Sorry, I meant to finish that post and we had a power outage, so I didn't think it went through.
What I was going to finish saying was is that we do our major purchases (playground, tech upgrades, etc.) through our school board. They have state contracts and we receive large discounts by doing that. But it is the taxes and grants that bother me.
I'll gather my info on my research for grants and start another post soon.
It sounds like you've already put it in layman's terms. You want to apply for grants which can be very helpful to you and without the status, you can't. Additionally, it will save you money in taxes. Pretty cut and dried.
Sounds like you want to get your 501(c)3 status. AKA, tax exempt status. If you do not have that you are paying taxes on all purchases you make and all money you bring in. We do not have our status yet and I am cringing every time we make a purchase. We have a 6% sales tax here and it adds up fast!
Care to share some of your grant findings? Perhaps you could start another post for that. I plan on having a Grant Search Committee. I've had some complaints from working mom's that they feel left out. So this is one thing I hope that will make them feel better and it will help our school alot if they find some things.
of being a registered non-profit? We are not a 501(c)3 or is it the other way around? I need information in laymans terms to try to convince our board and principal that we need to go that route. Without having status, I'm finding that a lot of grants that we could be applying for do not accept non-profits without that status.