We provide our Principal a place on the agenda every month to address anything that he deems neceassary. At the meetings, he has the opportunity to vote equally as a member. Myself, as President, will often run by some of our plans to him informally before a meeting so that there are no surprises and he in turn does the same for us. The result is an excellent partnership between ourselfs.
Thanks jhb for saying that, I was thinking along that lines but wasn't totally clear on the wording...when in doubt protect yourself! As far as the principal situation it takes time, I am meeting with my principal in about 40 minutes, this a guy that I wasn't happy with at the beginning but you know what I think he is going to be okay!
"When you stop learning you stop growing."
I don't want to take this thread off on a tangent, but I think we need to make sure the information on annual tax filings is clear.
Organizations like PTO's or others operating for non-profit reasons are supposed to formalize if they have more than $5,000 in gross receipts per year. This involves filing for 501(c)(3) status.
Once recognized as a 501(c)(3), then you must file a 990/990EZ informational reaturn if your gross receipts exceed $25,000. If less, you can file one voluntarily - which is a good idea for making sure the IRS continues to recognize your organization's existance. The 990/990EZ filing isn't a big deal. Many of us do it ourselves. (Note, in 2008 the rules are changing and they are adding a "post card" filing so that everyone files something.)
However, if your organization exceeds the $5,000 threshold and doesn't become a 501(c)3, then it's simply a business and should be filing a business return each year. In actuality, what most groups like this do file nothing and simply operate "off radar". Odds are pretty good nothing will ever happen, but the group is operating illegally in that case. And as technology continues to involve and more information is shared - I think the risk of exposure will increase.
I just wanted to say that I meet with the principal before school starts to give him an overview of our year. (fundraisers, events, grants, etc) this way we can discuss any changes, date conflicts or other ideas that we get.
We also meet a few days before each PTO meeting to discuss the agenda for the meeting.
why not have quarterly executive meetings with the principal to keep him/her in the loop. if you have District or policy or a situation that turns uncomfortable with any volunteers, she/he will be another avenue to guide you.
our past board had exec mtgs the friday before each pto mtg. our mts were on tuesdays.
this year due to scheduling, we opted to do quarterly mtgs.
JFKLine: As far as I am aware we due not have a 501c status due to the concern of costs for CPA auditing that we were told would have to occur yearly. We pay sales tax on items we purchase. We do have I believe what is called and EIN that is for our bank accounts.
I think you may be a bit confused about this. Having 501c3 status does not require any more filing that you should already be doing for your PTO. If you have an EIN, you MUST file the federal 990 every year. Otherwise, they have no way of knowing that your organization is still active. Our PTO did not file and they deactiviated our EIN. I had to work with them to reactivate it and we just applied for 501c3 status. I would suggest that you check and make sure that your EIN is still activated and that your Treasurer is filing the 990 every year.
