PTO Today

Before you make definitive plans for next year’s PTO or PTA calendar, have you sat down with your principal and asked about her top two or three priorities for next year? If not — have that conversation first.

Parent involvement and family and volunteer activities of all kinds are great. But parent involvement that brings parents into discussions about and solutions for key school challenges is the most powerful. Perhaps reading scores are a struggle. If so, a Family Reading Night (with collaboration from your reading staff) might be a better fit than the annual Science Night. Or you could add a book swap and book club to the school calendar. Or volunteer parent readers and tutors. You get the idea.

The same kind of thinking and collaboration can apply to all kinds of priorities, but only if you have that conversation with your principal and/or staff. The challenges might be related to academics, social skills, safety, physical fitness, or something else. Working together with school staff, you can multiply your impact.

Here are a few more links on that kind of collaboration:

• Make It an A+ Year
• Help Build Student Achievement
• Make the Principal Your Partner

P.S. — Speaking of reading, I wanted to give you a heads up about a fun summer reading list sweepstakes from our sister site, SchoolFamily.com. Head over to the SchoolFamily Facebook page and share your favorite children’s book for a chance to win a $200 Amazon gift card. Good luck!

Believe it or not, now is the right time to do some assessing of your PTO or PTA. Sure, rest. You’ve earned it. But also try to find some time (even just trading emails) with your fellow leaders to think about the big picture of your group before you get back into the craziness of a new year.

One question to ask: Does your group have a signature event, something big and successful that you’re known for?

Many groups have lots of OK events. Those groups struggle to get new volunteers and the results of the events are OK, too.

The cool thing about signature events is that not only do they become more effective and more memorable and more fun (positively changing the reputation of your group in the process), they also attract volunteers more easily. Self-servingly, people are much more likely to volunteer at an event with cachet than at another just OK family night.

How can you do it? If you have too many middling events, drop a few and use the extra energy on expanding and improving the others. Take your Family Reading Night and blow it out into a communitywide reading week with the mayor and local celebrities. Add the best local DJ to your dinner-dance. Put some creative muscle around your marketing and PR for these events. You get the idea.

Here are just a few links to profiles of PTOs that have done just this:

• Million Minute Reading Challenge
• School Spirit in the Spotlight
• A Special Day for Grandparents

How can you make it work at your school?

While you’re winding down this year and planning for next, here’s a key addition for your to do list: Audit your books. If the word “audit” makes you shudder with thoughts of the IRS and CPAs, hear me out. The kind of audit I’m talking about is a simple but thorough review of your financial records for the year. It can be done in an afternoon by a committee of two or three people — or even a single intrepid volunteer.

The process consists of reviewing all financial transactions that occurred during the year to make sure they were entered correctly: checks written, bank statements, deposit slips, etc. Even if you have the world’s greatest treasurer, you should have an audit. Thousands of dollars likely move in and out of your account during the year; it’s very important to double-check that those transactions were recorded properly.

For more details on running an audit, putting financial controls into place, and managing your finances, these articles on ptotoday.com are a good resource:

• Annual Audit: How and Why
• 5 Smart Financial Controls
• What Every Treasurer Should Know

Protecting your money is the responsibility of the entire board. Your treasurer puts in a lot of hours managing that money. Give her the support and your members the peace of mind of this important backup system.

Before my tip, a request/recommendation: If you’re a Facebook user, you should definitely follow PTO Today on Facebook. Tons of great interactions and PTO and PTA discussions and insight happening there.

And actually, my tip this week comes from a Facebook connection I made with an involved PTO mom. Her advice (and I concur): Never give an outright “no” to an offer of help from a parent at your school. It sends exactly the wrong message and is the first step in getting a clique reputation.

Yes, you may have enough help for this particular effort (and too many volunteers can be almost as bad as not enough), but take the time to explain that to the parent offering — and always have another nice volunteering opportunity (or even better, a few choices) to connect that parent with. The worst thing you can do is to simply say no and hope she calls back again later. Most often, she won’t. And she’ll think your frequent requests for help are hollow.

It actually takes work and attention to cultivate more new volunteers. Little steps mean a lot. And little mistakes can do real harm. If this is a challenge for you, you might also like this article about 13 keys to build involvement.

Good luck!

In the spirit of Memorial Day, my tip this week is a recommended link: Could your school Adopt a Platoon?

If you’re looking for a neat service project with real world and school applications, supporting our soldiers is a great fit. Perhaps your PTO or PTA could spearhead this effort as school closes or even in the new school year. Letters from the kids, photos, and — of course — supplies do a great deal to make a very difficult job a bit easier.

It’s also the kind of project that can be set up on your own through a school parent who has served (like this PTO parent did in New Hampshire) or through your local veteran’s agent, who probably knows the names of several men and women from your town who are serving overseas.

In this week, while we remember those who have given their lives in service to our country, it’s a perfect time to think about how we can connect our school families to these brave men and women.

What can you do now that will have your group better prepared for August and September?

I’m serious. I know you’re tired. I know you have spring fever as bad as the kids. But I always hear groups saying “We’ll take care of that this summer.” And I hardly ever see anything getting taken care of in the summer.

The result: a rush of last-minute craziness the week school starts (when you’re already slammed) and — worse yet — missed opportunities to make a great impression during the most important impression time of the year. Ugh.

So, what can you do? Work now to get a couple of new leaders in key spots for the new school year. Don’t save that for August. Send something home now to all the new families for next year welcoming them to your school. You’ll forget that step or be too busy in August. Pick a date now for a welcome event for new families or parents. Update your PTO website now (because all the new families will be checking it out this summer). You get the picture.

Want some inspiration? Try these links from the site:

Make Planning a Priority

PTO Year-End To Do List

“Sign Fairy” Eases First-Day Jitters”

And if you get a minute to share on our message boards, we’d love to hear about what your group is doing to get set up for next year.

It’s really easy (and tempting!) to take the rest of the year off. Try not to. You can have a big impact on next year with a bit more effort now. Good luck!

If you’ve been reading these weekly emails, you know we here at PTO Today believe it’s important to thank your volunteers loudly and thank them often. We encourage you to reach out to new families. Help out your school’s teachers and staff. Give public kudos to the principal for her vital support.

But with all that, don’t overlook the accomplishments of one of the most important players at your school — your parent group. If you haven’t yet publicized all the great work your PTO or PTA has done this year, it’s time to polish up that horn and toot it.

Telling your school community about all the classroom supplies, enrichment experiences, family events, and more provided by your group isn’t an ego trip. Actually, it’s important on two levels: first, it builds your reputation as a successful group that does great things for the school and is worth getting involved in; and second, it’s really the best way to show parents that the hours they’ve volunteered and the money they’ve helped raise has had tangible results. They can share the pride in those accomplishments, and isn’t that a great feeling to share?

And while you’re tooting, take the time to put together a Parent Group of the Year entry. We started the Parent Group of the Year search more than 10 years ago to help give school parent groups the recognition they deserve. Entering is easy — just tell us your story in your own words. We’ll be awarding thousands of dollars in cash and prizes.

The deadline to enter is June 1. It’s always fun and inspiring to read the stories that come in; we’d love to hear about what your group has done, too. Good luck — and thanks for all you do!

Quick tip this week based on my belief that if your parent group isn’t fun, you are going to struggle mightily to get lots of parents and families connected. Therefore, three fun ideas:

1. Don’t be afraid of a post-event or post-meeting cocktail or social. Head down to Applebee’s or Starbucks (and open the invitation broadly — not just to your insiders) and add some downtime to your hard work. It can pay off.
2. Add some life to your newsletter. Photos of kids and families having fun. A random volunteer of the month. Baby pictures of your teachers. Steal some newsletter ideas from our File Exchange and try to make your newsletter 20 percent better than it now is (and 75 percent more fun). Your newsletter can really set a tone for your whole group.
3. Buy some pink flamingos and “flock” some folks. Use them to surprise an officer. Use them to surprise a volunteer who did a great job. Use them to decorate the school front lawn someday. They’re just goofy enough to always bring a smile.

Why did the chicken cross the road? Because this side of the road was boring! Good luck livening things up.

First of all, happy teacher appreciation day. Wednesday was officially National Teacher Day, and if you need any last-minute ideas, check out these simple ways to say thanks to teachers and staff.

I’m writing this on the way back from a really neat night put on by Common Sense Media regarding digital literacy and keeping our kids safe online.

It’s such a key topic (and often an intimidating one) for all parents, and we’re seeing more and more PTOs and PTAs playing a role in getting good information out to parents. I thought I’d highlight a few resources for you here:

1. Have you looked at hosting an Internet Safety Night for your parents? With the help of our friends at Trend Micro, we have a free kit that makes putting on a night like this easier than ever. Definitely worth considering.
2. You might also think about using your PTO or PTA website or email list to share the following very cool winning videos from Trend Micro’s recent “What’s your Story?” contest, which asked folks to create their own videos about Internet Safety. You have to check these out (and hopefully share them). They’re really great:
   • The grand-prize winning video is “Where Are You?“
   • And check out this cute runner-up video from some 3rd graders: “Be Respectful…Keep Your Comments to Yourself“

I hope these help. Look for more from us around these topics (and cyberbullying) in the months to come.

We’d love to hear what your school or parent group is doing related to Internet safety. Please share on our Facebook page.

Is your group making its fall fundraising plans right now? Perhaps considering early signing bonuses or cookie dough vs. gift wrap vs. a catalog sale?

It’s certainly good to plan early, so let me provide you with three key thoughts to guide your decisions. (If you want to read about these in more detail, check out the link below each section.)

1. Don’t mess with a good thing. Have you run a good sale with good profits and excellent customer service the past few years? If so, stick with it. Fundraising isn’t about the next new product; it’s about results that fund all of your good work. If you have good results, repeat the steps that made you succeed. And be thankful.
   Rate Your Fundraiser
2. Do not get caught in the profit percentage trap. It’s about how much you make in total and how positive an experience your group, your volunteers, and your parents have. It’s easy to increase the profit percentage with too-high prices or lower-quality products or poor service. Don’t fall for that. Look for a track record of real success.
   Good Fundraising Is More Than Just Profit
3. Fundraise less, but fundraise better. It’s preferable on every level to do fewer fundraisers but to execute those you do run more effectively. Eight different “hit the parents up for cash” efforts per year is just way too many. Instead, run two or three or — maybe — four, but do a better job marketing and a better job organizing and emphasize your good work more. And then get back to focusing on all that good work with all the time you save.
   What I Know About Fundraising

Good luck!