Keefe profited from Dawg Walk donations, M-S PTO asks for his resignation
BY DANI TIETZ
dani@mahometnews.com
The M-S PTO announced Monday morning that it has asked its Corresponding Executive Ken Keefe to resign his post after the group learned on Aug. 23 that he was the owner of Fund for Us LLC., the organization that handled online donations during the 2018-19 school year for its annual fundraiser, the Dawg Walk.
Keefe was a member of the PTO for five years.
According to the Office of the Illinois Secretary of State, Keefe registered the LLC in 2016. That same year he developed a software to help the PTO streamline its donation and prize distribution process. The M-S PTO never paid Keefe for the software and continued to use PayPal to funnel its donations.
Going into 2018, the new M-S PTO board believed they were continuing to operate under the same procedures as in past Dawg Walk fundraisers by using PayPal. While they were communicating with a company called Fund For Us, LLC., they did not realize that the terms of their agreement were benefitting a member of their organization.
Through communication, Keefe never revealed himself.
Archive.org captured the Fund For Us website a few times since 2016. According to the site, Fund For Us allowed organizations to use the platform for free, but took 5.9-percent of each credit card and Paypal donation and $.30 per transaction. Cash and check donations were still permitted and considered to be free of charge, according to the site.
Before expenditures in 2018, the Dawg Walk’s gross profit was $107,274.98.
When Keefe disclosed that he was the owner of Fund For Us to the PTO board on Friday, the group asked for his resignation, cut all ties with the organization and asked him to refund all of the profits his company made from the transactions from the Dawg Walk.
The M-S PTO is actively working to secure a safe and trustworthy method for its 2019 fundraising effort. The PTO said that company will become public once it is finalized.
It also said that it will have an audit of the 2019-20 school year. The current board is also reviewing and revising all operating processes and systems presently in place.
In the M-S PTO’s statement, it said they are going to continue to do the work they have done for decades.
“As our mission states, the PTO remains committed to parents and teachers building strong schools together, and encourages anyone who would like to volunteer to reach out to board@m-spto.com or to attend one of the general assembly meetings this year.”
