I have been prez at our PTO for over a year. Before that I was vp at my son's preschool and I just found out last month that all of our fundraisers has to be approved by our board! The principal just ask for it and they have never turned anything down.
I helped start the PTO at my son's preschool because it was in it's first year. The director of the building took care of all the red tape.
Our board is really good about letting the PTOs have their way. We are a poor county and the PTOs
are very beneficial to the children of our county, however the next county over only allows their PTO to raise $10,000 each. They aren't allowed to do Box Tops, Target, or any other fundraisers as such. In one of their older elementary schools they had the students selling candles for new air conditioners!
My point being each district is different. Talk to parents in other schools in your district, maybe you can put your heads together and come up with something everyone is happy with.