Thanks Tim...yes we'd like to take out current funds from our disbanding PTA and put them into a newly formed PTO...sounds like that is okay to do this....but we are checking our by-laws first
I think you may have mixed up the acronyms above. Am I right in assuming that you're disbanding your PTA and starting a new PTO? And that you're wondering if it's OK to donate the remianing funds in your PTA (before disbanding) to the newly formed 501c3 PTO?
If that's the question, then -- basically -- yes. The IRS wants to see the funds from a disbanding 501c3 used or disbursed in a manner consistent with non-profit law. Those funds can't be disbursed to the leaders, for example. Typically, the IRS wants to see those funds disbursed to another 501c3. In your case, it's even better, because the 501c3 you're disbursing to shares a very similar/same mission as the original.
The only caveat may be your own PTA's bylaws (as opposed to IRS regs). You should read those and see if there are any clauses in there that are more specific. If you do see issues there, there are certainly other perfectly legal ways to wind up with the same result (presuming your key concern = making sure the $$ your parents raised go toward serving the school/kids for which they were raised). Before disbanding, you can make some purchases for your school until your funds are done. (You could even pre-pay the bus company for all next year's field trips or something, as an example.) We also see groups that donate remaining funds to the school, and the school typically winds up using those funds for the same purpose you would have. Things like that.
