Question: Donated Money!

Can a home & School Club donate money to help support trying to pass a parcel tax in their district? Isn't this a conflict, if money that was donated by parents to be spent on programs and materials, to directly support their children,is donated to a poitical cause?

Asked by teacherk123

Answers:

Advice from PTO Today

Craig writes:
I agree with you; it's a conflict. First of all, why support a political cause unrelated to your mission? Unless there's unanimous support, all you're going to do is invite conflict in your group -- conflict that will make it harder to fulfill your mission of supporting the students and the school. It's fine for your members and leaders to support causes individually, but doing so as a group invites problems. On top of that, if your group is a 501c3 tax-exempt charity, you may be courting real trouble from the IRS. The IRS forbids 501c3s from intervening in elections by supporting candidates and donating money. So no matter how fired up people get about an issue, it's best to find other ways to show your support.