If you're a PTO Today Plus member, there's a nice start-up toolkit that lists the steps.

I just finished the process for our PTO -- mailed 3 years of tax returns to the IRS and 4 years to the state, having submitted Form 1023 (501c3 application) last month. We were already incorporated with the state and had by-laws, and a member had started work on 1023 last fall; your PTO may have started some of that the first time. I was just elected in January, so it's entirely practical to plan to do it over the summer.

Personally, I found 1023 not too difficult, with the start-up guide giving recommendations on how to fill it out. The big nuisance was sorting through 4 years of financial data to organize it the way the IRS wanted it (gross revenues, program services, various expenses, ...). I know there are some PTOs that don't get to the level of detail that appears to be required -- eg, if you mail a few things to parents of your school, your "postage" costs (separate line on 1023 or 990, or both, I forget exactly) aren't much, and the IRS probably doesn't care that you spent $100 on that -- it's the big direct-mailing organizations where sending all the mailings are a significant chunk of their budget that I think they're interested in. And, at some point, you may say, you know, what I've got is a good-faith representation of our status.

It's also a good idea to look over Form 990-EZ (the tax return) and the state forms; some states require you to classify or explain certain expenses a particular way, whereas you might have thought differently as you were filling out Form 1023.

Ok, I am new to this forum although I've been reading it the past school season as vice president of our PTO. (and learned lots of great info!) Next year, I will work as president. I was amazed today to find out from our principal that we, as the PTO, cannot use their school tax ID #, that we would have to apply for one as an organization. Can anyone give me insight as to how this works and any heads up I may need while trying to do this? (I was told the PTO tried before, but too much work, and gave up??!!)
Thanks!

It depends on what you mean. If you are merely referencing your IRS Tax ID # (often called EIN), then it doesn't really matter as anyone could pretty easily look it up via the internet.

But if you are talking about your state tax exempt number (which may be a version of the EIN, I think here it's the the same with a digit added), then it depends. The number itself doesn't matter. But WHY do they need it?

You need to carefully control who uses the number to make tax-free purchases as your organization is responsible for those purchases. You don't want unauthorized (illegal) purchases made on behalf of your organization. So for THAT reason, I might try to control it.

Can you please comment on how freely you give out your Tax ID number to PTO members. For example, maybe you give it to every event chairperson, or maybe you give it only to chairpeople who will spend over $100 on something. Thank you.