PTO Today

Man, it’s been fun watching our community functionality explode these past few weeks.  Reminds me of when we first launched our message boards back in 2000.

Then, our boards were really the first web home for PTO and PTA leaders to share ideas and solutions  (and sometimes commiserate).  There was nothing else like it on the web.  Those first few months it was like we’d invented the wheel or provided oxygen to a drowning man.  The enthusiasm was palpable, and there was this “where has this been?” reaction.  Well more than 100,000 posts proved that our boards were helping tens of thousands of leaders.

In the ensuing 9+ years, all kinds of sharing came around.  From facebook to myspace to sub-groups on the big parenting sites – over time our message boards became less cutting edge.  More importantly, they became less essential. Still great and uniquely active – but there were other places to get similar feedback, many of them with all of the bells and whistles of Web 2.0.

That’s why I’m so excited about our new PTO Today Community.  It has all that stuff – the profiles and the private messaging and the ratings and the friending – plus several other “only at PTO Today” tools that make life easier for PTO and PTA leaders.  And all of it is integrated in our community. There’s our Ask a Question feature for quick responses (from many)  to your most perplexing questions.  There’s our File Exchange for sharing the best flyers and letters and posters from other groups.

And the action is back!  That’s the cool thing.  It’s like that first launch in 2000 – new leaders finding out that ptotoday.com is the most practical site on the ‘Net  for helping them do their jobs. Love that.

Just check-out our PTO Today Community homepage for a snapshot of just how much is happening every day.  Dozens and dozens of new members; new files in the Exchange; new questions; new answers; new threads in the still-great message boards.  It’s the place to be.  Hope you’ll make it work for you.  More activity, more leaders getting help and helping others, and more great groups helping kids.

Now, a request:  Here’s my community profile.  (Yes, I’m “Rockne”) I need some PTOtoday.com friends.  Seriously.  We can’t have Lisa Gundlach, our Community Host, out-friending me so badly. ☺ Send me a friend request, and we’ll be connected.

Look forward to seeing you on (and all over) the site.

We keep learning more about how parent involvement (and the role of PTOs) can and should go beyond just volunteering at school. Reaching out to parents, serving families, addressing key school-parent challenges — those are the types of habits that make your group even more effective for your school.

As parents, we’ve all heard from our kids: “Just one more… pleeeaaase. What’s the big deal?” Whether it’s candy or another TV show before bedtime or another toy at the store, it’s always very tempting to give in. But we also know that moderation and limits are best in the long run.

The same is even more true when it comes to your fundraising decisions. With no bad intentions at all, you can still do real harm to your group, your school, and even your future fundraising success if you give in to every fundraising temptation this year.

I’ve written about this in the past from several angles. The first is for groups that run too many of the big fundraisers. That can really wear down your supporters, tire your volunteers and lead to long-term problems for your group. My mantra is: Fundraise Less, but Fundraise Better. Giving more attention and support to two big efforts is way better than running four fundraisers haphazardly.

The second temptation is sneakier and harder to resist but still must be guarded against. This happens when the Southern Living mom and the Silpada mom and the local pizza joint all want to donate to your school. What’s the harm, right? Wrong. You’ll make $50 or $100, but you’ll significantly add to a damaging reputation that your group is just about fundraising. That makes growing involvement harder and also hurts future, more worthwhile, fundraising efforts. Bad all around.

It’s very hard to say no to someone trying to give you money, but leadership requires that you have those difficult conversations.

Seems there’s a lot of PTO v PTA action these days.  I’ve certainly been getting more than the usual number of emails and calls. And the news media has picked up the story several times of late.  The latest is a comprehensive feature in Washington Post on two high schools going PTO in Virginia and the related membership trends in that area.  The number that jumps out at me is that both those groups had 1,000 members. Wow.  Huge groups, but 1,000 members also means $3,000 per group in dues paid to state and national PTA.  Average PTA unit pays roughly $1,000 in dues.   (Note: you’ll find another fairly long take on the Woodson High PTA going PTO in this local paper coverage.)

And a third Virginia PTA going PTO is covered in this smaller article.

This Michigan feature looks at the whole PTO v PTA issue with the main conclusion that both groups do great work for kids.  We agree!

Obviously, it’s a lively issue.  Whether you’re a PTA thinking about switching to PTO or a PTO thinking about going PTA or even a brand new group deciding on a format, our new PTO and PTA Differences at a Glance chart should be a big help.

I’m already sharpening my elbows and working on my pen speed for the upcoming silent auction at my kids’ school. Sad, but true.

Our school has been running an increasingly successful auction gala for five years now. I like it because it helps us support really good work and because it winds up being a fun, grown-up night out with friends — different from when we’re all chasing kids around ball fields or school gyms. (We have a ton of good auction resources on ptotoday.com.)

But there is one area I still don’t get and where I think my group is leaving money on the table. It’s my tip for you this week, if you have an auction: Who says that silent auctions have to end using a clock?

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had five items I was following and bidding on, with all five spread in different sections of the room. It was impossible for me to get my max bid in for each of those items as the clock ticked down. I usually win the one or two that I stay physically closest to (sharp elbows and fast pen help immensely) but lose the several others across the room. Our school winds up selling those items for less than they could have. Auction profits go down.

The solution: Write into your auction rules that you reserve the right to turn any hotly contested silent auction item into a quickie live auction. If the clock hits the appointed hour and two or more parents are still competing, grab the sheet, hop up on a chair, and take bids. Two minutes later, you’ll know that you got the most dollars you could for those items. Unfair? No way. Not if you disclose it in advance and run it openly. In both cases there is a winner and a loser of the item, but in my system the school maximizes earnings. Which is kind of the point of the auction, no?

Related note — if you’re looking for creative auction items to sell, this list of suggested auction items has been one of our most popular for years.

I’m already sharpening my elbows and working on my pen speed for the upcoming silent auction at my kids’ school. Sad, but true.
Our school has been running an increasingly successful auction gala for five years now. I like it because it helps us support really good work and because it winds up being a fun, grown-up night out with friends — different from when we’re all chasing kids around ball fields or school gyms. (We have a ton of good auction resources on ptotoday.com.)

But there is one area I still don’t get and where I think my group is leaving money on the table. It’s my tip for you this week, if you have an auction: Who says that silent auctions have to end using a clock?

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had five items I was following and bidding on, with all five spread in different sections of the room. It was impossible for me to get my max bid in for each of those items as the clock ticked down. I usually win the one or two that I stay physically closest to (sharp elbows and fast pen help immensely) but lose the several others across the room. Our school winds up selling those items for less than they could have. Auction profits go down.

The solution: Write into your auction rules that you reserve the right to turn any hotly contested silent auction item into a quickie live auction. If the clock hits the appointed hour and two or more parents are still competing, grab the sheet, hop up on a chair, and take bids. Two minutes later, you’ll know that you got the most dollars you could for those items. Unfair? No way. Not if you disclose it in advance and run it openly. In both cases there is a winner and a loser of the item, but in my system the school maximizes earnings. Which is kind of the point of the auction, no?

Related note — if you’re looking for creative auction items to sell, this list of suggested auction items has been one of our most popular for years.

My advice to you this new school year: Stop worrying so much about attendance at your meetings. Focusing on who attends meetings is a sure-fire way to get depressed about your group’s progress and, frankly, a waste of your time and energy.

I’ve seen great groups that don’t have meetings. I’ve seen great groups that struggle to get even four people to meetings. I’ve seen great groups with excellent meeting attendance. They were great because of the work they did at their school, the involvement they fostered, the school community they helped create, the support they gave their teachers, the communication channel they created between school and home. Not at all because of their meeting attendance or lack thereof.

The fact is that meetings are boring and parents are busier than ever. I’d much rather have lousy meeting attendance and a highly successful family night (with lots of volunteers) than great meeting attendance and just a few sparsely attended events. No question.

Putting meetings in perspective is a key skill for a new officer. We also have a great section on the site about running better meetings. Hope you’ll enjoy both.

There have been thousands of these, but I love it especially when Lowe’s gets the credit it deserves in the local papers.

This Arizona school received a $100,000 grant from the Lowe’s Charitable and Educational Foundation, the same folks who support the Lowe’s Toolbox for Education program that PTO Today helps to promote and administer.  With another Lowe’s grant deadline approaching, we’ll be helping several hundred more schools in the next few months. Cool stuff.

Especially love this quote from the school principal:

“That’s an incredible grant Lowe’s gave to the school. We are very excited to see it come together.”

Simple but telling – Lowe’s is making a difference. Great to see companies giving back in the communities where they do business.

It seems like the flu is the hottest back-to-school topic this year.

There have been dozens of articles in recent weeks with predictions for this coming flu season, and tons of news about schools possibly being the first line of defense in preventing the flu from really devastating communities. It makes sense — schools are a place where kids can so easily pass bugs from one to another, and where we can most easily get the kids in one centralized location for prevention.

That’s why I’m thankful for our new Teach Flu a Lesson flu vaccination initiative. It makes it easy for PTOs and PTAs to put preventive measures in place at school to ensure the health and safety of students, parents, and staff. When we started working on this program last year, the flu was certainly a concern. But then the H1N1 virus (swine flu) came around, and it’s got everybody talking.

Our free planning kit includes everything your PTO needs to bring flu vaccinations right to your school: step-by-step planning guidelines, resources, promotional materials, even health professionals who will work one on one with your group to coordinate your event or clinic. It’s easy to plan and easy to execute, making it a great add-on to a health fair or as part of a health week. Or — this year especially — it’s even a good standalone event to hold at your school because interest and concern is so high.

Now is the time to plan to get ahead of the flu for this school year. This is a great way for your PTO to serve the kids, your families, and your school.

Interesting analysis from this group in Massachusetts, as they make the switch from PTA to PTO. The biggest reason: they wanted to include everyone and get rid of the “who’s a member and who’s not a member” idea. Also felt that perceived PTA fundraising restrictions were getting in their way.

I’ve always been a fan of the no-dues model for PTOs (not allowed for PTAs and optional for PTOs) for that very reason, seems funny to me that parents have to pay dues to belong to the parent group at their own children’s school.  My column on saying no to dues for parent groups and PTOs and PTAs is here.

There really is no way to effectively run your parent group without collaborating well with your school principal.

If yours is a relationship filled with strife and stress and ill will, then you’ll spend a great deal of time managing that relationship rather than managing your PTO toward success. Not only does that hurt your group results; it also makes your leadership job fairly miserable. Nobody volunteers for PTO leadership out of a desire to fight with the principal.

If you have a great PTO-principal relationship, appreciate it and work to keep it strong. If you don’t, then now is the right time of year to start making it better. Have you sat down for a discussion with your principal about what she would like your PTO to accomplish this year? Another great question is “What has our PTO or former PTO leadership done in the past that we can do better this year?” Here you’re looking for how the principal prefers to communicate, what kind of advance notice and approval she likes to have on things, etc.

Finally, my best tip is to do what you can to make your principal look good. Even if your principal doesn’t lift a finger to help with the fall fair, it does you no harm (and potentially a lot of good) to publicly thank her for her support of your efforts. As much as we’d all love our principals to be superheroes — great at all parts of their job — some don’t excel at the involvement/public relations aspects of the position. We can either get really frustrated about that or unselfishly take steps to help the principal fill that gap.

Whether you have a great relationship or you’re struggling, we have some excellent resources on proper care and feeding of your principal. Check out ‘‘Make the Principal Your Partner” and ”Negotiating With the Principal’‘ for starters.