PTO Today

I had the privilege of talking to parent group leaders at our recent PTO Today Expos. Connecting with folks in our community and on Facebook and Twitter is great, but there’s nothing like talking face to face with passionate PTO and PTA volunteers. It was so fun to hear about what various groups are doing for programs and events. You can probably guess what most of our conversations centered around… how to get more volunteers and how crazy the end of the school year is!  I was impressed by how many leaders said they don’t let up on volunteer recruitment in the spring, despite busy family schedules.

I found it interesting that many leaders said they had considerable success signing up volunteers at spring Family Movie Nights. What I heard is that families have so much going on this time of year, that the last thing they want is have another event that requires a lot of band width.  Word is that families love the low-key aspect of Family Movie Nights. A table set up with volunteer sign-up sheets near the snacks inspires parents to contribute to future events. Parents are much more likely to sign up for a shift when they feel like part of the school community and after they had a good time a school family event. Leaders also told me that finding a volunteer to run a Family Movie Night is easier than most because you can hand them a kit with:

One mom, who runs their Family Movie Nights, said that they start movie nights off outside. They light their playground and let the kids play for 45 minutes. Kids love it because they get a kick out playing on their playground at night and parents love it because the kids get their wiggles out.  After a bit of fresh air the families head inside to get cozy on sleeping bags to watch a movie. Apparently there is something about the relaxed atmosphere that makes parents want to give back to the school and parent group by volunteering an hour or two.  Give it a try and let us know how it goes!

Hope you all had a happy St. Patrick’s Day! I had fun reading articles about the various ways that schools and parent groups showed their green this week. Here are my top picks for St. Patrick’s Day school celebrations in the news:

• This PTA showed their school and irish spirit by hosting a breakfast with a Leprechaun. Is the boy in the photo the most adorable Leprechaun you’ve ever seen, or what? Actually he’s the only one I’ve seen, but he’s still pretty cute!
• Kudos this parent group for saying thanks to their teachers with a bit of an irish flair.  What a fun day to do a teacher appreciation event!
• Love that this school celebrated  St. Patty’s Day by throwing a Go Green Day for their whole school.  If your school would like to host a Go Green Night, check out this free kit.
• In keeping with a true irish tradition, this PTA invited parents to join them for a pint of Guinness!

Cheers! Have a great weekend.

It’s getting to be that time of year when you pass along the gavel. Elections and officer transition is top of mind for many. This week’s featured question from Ask a Question deals with the role of the outgoing president.

Nilam asks:

We are in the process of revising our bylaws. I was wondering if PTA bylaws include the past president as a member of the PTA board. I would greatly appreciate examples of how to define the role and responsibilities of the past president.

Craig writes:

Bylaws don’t usually include specific duties for the past president, and I wouldn’t recommend including her on the board. Having the past president sit on the board can make it difficult for the new president to get established and cause confusion about who’s really in charge. If you have the person who has been running the PTO for the last year or two on the board, it’s normal for people to look to her for decisions rather than the new president. That’s especially true if, say, the new president was vice president for the last year or two under the now past president. If you want to define a role for the past president, I’d say it would be to act as an advisor as needed. If she wants a specific role, let her chair a key committee. But don’t write that into the bylaws — not all past presidents will be willing to take on that responsibility. In addition, there likely will be situations where the past president no longer has children in the school. She might be more interested in helping out in the middle school where her children now are than in the elementary school where she was president last year, for example.

Links related to officer transition:

http://www.ptotoday.com/pto-today-articles/article/360-how-to-retire-gracefully

http://www.ptotoday.com/pto-today-articles/article/80-8-tips-for-passing-the-gavel

http://www.ptotoday.com/transitionkit/

http://www.ptotoday.com/pto-today-articles/article/69-youre-elected-now-what

This past Monday I asked folks over on our Facebook page what projects they had cooking.  The responses made one thing infinitely clear: spring is crazy busy!  Can you feel the PTO or PTA leader fatigue setting in yet? The last thing you need is to have fewer volunteers for your spring events and programs, right? In this video blog Tim Sullivan talks about a common mistake that leaders often make this time of year — a mistake that can cost you good volunteers and your group’s reputation.

Have you gone back to your volunteer interest surveys recently? How are you doing for recruiting volunteers for spring events and programs? Here are a few articles that may spark some ideas on how to get more parents involved in your end-of-year events:

http://www.ptotoday.com/pto-today-articles/article/8-25-ways-to-catch-and-keep-volunteers

http://www.ptotoday.com/filesharing/document/89-pto-today-10-reasons-to-get-involved-color

http://www.ptotoday.com/2hourpower/learnMore.html

http://www.ptotoday.com/pto-today-articles/article/262-build-your-volunteer-base-11-ideas

http://www.ptotoday.com/pto-today-articles/article/419-dont-say-it

Here are the highlights of the featured articles for this week. Hope you’ll find something that sparks an idea– big or small– for an upcoming event or program.

• Batter up! This PTO has about 2,500 people attend their pancake breakfast. Wow. That’s a whole lot of pancakes. More importantly, that’s whole lot of school and community spirit!
• Now here’s an idea: offer a $5,000 jack pot to get parents to come to your fundraiser. The only catch is that event tickets are $100 per couple. A night out with other parents and a chance at $5k — sounds worth it to me.
• Speaking of prizes, this school is enticing parents of  freshman to come to their information night with a free chili dinner and a chance to win one of four Kindles. Nice.
• We always say that family nights are a terrific way to build community at your school. This PTO has the right idea… they are running a “Minute to Win It”  family challenge, followed by a family movie night.  Sounds like a fun night!
• Like the twist that this PTO put on their school auction:  the auction items are re-gifts.  Re-use, recycle and raise money for the school. Genius.
• Kudos to this school for hosting an environmental fair before green was hip! Really like that more 120 kids are involved in their 15th annual school environmental fair.

Don’t forget to let us know if your PTO or PTA event gets press! We’d love to include your story in our round-ups. Email me at lgundlach@ptotoday.com.

Here’s this week’s question from our Ask a Question section:

kczech asks:

Anybody have difficulty getting teachers to participate at school carnivals? At my school the teachers seem to think that they need to be paid if they participate.

Craig writes:

It would be great to have teachers participate in all PTO and PTA events, but unfortunately that doesn’t happen. In truth, I don’t blame the teachers. They have their own families and private life to worry about, and chances are at least some of them have their own children in other schools where they would like to be involved. When you meet the kind of resistance that it sounds like your group has, you’re better off moving on. Focus on getting teachers to help you in the most key ways — distributing your communications in the classroom, helping you collect fundraising money, working with you to plan field trips and other curriculum or enrichment-related events. You might try to get a teacher representative at your events, but from your description I doubt there’s anything you can do to get broad attendance from teachers. Read the articles Let Teachers Teach and Get Teachers on Your Side for more on this topic.

Related links:

http://www.ptotoday.com/pto-today-articles/article/262-build-your-volunteer-base-11-ideas

http://www.ptotoday.com/pto-today-articles/article/1089-three-creative-carnival-ideas

http://www.ptotoday.com/pto-today-articles/article/1088-classic-carnival-activities

How is your group doing with recruiting volunteers for your school carnivals? Do your teachers participate?

We are gearing up for another chat on our Facebook page this Thursday, March 3rd at 1pm EST. Consider this your invitation for  a virtual cup of coffee and chat. This is your chance to chat with other parent leaders who share the same  issues and joys.  Drop in for a little bit or stay the whole hour.

If you are new to our chats here’s how to participate:

• post your questions prior to Thursday on the Facebook event wall.
• email me questions ahead of time at me at lgundlach@ptotoday.com (if you’d feel more comfortable keeing your question(s) anonymous.)
• or post questions on our wall during the live chat… go with the flow.
• Just a note about participation: During the chat keep hitting your refresh button to stay on top  of the conversation stream.  It’s a good idea to have our Facebook page up in several tabs, just in case one gets hung up in a refresh loop.

We hope you’ll join us on our Facebook page on Thursday between 1 and 2 pm EST.  Even if you don’t have a question, I bet you’ll learn from the conversation.  If you have any questions about this event, don’t hesitate to contact me.

This week’s question from our Ask a Question section comes from an anonymous poster:

Do most PTO’s have their own independent from the school bank account? Ours is combined with the school’s account so we really don’t have control of our money.

Craig writes:

Most PTOs do have their own bank account. It’s really the only way to properly manage your budget, and it’s certainly the most efficient way to run your group. You’ll need an Employer Identification Number (EIN) from the IRS if you don’t have one. Having an EIN doesn’t mean you’re an employer — it’s like a social security number for businesses, and it only takes a few minutes to obtain (IRS.gov). You also should put some strong financial controls into place. You may need to demonstrate to the school that you will do this. There have been lots of cases of theft from PTOs, and the school may be concerned about that. The number one thing you should do is have your bank statement sent to someone who is not a signer on the checking account — maybe even the principal, if this helps your situation. The article 5 Smart Financial Controls offers simple, easy-to-implement ideas that will protect your money.

Related links/More articles related to PTO or PTA finances and budgets:

http://www.ptotoday.com/pto-today-articles/article/400-what-every-treasurer-should-know

http://www.ptotoday.com/pto-today-articles/article/71-budget-basics-for-ptos

http://www.ptotoday.com/pto-today-articles/article/218-how-to-manage-your-budget

http://www.ptotoday.com/pto-today-articles/article/396-annual-audit-how-and-why

http://www.ptotoday.com/filesharing/document/80-pto-today-sample-parent-group-budget

Can quizzes be fun and entertaining? We think so. In this video, Tim gives you the scoop on our newly launched PTOtoday.com Fun Fact Giveaway quiz.  This is your chance to learn more about the resources on our site and be entered to win a $50 Target gift card. Pretty cool, huh?

Here’s the link to the quiz. http://www.ptotoday.com/ptotoday-fun-fact-giveaway Go!