You understand. I work for county government and we both know how perception is everything! Even the hint of inpropriety turns people off.
Interesting turn of events. I am now the PTO President elect. The new board takes over after the May meeting. The current President declined all nominations. Word is she wants nothing to do with the PTO. Although the couple of people she has became disillusioned with are still on the board (lucky me!). The new board will be evenly split, so I maybe tie breaking alot.
I got a flyer in my daughters backpack last night asking for ideas and parents interested in vending for a Parents Shopping Night. At this point I guess they will go through with it.
I'm just looking forward to a new school year where maybe I can get some parents back who have been alienated. It will be a tough sell.
Conflict of Interest is a very serious thing. Working for the US Government (I'm also a PTO President) I'm very cautious as far as anything that's even close to Conflict of Interest. If the President is determined to bring her company into the fold, you need to ensure that your objections are heard and entered into the minutes of your meeting. With two board members not wanting to be involved, that's going to be your best avenue. Your other option would be to have the Principal intervene. With a lack of participation, your last option would be to floor a motion for dissolusion. We had a problem with attendance at our meetings and I sent a letter home to parents letting them know that we were considering shutting down the PTO. We suddenly doubled our participation......we went from 6 to 12 people showing up. An improvement....but not much. Your problem is you don't have an organization anymore...you have a dictatorship. Talk to the Principal, teachers and other parents. Declare a mutiny and overthrow the President. You're to the point where you force the person out or play along with the rest and boycott.
Keep us informed.
Jeff This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
This has been a bad year for our PTO. 2 officers don't care and don't show up for meetings. The Pres wants to control everything as does the Sec and another board member. There are a couple of us that are trying to make things work. It has just seemed this year that the ones who want to control everything, only are in it for the ego trip or to personally profit by it. This is only my second year, and I now see why everyone stays clear of some of these individuals! I think it looks bad for the Pres who has had to run several events her way (cutting off help form others) is now proposing this and could possibly be a vendor to jump start her business. Basically the event, while in the guise of helping the school, is purely motivated by greed. On top of that we just had a catalog fundraiser 1 week ago!
This is the kind of self-seeking behavior that most parents running away from.
We thought about this too. What if there is more than ONE rep from Tupperware (just as an example)? Can more than one rep from the same company participate? Which one will you select if only one is allowed? Who will decide? If the Pres is donating the same profit margin as the other product dealer then I really see no problem. UNLESS there are more parents out there who sell the same item, then I think they should get the opportunity and not the officer. Just my 2 cents worth.
I think what nonmember is referencing is one of the key principals of being a non-profit. The interpretation can get a little skewed at times, but the basic idea is that no individual is supposed to profit from PTO activities.
So in this case, it would not be fair for the president to drive a decision by which she could ultimately benefit financially. However, that is not to say she couldn't participate if it were handled properly.
As far as 501(c)(3)'s having a conflict of interest policy - that is a question on the new 1023 application form the IRS has been phasing in since October.
As I understand it, having a Conflict of Interest Policy isn't "required", but is recommended and there are questions now on the application as to if you have one and what it covers.
Like you, one of my PTO's got our 501(c)(3) before this took place. We don't have anything in our bylaws.
The other PTO to which I belong has a generic sentence in the bylaws stating that everyone is bound by the PTO's Conflict of Interest Policy. Then we have the policy as a separate document.
Actually, we are a 501c3 and have nothing in our by-laws about this. Not sure if we are suppose to or not, but we don't.
Personally, I think that if your board determines that the event is a great idea and it will raise funds for the school, then it should not matter if the president is part of that as a vendor (how is that any different than a parent or community member that is a vendor)?
