PwC, thanks for the hat tip. Of course I don't mind.
Beachmomof3,
Yes, you can operate as an extension of the school, with the permission of the Principal. This is usually a good starting place for new or very small PTOs that are begining to get organized (I am a believer in starting small and building on success.) The advantage is that there is very little paperwork - you can use the schools EIN number and (assuming it is a public school) you can take advantage of it's non-profit status.
The disadvantages are that you operate as an extension of the school. Which means that the Principal would have significant influence over how your group operates. Technically, the Principal can reallocate your funds at whim, for example, if you had a fundraiser to pay for field trips, the Principal can decide that money is better spent buying paper for the school. This is true even if your PTO has it's own bank account, but uses the schools EIN to open it (if the bank even lets you do that).
I am not sure about the insurance part of your question, but it seems to me that if your PTO is truly an extensikon of the school, the schools insurance will cover you as if you were an "employee" of the school (but this is really outside by knowledge)
If you have been operating as part of the school for a while, at some point you should at least discuss becoming a separate but supporting entity. You probably should do this if you are raising a good amount of money (say $5000 gross) or are starting to grow membership beyond a small "club". To do this requires a certain maturity/professionalism of the organization, because there will be tax forms to fill out (regardless of Non-Profit status you need to send something to the IRS and the state) and more responsibility for the group. But the advantage is that you have more control over what activities you do and where your money goes to support the school.
I suspect that most PTOs operate as independent entities from the school (but I have no stats to back that up).
I use nonprofitlaws.coms links, they have some free and paid stuff. I use the free stuff
<font size=""1""><font color="#"black"">Liberalism is not an affilation its a curable disease. </font></font><br /><br><font color="#"gray"">~Wisdom of Shawnshuefus</font><br /><br><font color="#"blue""><font size=""1"">The punishment which the wise suffer, who refuse to take part in government, is...
Check out the Website for MacArthur School. Phil B. posts around here quite frequently. They have an awesome powerpoint presentation about why to look into getting your own ID & 503 status.
I am doing some research on the legal things our board needs to function properly. I will be presenting these things to the board at the next meeting. I have no experience with this sort of thing. I have yet to get RRO but do plan on getting it. When I started asking around about the PTO’s legal status and tax I.D. # I was told we just used the schools and was given a look like what do you guys need one for. I have yet to get the boards response but I am hoping to sound a little more educated. Is it a common practice to just function under the umbrella of the school (Insurance, tax I.D, EIN, 501c3, ect.). Is that even possible? If it is possible then why would we not do it?
