Easy Steps To Increase Pto Participation

A new school year brings new students, new parents, and new leadership to Parent-Teacher Organizations (PTO). The challenge is capitalizing on this yearly change and making it work to your advantage.

If last year's PTO Board members did a fantastic job fundraising and maintaining membership, then follow in their footsteps. Ask the former President to consult and find out what they did to make the year a success. If on the other hand, parents were less than enthusiastic about the results of the fundraisers or programs and participation dropped off by year-end, then analyze why and work to rectify the problem areas.

Perhaps the Board appeared disorganized and unable or unwilling to carry out the requests of the members. Remember, the Board is established to carry out the requests of the PTO as a whole. It's a democracy, not a power struggle! Encourage all of the board members to be great leaders; leaders that the members will want to see succeed. Be honest, consistent, ask for suggestions and listen to the answers, work as hard or harder than you expect your members to work, and remember to say Thank You'.

It's also important that the Board be able to follow through and actually implement ideas. Be organized. Plan and prepare for each monthly PTO meeting as well as each committee meeting. If the Board appears disorganized and unable carry out plans, the members will get frustrated and eventually stop attending meetings.

With new students, come new parents. Whether these parents have their first child entering kindergarten or they have relocated from another school, they will come with new ideas and a fresh outlook. Like any other business, a PTO has to advertise and recruit new members each year. Parents new to the school can be timid about joining a group of parents that already know each other and are familiar with the programs. Advertise the PTO and it's goals using flyers and signs. And don't underestimate the power of a simple phone call to make new parents feel welcome. Ask them personally if they will attend a meeting. It takes just one person acknowledging them by name to make them feel welcome.

A few simple tools will go a long way in helping to increase PTO participation. The first step in connecting with the students and their families is to collect their contact information early in the school year so that you can reach out to them. Create a school directory and email list. The directory allows parents to easily contact each other and the email list can be used to keep parents updated on PTO events, issues, and volunteer opportunities.

Provide parents (and teachers) with information. Believe it or not, most parents new to a school don't know what the fundraisers are, just by the titles you give them. As a PTO Board, do not assume that anyone knows what the Fall Fair, Holiday Shopping Event, or the Grocery Receipts Savings Program is. At the beginning of each year, distribute a list of all of the PTO programs along with a short description of each one and volunteer opportunities associated with each.

Provide parents with resources. Parents are more likely to get involved if they feel like they have something to contribute. So give them the resources to decide what types of programs they would like to see implemented and in what areas they are most likely to get involved. Actually distribute a flyer that lists the resources, whether they are books, or websites. PTO Ideas (www.ptoideas.com) is one website specifically designed for PTOs and offers thousands of ideas and highly detailed instructions for implementing fundraisers.

Remember to make fundraising fun! For your next fundraiser, try planning it around a theme. Children's books are fantastic resources for coming up with themes! Plan advertising and activities around the theme and you'll be amazed at what you come up with.

And finally, laugh and work together. The PTO can be a great social outlet. And so much more can be accomplished when we laugh and work together as a team!