We are in a very, very rural area. The closest Walmart is about 30 miles away . . . on curvy, country roads! The closest big city is about 60 miles away. Many times our volunteers need to drive to the city to get items needed for the PTO. We use the internet and mail order as much as possible, but you can't get everything you need in the mail.
We asked our Assistant Principal about the PTO reimbursing volunteers for gasoline when they are making a trip just for PTO business. We were told that legally we couldn't do this because of our tax exempt status. He said a volunteer is a volunteer which means that everything they do should be strictly without charge or reimbursement.
Ok. The hundreds of hours we give, the constant trips back and forth to school, the printer paper and ink cartridges we use for PTO business, the long distance phone calls we make . . . all I want in return for this is to benefit the children at my school. But with gas prices at $1.50+ per gallon, and a round trip to the city at 120+ miles, is it too much to ask to be reimbursed gas expense? Many of our volunteers are able to volunteer because they don't work a full time job . . . which means they usually don't have a lot of extra money anyway.
Does anyone know if it is illegal for a non-profit organization to reimburse for this type of expense?
