PTO Today

We have over 600 students. Our meetings only see 10 members at the most. We have found things that work to raise money and things that don't. Seems you can always get people together to discuss money.

Fundraising isn't a problem if we stick to the one very successful one. Seems the old members can't let go of the fact that everything we do doesn't have to be about fundraising or making money. With over $10,000 in the bank we can give a little back to our families.

The current board which I'm a member of is trying to change things.

Guess it's always darkest before the dawn. We are still trying to fill board positions after 2 months. Current board divided all events and activities among selves to cut down on the need for committees. We are also splitting duties of open postitions. Seems the board was always on the committees anyway - now we chair the committees and report to the regular meetings and discuss things at our board meetings. Our regular monthly meetings still last 2 hrs.

I'm not sure if we've really solved any problems by doing this. Just know it's easier til things change.

Our events in Fall, Winter, and Spring are going to be Family Events. Complete with meal, activities, family drawings for attending, and some kind of craft. I haven't been able to talk our board into Free meals but the other things are free.

The family events is the only change that I have been able to make that seems in the right direction. In May, I put together the 2 hr pledge idea to the old board. All that was needed was to copy and send out. The forms are in the New president's hands still.

Our group decided at the beginning of the year to instead send home information on every thing we did - all Trash for Cash stuff and a new fundraiser idea. I did not agree but was out voted.

I'm trying to be patient but this has become a full time job and worst of all I can't even enjoy what we do because I have to volunteer for the next event. Hope my family enjoys it.

What is your question?

It's good to rant a bit and get things off your chest but I have to agree with Jewel3. Is there a specific issue we can help with or did you just need to blow off some steam?

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“Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some stay for awhile and leave footprints on our hearts. And we are never, ever the same.”

Sorry I guess I did rant a bit. I'm just so flusterated. My few hours a month position has turned into a full time job. Just because I'm a stay at home mom doesn't mean I don't have other things to do.

My husband wants me to quit. I feel if I do I'm letting everyone down.

Guess I want to know what would you do in my position?

Involvement in your child's school is important to you and your child, as well as the community that benefits from your work. It should be fun and rewarding too. If it isn't fun or rewarding and you don't feel like you're making a difference, it is downright frustrating.

Remember that it's ok for you to set limits on your time and involvement. If you have 10 hours a week to give then say, "That's it, I have 10 hours a week." That's about 10 times more time than most people give! Don't feel guilty for setting limits.

Remember that it's also ok to say "No". It takes some practice and it'll be really hard at first. The biggest hurdle is qualifying it. We feel like if we say no to something that we have to have really valid reasons. You don't. Just say "No." That's all. Nothing else. You can pretty it up buy saying, "I'm sorry, I can't this time." if that feels better, but then just leave it at that.

I know from years of experience that when you need to get something done you go to your "Yes" people first, every time, all the time. You don't want to waste time on people you have to talk into doing something if you know you have a volunteer who just always says yes.

Take some time over the holidays to just relax, spend time with your family and focus on your home. After the winter break, you can go back into the school with a new resolve to limit your time and activities to those that are most important to you. Trust me. If the other activities are that important to the school, they'll find people to do the work!

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“Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some stay for awhile and leave footprints on our hearts. And we are never, ever the same.”

It does sound like you are a bit overloaded. First of all, your FAMILY is your first priority, so don't feel bad if you have to let some of your PTO activities go. Next, here are some suggestions that might help in a couple areas:

Empty board positions: If you have just been putting out a general call(announcements at meetings, newsletters) and no one is responding, try approaching some parents face to face. Sometimes people here an announcement or see a blurb in the newsletter and they think "Oh, someone will jump on that." Unfortunately if everyone has that view then NO ONE steps up. Besides it's harder to say "no" in a face to face.

Your board might also look at the open positions and see if there is a way to share them or divide them into smaller jobs. It can be much easier to find 3 people willing to each take on one or two projects than to find 1 willing to take on 6 projects. If you have already divided the duties among the existing board, then you already have a good idea of what events/programs are and aren't dependent on each other.

Board members taking on committee duties: Get those committees reinstated! It's fine to have a board member sit on each committee, but let someone else be in charge. Your board members have enough of their own duties to accomplish without adding committee chairperson to the list.

Meetings lasting 2 hours: Have an agenda for each meeting that will cover all needed topics within a 1 hour timeframe and then stick to it. Communicate at the beginning of the meeting the goal of completing the meeting in 1 hour and that in order to accomplish this there will be time limits on discussion of items. Have one of the other board members be a timekeeper during the meeting and give "warnings" as the time limits are approaching.

Your board may also want to take a look at all of the decisions that are being made during the meetings. The elementary group I used to belong to initially had meetings that went on forever because they let discussions just go on and on and because the board had no power to make any decisions. A group of us worked to get that changed: We got the meetings down to 1 hour or less and really streamlined the operation of the group by having a very clear budget that was approved at the beginning of the year which allowed committees and the board to move on projects without voting on every little thing at general meetings. The board was also given more power in the areas of fundraising decisions, program and events plans, and we were allowed to do a board only vote on items of $100 or less.

Lastly, take a good hard look at the events and programs you have planned for the year and your volunteer needs for those events and programs. If you don't think you can get the volunteers needed, then seriously consider cancelling the event. It can be a tough decision to make, but your entire board is going to quickly burn out if you don't take some drastic measures. Be sure to clearly communicate this to all of your parents as you proceed on this decision making process. Sometimes if a program or event is important enough in the minds of some people, they will jump in to help make sure it happens.

Good luck and remember to take care of yourself!!

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Hey Rocky, watch me pull a rabbit out of my hat.

CC and Luv offer terrific advice. There's not much more to add...

d

You're right. Not much more to add but to say "Thank you" !

Sometimes all we need to hear is that we are not alone in our thoughts to get focused.

You need a vacation!

It sounds like your executives have already split things up pretty well to try to alleviate putting too much on any one person...

At the same time it almost sounds like you have gotten totally away from utilizing committees, which is the place where non-regulars can try to get involved. If the same couple of people are doing all of the major stuff behind the scenes and then just reporting to the rest at the monthly meeting, the non-executives are going to start feeling unwanted...

So I would still look to try to form committees for some of your events and promgrams. If no one signs up then you can keep it as is, but at least try to bring these others into the major events and programs...

Next it sounds like you really need a membership drive. This should really be a job for your President, but with only 10 regulars, you need to ast. One thing that we have done is get highschool volunteers to provide childcare, which has allowed husbands to get involved. We now have 6 men activally involved, where just three years ago there were none...

PresidentJim