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Increase Participation
Getting parents involved in the PTO and maintaining the same level of attendance at the first meeting as at the last is an ongoing issue for the PTO Board. And because new parents join the school every year, maintaining involvement and increasing PTO participation are issues PTOs deal with year after year.
PTO Ideas was created for exactly this purpose. We believe that if parents and teachers have the information, they are more likely to help. Here, we provide you with ideas to get more parents and teachers to attend meetings and keep them interested enough to stay involved!
Collect Contact Information
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. Distribute a form requesting the following information:
- Student Name(s)
- Parent Names
- Address
- Phone numbers
- Both parents' email addresses
- Both parents' business (company name, address, type of business)
- Ask if they would like their contact information included in the school directory.
- Ask which PTO programs they would be interested in helping out with.
- Special skills (photographer, artist, graphic designer, gardener, etc.)
- Signature and date
Provide parents with the resources
Parents will 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 the PTO implement and to decide what areas they are most likely to get involved in. Do this by distributing flyers with the location of these resources and post helpful links on the school webpage.
Distribute a flyer with the PTO Ideas name and website address. Ask parents to review the site to come up with ideas they would like to see implemented - ideas that appeal to one may not occur to another. If parents feel as though they have an idea to contribute, it's more likely they will attend the PTO meetings and get involved to carry out that idea.
Post the PTO Ideas link on your webpage under "Helpful Links", "Helpful Resources", or "Fundraising Ideas". Publish the link in the school directory and periodically in the monthly newsletter.
Send Email Reminders
The squeaky wheel gets the oil! So we highly suggest launching an email newsletter that acts as a continuous reminder to parents and staff. During the first few weeks of school, collect email addresses of parents, letting them know you will be emailing the PTO newsletter the week following every PTO monthly meeting. Include in your email, updates on past events, future events, reminders to turn in box tops, receipts, and cartridges for the Savings Programs, requests for volunteers and new ideas, and email address links for contacts.
Constant Contact, the leader in permission-based email marketing for small business, including nonprofit organizations, can help you email the parents that have signed up. Constant Contact makes email marketing so easy by including:
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Publish a PTO Newsletter
If emailing is not an option for your PTO at this time, publish a bi-weekly or monthly newsletter in paper form to keep the school families and faculty updated on the the PTO Operations. Include:
- Annual Fundraising Calendar: To let parents know how they can support the school.
- Special Event Calendar: Keep parents and faculty updated on these Family Fun Events (cookouts, pajama day, wellness week events, etc.).
- School calendar: include holidays, early release days, PTO meetings, report card release, conferences, kindergarten registration, and any scheduled events
- Helpful Information: Fundraising instruction & ideas at www.ptoideas.com, Girl/Boy Scout troop leaders, Lunch rates, etc.
- Coupons:Local businesses may be willing to offer discount coupons to school families to draw more traffic to their restaurant, store, or service.
- Articles:Print informational articles related to fundraising. Provide step-by-step instructions for running an event and perhaps parents will be less timid about volunteering.
- Requests for Volunteers
- Income & Expense Data: Let parents know how much money you hope to raise with each fundraiser and exactly where that money will be spent. Once the fundraiser has ended, let parents know exactly how much money you were able to raise.
Create a School Directory
A school directory is a valuable household resource filled with contact information for student families, teachers, and school administrative staff. It's a resource that school families will keep on hand and refer to all year long.
A school directory includes:
- Cover page
- Letter from the PTO Board
- PTO Board members: title, contact name, phone, email
- Helpful Information: Fundraising instruction & ideas at www.ptoideas.com, Girl/Boy Scout troop leaders, Lunch rates, etc.
- School faculty & staff: grade, name, room #, phone, email
- School Department: contact information for the Superintendent and other local schools
- Emergency: school closing contact information
- Class lists: room #, grade, teacher, student list by last & first name
- Family information: last/family name, address, home phone, parent's cell phones, first name of student(s), grade, email, parent(s) first name
- School calendar: include holidays, early release days, PTO meetings, report card release, conferences, kindergarten registration, and any scheduled events
- Advertisements: ask both local businesses and school families that offer a home business to advertise
Directories are funded and prepared by the PTO and distributed to all school families whether they've chosen to have their own contact information included or not. But due to the personal information of students and families, a school directory should never be distributed to the general public.
Provide the first family copy free and make additional copies available for a small fee (i.e. $1.00). Since parents would need to give their (written) permission in order for their contact information and child's name to be included in the directory, send out a sign-up form early in the school year (see Collect Contact Information above).
To help cover all or a portion of the cost to print the directory, sell advertisements to local businesses, with the highest priced ad spaces being those on the back cover, inside front cover, and inside back cover. Additional ads can be placed throughout the directory where space allows. The price of the ads can be determined once you've obtained a cost to print the directory.
Ask a PTO member familiar with desktop publishing to layout the directory. Printers also offer this service. The printer can help you choose the directory size and appropriate paper weights. A basic 8.5" x 11" sheet folded in half to 4.25" x 5.5" is both economical to print and convenient to store. The cover should be a 60, 80, or 100 lb cover stock, while the inside pages can be about a 60 lb bond (basic copy paper is 24 lb bond). Perhaps your local printer is also willing to offer discounted design and printing rates to support your school so always ask!
Advertise
Like any other business, a PTO must advertise to get the word out about what they offer. Advertise the fundraisers, the special event programs, the needs of the school, and the need for volunteers. Do this with:
- Flyers: Send flyers home with the students and display them around the school.
- Signs: Display a free-standing A-frame in front of the school that highlights upcoming events and deadlines. The sign should be visible to parents at pick-up and drop-off locations.
- Word-of-mouth: Ask the current PTO members to talk about the PTO to other parents and teachers and invite them to the next meeting.
- Website: Display all upcoming events, programs, and deadlines on the school website.
Provide parents with a description of PTO programs
Believe it or not, most parents new to a school don't know what 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 what each one is and maybe even volunteer opportunities associated with each.
Create a Task Force
Many people are unwilling to get involved for fear of a long-term commitment. To encourage these people to volunteer, create a task force specificly assigned to create temporary committees that run specific jobs. Unlike joining an Enrichment or Auction Committee, the task force jobs are short-term projects with a very specific beginning and end.
Each month the task force would put together a volunteer wish list gathered from every other fundraising and event committee. The wish list may include a need for volunteers to stuff and mail letters, volunteers to solicit 10 sponsor donations for the auction, or an artist to assist with student craft projects to be included in the auction. Or perhaps the task force is assigned the responsibility of organizing a hike as a family fun event.
Place ads in the monthly newsletter or on the school webpage (i.e. This month we need a graphic designer to design the logo for the auction.). In just a short time, the volunteers feel a great sense of accomplishment by completing a job.
Provide Organized Leadership
Lead by example. It is the responsibility of the PTO Board to organize the group as a whole. If the Board appears disorganized and unable to get things done, the members will get frustrated and eventually stop attending meetings.
Develop committees, recruit volunteers for each committee, and assign specific duties to each volunteer. Limit micromanagement by supplying the information ahead of time that the volunteers need to complete the assigned tasks.
Plan and prepare for each monthly PTO meeting as well as each individual committee meeting. Write up an agenda and if a PTO member asks that a specific topic be added, be sure to add it! Remember, the Board is established to carry out the requests of the PTO as a whole.
For more information on being a Great Leader and Conducting Planned Meetings, sign up as a PTO Ideas member and receive immediate access to Fundraising: Success is in the Details, a Free online guide from PTO Ideas featuring 8 essential steps to creating successful fundraisers!. Yes, registration is free too.
Stagger meeting times
Instead of scheduling every meeting at 9:00am on the first Wednesday of every month, stagger the meeting times (rotating between 9:00am one month and 7:00pm the next). Parents are more likely to find a time that works well for them.
There will be some months where you will want to offer meeting times at both 9:00am and 7:00pm. For instance, during the busiest months where the PTO needs to recruit additional volunteers. Or offer duplicate meetings for the first meeting of the year to increase the chances that more parents and teachers will attend and become involved and for the last meeting of the year when you are discussing plans for the upcoming year as well as holding elections for board members.
Raffle off VIP parking
Pick the parking spot that is most convenient for parents to drop off and pick up their kids and place a VIP Parking sign there. At each monthly PTO meeting ask attendees to place their name on a slip of paper and randomly pick one name. The winner gets to park in the VIP Parking spot for one month.
Even more important, is that you advertise the winner of this monthly raffle on the school website and in the school newsletter. Make sure all parents know how they too can win the best parking spot on the lot!
Involve Teachers
If the teachers are not already involved, ask them to participate and attend the monthly meetings. Open the invitation to all teachers, but you may also suggest that they assign two teacher representatives each year to be part of the PTO. Or perhaps, they would like to attend on a rotating schedule where two different teachers attend each month. Stress the importance of their valued opinions and insight.
Have a Guest Speaker
Schedule a guest speaker to talk for part of the PTO meeting. The speaker should be brief (no more than 15-20 minutes) but very informative. Topics should be of interest to parents and teachers such as:
- How to know if a child has a learning disability.
- Event planning guidelines and tips
- How to organize a family fun event
- Ten simple crafts to create and sell at this year's Holiday Craft Fair to make money
- Homework help for children with learning disabilities
- etc.
Offer a Social Aspect
Offer a social part of the meeting with wine and cheese or coffee and dessert. Perhaps integrate a book discussion where parents can talk about a great book they've read during the past month that others may find interesting or informative.
Offer Daycare
Most parents are not able to attend meetings because they have young children at home. So invite the children along. Set up a craft table or just some coloring books and crayons to keep them busy. If possible, ask for a few volunteer (older) students to monitor the younger ones in a separate room, the gym, or the library. Offer the kids pizza and its even better!!!
Piggyback Another Event
Tie the PTO meeting into an all school event that draws parents. For example, if there is a night that the parents come to meet teachers, have the PTO meeting first. Or, if there is an all-school assembly during the day that parents will be attending, have the meeting after the assembly.
Provide an Online Training Manual
Give parents a resource that introduces them to the PTO, provides contact information for the Board members and Committee members, explains this year's fundraisers and other programs, and explains where to locate the prior year's fundraiser and program planning information. If they know the information is readily available, they will be more apt to volunteer to plan an event. More information on PTO Training Manuals will be added to this PTO Ideas site in the near future.
Make it Fun!
Create an original theme for your fundraiser for the parents to work around. This will keep them focussed and gets the ideas flowing.
Sign up as a PTO Ideas member and receive immediate access to Fundraising: Success is in the Details, a Free online guide from PTO Ideas featuring 8 essential steps to creating successful fundraisers, including a list of detailed theme ideas!.
The 3-Hour Volunteer
Some people may feel intimidated by the thought of joining a PTO and committing themselves to months of ongoing volunteering. Instead, at the beginning of each year, let them know that volunteering just 3 hours of their time throughout the school year will make a tremendous difference to the organization.
Team-Up With Another School
If your school is on the small side and you feel as though a fundraiser requires a bigger student and parent volunteer base to carry it out, then team up with another school. The percentage of profit each school makes should be negotiated up front. Some examples include:
- Two schools of similar size - equal planning: If the schools plan to divide the planning and advertising up evenly between them, then profits should be split 50/50 no matter who ultimately brings in more sales. Both schools should agree to put forth equal effort by drawing up an outlined plan ahead of time.
- Two schools of varying size: If the schools plan to divide the planning and advertising evenly between them, but one school's return is expected to be far greater because they have more students, then you may consider splitting the profits 60/40. However, if the smaller school plans the event and is strictly relying on the larger school to promote it, then consider either a 50/50 split or consider offering the larger school just 25% of the provits simply for promoting the event.
Either way, both schools should agree draw up an agreement including an outlined plan ahead of time.
Community Development
We talk a lot about building a better PTO organization by maintaining involvement and increasing participation. Advertising the PTO like the business it is and reaching out to the school community is an integral part of this. Community is the keyword here. If you can create a sense of community and belonging amongst your school families, they are more likely to reach out and support one another and become involved in every aspect of the school.
Create a Community Development Committee whose sole responsibility is promoting "community" amongst the school familes and faculty as well as keeping the school connected with the local city/town community. This committee consists of parents, teachers, the head of school, and a community representative who together provide strategic direction in support of the school's mission and vision by doing things like:
- Organizing an all-school welcome meeting at the beginning of each school year to welcome and engage parents, introduce faculty and staff, and recruit new PTO members.
- Coordinating the contents, design, and printing of a Parent Handbook.
- Writing a blog for the weekly newsletter.
- Involving students in community events.
- Reaching out to community sponsors.
- Create a "Wall of Thanks"
It's also important that you show the parents and community sponsors the results of their support. For instance, if you plan an annual auction, place photos on the tables of the children using the items that you've fundraised for in the past. Whether it's new desks, books, computers, or new stage curtains show the children using them. Then have the children make colorful thank you cards and place them on each table.
Another option is to create a "Wall of Thanks" by placing ten 8"x10" photos in art-gallery format hanging on the wall along with thank you cards made by the students hanging underneath each photo.
Share your ideas.
Click here for additional hints for PTO Presidents.
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PTO Ideas has provided you with ideas. This information is the opinion of PTO ideas and may not be all inclusive. We recommend consulting with the head of your school and any other essential professional.
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