Okay - this might be waaayyy more than you wanted to know, but you can get some pretty good results quickly just using your computer. Write back and let us know how it goes.
But first - PTO (Parent Teacher Organization)
is one of the most common acronyms, but sometimes it's hyphenated when spelled out, sometimes not. And some organizations use other names. So keep those variations in mind when you try the following. For these examples, I'll use the acronym "PTO".
You might try the following methods (listed in my order of preference)
1)
Guidestar
- This is a searchable directory of information on charitable organizations. You'll have to register (free) to do a search. Any PTOs in your area that have 501(c)(3) status will be in here. (And those are going to tend to be the more structured PTOs since they've gained official 501 status.)
The NTE (National Taxonomy of Exempt Entities) for parent groups is
B94. Once you get logged into Guidestar, enter your search criteria. If I put B94 in the keyword field and Georgia in the state, I get about 250 entities (includes PTAs). If I put PTO in the keyword and Georgia in the state, I get about 50. (Most of those really are PTOs.)
Note - many PTOs never formalize enough to file as 501(c)(3)'s, so you might want to try the next method as well (Google).
2)
Google - do a google search with variations of PTO, your city name, surrounding cities, counties, state. You may find references to school PTO websites or mentions in school newsletters, etc.
Example:
+PTO +Dacula
+PTO +Georgia
+PTO +Georgia +school
Note - if you start getting hits for the Patent and Trademark Office (PTO), use a "-patent" to help filter. Example:
+PTO +Georgia -patent
(Finds hits that have "PTO" and "Georgia" but not "patent")
Also, if you haven't used Google much, look at the very bottom for the "Search within Results". This allows you to filter further within your hits.
So, for example, if I use the +PTO +Georgia, I start seeing a lot of references to "Prison Talk Online". I could put "-prison" in the "search within results field and narrow it down. Play around with that.
3)
State sales tax exempt records - If Georgia has a searchable on-line database of entities that are sales tax exempt, you can use similar search methods to find PTOs.
4)
Melissa Data
- free lookup allows you to locate all nonprofits within a given ZIP code or by name. (So you'd have to type in local zip codes and scan all non-profits.) This tool would be pretty inefficient for what you want.
[ 08-12-2005, 05:02 PM: Message edited by: JHB ]
