Financial sustainability of the team is entrusted to the Menlo-Atherton Robotics FIRST Team 766 non-profit foundation. All monetary donations from parents, sponsors, or others through the team website go to the non-profit, either via PayPal http://www.menlo-athertonroboticsteam766.org or by check made out to Menlo-Atherton Robotics and mailed to Menlo-Atherton Robotics FIRST Team 766, 555 Middlefield Road, Atherton, CA 94027. Corporate matching issued through Bright Funds (search using EIN 47-2186625) will deposit automatically into the PayPal account.
A separate student activities account has been issued by the school (as for all M-A clubs), but is being phased out in favor of covering all financials by the non-profit foundation. The student activities account is managed by the M-A treasurer (Alex Egbert, 650-322-5311 ext. 50118) and is not set up for the complex financial needs of the robotics team. Per school policy, these funds can only be used for small expenses in direct benefit of the students for the club activity and spending by reimbursement is discouraged (i.e., the school requests that the treasurer pay by purchase order up front). Deposits and reimbursements require paperwork to be completed by the faculty liaison. Due to these restrictions, the money in this account should be depleted and the account closed. Thus, all donations to the robotics team should go to the non-profit foundation instead. Until the student activities account is closed, the M-A treasurer should be asked to provide a statement of expenditures (comes in the form of a series of Google sheets) at the close of the school year to facilitate budget planning for the following year.
The foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit public benefit corporation that was founded by team parent Jeremy Wire in 2014. The non-profit is a member of ParentBoosterUSA (https://parentbooster.org) to confer tax-exempt status with EIN: 47-2186625. The California Corporate Number is C3723942. Membership in ParentBoosterUSA must be renewed annually each fall for the next year. Login and password for the ParentBoosterUSA website are recorded in the Corporate Record Book which is physically stored with the non-profit secretary. The fiscal year ends June 30, and tax returns are due by the 15th day of the 5th month after the end of the current fiscal year (i.e., Nov 15, but first go to ParentBoosterUSA by Sept 15) using Form 990N. Assets are held at Bank of America. (The Vanguard account was slated to be closed by Jeremy Wire in Oct 2018.) It’s imperative that taxes are filed on time to ensure the non-profit status is not lost.
The non-profit requires a minimum of 3 unrelated adults to fill the roles of President, Treasurer, and Secretary. The President serves as CEO of the non-profit. The Treasurer plays a particularly important role in filing taxes, reimbursing team expenses, and providing financial information for the Annual Report. The Secretary maintains the Corporate Record Book for the non-profit and writes the minutes of each meeting. Each Fall, the members of the board must sign a Conflict of Interest Statement. An annual board meeting occurs during the summer (usually near the end of the fiscal year) to elect members and assemble information for the Annual Report. The Annual Report is due 120 days after the close of the fiscal year (i.e., Oct 28).