Question: I have trouble explaining the benefits of membership!

At my school, whether you are a card-carrying member or not, you are going to find out what PTA events are going on, what education issues might be up for discussion, asked to volunteer at some point, etc etc. Besides using membership as a way to raise money, how do you "sell" it? I've been involved with the PTA for 5 years now and have yet to see the bigger picture when it comes to asking people to become members.

Asked by mobrien

Answers:

Advice from PTO Today

Rose H writes:
Hi mobrien,

Consider selling the idea that parent involvement benefits the students, the school, and the parents themselves. We have various resources that help explain the value of parent involvement, like our video, Parent Involvement Matters.

If you show the video an an open house or back-to-school event, it will help "sell'' the message.

Also, we have articles that help explain the benefits of parent involvement, including:

Make the Case for Parent Involvement

Involvement Matters: What To Tell Parents

You may also want to try getting the word out with some of our free flyers that you can download from our File Exchange:

Top 10 Reasons To Join the Parent Group

10 Reasons To Get Involved

Good luck!
Rose C.

Community Advice

mum24kids writes:
What I've found works best is just to tell people that their membership fee is a show of support for all the programs we put on during the year.

Community Advice

lesleyharrison writes:
what do you use the money for? Is it to purchase books for the library, supplement the arts or science education, run a reading program? I always brought up some of the more educational uses for our membership money. Many people don't realise where the money goes and lots of people assume if you join up you have to attend meetings and volunteer too.