<MiddleSchoolMom>

It sounds like the fundraising is being done in the school's name, the parents are just serving as volunteers. That shouldn't be a problem - people do it all the time.

Like any project, you'll want to have clearly defined expectations and goals and be definite about who's doing what.

Schools apply for grants all the time, so that's no problem EXCEPT you need to be sure your school and your district approve of the grant submission and agree to the use of any funds received. With grants there are often reporting responsibilities, sometimes even additional costs. (Example: One school got a grant to get some new computers; but the school district, who was not consulted, was not prepared for the expense of setting up a lab, wiring, software, maintenence, etc. They cracked down pretty hard on independent grant proposals after that.)

Would donations be deductable? Speaking strictly as mere mortal, not a professional tax advisor - my opinion would be yes - IF the donor's child does not directly benefit from the donation. For example, I send money to cover a field trip expense for my child - NO. But if I send $10 as an extra donation to the field trip fund, it should be deductable.

The tax publication on indvidual charitable donations is www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p526.pdf. It doesn't answer the question specifically, but a public school is a part of local government (to which contributions can be deducted) and there are a couple of examples that deal with school contributions. Example: I donate my car to a high school program on auto repair. How do I determine fair market value to claim my deduction?

Talk to your district officials. They get donatiions all the time and deal with this. They should know the appropriate response, what type of receipts to give, etc.

Good luck!

I'm not talking about a PTA/PTO either. Our music booster group is a HS/MS parent organization. I'm saying without a mission statement, minimum by-laws and officers, things slip through the cracks. The things that you brought up, grants and non-profit status, are all excellent concerns. Our group is a non-profit organization and although we fundraise in-school, our money is not school managed. I hope someone else can help you more. I've been posting on this board for awhile though and I'm guessing that a majority of the members are elementary school parents.

I know the pros and cons of a PTO - did that for the past six years.

I'm talking about a major fundraising campaign with the money to be held in an account by the school. How do you apply for grants without non profit status? What about tax receipts for donors? Can we use the school's designation? I think this probably varies by district but want to be sure.

There is a lot of experience on this board. I was hoping someone might be in a similar position.

I'm involved in two groups right now that are structured very differently and I much prefer the more rigid one. When you are involved in a group that has by-laws and officers that have certain responsiblities there is much less chance of things slipping through the cracks. The one group I'm involved with is a band parents booster group and we have contact people for different things but it's like a puzzle without all the pieces. I'm one of the people that runs it but I don't feel that I can check on the contact people to make sure they're doing what they're supposed to or said they would. For example, we have a new treasurer but our old treasurer (child graduated) still hasn't given up the books. With our PTA, that would have been done (according to by-laws) books are turned over at the end of the school year after a three month training period. I would suggest at least have a mission statement, basic by-laws and minimal officers.

When I look at our middle school, I'd say just about every group except the PTO fits that description. (Band parents, athletic parents, Girl Start program, various other afterschool programs.)

Note - some of these are handling a LOT of money, and really should be more formally organized.

But, for example, my daughter is a member of an afterschool program devoted to encouraging interest in math and science of middle school girls. The program is funded by a grant (I think the National Science Foundation). But part of the requirement is parental involvement. We have a monthly parent meeting, are working on recruiting speakers, fundraisers, having a booth in the upcoming school festival, participating in some related math/science events, a service project, etc. (Frankly, it's a whole lot more "parent involvement" than I would have ever believed!)

But the point is that it's just a group of parents that meets monthly to support a particular school program. There are no officers, bylaws, etc. The fundraisers (I think) are intended to be minimal, just to raise a few hundred dollars to help cover a field trip or an end-of-year program.

Is there anyone out there managing a parent volunteer group that is neither a PTO or a PTA? No bylaws, charter, articles of incorp. etc. We would like to organize parent/student/concerned citizen volunteers to help the teachers and their committees to communicate with parents and raise funds for technology in our middle school. We are located in Missouri. Curious to know how this could be done.