I think it is imperative to have fun working together while volunteering. I work on a few things for my childrens school and I would not want to be a part of a group that did not enjoy working together, and having a great time doing it! We are a strong parish/school family and community and coming together for our kids is so rewarding that you can not but help fell a sense of family and community doing it! Life is short make the best of the time you have, and have fun....we may be parents but still kids at heart!!!

At our school we created a Parents as Partner Group...Where we help Mentor and Help the staff. I love helping where I can. So being at the school where my kids are, lets me know what is going on with them as well.

Thanks, Brenda

We have had a hard time getting volunteers in our school, or even parents to attend our PTO meetings. We have also had a hard time getting staff members to attend our PTO meetings. So we are starting this year off with a very new concept. We will be holding two drawings at every PTO meeting through the end of the year. If a parent attends our PTO meeting, their name goes into a drawing and the winner receives a $100 gift certificate to Wal-Mart (what parent can't use that whether for groceries, gas, etc.?). For any staff member that comes to our meetings, their name is entered into a drawing and the winner receives $100 put directly into their personal school account. We are hoping this will incent more people to attend our meetings and get involved. We are also having a drawing once a month for anyone who volunteers in our school for 2 hours or more and the winner each month will receive a $100 Wal-Mart gift certificate. Hopefully, this will help people get involved and realize the importance they can make and the difference they can make in their schools!

I am a co-chairperson for an elementary school of 500+ children. I am into my 2nd year in this position. I agree with many of the views shared here but most importantly Tims. Yes, there is much work to do to keep our PTO running so efficiently and really being a true success, but it has truly increased this year because we have interjected "fun" into it. We have kept it happy and positive, therefore it is fun, even when we're doing tasks that most folks might view as mundane. If you try and always keep the positive spin on it all, it does make an impact. We have increased our volunteers and work hard to keep doing so by maintaining a "fun" attitude! I encourage others to keep it positive and try new ideas it will not only make others want to help it will make your time volunteering for your child's school a wonderful experience. It does make a difference! Good luck!

I agree, fun is a side effect of the organization &work involved in a successful PTO.
However, I believe sometimes the fun is created. If the board has the attitude of all work & no fun the volunteer base will dwindle.
Its not my responsibility to check everyones happiness meter or have a "carnival" atmosphere at meetings etc...
However, I am extremely thankful for every volunteer who comes to an event. I let them know as sincerely as possible I am thankful. Every person that volunteers makes my job less stressful and the work load lighter, and thus, fun follows.
Be creative in how you say THANKS to the volunteers, always acknowledge their work positively and be gracious even when things don't go smoothly, be willing to laugh and be flexible.
Personal interest and thankfulness bring more volunteers & the end result is "hey, this is a fun".

We have a difficult time recruiting volunteers. Only 5-10 care to plan an event. 20-25 will work an event. however, the bulk of any event is the planning. we have an upper-middle class elementary school of around 500. We get a wish list from our teachers of $40K every year. While we do not have to provide everything on the wish list since it is a "wish" and not a requirement, we still like to provide as much as we can. Our district gives a few million away to other less fortuante districts in our state ever year. Through fundraising we are trying to recoup our tax dollars being given shipped out. However, many parents think "we have enough" so why participate in pto. our pto also does outreach to other communities and provides many other services to our school that are not profitable. tough situation...anyone with suggestions?