PTO Today

Now that it’s November, I imagine your membership drive, if you have one, is over. So my question (and tip) for you this week is, why do you charge dues to belong to your PTO? I personally think it’s a bad idea, and I hope you’ll discuss it with your group before next year’s drive rolls around again.

I wrote a column called ”Just Say No to Dues” a couple of years back, and I thought I’d summarize it here.

My problem with it comes from two perspectives. First, I think dues are anti-involvement and send the wrong message to your parent community. Why do I have to pay to belong to the parent group at my kids’ school? I feel like I paid those dues with blood, sweat, and tears (not to mention the tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars I’ve already spent raising junior). Most parent groups cite increasing parent involvement as their number one goal, and then the first thing they do is put a barrier (”$5, please”) between parents and their group. I think a much better message is “All parents and guardians of XYZ School are members of our PTO, and we look forward to a great year of working together to make our school a great place for our kids.”

The second is that membership drives actually aren’t even very effective as fundraisers. You spend lots of time and energy on a membership drive…frequent reminders, sign-up tables at open house, emails, more. And for what? $500? If you have a membership drive for the money, you have much better options to consider.

My observation is that most groups have membership drives because that’s the way it’s always been done. My tip this week: It’s OK to change the way things have always been done.

Agree? Disagree? Tried it already? I’d love to hear your take on this issue. Chime in on the ”dues or no dues” thread on our message boards.

Kind of a controversial tip for you this week, and it starts with a question: Has your leadership started slipping into a “this is what works for us and we’re the only ones involved, anyway” mindset?

While I understand the thinking, slipping into that mindset is a sure-fire way to close off involvement and to earn a clique reputation, even if it’s undeserved. Think about the one parent (who barely knows you guys) who has been thinking about getting involved. Will she feel comfortable finding your house and entering this very social, personal atmosphere? Unlikely. She’ll probably choose to stay home.

But that’s just one scenario. Have you stopped doing introductions and welcomes and nametags (because, well, most of us know each other)? Have you started just scheduling the regulars to volunteer (because no one else ever wants to help)?

Leadership isn’t easy, and good leadership is often not convenient. Taking those extra steps to be welcoming and open to even the few newcomers is part of the job. Work at keeping at it even when it feels pointless. It’s not. If you do have only a small handful of core volunteers, then just one or two more can make a big difference. And remaining open to that help is essential to bringing in the newcomers.

I would love to hear whether you’ve experienced this in your group or worked to solve it in some way; please join the discussion we started on our message boards. We also have a ton of other great articles and resources on getting more parents involved.

I’ve said for a long time that the key to growing involvement is to start by getting parents into your building. You don’t grow involvement by asking for help. You grow involvement by serving. Many attendees at your family events yield more volunteers down the road. Not to mention the fact that — even if those attendees never volunteer — your school is already a better place for everyone when parents are interacting with teachers and one another.

I elaborated on this concept in a column called ”Open Doors, Lots of Them’‘. I think you’ll like it. But it’s worth mentioning that how you open doors is almost as important as opening those doors in the first place. How’s your hospitality? Do folks feel welcomed? What about guilt? Is there ever an element of guilt in your approach, as in: “Thanks for coming; this took a lot of work, maybe you could help next time.”

While it’s certainly true and understandable, it’s also exactly the wrong way to build involvement. Treating people well and avoiding guilt is what gets people talking positively about your group and coming back to more events…and eventually volunteering. Of course, that can also work in the reverse if you’re not taking the time to make your events feel special.

We’ve had a ton of community talk about family events and involvement in recent weeks. I hope you’ll join in. You can also follow me on Twitter.

A story we’ve just added to ptotoday.com, ”Communication Tips for Better Involvement,” has an idea that I really like. One creative group took their volunteer signup sheet and made it into a giant bulletin board in the school lobby. If you want to run a game at the spring carnival or read to kids at the Family Reading Night or cook spaghetti at the annual pasta feed, just put your name down in the appropriate place on the bulletin board. Everybody can see at all times which activities are planned, what volunteers are needed, and who has signed up. If you change your mind, you just erase your name.

The reason I like this so much is that it sends a strong message that PTO is about every parent in the school. Running these events is something that we all do together, not something planned and run by a few officers who you may not even know.

The way you communicate says so much about your group. In fact, many parents may only know you by your communications. You’ll improve your image if you keep things upbeat; emphasize that PTO is about everybody, not just the officers; don’t send so much home that people start to ignore it; and, of course, always check carefully for errors before you send anything out. You’ll also find great tips for improving your newsletter, website, flyers, and more on ptotoday.com.

How great is it when your group has that one mom or dad who’s a pro at writing PTO letters or designing PTO flyers? It’s like your own little marketing department, and it makes a big difference in how your group is perceived at school.

The trouble is, though, that most groups don’t have that design pro or, when you do, her darn kids grow up and she moves on. It’s so frustrating trying to find just the right words for the letter or searching through bad clip art for the flyer when you’re just not that good at it. Worse yet, your group is sometimes judged by the quality of those amateur productions.

So the question is, does your group have some sort of storing or sharing system for last year’s and this year’s forms and flyers so that next year’s volunteers (possibly you again) will start out ahead? It’s an important concept. And it’s the spirit behind one of the most practical, most popular parts of ptotoday.com. Called the PTO Today File Exchange, there are already more than 700 various forms and flyers up there for you to borrow from. Here are three great examples of really practical files for you:

• Committee Chair Success Tips
• 112 Suggested Auction Items
• ”10 Reasons To Get Involved” Flyer

Take them, make them your own, and make your work that much easier. And if you like your own results, upload them back to the File Exchange for another leader to use. Kind of cool.

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.

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.

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.