501(c)(3), not 502. That's the clause in the IRS code under which your organization's income is exempt from taxes, and people can deduct contributions they make to your organization. Form 1023, which you use to apply for 501(c)(3) status, should be available from the IRS web site (www.irs.gov).
I'm assuming that this is the question on form 1023 since I replied to your other thread. Again, I can tell you what we did and it was not questioned.
We listed our major fundraisers - basket raffle, penny drive, walk-a-thon, catalog sales, etc. Then I listed miscellaneous fundraisers through local stores and national programs (Box Tops for Education, Target, etc). Then I listed mail solicitation for donation of funds and/or auction items and then grants received.
I indicated who benefits from each fundraiser ie: proceeds go to large school projects, such as the playground fund, art dept. or whatever.
Hope this helps. Good luck - I'm glad you have the Start-Up guide. Ask questions here and we can try to help fill in the gaps. It's SOOOOO worth it!
We are supposed to list each of our fundraising activities. Does this mean every single one? We have quite a few activities that we do that bring in only $100-200, do we have to list ALL of these?
Also, is says to list/describe all the activities we do, concisely. If I list them all, it would be quite a list...how concise are the looking for. I mean is saying "Father-Daughter Dance" enough, or do I need to describe each thing?
And what about things where we don't do it as a "fundraiser" but end up netting a little bit...for example, the PTO buys recorders (music instruments) and then the students buy them...we're really a cleaning house for the music teacher so she doesn't have to personally cash the checks and write a check for them. The cost is usually rounded up a few pennies to the nearest quarter. We end up covering the kids who aren't able to pay for theirs ($3? each). Some years we lose a few bucks, some years we make a few (like this year we're $12 to the positive).
