PTO Today

School’s ending soon and that means transitions for kids, parents, teachers—and PTO leaders.

For many new leaders, it can be a scary time if there’s no transition strategy to bring them up to speed. We heard about one group recently that is taking an unusual approach. The six-member executive board agreed to step down as a group, retaining committee responsibilities while an entirely new group of six will step up to board positions. The idea is the new board will have mentors on hand.

But there are many ways to tackle the transition challenge. For example, PTO leaders of the Temple Independent School District in Temple, Texas, will come together this weekend for a morning workshop on PTO basics. Run by the district, the event is intended to give new leaders a primer on PTO group management.

Attendees will get an overview on bylaws, budgets, and nonprofit status as well as discuss ideas for recruiting volunteers and collaborating with each other.

“It started because one PTO parent was so frustrated by being dumped into the deep end,’’ says Regina Corley, PTO president at Western Hills Elementary in Temple.

That parent was Corley, who described a situation that will ring a bell with many PTO leaders: She stepped up to run the PTO at Western Hills in 2009 when a group of grade 5 parents, who had been on the executive board for a long stretch, moved on.

“They left and we didn’t know what to do,’’ Corley says. “We had a tough, tough year.’’

Since then Corley has been on the board in one capacity or another and will serve as president again this coming year.

But in 2009, she and her fellow board members felt overwhelmed. “I remember our first fundraiser,’’ she says. “We all just looked at each other when we realized we had raised $15,000.’’

At the time, Corley was also the director of communications for the school district, a job she wrapped up earlier this year. She shared her rough-start story with the superintendent and they talked about ways to help PTO leaders become more informed. That eventually led to the idea of the workshop and the first one was in 2011.

The district now keeps a copy of each group’s bylaws and budget on file, and new leaders can access those documents when they take over a group.

“What’s come out of it is we have strong, functioning PTOs,” Corley says. “So the next time a group of grade 5 parents moves on, the new officers won’t be completely lost.”

For any leaders who need transition tips, we have many resources on this important topic, including:

Help Prepare New Officers for Success

Officer Transition Survival Kit

You’re Elected! Now What?

8 Tips for Passing the Gavel

One of the most popular search terms on ptotoday.com — all year round — is “dealing with difficult people.” Whether it’s the folks who always complain about what the parent group does but never seem to step up to help, or the ones who are willing to give their time but make everyone else’s life miserable in the process, these difficult people cause a lot of headaches among the leaders we talk to.

Some leaders worry that if they address the situation, they’ll make it worse. But an uncomfortable situation is unlikely to change (and may even get worse) if you don’t do something. If you’re faced with someone who is complaining nonstop about the spring carnival plans, for example, find a minute to pull them aside for a discreet conversation and ask them (kindly) what their concerns and worries are. Maybe they’re feeling overwhelmed and would like extra help. Maybe they’re afraid of screwing up a much-loved tradition. If you just get annoyed at the whining and vent to your friends and fellow leaders, though, you’ll reinforce your own negative feelings about the person — and never find out what’s at the root of the complaining.

These articles from our archives have more details about different situations you might find yourself in, and how to handle what comes up:

Dealing With Disagreements

How To Deal With Difficult People

How To React to Critics

Having trouble getting enough volunteers? That’s normal. Everyone isn’t as into this school stuff as we are.

But how you talk to parents and potential volunteers about that struggle can make all the difference in whether you can overcome or whether you’ll be stuck in volunteer limbo for the long term.

The temptation when things are especially frustrating is to whine to parents or try to “guilt” them into trudging down to school to help out. It’s basically a version of “the same five people (us) can’t do everything; everyone should be pitching in!” Of course that whine is true, but it’s not effective.

You might get a few volunteers who react to the guilt trip, but not many and not for the long term. If you want to attract volunteers, you need to be attractive (appear as fun, appear as welcoming, appear as worthwhile). And guilt and whininess are the opposite. Making your group more attractive and communicating positively — even when things are most frustrating — is the key to change. It won’t work overnight, but it always works better than the negative approach.

We have a ton online about the “guilt trap” and attracting volunteers; here are just a few:

Escaping the Guilt Trap

Confront the Fear of Quitting

9 Steps To Recruit More Volunteers

Many service organizations, civic clubs, and fraternal groups have volunteer power they are willing to share. Use these tips to tap into that resource for your school:

Start with a plan. Before you approach an organization, determine a project you need help with, how much time is involved, and the specific work required.

Use your contacts. Ask members of the school community whether they have contacts at local civic groups. Simply talking to a friend or neighbor about how their organization can contribute to the school might start a lasting partnership.

Be patient. It usually takes some time to get a response from a civic organization. Keep the timeline in mind when you plan your outreach.

Stay in touch regularly. Appoint a member of your group to be the liaison with the civic organization. It’s important to keep the lines of communication open.

Say thanks publicly. Send a thank-you note to the club, but also send a press release to local media detailing the help they have given to the school.

Make it a two-way street. Offer to help the civic organization with its own project. Maybe your parent group could provide volunteers to help them, opening up the possibility of an ongoing partnership.

Read more: Service Groups Lend a Hand

These best practices can help your committees run themselves, efficiently and without conflict:

Give committees a job to do. Every committee should have a specific purpose, clear expectations, budget, timeline, and milestones. Don’t establish any committee without a definite idea of what you want it to accomplish.

Focus on the goals, not the process. Once you establish the goals and parameters for the committee, let the committee itself decide how they will do the actual work. Micromanaging is more likely to undermine the work than to move it forward.

Set milestones. Committees should report their progress to the board at regular, predetermined intervals. Use these check-ins to make sure the committee is progressing as you expect and has all the resources needed to effectively execute their work.

Get all members involved. It’s up to the committee chair to divide the milestones into discrete jobs and to make sure everyone is involved in moving the committee toward its goal. Keep in mind that people participate because they want to make a meaningful contribution, not just to do busywork.

Don’t wait until the end to say thanks. Celebrate when milestones are reached along the way, even if you haven’t completed the entire job. Giving people encouragement will help keep them energized even for long projects.

Learn more: PTO and PTA committees topic page

Creating a Facebook page can be a great way to keep in touch with parents and build community. Use these guidelines to set up a successful Facebook page for your group.

• Write guidelines for your page that emphasize the importance of being polite, avoiding profanity, and writing only what you would say to someone’s face.
• When you set up your page, tell Facebook you want to add a “Like” box to it. This will help you attract more parents.
• Vary your posts. Include information about school events, volunteering, and fundraisers, but also add photos, links to interesting blog posts and articles, public thank-yous, quotations, and anything else you feel is relevant.
• Delete all posts that are negative, inflammatory, or promotional.
• Promote your page in your other communications whenever possible. The more parents who know about it, the more lively and beneficial it will be.
• And don’t forget to like PTO Today on Facebook!

Instead of a tip this week, I have a resource to offer you that will help get your message across about the importance of parent involvement.

It’s from our sister website, SchoolFamily.com. If you haven’t visited SchoolFamily yet, it’s filled with information to help parents help their children succeed in school. Topics range from how best to help your child with homework to tips for communicating with the teacher to explanations of academic expectations for each grade level.

The resource is a newsfeed from SchoolFamily to use on your own parent group or school website or blog. It features articles on the importance of getting involved in your child’s education — articles like ”5 Reasons To Get Involved.” You can get the newsfeed for your website here:

SchoolFamily.com newsfeed for parent group and school websites.

As encouragement, we’re offering a copy of PTO Today’s Parent Involvement Toolkit to any parent group that uses the newsfeed. I think you’ll like the newsfeed. It’s easy to use, and it will make you look good for providing helpful information to parents.

So did you brave Black Friday? Getting any amazing bargains? Not me. I am not one for crowds, especially when it comes to the shopping mall! I did, however, get some fabulous bargains online in the electronics category. (Obviously my kids don’t read this blog ; )

While I am excited that I got some excellent technology deals, these gifts come with some serious mommy angst. After the holiday excitement fades, my biggest priority is to teach my kids to be safe and responsible online. And fast. It feels kind of daunting to me! That’s why I am excited that PTO Today has everything I need to know in this category in its Internet Safety Kit! Now, maybe I am a little biased, but I feel like this event is a gift to parents and to a school community. Teaching parents about how to keep their kids safe online… awesome. Getting all the parents in the same room to compare notes and swap stories… even better!

From an event planning perspective, the nice thing about our free Internet Safety Night Kit is that everything in the kit comes on one CD. Just pop it into your computer to download, email and print these tools:

• A FREE copy of Trend Micro™ Online Guardian software (retail value $49.95) to give away at your event
• Easy to follow step-by-step event planning guidelines
• Professionally written Internet safety PowerPoint presentation
• Discussion starters
• Educational videos about online safety, shot by real adults and kids!
• Take home flyers for parents (including a cyber bullying & cell phone handout)
• Promotional materials

We are super excited to announce a new School Family Night:  Kinect™ Family Game Night!

As you know, at PTO Today we are all about helping PTO and PTA leaders build community at their schools. We think that Kinect Family Game Night is a fabulous way to bring families at your school together for a night of feel-good fun that’s a blast for everyone! Kinect™ for Xbox 360 will get parents and kids alike up and off their feet for an energetic night of game playing and friendly competition!

Here’s how this family night works:

• Start by ordering your free downloadable kit materials, which include step-by-step planning guidelines and a reproducible invitation flyer. Hint: straightforward materials and instructions make finding a volunteer to run this night a snap!

• Families will jump at the chance to attend this action-packed night out at school! This new event features a fun evening of physical activity using Kinect™ for Xbox 360, where you are the controller, as well as traditional gym games that will get everyone up and moving! All these activities are spelled out in your kit materials.

To see a Kinect™ Family Game Night in action, view our video and photo gallery! Through videos and photos you’ll get a sense of the fun and energy this event brings to your school community!

Now here’s the really cool part: Order your free kit before 1/31/12 and your school parent group will be automatically entered into the exclusive PTO Today Kinect™ Family Game Night sweepstakes*! One lucky school parent group will win a Kinect™ for Xbox 360® Prize Pack, featuring an Xbox 360 console, Kinect Sensor, a set of games, and a 50” big screen TV! Plus, (3) first prize winners will each win a Kinect Sports and Kinect Sports: Season Two game!

Winter is coming.  What better time to promote a healthy, active lifestyle, and get families out and moving? Order your free kit now!

*No purchase necessary. Open only to school parent group leaders registered with PTO Today. Prizes will be awarded to the registered school parent group organization. Sweepstakes ends January 31, 2012. See Official Rules for full details.

We had a great turn out last week at our “All About Online Auctions” webinar. Thanks to all that participated. There were many excellent questions asked and we hope you learned a lot.

This Wednesday, November 16, is the Maximize Your Online Auction & Intro to Mobile Bidding webinar.

Take part in this webinar for a more advanced look into maximizing the potential of your online auction, including the most recent technological development – mobile bidding. The online auction experts from BiddingForGood will share why schools are especially suited for online and mobile bidding success.

Register today and tune in for some great info on Wednesday, November 16th at 2:00 PM ET. If you are working or you are taxiing kids around during that time, fear not! Sign up for the webinar anyway … we will be sending everyone who registers a recording of the event so you can listen and learn, when it is convenient for you.