Question: What should we use to identify volunteers at PTO events?

Our PTO would like to give T-Shirts to our volunteers for them to wear when they are volunteering for identification purposes. However, we can not afford to give T-shirts to people that only volunteer once during the school year (in other words, we would give our regular volunteers T-shirts, but not everyone else). We still want the volunteers without shirts to be recognizable in a crowd during a PTO event. We are currently considering purchasing fleece vests, safety vests, aprons, or mesh football scrimmage jerseys with our school name and colors to be worn over a volunteer's regular clothes. Since they are to be worn over a volunteers clothes, we would not wash them unless they become soiled. The school colors are gold and navy, so both the T-shirt and other identifiaction item would be athletic gold. Knowing that... 1)Do you think it's a good idea to have separate clothing items for regular vs. occasional/one-time volunteers? 2)Which of the aforementioned one-time volunteer clothing pieces do you think would work best? 3)Do you have any other comments or suggestions concering this kind of issue? Thanks in advance for your input. :)

Asked by Anonymous

Answers:

Advice from PTO Today

Rose H writes:
Hi. We think it's a great idea to have some way to identify volunteers at events. Often, especially for new families, the first big social event can be a little intimidating, especially if you don't know who can help you or answer questions. Your point about t-shirts is well taken. Your ideas about the mesh vest or apron (some folks might balk at an apron, though!) is also a good one. You could even try something as simple as large name tags in a neon color or have volunteers wear Hawaiian leis at events. The leis are reusable and really inexpensive. You've got great ideas. Let us know how you make out!

Community Advice

NeillRay writes:
Clothing is a wonderfully expensive way to identify volunteers. Try name tags.

Community Advice

chidek writes:
You could ask volunteers to wear a certain color shirt at the events and also use name tags. Some people might not want to stand out- some like to quietly volunteer and others would be happy waling around with a megaphone!

Community Advice

Aaronndeb writes:
You can buy (for $.50 - $1.00) cord lanyards and attach a printed out volunteer tag. What I am suggesting to my own PTO is that I will donate 50 cord lanyards and print out 50 tags (A black paw with "Lincoln PTO" written in the palm, and "VOLUNTEER" written in bold letters beneath the paw) and laminate them (I have a personal Scotch Laminator at home, so it'll be easy peasy). The PTO can store these for use at any event (Back to School Night, Spaghetti Supper, Carnival, etc...)

Community Advice

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