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.

So did you know that today was International Walk to School Day?  I did a quick scan on the net to see if there were any articles or blogs about schools participating. There were tons! Great to see.

Loved reading about what one PTO is doing to celebrate Walk-to-School Day.  Not only do they do some fun things to promote this day but they also have a  PTO walk-to-school coordinator for the whole school year.

Is your PTO involved in any programs that encourage healthy habits in the students at your school? We’d love to hear what you’re doing!

Neat that some folks in Minnesota think that parent involvement in education is so important, that they set aside an entire month to celebrate it!   According to this recent article, October is Minnesota Parent Involvement Month —  a time to celebrate the powerful role parents play in their children’s education.  Wouldn’t it be nice if every state did this?

But I guess I am preaching to the choir! We know if you are on this site you care a tremendous amount about being involved in your child’s education. Bet you wish there were more parents at your school that shared your passion! If you’re nodding your head, check out our Parent Involvement Toolkit! And remember, it doesn’t hurt to remind parents – again- why involvement matters.

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.

Wanted to call your attention to PTO Today’s newest program, Healthy School Kids. You can find a link to the Healthy School Kids (HSK) sign-up page on ptotoday.com in the main navigation bar, under Helpful Tools.

This is a great program for parent groups who are trying to mix healthy habits into fundraising and school family events.

By signing up to become a HSK group, you’ll get:

1) Priority notice for FREE Healthy School Kids sample offers to share with parents at upcoming school events (you”ll also be one of the first to be emailed of any health and wellness free samples offers that come up throughout the year – i.e. hand sanitizer samples for an upcoming fitness night, healthy snack samples for Family Reading Night, etc.)

2) Immediate access to a special HSK home page web page on ptotoday.com, which features all of our best health and wellness PTO content. We’ll be adding more content to this page each month.

So go check it out and tell us what you think.

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.

Some important changes being made to PTOtoday.com the next couple of days. Listen to what Tim has to say about these cool new features and what it all means to busy parent group leaders.

How many of you have lamented, “If only I had more time in my day?”

We hear that from parent group leaders all the time! That’s why we’re excited to let you know about some changes to our site that will give you the tools and information you need to do your job more efficiently! Not only that, you’ll also feel more connected to other leaders.

Later this week we’ll be going live with some pretty cool community sections on our site:

My PTO Today will allow you to designate what content is most relevant to you and then track all the articles, message board threads, and blog posts that relate to your interests. Very cool feature for busy leaders.

Community will help you connect with other leaders who share the same roles, interests, and issues.

Ask a Question will let you ask a quick question within specific categories and get concrete advice from PTO Today experts, or community members.

Our message boards will still be your place to have conversations, express opinions, and bounce ideas off of other leaders —  but you’ll see a new look and feel, and some added functionality. Think you’ll like the new ways to connect and identify with your peers.

What you need to know about the upcoming changes:

- The existing message boards will be down between approximately 9 and 10 pm EST on Thursday night. All of your past conversations, user and login information will be carried over.  Note that when the boards come back up  at @ 10 pm, your profile will be turned off.  On Friday morning  it will be back on and you will have the ability to edit your profile so you can participate in the PTO Today Community on a site-wide basis.  Posting anonymously will still be an option.

-Note to night owls: from 1am to 6am EST on Friday night there may be an interruption of service, but ideally we are aiming to make this upgrade as seamless as possible.

- You’ll see in the top navigation bar that our new sections: Message Boards, Ask a Question, and My PTO Today all have the word “Beta” on the tabs. For those of you not familiar with this term, here’s the scoop:
Beta level features are between 60% and 70% complete, generally include all features, but may also include known issues and bugs of a less serious variety. So we’ll be very busy working on enhancements in the weeks to come.

Your feedback is very important. There will be a new section in the message boards called: Comments, Questions and Feedback on the New PTO Today Community. You can also email me directly with your questions and feedback at lgundlach@ptotoday.com

Look forward to seeing you around the community! My username is Lisa @ PTO Today – be sure to friend me when you update or create your user profile.