PTO Today

I am a parent that has been active in her PTO. Our neighborhood is being re-assigned to a new school. The new school will be over half an another PTO where they collected dues. This concept is totally foreign to me as the old PTO never did this. The president informed me that only PTAs did this? Is that right?

What or How should I approach this new President for the new school? I feel since she is coming from a more affluent area and that there are areas that are not as affuents as hers coming to the new school, that they will alienate some parents. Or at least make those "not-so-rich" parents feel that only the rich control the PTO.

It may be silly or be coming across as fighting the change. I have been 'gung-ho' the whole year until our first PTO planning meeting where I learned that it would be required to pay a fee in order to have a vote. It just rubbed me the wrong way. It is a new school and there is a lot of need but at what expense. They want to raise over $40K in the first few weeks of school (if you count the summer vacation fundraisers).

Help!?

I would say that it is not correct that only PTA's collect dues. Many groups, whether PTA or using PTO, use dues as a means to start off their fundraising for the year.

Persoanlly I am not a fan of requiring dues. To me, the idea of saying that in order to vote you have to pay $ just isn't right. If anything, I much prefer being able to promote the group as "Everyone is a member automatically and we would love for you to get involved", not give us some money so you can be considered a member.

For some groups this works though. Some groups have been doing it so long they can't think of changing it. But personally I am not a fan of this at all. I think groups such as these have enough problems getting people involved, and requiring a minimal amount of money just makes it worse.

$40K is a lot of money, especially by the first few weeks. I think 40K is about what we bring in throughout the entire year. Maybe your school is larger though...

Also, I always think it funny when you see groups claim that they ave 500 members, or something like that. This just shows me that they require dues and got 500 people to pay up. It's not real. A member, IMO, is those who get involved and help make your group a success at making your children's school a better place. Most groups only have 15 or 20 of these types of people. I'm lucky that I can say that over the past two years I've been able to increase active involvement by about 10 people to upwards of 50! And a main reason for this is by not requiring dues.

IMO, the amount that you will make in the long run by getting others involved by not having dues, will greatly outway the hundreds of dollars that you will make if you do!

PresidentJim

I'm firmly in the "it depends" category on this one!

My stance on dues is that pretty much any scenario can work and they all have their pluses/minuses. I've been in:

Elementary PTO - $5-$10 dues per family
Middle School PTO - no dues
H.S. PTA - $10 per person dues

For elementary, the dues served the purpose of providing some small start up funds. But the more important benefit was the act of having a membership drive and forcing ourselves to market the organization and its benefits. Additionally, the small act of joining is one more step in commitment for parents (bringing them even closer to volunteering or serving as officers). That being said, once the membership drive was over there was no real distinction between being a member or not. Technically only members can vote, but our activities are pretty thoroughly discussed before they get to the point. The general membership action items are typically unanimous. Also - in our case, members get a school directory, which, if bought as a non-member costs the same as dues. So it really was more symbolic.

The middle school PTO had no dues, but parents barely know the organization exists. I think that's mostly a function of middle school - not a dues issue. Even so, I think it would be pointless to add dues into the equation.

Our high school PTA is a different structure entirely. As a chapter of a larger organization, dues are required. But on the plus side, we found it provided signficant structure, training, resources.

I can see both sides on he issue of dues. I can see that members are an important party in a majority vote at the end of the year-our By-Laws state that only members can vote and $5 is not a lot of money to ask for membership. Membership may bring a sense of pride to some that can not volunteer. This may be their way of saying " I am involved".

On the other hand, the impression of having to pay to become involved can alienate a lot of people. Fortunately, in our county and several surrounding counties, the $5 dues are a way of school life that most every one feels omfortable, if not proud.

Regarding PTA vs. PTO, my understanding is that both charge dues. This may be limited to our little place here on the map.

Good Luck,

Lisa

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All about the Father

When it comes to PTO v PTA, there are really two differences on dues.

1. PTAs must charge dues and PTOs can charge dues. My estimation is about half of PTOs charge dues.

2. For PTAs, a goodly % of the dues revenue is forwarded out of the local group and paid to the state and national PTA. For PTOs, 100% of dues $$ stay at local group/school. A common example of PTA dues math would be something like $5 per member dues, with $1.75 going to national PTA and $2 to state PTA, leaving $1.25 per member for the local PTA. Those numbers vary based on state dues and whether there is an additional county/council dues due.

As many readers here know, I prefer no dues for the message it sends about inclusivenesss, but there are definitely really well run PTOs and PTAs who do charge dues.

Tim

Reading the responses here I'm wondering, how do groups that don't have required dues handle the aspect of voting members? What's stated in the By-Laws?

We currently require $1 for members to activate their right to vote. I'd love to eliminate this, but not sure how.

In our group, any parent or guardian of a student at our school is a member (and can vote) in the parent association.

We don't charge dues.

Tim

Our elementary PTO has $25 "voluntary" dues. We also have a $10/child ($30/family max) field trip fee. We also have a policy that families can contact the principal for financial assistance.

Our by-laws say all parents/guardians and teachers are automatically members, which is nice and inclusive. However, you might want to look at what your by-laws say about voting and quorum -- you'd hate to have to get 51% of your school to be able to vote on anything.

Actually, there is a misconception that PTA's "must" charge dues. They don't have to charge dues at all, however, the local units must pay dues to the state and national PTA's for their charters as well as to maintain their place under the umbrella of the National and State PTA's 501(3)(c), insurance, and articles of incorporation. $1.25/member to the National PTA is a small price to pay in order to save thousands on the costs of non-profit status, million-dollar liability insurance, and articles of incorporation which will keep your executive boards from being sued individually for any liabilities.

Did you know that tax credit money can be used to pay for PTA membership dues? Did you know that with all the fundraising you do throughout the year, PTA's can use a portion of that money for their payment of dues to the state and national PTA? Many PTO's keep a portion of their fundraising monies to use for operating expenses. It's really no different.

Yeah, it does sound strange to charge people for their right to vote, but think of it this way, only people with social security numbers are allowed to vote in the USA. We are, in a sense, paying for the right to vote by being taxpayers in this country! Taxes could be construed as "membership dues" for being an American.

That's kind of a stretch, I know but it does prove a point.

Really, the bottom line is that whether you are a PTO or a PTA you are being an advocate for children and that's what truly matters.

Thousands? Hmm. I do need to take a closer look at our insurance coverage, but it is only $400 per year. The 501c3 filing fee (for us, with somewhat above average income) was $750, and that's a one-time cost.

Amen to that.