District Booster/PTC Guidelines—Comments/Recommendations—1 ...



Comments on Guidelines:Election of Officers pg. 7PTC officers appointed by principalSome organizations fiscal year is Jan 1 to Dec 31 does the board officers change then? Rules for Dissolution pg. 8This does need to be stated in bylaws according to IRSBut most of the time the organization just withers on the vine. Need to have in place a mechanism to deal with a PTC that fails to get an activity board.Keeping clubs from a Legal slow deathOnly needs three persons to operate—president, treasury, and secretary. Some schools use a teacher as a secretary. It is after all supposed to be a parent TEACHER club!Any eligible member may seek someone to act on their behalf—this allows anyone to look through the records of the organization or help a board member with legalities—CPA, lawyers, and anyone else.Some bylaws actually state a community member may join—this would allow anyone to come in and help maintain an organization until it gets volunteers willing or assist in maintaining it legal status.Record KeepingOrganizations do not have same fiscal year, so transfer of records should not state by July 1st. Some documents are to be kept permanently!—copy of application for 501 C 3 and so on would have to check with state and IRS to get complete list—also recommend any communication with State and IRSRecords kept in a tote in someone’s closet are not good record management. Liability Insurance Protection pg. 8/9Does all organization have insurance? What proof is requested?SCUCISD Facility rental requires insurance so it should state it in this section under general liabilityCertificate of Formation pg. 9No mention of association—I will check and add to my website—if organization has no registered agent then it is an association! An association may have registered agent if it chooses.Recommend using school as registered agent since it is the only constant.No mention of periodic report requirement.—failure to complete when requested can cause a nonprofit corporation’s franchise status to change.Application for Federal Tax Exempt Status pg. 10—Organizations with under $5,000 gross projected annual income do not need to file for status—see 1023-EZ instructions (TIP)—does need EIN and to start filing 990-N—great for small organization when it is starting.Need to use correct terms to make search easier—Life Cycle—Charities and Nonprofits A-ZApplication for state tax exempt status pg. 10No mention of AP-207—this may be used for all school wide support groups—PTC—clubs who have used this form have qualified for state portion of hotel tax.Booster clubs are not allowed to use this –must use AP-204Annual filing Requirements pg. 11 UBI—990-T—see exceptions—volunteer workforce—excludedFailure to file should be in bold and separate and include automatic on the third time of failing to file!—see my website at least one is due by May 15 otherwise these organizations will lose its 501 C 3 statusTaxable status of purchases pg. 15Should have links to webinars and School Fundraisers and Texas Sales Tax pdf—Tax Topics—great document for school secretaries or anyone else dealing with what/when to collect sales tax.Link to where to pay taxes onlineUsed personal credit card and received tax exemption for my PTCAnyone can purchase a product for a nonprofit as long as it doesn’t get used firstSome companies don’t wish to do the exemptions so the state has a way to recoup if the club desires to do the paperwork.Donations pg. 16 Only states what the district rules areNeed to list the rules for the IRS—documentation to need to be given to donor for cash—a thank you note is awesome!Are donations really reported to board of trustees—Paschal used a Donation form to keep track of what monies and goods were donated to it and for what purpose—are other schools doing the same?—should be public viewable!Miscellaneous pg. 17Failure to follow policies is already in Guidelines it just really needs to happen—if you aren’t operating at minimum legal status then you cannot operate on campus in any way until corrected! See later for recommend minimum status.If District is not in control or cannot direct clubs then how can it state“Any action taken at the meeting may be subject to review and revocation of the sponsor or principal”Properly held—enough membership—unannounced meeting—what?—very vague and from an outsider view definitely looks like District is in control.“Each individual or group of students participation is determined by sponsor not the organization”—I have been told in the past by a board members if I didn’t pay them—the booster club—my student couldn’t participate—true or not it is unacceptable to me? References pg. 19Not specific enough—see my website—use of terminology and direct links—requires follow-up—especially when state and IRS updates its websites.Sites are large, information in many locations, hard to search if correct terminology is unknown.Appendix B—Sample Audit Procedures pg. 29Miscellaneous—24. Remove word “IF” 990 was filed—it has to be filed!Should add—Audit is a great way to fix anything that was missed during the year—tidying up loose ends. It is easier to fix or document now with people involved than years later.Volunteers feel it is a hunt to try to find something wrong—need to try to change perspectiveAppendix C pg. 30Is it actually being collected yearly?Needs complete NAME(S) used by the organization—and akaShould have ALL GOVERNMENT ID NUMBERS—EIN, TAXPAYER ID, and SOS # not all organizations have a SOSShould have ALL CONTACT INFORMATION of organization: mail address (not the schools—recommend P.O. Box, email, Facebook, and any other. Form looks like it wants president’s name, address, email, and phone number. Since this is a “public viewable document”, I recommend only the name be required. I would have a list of all board members names and positions not just presidentIRS Determination letter is only good for three years, because organization could lose it if it fails to file 990/990-EZ/990-N on the third time—automatic revocation—IRS posting of this is not fast—it is also not fast about updating the website once correctedAppendix G pg. 35Appendix E—recommend end of physical year—if organization ends April 1st do you only want April and May information? How does the organizations’ with Fiscal year Jan 1 to Dec 31 work?Copy of recent 990 actually collected in the past or was it just asked? Is insurance actually required or is only collected if the organization has one?Remember a determination is only good for three years—auto revocation!If organization does not franchise exemption it is required to pay franchise tax forms!District cannot tell a separate organization what it has to pay sales tax on. This is why an active sales tax permit is needed prior to each school year. Associations will not have Certificate of formation. An ACTIVE SALES TAX PERMIT—should be REQUIRED for any organization selling anything at any time!No proof of an active sales tax permit—No sales on campus—due prior to first day it request to sell anything—meet the teacher night, football games, or selling of required clothing and etc.!Additional CommentsRecommend adding a letter from the District/superintendent thanking the volunteers and how much they are appreciated, how much good it does and so onNeed to talk about the Life Cycle of a Nonprofit and Charities and Nonprofit A-Z—IRS Website—how to start, how to operate, and how to terminate. Booster clubs—several have changed its name and started a new club—old club still out there.How to close down properly with the state.Example of bylaws not really needed in guidelinesRecord location is a problem at times—solution?It would be great if the District would have all important information on file so if something happens to the records the next group can start again. Minimum EIN and Taxpayer ID—these two numbers allow verification and ability to find everything else.TRANSPARENCY IS KEY TO SUCCESSRecommend adopting the following minimum for operating on campus--YEARLY:Copy of last 990/EZ dated within 15 months—extensions available—should have no reason to file first extension if books are in order, the need to file second extension unacceptable!Copy of last 990 N dated by the 15th of the fifth month end of fiscal year—no extensions available, simple e-file!—check IRS website to verify last time filed—this is updated fairly quickly! This e-file can be completed the day after the end of the fiscal year—don’t wait!Website verification proof of Active Franchise, Active Sales and Use, and Active Sales Tax permit (if the organizations sell anything to anyone—its own members count!)Appendixes—see commentsBest operating practices/sharing between groups—Praying someday the below will be what is discussed at meetings—seeking 100% legal compliance by all groups. Transparency is the key to success! Board members are caretakers of organization!Volunteers can be used without the financial component. No checking, no fundraising, no selling of t-shirts, no purchasing of uniforms, so no money—but can help with volunteers—copier, filing, reading, mentors, extra man power! If set up as a group, then it cannot be called a booster or PTC/O. ................
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