I think alot of parents feel like if they voluneer they will end up be sucked into a bottomelss pit of time!! We have done the 2 hour power idea this year and so far parents have responded really well! We have a lot of new volunteers. Organization is the key. Don't always use the same people just because you know them. We also used PTO Manager this year and it has been wonderful!!
I'm not trying to sound like "all that" but we never had a problem getting support from the parents. In fact at our volunteer thank you events we would send out 150 invitations to "active" volunteers. I think, and I say this in just about every post where this sort of thing comes up, it is all about the communication. If you can start regular, down to earth emails to your families, or newsletters, then you'll get folks to where they feel like they are a part of the group. If you can do that and get that feeling growing, shout out like crazy about all the great things you're doing and as mentioned above -- you will get folks to come up and join you. It is really a big thing to get started up--but when you do the payoff is enormous...
1- First, you have to get the existing PTO organized! Get things on paper with dates, specifics, etc.
2- You need to stir up some excitement about it by letting parents know there are benifits to service and that your group has its stuff together.
We revitalized our PTO group with several activities and fundraisers. One of the great new ideas we are using this year came from PTOSanta.com. Our members are excited about this!
Welcome to our world of not enough parent involvement. It's the same everywhere and noone knows a surefire answer. But....
You can have something all year held where every time a parent helps out (you can set what events work) they get a ticket. Each ticket is entered into a drawing and the winner has 1 child's book rental paid at the beginning of the year.
Otherwise resort to begging (don't bash me board I know yall hate the begging bit)
I joined our PTO this year and I am so disappointed, I would give up if my kids did not mean everything to me. They have virtually no fundraisers planned, and the lack of members from parents and teachers is horrible. I would love to have some surefire ideas that have worked for you, as well as a list of places to ask for donations. Any other info you can give me would be great!
Trying to turn around the PTO,
Kyle This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
