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A board pitch, photos for your posts, sample letters that fill themselves in, ten fundraiser ideas, and the rules nobody tells parent groups.
Yes. A PTO, PTA, PTSA or booster club spends its own money under its own bylaws, so your board or members decide, with the principal on board for the date. Most groups cover a guest speaker with two or three things: local business sponsors, a service club, a restaurant spirit night, or splitting the cost with the school.
I’m a dad of seven, so I know what a PTO is to a school. It’s the parents who come back after a full day of work to run the concession stand, plan grad night, feed the teachers during conferences and quietly cover the field trip fee for the kid whose family can’t. Nobody pays you. Most of you started with no playbook, just the feeling that these kids deserve a little more than the budget can give them.
That’s who this page is for. If you want to bring a speaker to your school, everything I’d want in your hands is here: what to do first, letters you can send tonight, fundraisers that work, and the rules nobody tells parent groups. Take what helps and leave the rest.
Chad Kempel
I talk with high school students about goals, stress and belonging: goal setting, stress and mental health, and belonging and bullying. 4x Guinness World Records title holder, MA in Experimental Psychology, taught at San Jose State. No religion, no politics. More about me.
The board pitch, the posts, the letters and the printables all use what you type here. It stays in your browser. Nothing is sent anywhere.
Put in your goal to see how close you are.
Not sure what your goal is? My rate depends on where your school is: Idaho, California, the rest of the West, the Midwest, the East Coast, the South, Hawaii and Alaska. A second school on the same trip pays a lower rate with no added travel, so two PTOs can share one trip.
Print the pitch for your next meeting. It ends with a motion your board can vote on. Then post in your parent group.
Talks and details: chadkempel.com/speaking · Prepared by [Your name]
Big news for [School name]! The [PTO name] is raising [goal amount] to bring speaker Chad Kempel to our students [month or date] for an all-school assembly on goals, stress and belonging. Every student in the building will hear it.
Want to help? Chip in any amount, ask your employer whether they match donations, or tell us about a local business that might sponsor it. Message [Your name] at [your email or phone].
Bringing a speaker to [School name]. The [PTO name] is raising [goal amount] to bring Chad Kempel, a youth speaker and 4x Guinness World Records title holder, to [School name] for an all-school assembly [month or date]. He talks with students about goals, stress and belonging.
Here’s how you can help: give any amount, ask your employer about matching gifts, or connect us with a local business that might sponsor it. Questions? Contact [Your name] at [your email or phone].
Free to use in your PTO’s posts, newsletters and flyers about bringing Chad to your school. Tap a photo for a closer look and the download buttons.
Tap a letter to open it. Copy it, open it in your email, or download it for Word to put on your letterhead. Anything still in brackets is a spot to fill in.
Hi [Principal's name],
The [PTO name] would like to help bring a speaker to [School name] for an all-school assembly [month or date]. We’ve been looking at Chad Kempel, a youth speaker who talks with high school students about goals, stress and belonging. His talk outlines and an approval packet are at chadkempel.com/docs.
We’d like to raise [goal amount] toward it, through local sponsors and a fundraiser or two. Before we ask anyone for money, we want to make sure you’re on board and find a date that works for the school.
Could we grab 15 minutes this week or next?
Thank you for everything you do for these kids.
[Your name]
[Your role], [PTO name]
[your email or phone]
Hi,
I’m [Your name], [Your role] of the [PTO name] at [School name]. We’re raising money to bring a speaker to our students [month or date], and we’d love your help.
The speaker is Chad Kempel. He talks with high school students about goals, stress and belonging, and every student in the building hears it.
Our goal is [goal amount], and a gift of any size helps. We’ll thank you by name in our newsletter and on our social media, and we’ll let you know how the assembly went. We’re a 501(c)(3) nonprofit (EIN ), so your gift may be tax-deductible.
If you can help, just reply to this email or reach me at [your email or phone].
Thank you for supporting the kids in our community.
[Your name]
[Your role], [PTO name]
[your email or phone]
Hello,
I’m [Your name], [Your role] of the [PTO name] at [School name]. Your club does a lot for young people in this community, and I’m writing to ask whether you’d consider helping with a project for our students.
We’re bringing a speaker, Chad Kempel, to [School name] for an all-school assembly [month or date] on goals, stress and belonging. Our goal is [goal amount], and any part your club can cover would make a real difference. We’re a 501(c)(3) nonprofit (EIN ), so your gift may be tax-deductible.
I’d be glad to come to a meeting and talk about it, or send whatever your club needs to consider a request.
Thank you for considering it.
[Your name]
[Your role], [PTO name]
[your email or phone]
Hello,
I’m [Your name], [Your role] of the [PTO name] at [School name]. With [Principal's name]’s support, our PTO is raising money to bring a speaker, Chad Kempel, to [School name] for an all-school assembly [month or date].
Our goal is [goal amount]. We’re writing to ask whether the district can help with any part of the cost, or point us to district or community funds that might fit. If another school in the district wants the same speaker, a second school on the same trip pays a lower rate with no added travel.
His talk outlines, a sample agreement and an approval packet are at chadkempel.com/docs.
Thank you for supporting our students.
[Your name]
[Your role], [PTO name]
[your email or phone]
Hi,
Thank you for helping bring Chad Kempel to [School name]. Because of you, every student in the building heard it.
[Add one thing a student or teacher said afterward. That line will mean more to them than anything else in this note.]
We’re grateful to have you in our corner.
[Your name]
[Your role], [PTO name]
[your email or phone]
Both print on one page and fill in from your details. Hang the flyer at local businesses; tape the poster up in the school office or at the game-night table.
We’re raising [goal amount] for an all-school assembly [month or date] with youth speaker Chad Kempel. He talks with high school students about goals, stress and belonging, and every student in the building hears it.
Every gift helps. Businesses: sponsor it and we’ll thank you by name in our newsletter and on social media.
Give or sponsor: [Your name], [your email or phone]
Put in your goal and what you’ve raised to fill it in.
To bring speaker Chad Kempel to every student at [School name].
Pick two or three. Start with the low-effort ones.
Use the sponsorship letter above. Start with places your families already go: the pizza place, the dentist, the car dealer, the credit union.
Rotary, Lions and Kiwanis meet on a schedule and decide requests at meetings, so ask early. Use the service club letter above.
A local restaurant gives back part of one night’s sales. Ask the manager; many have a form for it. Families just show up and eat.
The PTO covers part and the principal covers the rest from the building budget. Asking to split it is easier to say yes to than asking for all of it.
A second school on the same trip pays a lower rate with no added travel. Two PTOs, one trip. The price is on the rate page for your area.
They raise money for students too. Ask whether they’d chip in a share.
Some employers match what their people give to schools and nonprofits. Ask your parents to check with HR. It can double a donation for free.
A walk, run or challenge where families pledge per lap or per goal. Hold it after school or on a weekend so food rules don’t come into it.
Run the snack stand at a home game. Sales after the school day aren’t covered by the federal school snack rules below.
If your PTO already takes online donations, make a page just for the assembly with a goal on it. People give to a specific thing.
Food sales during the school day, raffles, tax deductions and your district’s own policy. Tap each one for the details.
Federal Smart Snacks standards cover “all foods and beverages sold to students on the school campus during the school day,” fundraisers included. The school day runs “from the midnight before to 30 minutes after the end of the instructional day” (Idaho State Department of Education). So a bake sale at lunch has to follow the nutrition rules, or count as one of the exempt fundraisers your state allows, if it allows any. Idaho allows ten per school per year, up to four days each. Other states set their own number. Illinois, for example, allows nine exempt fundraising days a year in grades 9 to 12 and none in K-8 (Illinois State Board of Education).
Sales after school, at evening games, off campus or of food meant to be eaten at home aren’t covered. Your school’s nutrition director can tell you your state’s count.
Raffles fall under state gambling law, and some states require a license, even for a school group. In Michigan, for example, a school’s PTA, PTO or booster club can be the one that applies for the raffle license (Michigan Lottery). Check your state’s rules before you sell a ticket.
Don’t tell a donor their gift is tax-deductible unless your group is recognized by the IRS as eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions. You can check on the IRS’s Tax Exempt Organization Search, but it’s a partial list: groups covered by a larger organization’s group exemption “are not separately listed” (IRS), so a PTA unit may be eligible without showing up there. Ask your treasurer. If you aren’t sure, leave the EIN box blank and the letters won’t mention a deduction. Whether a business can write off a sponsorship some other way is a question for its accountant.
Many districts have a policy for parent groups: which fundraisers need approval, who can sign contracts, how money moves to the school. Your principal will know. Ask before you launch anything.
Yes. A PTO or PTA spends its own money under its own bylaws, so your board or members decide, with the principal on board for the date. The same goes for a motivational speaker, a guest speaker for one grade, or any other assembly program.
Usually, yes. The PTO covers part and the school covers the rest from the building budget, so ask your principal how your district handles it.
Bring what you raised to the principal and ask whether the building budget, student council or another group can cover the rest. Teaming up with a nearby school on the same trip can also bring your share down.
Yes, if your bylaws let your officers sign contracts. Get the principal’s OK on the date first, since the assembly happens on their calendar.
No. But don’t promise a donor a tax deduction unless the IRS recognizes your group as eligible to receive tax-deductible gifts. Your treasurer or your state PTA will know.
It depends on the speaker, the travel and how many talks you book. My rate depends on where your school is, and it’s on the rate page for your area, linked in the toolkit above.
Grants, federal money and the school budget: every way schools pay for an assembly speaker.
This page isn’t legal, tax or financial advice. Fundraising rules vary by state and district, so check with your principal and your group’s treasurer before you start.
Ready when your PTO is
Three talks for high school assemblies: goal setting, stress and mental health, and belonging and bullying. Every booking starts with a planning call with your counseling team.
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