Why the debate again? The orginal topic starter just asked about how to switch from PTA to PTO. Since I've never been through it I can't answer. But the money can be put into a new pto account. She didn't ask whether what group is better. I personally believe the money is better spent in the schools. I wouldn't join a group I have to pay to be a part of. There's a lot of info on the 501c3 on these boards. check in day to day & roberts rules sections. Good luck.

Amberandryan,
Could you tell me the cost of filing the 501 3 c for tax exempt status? Or any other costs involved with going from a PTA to a PTO?

Thanks!

We do way more than just raise money and we probably have more structure and rules and regulations and checks than any PTA out there. We're not a booster club, we are a PTO. We have members who attend school board meetings and our principal works with us on big decisions all the time. I'm not sure what your point is, all4kids?

Originally posted by <been there B4>:
There must be a reason that more school parent groups are part of National PTA than ALL OTHER GROUPS COMBINED!!!

Huh? Yes, I'd say there is a pretty obvious reason: PTA is the only thing that groups that choose to be part of something can be part of. All of the rest are independent. That said, more than 75% of groups choose independence.

National PTA has more members than The Lions Club, Rotary, and Kiwanis COMBINED!!!

Again, this is a quite misleading statistic. Of the 5.75 million PTA members, how many even know they're part of the national PTA? What % sent in 5 bucks to their kids' school because the flier came home asking for the $5. If the acronym said PTA or PTO or HSA or PDQ -- they would have sent in the $5.

We know this to be true, because when a group makes the switch from PTA to PTO (or from PTO to PTA), the membership numbers are almost never impacted. If the group had 200 members asa PTA, then it almost always gets 200 members as a PTO. And vice versa. It's because the parents (in their minds and intentions) are joining "their local school parent group", not some far-reaching PTA.

Contrast that to, say, the NRA -- where every single member joins individually. It's a huge difference in connection.

Tim

Originally posted by <ALL 4 the kids>:

For less than the cost of a Dunkin Donuts coffee, you get to be part of the largest national voice for children!

Hi all4 --

The "should our group change?" question is different than the "should I personally join PTA" question.

The group question requires leaders to think about what's best for their school's and their group's particular needs, goals and circumstances. And the "cost" for the group is more like $1,000 per group (in total dues paid out to county, state and national PTAs for affiliation).

On the personal question: I really like what national pta and a lot of state pta's have done with the ability to join PTA directly, as opposed to through a school-level group. I think the cost for that is more like $10 or $20, but it's still reasonable. Nice part is that -- no matter if the cost is $2 or $50 -- each person that joins one of those groups directly is clearly joining the national PTA to be part of the national PTA. In the more common model (where parents join their local PTA nearly automatically because it's the organization at their kids' school without any thought as to whether they know or like national PTA), there's a huge disconnect between parents/members and the state or national PTA.

Tim

GO TO THE PTO BLOG BOARD AND READ THE FEB24 NEW YORK TIMES ARTICLE.