Did you ever figure out whether the umbrella org will work? We are considering a similar structure for two booster boards (middle school & high school bands). Currently separate entities, only one is a 501(c)3.
Many of our schools should have a 501 c3 status, some should not and may not be included in the beginning. Our plan as of now would be to have each group continue to have an accountant handle their own accounts with the Parent Congress overseeing the process. We currently have 8 high schools and most contain at least 3 parent groups if not more; also we have several elementary schools that have both a PTO and an Athletic Booster group so even if some of the schools do not raise enough funds to justify 501 c3 status, many raise more than enough. We have to set up guidelines on how groups would fall under the umbrella status. I'm checking with the Pro Bono division of our local Bar Association to see if they might be able to shed some light on how we can go about this. We are definately in the talking stages right now, but we are doing our own Fundraising Expo to raise the necesasry funds so we have it available. We have had someone from the IRS speak to our parent groups but he wasn't much help; as a matter of fact, our parents knew more than he did. Any help would be appreciated.
That's an interesting approach. Do all 50+ organizations really bring in enough income to need 501c3 status? (Maybe a few of them would only have to pay $300, I forget what the threshold is.)
If it's an umbrella org, then doesn't that have some ramifications for how the tax returns are filed? Are all 50+ organizations well enough managed that this will be reasonable? You might have trouble finding an accountant willing to do the returns for 50+ organizations every year pro bono, then you have to deal with deciding who pays how much.
You might want to see if you can break it up so one group (per school?) does all the fundraising.
Being an urban district brings many challenges. One challenge our Parent Congress is working on is to become a blanket 501c3 organization that all of our parent groups can fall under. Currently each group would need to pay $750 to become 501c3 but if we do an umbrella the cost is $1650; with over 50+ organizations we felt that saving our parent organizations $35,850 might be worth it. We are working on raising the needed funds to do so now, and looking for an attorney to do some pro-bono work so we have all of our "ducks in a row" so to speak. Does anyone know of a school district that has done something like this?
