PTO Today

A hearty congratulations to newly-elected officers! We have heard from many of you that you’re excited about your new role, but also a little nervous. No need to worry, we’ve got you covered! In this video, Tim gives some good advice to get you started.

Here is the article that Tim refers to in the video:  A Tale of Two Volunteers.

New parent group officers in years past also gave the following articles a thumbs up:

23 Essential Tips for New Presidents

38 Ideas to Start the Year Right

7 Steps to Grow Involvement

Build Support for New Ideas

16 Tips for Executive Board Members

The Truth About Cliques

Another tip for newbies: Make sure you register your new officers with PTO Today to stay on top of all the new programs and tools (and to receive a free Communication Handbook.) Also, if you are interested in receiving a tip a week from Tim and learning about the next free giveaway or sample offer from PTO Today and our partners, be sure to opt in to our Leader Lowdown Newsletter.

One last piece of advice: connect with other leaders! Sometimes being a parent group leader can be isolating. Our message boards, Ask a Question section, Facebook page and Twitter feed are great ways to chat with other leaders and swap stories and ask questions… maybe even brag a little.

Again, congrats!

In this week’s video blog Tim answers the much-asked questions: Can we carry money over to the next school year? — and —  How much money should we carry over to the new school year?

Related links:
Budget Basics for PTOs
How to Manage Your Budget
What Every Treasurer Should Know

Does your PTO or PTA have a rule of thumb for how much money you carry over to the next school year?

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

Treasurer’s reports, meeting minutes, fundraising results, bank statements… how much should you make public to your parent group and the school? The question of transparency comes up a lot! In this week’s video blog Tim answers the question, “just how transparent should our parent group be?”

How open is your group with information? How do you share your records so that there are no misconceptions? We’d love to hear from you.

A trend is emerging in schools that is very encouraging: parent groups are advocating for healthier schools. Whether it’s getting kids more active, promoting healthy eating, or sponsoring healthier family events and fundraisers, PTOs and PTAs are making it happen. Our Healthy School Kids program arms parent groups with articles, tools and products to help with these initiatives. In this video Tim talks about our Healthy School Kids program.

Here’s where you can find the articles that Tim references:
http://www.ptotoday.com/healthy-school-kids

Here’s how to sign up for the Healthy School Kids program: http://www.ptotoday.com/healthy-school-kids-samples

Space is limited so be sure to jump on this today.

“We all should know that diversity makes for a rich tapestry, and we must understand that all the threads of the tapestry are equal in value no matter what their color.” ~ Maya Angelou

Wouldn’t it be great if our PTOs, PTAs and school events had equal representation from every ethnic group in our schools? But, it’s harder than you think, isn’t it? Language barriers and cultural differences often prevent many families from connecting to the school community. This week Tim talks about an event that is a great starting point for reaching out to minority groups at your school and forging new connections.

Much of our focus as PTO or PTA leaders is on building involvement and fundraising. This week Tim suggests that you add another focus to your agenda: serving parents at your school. No, we’re not talking about serving them spaghetti or ice cream at your ice cream social. We are talking about serving parents by delivering programs that provide pertinent parenting information without asking for anything in return. There are so many hot topics that dominate the side lines at the soccer field: How to deal with homework, internet safety*, and the college application process, to name a few. Watch Tim’s video blog to hear his thoughts on these events.

*We have a free kit to help you run an Internet Safety Night. Check it out!

How can you improve communications and get more parents involved? Tim has a recommendation: Parent Express Email. Parent Express Email is a simple, quick and effective way to get emails out to people in your school as often as you would like. Listen to what Tim has to say about it:

Here is the link below the video ; ) http://www.ptotoday.com/parentexpress/index.php

Love to hear what you think about Parent Express Email. Please comment below.

If you asked me what one question we get asked the most by parent group leaders, I would say without hesitation: “How do I get more parents involved in our parent group and school?”  This is the topic of our video blog this week. Tim talks about his top 3 things PTO or PTA leaders can do to encourage more parents to volunteer and get involved this school year.

As Tim mentions in the video, we have tons of information about these tips on our site. Here are some links to get you started:

http://www.ptotoday.com/pto-today-articles/article/120-make-your-family-night-a-winner

http://www.ptotoday.com/sfn/SFN_homepage_parent.php

http://www.ptotoday.com/pto-today-articles/article/816-what-i-know-about-fundraising

http://www.ptotoday.com/pto-today-articles/article/1004-9-tips-to-increase-fundraising-sales

http://www.ptotoday.com/pto-today-articles/article/1009-is-your-pto-fun-enough

http://www.ptotoday.com/boards/25-involvement-ideas-and-challenges/151885-volunteer-fun-factor-do-you-have-it

We wish you the best of luck this new school year. Hope it’s the best year yet for parent involvement!

This week’s video blog is dedicated to new parent group presidents.  Tim has some practical and actionable advice for new leaders about how to start the school year off on the right foot and make it a successful year.