I am a new PTO President. I would like to hear any creative ideas for ramping up parent participation and membership. All ideas gladly appreciated!

We give everyone a red ticket upon entering our events (We also post this on the flier to the event as a reminder to them.) We keep them in an empty pretzel/cheeseball container which is brought to EVERY event. Each participant is asked to put their name and a child's room number on their ticket. After the last event of the school year, a ticket or tickets are pulled. They win a gift card. As an organization everyone votes on where the gift cards are to and how much money will be on it/them. e.g. one card to Toys R'Us for $50 or two to somewhere else or you can split it however you'd like. The money figure and how many depend on how much your organization has to spend or would like to spend on them. I hope this helps. Good Luck in your new position.

Hi "New PTO President"-
We hear from lots of leaders that the Two Hour Power Program works wonders in jump starting participation.
Increase Parent Involvement with 2 Hour Power Volunteer Pledge Program | PTO Today

Also, running one of our family nights is a great, low-key way to build community and encourage involvement.
Get More Parents Engaged and Involved with School Family Nights | PTO Today

Check out these other articles for more ideas:
How To Build Parent Involvement in Schools

OK experienced leaders, let's hear your best ideas!

~ Lisa