I am so excited and overwhelmed (in a positive way!) I just have to share!
Volunteerism in our school has been great.... among about 2 or 3% of us for the most part. We have people show up, but it has been a struggle at times, especially with our annual carnival.
At the end of last school year we sent home a volunteer interest sheet (from PTO Today), hoping to find out what parents wanted so we could better match the interests with our activities. We had 35 responses.... out of 625 kids, roughly 400 families. That was more than I expected but still disheartening. AND, basically what we learned was that those 35 liked how we were doing things. So it wasn't overly helpful.
New school year... The volunteer committee brainstorms and makes the decision to try the
2 Hour Power Pledge Program
.
At Open House barely 2 weeks ago we introduced the 2 Hour Power Pledge program as outlined on PTO Today. We were tight on time so all we did was a short little 3 second announcement about it. I honestly can't even recall what was said about it. I know at one point the 2 hour commitment was compared to the time it took to watch a movie and that the parents, and more importantly their kids, would gain more from the commitment than the movie and would save the $20 as well. (If that says anything about what I got out of it!)
The following Monday we sent it home in the folders, with the standard letter. We did put the "stats" on the back of the letter and the pledge form. We have done NO further advertising or announcements about it. (We have been pushing membership, our fall carnival, and what seems like tons of other things though!)
As of today, a week after the initial items went home in the folder we have had 84 responses!!! 84! I am just in shock and awe about that. In comparison to the size of the school that is still a small number in some ways. BUT, in comparison to the number of volunteers we had last year in general that is HUGE for us!!! And some of the comments and such have been amazing. We have people (many of them NEW people) willing to step forward for an assortment of things that in the past we couldn't find anyone for. And, it is just as amazing that the increase seems to be across the grade levels. No one grade (like the new incoming K parents) are the primary source it is divided fairly evenly at this point.
We have been going through a lot of changes in the past year, and refocusing in a lot of ways. Which I am sure helped. But to see this type of commitment so soon is amazing!
Now to keep the momentum going!
So... I just had to share because if you are considering the 2 Hour Power Pledge but just aren't sure about it. (Which is how we were last year!) It works.... it takes effort and follow up, but the excitement from it works!
<insert the Snoopy happy dance here!>
