The newest world of business networking is therefore not the golf course, the power breakfast or the alumni reunion. It is the schoolhouse. As much as country clubs once did, schools - especially private day schools - are bringing together professionals and high-powered executives in a clubby atmosphere of mutual trust that some are finding particularly conducive to deal making...A major change propelling the trend, school officials say, has been the wave of involved fathers.See Daddy Make a Deal [nyt]
[update: Of course, if certain criteria are met, "golf course" and "power breakfast" may be deductible as business entertainment expenses, while dues for "country clubs" are not. "Alumni reunion" donations are usually classified as charitable donations, as I'm sure your univerity's development office will remind you.
The non-eligible club/dues definition is pretty broad: "Clubs organized for business, pleasure, recreation, or other social purpose." [emphasis added] Now I'm no CPA, and I've got no desire to test it out myself, but from my reading, you'd have to argue that a private pre-school falls into one of the exception categories. The only remotely plausible one, to my mind, is "Civic or public service organizations." Although if you're an investment banker or a hedge fund guy, I can see how certain increasingly homogenous schools might be deemed "Business leagues" or "Professional organizations." Good luck with that.]
I can totally see this... I've had a couple (albeit small, for now) design projects sent my way from the parents of a little girl my daughter goes to storytime with at the local public library; the kids not even 10 months old and she's already bringing home the bacon... :)
saddly, a missleading title. i was actually hoping to learn that i could in fact deduct my child's pre-k as a business expense! ;)