Hi crystal,
You are on the right track. Yes, best to have your own EIN rather than use the school's number. I wanted to pass along a few general articles on 501(c) 3. You might find them helpful:
I opened a bank account using the tax id number the school gave me. I was not aware that I had to apply for our own EIN. Now that I know this I will apply for EIN and let the bank know of the changes, Ive looked and called, they never had a 501 c 3 status.
If they brought in $15000 before, I'd hope they had 501(c)(3) status. You can call the IRS charities division (1-877-829-5500) and see if they can find you in their database. Though, if it's been a while, you may have some extra work to do to get back in good graces.
You probably should not use the school's tax id number if the money is not going directly to the school's account. Where is the $112 being held?
I did find one book and they used to bring in over 15,000 annually from the fundraisers they used to do. As of now our PTO only has 112.00 and that was from cupcake sales at our harvest festival.
I was just elected the President of the PTO at our school, they had an active PTO years and years ago but they are all gone and left practically no information behind. I have researched but I cant find anything on the previous group and whether or not they had a 501 c 3 status. Can I use the schools tax number to ask for donations and such or do I need to file for my own??
