Q&A

PTO's partnering with other groups

I know that many elementary schools have girl scout groups associated with them. What if a PTO is contacted by other groups who may want to advertise their group or activities to the members?
- Carrie213

I have two suggestions. One, if you have people who want to advertise, then give them a way to do that. Create business-card size ads in your newsletter, for instance. If you prefer to do this as a public service, then create a couple of specific times during the year when you will be publicizing activities -- October for winter activities and February for spring signups, for example. Let organizations know that they can have a listing in your newsletter or special flyer at those specific times. I definitely wouldn't recommend distributing flyers provided by other organizations at random times. Unless you attack this in a systematic way, it will cause trouble. Also, if these are commercial ventures (like the tae kwon do studio), make sure the principal knows about your plan. Just as an aside, scouts are a little different in that they're often sponsored by PTOs and PTAs. In that case, the parent group has a vested interest in promoting the scout troop.
- Craig
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