From talking with our editors, I've learned that t's not very common for a PTO or PTA to raise that kind of money to support staff positions. It's more common to have two organizations, an education foundation (like the endowment fund) that focuses on bigtime fundraising, and a PTO or PTA that focuses on building parent involvement and creating a supportive school community. My concern would be that the PTO would be consumed by the fundraising need and the other very important activities would disappear. But if they don't have enough volunteers for both, I can see why they would want to consolidate. It's possible to change the mission statement and name of your organization. It probably would be worthwhile to call the IRS at 1-877-829-5500. and/or consult an attorney who is experienced in 501c3's.
I am the Co-President of our school's "PTO" (Endowment Fund) - which is a 501(c)(3). We also have a PTA. From what I can tell of the history of the school until about 20 years ago, we only had a PFG. At some point, I guess in the early 90s, the PFG split into a PTA and Endowment Fund. The Endowment Fund's charter is to provide a stable funding source for the supplemental staff (Librarian, IAs, etc.) that we have at our public school. We have an operating account and a restricted endowment account.
Over the past couple of years some of us believe that the burden of having 2 parent organizations is too much for our community. Between the 2 organizations we raise about $200K per year for staff and programs - but you see the same core of about 10-12 parents at the two monthly meetings and the volunteer base shrinking.
A small group of us are researching the pros and cons of merging the two organizations and infusing new life into the volunteer community. From what I have read here, it seems that the procedure would be to dissolve the PTA and amend/broaden the Endowment Fund bylaws/charter to include the activities of the PTA.
Can anyone confirm, guide, or share about their similar experience? Also, does anyone know how easy or hard it is to change the name of our PTO? Calling it the endowment fund would not be most representative for a merged organization.
