We are just starting out too. Our school (K-5)is new but the students are coming from 1 school (K-5) that is overcrowded. The "old" school is writing a letter to all the other PTO/PTA/PTSA organizations asking them to donate. Our middle school (PTSA) has already donated $200. The old school will probably donate $500. We're also going to approach small businesses to help.
For those of you who remember when you first started your PTO.... What did you do to get the money to start, like the corporation filing fees, the fee to the IRS for the tax exemption, etc.? And was the total $ amount of the start up fees a major hurdle to overcome in terms of starting a PTO instead of a PTA? Did any of you get seed money from a PTA?