FAQ

1. What is the Portland Schools Foundation?
The Portland Schools Foundation (PSF) is an independent, community-based organization that mobilizes the resources, leadership, ideas, and the political support necessary to ensure a world-class public education for every child, in every school, in every Portland neighborhood.
2. Does our school have a local school foundation?
Yes. Under the non-profit "umbrella" of the Portland Schools Foundation, every school in the Portland Public School district already has a local school foundation account. Parents at many of these schools are actively fundraising for their local school foundation under the PSF's 501(c) 3 non-profit status.
Seven schools within the Portland Public School District have elected to establish their own non-profit local foundations, independent of PSF. PSF continues to work with these independent organizations to provide specific services, and continues to accept donations on behalf of those schools.
3. Why do schools raise funds through their local foundations?
As established by PPS School Board policy, local school foundations are the only way in which school communities and parents may raise funds to pay for personnel (FTE). All funds raised at local schools intended for personnel costs pass through the PSF and on to the school's account (called an "S0083 Account") at the Portland Public School district.
4. What is the one-third/two-thirds policy?
In 1994, the Portland Public School Board established a task force of parents and community members to look at the issue of schools raising private funds for teachers, other staff positions, and other basic "core" operations of a school. In the wake of Measure 5, many parents realized that teaching positions would be cut. Several schools established their own non-profit foundations to raise funds to buy back staff that had been cut. Unfortunately, not all schools have the financial capacity to raise significant funds toward hiring staff, so the potential for creating inequities across the district needed to be addressed.
The 1994/95 task force recommended the establishment of a citywide foundation and that one-third of the funds raised through local school foundations be given to this citywide foundation for the purpose of providing equity between schools. The Portland Schools Foundation was established, in part, to be that citywide foundation, and to route the other two-thirds to the school's account at PPS ("S0083 Account.")
In 1998, the Foundation recommended a change in the policy. Many low-income schools were not capable of raising more than a few thousand dollars each year and it seemed that equity was not being served by deducting one-third of those funds. A new procedure was put into place so that the one-third formula would be applied for each school only after the first $10,000 had been raised each school year (July 1 - June 30). In other words, a school could raise up to $10,000 total each year and receive 100% of those funds; anything above that $10,000 "floor" would be subject to the one-third/two-thirds policy.
5. How does the Portland Schools Foundation use the one-third funds?
The Board of Directors of the Portland Schools Foundation honors its original charge from the PPS School Board by allocating 100% of the one-third funds (PPS Equity Funds) for direct grants to schools working to close the achievement and opportunity gap. The PSF does not use ANY of these funds for operations or staffing; those costs are paid by other fundraising activities.
The PPS Equity Fund is focused on increasing student academic achievement. Each year the PSF Board re-examines the specific criteria for each grant program to ensure that funds are being used as strategically as possible.
6. Our group of parents wants to raise funds for our school through the Portland Schools Foundation - are there any special papers that we need to fill out?
Because every school in the Portland Public Schools District already has a local school foundation under the umbrella of the Portland Schools Foundation, there are no special forms to fill out. Every year the PSF tries to have an accurate email list of parent contacts at every school. We encourage you to contact our office to make sure that we have the correct information for your school foundation contacts.
7. Does my local school foundation need to establish a board or committee?
No, the PSF recognizes that all schools have different levels of parent interest and capacity and does not require that a school have a specific type of leadership group for its local school foundation. However, to be successful at fundraising, you will need to form some kind of committee or team – no one person can fundraise alone!
Local school foundations that operate successfully make sure that the following conditions are met:
  • The local school foundation has a good working relationship with the principal and mutual understanding of clear goals and objectives for the fundraising effort.
  • The foundation has good communications with the school leaders and community in establishing its funding priorities (many foundations poll parents regarding funding priorities in partnership with site councils, etc.)
  • The foundation has a simple fundraising plan that helps schedule the activities for the school year.
  • The most successful school foundation fundraising activities are based on:
    • Individual contributions from parents and families at the school.
    • One significant fundraising event per year.
8. What types of contributions can be made to a local school foundation or the Portland Schools Foundation?
  • Checks
  • American Express, MasterCard, or VISA (online @ www.thinkschools.org)
  • Monthly contributions through credit cards (online @ www.thinkschools.org)
  • Securities – Shares of stocks, bonds and mutual funds
  • In-kind gifts
  • Wills, bequests, trusts
9. What are the steps the Portland Schools Foundation takes to process a contribution?
  • The Portland Schools Foundation sends a thank you letter and tax receipt to the donor.
  • The donor's gift information is added to the PSF database.
  • The donation is deposited into the PSF's bank account. The PSF calculates whether or not the $10,000 floor has been reached and records the 2/3 of the gift be transferred to the school's account at PPS.
  • After each monthly financial period is reconciled, a report is sent to PPS to PPS reflecting the amount raised at each school. The funds are then directly accessible to pay for personnel costs and are accessed by the school principal through the PPS District Finance Office.
10. How does a local school foundation find out how much is in its holding account?
Individual school foundations receive two types of reports:
    The PSF will send two reports: These report will be sent monthly tot he school Principal the LSF Chair/Co-Charis and the LSF Treasurer.
  • Monthly Donation & Expense Report: This report will include 1)A list of donors, the date and the amount of their contribution for the month, and 2) A detailed list of Expenses for the month.
  • Year to Date Statement: This report will include a year-to-date statement showing activity by month including deposits, expenses, amount contributed to the PPS Equity Fund and the amount available in your school's account at PPS.
11. What are the advantages to operating a local school foundation through the Portland Schools Foundation versus starting a separate non-profit?
The PSF provides a variety of services that allow schools to concentrate on fundraising rather than administrative and legal details. Included in the ways which the PSF assists school foundations are:
  • Processing all gifts in accordance with IRS guidelines
  • Legal liability rests with the PSF's board of directors, including an annual audit
  • Maintaining a database of donors
  • Providing technical assistance for fundraising activities, such as developing direct mail campaigns and holding major events
  • Filing of the IRS 990 and State of Oregon Dept. of Justice CT-12
  • Coverage under the PSF's general liability insurance
  • Providing capability for online giving
  • Use of the PSF's mail permit
  • Processing of stock gifts through the PSF's brokerage account
12. Who can I call when I have questions?
Samantha López
Manager of Partner Programs
503.234.5404, ext. 13
Call for fundraising technical assistance.