Can we (an individual homeschool) be allowed to do fund raising similar to youth sports groups, scouts,etc?
What a good question. In general I say, Yes, you can participate in a fund raiser if the fund raising organization allows it. BUT, the profit you make is taxable income and you’ll need to report it on your tax return.
Another homeschooling mom e-mailed me with a similar question:
With 6 children needing school curriculum, we are coming up short in finances. We contacted a calendar company that said it would be permissible for us to sell calendars as a fund raiser for our homeschool. We accepted personal checks made out to our homeschool name (that we registered with the state school board, considered a non-profit private school). We do not have a checking account with our homeschool name on it. Therefore, we have no way to deposit them.
What is your advice to us? The checks amounted to $90. Is this method acceptable to continue as long as we pay taxes on it? Mrs. W.
By selling calendars Mrs W. was operating a small for-profit business. She is free to use the profit of the small business for anything she wishes, including homeschool books and supplies. Since Mrs W. didn’t mention what state she was in, I cannot determine if her state requires business registration. Many states do not require any type of registration for a sole proprietorship using your own name. You may have to file a name registration with your Secretary of State to establish a business name.
To deposit these checks Mrs W. needs to open a checking account in the homeschool’s name. You’ll have to get an EIN number from the IRS at www.irs.gov. You can then spend the money in the checking account on homeschool supplies and close it or keep a small amount in it until next year.
Mrs W. should report the $90 as income on her tax return as either Other Income on line 21 of the 1040 or on Schedule C Business Income if she had expenses from the sale of the calendars (postage, mileage, etc…)
Quite a lot of work for a $90 fund raiser, huh?
Before you try a fund raiser for you individual family homeschool make sure its worth the effort of getting a business name, EIN, and checking account.
Is it worth the time and effort for the money you will raise?
Maybe try having a garage sale or sell something to bring in income instead!
My book Money Management in a Homeschool Organization covers fundraising and offers some ideas for easy fundraisers.
Carol Topp, CPA
HomeschoolCPA.com
