kids count and roll coins or you can take it to your own bank, and have it counted by their coin machines. Once the coins are counted you can do a couple things to get your money to H2O for Life:
1. Have the bank cut a cashier’s check made out to H2O for Life and send it to us. If there is a charge for the check, deduct it from the coin deposit. We don’t expect that anyone has to pay fees for managing the money.
2. Write a personal check representing the amount of the coin. In other words, deposit it into your personal account and convert it to a check.
Cash
You have handfuls of cash and now you don’t know what to do with it. What a great problem!
1. First and foremost, be certain that you are following the procedures set up by your administration
2. Deposit it in a “school” account and later send a check made out to H2O for Life
3. Take it to a bank and have a cashier’s check made out to H2O for Life
Questions? If you have any questions, you can always call our office at 651-756-7577 or email Steve at shall@h2oforlifeschools.org. Remember, we are here to help!
Next up: Check out our lesson plans