The 50-State Tour

by Jack Englund on Apr 09, 2024

Its inception blossomed on January 3rd, 2024. Picture this — the team at PBUSA is back in full force following the new year and gearing up for the most ambitious outreach ever executed in its history; visit all 50 states and Washington D.C...all within 12 months.

Before we could talk ourselves out of it, on January 8th, we hopped on a plane to Portland, Maine. Once we landed, we began the first of many 1,000-mile road trips.

After leaving Maine, we visited public school district offices in Montpelier, VT, Concord, NH, Provincetown, MA, Providence, RI, and New Haven, CT.

It was a whirlwind of a four-day ambitious journey that laid the foundation for how we would approach the remainder of our PBUSA 50-State Tour.

Why 50 states?

PBUSA is turning 20 in 2024. That’s 20 years of supporting school fundraising volunteers by managing their tax-exempt status so they can focus on their organization’s mission. We’ve come a long way in 20 years, with over 5,000 organizations across all 50 states calling themselves members of Parent Booster USA.

Since PBUSA’s inception, travel has always been an important part of reaching booster clubs. Our team meets with members and non-members alike, and school district officials too. It’s all part of our pursuit to educate communities on the dos and don’ts of school fundraising compliance.

So, why all 50 states? To celebrate our 20th anniversary, our goal is to meet as many booster club officers, school district personnel, and school fundraising superheroes as we can. And to make it happen, we are leaving no corner of the country untouched and no stone unturned.

Where to next?

With six states visited in January, Nevada and Arizona in February, and a brief hiatus in March, it's time to get back on the road. The adventure continues in April and wraps up in May as we finish traveling the western side of the United States.

— April —

In April, we head to the Golden State, catching waves in California and keeping on the path of the sun, heading straight to Hawaii. After our Aloha’s, we head back inland for a hard-pressing week on the road.

We pick back up in Las Vegas, head to Denver, then drive north through the Valley of Fire State Park on our way to Zion in Utah. After sightseeing and hanging out with some boosters, the journey continues to Salt Lake City, UT Idaho Falls, ID Yellowstone (need I say more) Billings, MT Cheyenne, WY ending in Denver, CO. Phew...what a ride in just 13 days!
— May —

May concludes PBUSA’s western adventures and sets off to the Pacific Northwest! First up is Portland, OR, followed immediately by Seattle, WA, the beautiful state of Evergreen. After Seattle and some good coffee, it’s time to go north…WAY north.

The Great Alaskan Adventure will take us to Ketchikan, AK Juneau, AK Skagway, AK Anchorage, AK and finally, Palmer, AK. This trek will allow Parent Booster USA to interact with a network of more than 100 schools in Alaska by land, air, and sea.

18 down — 32 to go

After wrapping up the Great Alaskan Adventure, we will have visited 18 states — bringing educational resources, and providing in-person workshops to school districts and fundraising volunteers in all paths traveled.

With 32 more states to venture, plenty is on the horizon.

Are you ready to meet us on the road? Submit your information on our Road Show interest page, and I’ll let you know when we’ll be in your area!

Want to follow along?

Ready to see more and follow the action as we visit all 50 states and DC? Follow PBUSA on Facebook and Instagram!

The Road to Come
July
- Georgia
- South Carolina
- North Carolina
- Virginia
- Washington D.C.
- Maryland
- Delaware
- New Jersey
- New York
- Pennsylvania
- New Mexico
- West Virginia
August
- Ohio
- Michigan
- Iowa
- Nebraska
- South Dakota
- North Dakota
There's still time.
Let us know if we should stop by YOUR school!
September
- Tennessee
- Kentucky
- Indiana
- Illinois
- Wisconsin
- Minnesota
October
- Texas
- Oklahoma
- Kansas
- Missouri
- Arkansas
- Mississippi
- Louisiana
- Alabama

The only organization of its kind in the US, Parent Booster USA is about helping school support organizations (parent teacher organizations, high school booster clubs and other school fundraising groups) handle the state and federal government paperwork required of fundraising groups.

Founded in 2004 by an attorney skilled in nonprofit and tax law, Parent Booster USA has more than 5,500 member organizations in 50 states and DC with a 95% annual renewal rate. We provide peace of mind for parent volunteers, school administrators and school district leadership.

50-STATE TOUR

Follow Jack on his record-breaking journey across the USA.

FEATURED BLOG

How to Donate Donations — Rules for Allocating Funds of Tax-Exempt Organizations

Drew Englund

Sep 20, 2023

This topic often brings me a great deal of heartache. One of the things I love about my job is that I get to help parents raise money for afterschool programs, and if there is an unambiguous good that a human can do in the world, I can’t help but feel that is on the list somewhere. What stinks about this topic is it’s the one where I almost always have to be the bad guy. Tax-exempt organizations, booster clubs included, are required by the IRS to focus on the mission they were organized to support.

Here’s the situation: Tragedy has struck in your local community. Someone has died in a terrible accident, or a local church caught fire and burned down, or a kid needs some help to pay for school lunches—something along those lines. Your booster club wants to help. Maybe you raised more money than you usually do, and you don’t need all of it. Maybe you just have a big heart and want to pitch in. Regardless, the question is, “Can we give booster club funds to a charitable cause that is unrelated to us?” Sadly, the answer is almost always “no”.

It's about your primary exempt purpose.

This gets into some of the core philosophies of why and how we let nonprofit organizations be exempt from paying federal income tax. Put simply, the exemption exists because the organization performs a function that the government would like to support, but for some reason—time, money, personnel, political gridlock, etc.—it can’t. In exchange for the nonprofit following a restrictive set of rules and committing itself to take on a specific purpose that the government wants to support, the nonprofit is permitted to bring in income that it does not have to pay taxes on.

In short, a booster club recognized as tax-exempt by the IRS has been recognized for a specific purpose, which is whatever the purpose statement sent to the IRS on your application for tax exemption said. (For Parent Booster USA members, this is generally going to be the purpose statement in your profile.) You have to spend the organization’s money in line with that purpose, and you can’t spend money outside of that purpose (except for very narrow exceptions, generally in very small amounts). The stated purpose of most booster clubs is to support a specific school program, or sometimes the school itself. You aren’t going to be allowed to give money to a cause separate from that, even if the cause itself is another nonprofit, tax-exempt entity.

Is there nothing we can do to change that?

The one thing you can do is change your purpose statement to include whatever it is you want to do, and then file with both the state and the IRS to notify them of that change and give the IRS a chance to object to it (which I have never seen happen). This is not a complicated process, but it does take time. Depending on what you normally have to file, it may also take money. It’s generally only a useful option if you are planning to expand your regular operations to whatever the new purpose is, rather than for a one-off donation.

Well, that’s all a bit of a downer.

There is some good news! Organizations can donate to other similar organizations. For example, a high school band booster could donate to the middle school band, or a football booster club could donate to their hometown rival team—or even to a team from another sport entirely!

How do we do it?

It all comes back down to the purpose statement. When setting up your organization or making changes to your organizing documents, create a broad purpose statement.

DO: Indicate the activity you will be supporting.

"We raise funds for and support the football team in Jackson, Wyoming."

DON’T: Limit yourself by being too specific.

"We raise funds for the boys 11-12 panther football team at Jackson High School."

Your purpose statement tells the IRS and your state what you are doing and why you are tax-exempt. Because of the importance of your purpose statement, it is always a good idea to go broad and allow yourself space to act in your community.

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The 50-State Tour

Why 50 states?

Where to next?

— April —

— May —

18 down — 32 to go

Want to follow along?

The Road to Come

July

August

September

October