Involved mom has a great point, even at school sporting events the timer and scorekeeper does not pay their way and they are volunteering, booster club member worhing consessions don't pay their way, the piano player at the school play doesn't pay their way. If you really look around it is so common that this happens.

I am a true believer that volunteering should not cost you more than the valuable time you are giving. At timing events, the timers are not required to pay admission, the concession workers are not required to pay admission, workers at the craft fair are not required to pay admission. When workers identifiy themselves as "workers" at the event we waive them in, some toss in the admission, others do not and that is fine, again it is because of the volunteers donating their time that these events take place in the first place. The needs of the many are met by the work of the few !

ademom I would truly hate to be at your school and put in 100 hours for an event and then be reminded that I had to pay three bucks to get in...but if it works more power to you! Do your volunteers submit receipts for all of the gas they put into running around doing pto things...just wondering?

Oh, this is near and dear to my heart, so I must reply.

Back history: the 1st grade teachers have historically been in charge of announcing the winners at our yearly basket auction, theming the event and putting up the decorations. For that bit of work, they have always insisted on free admission to the event. This all came to an end a couple of years ago when our chairwoman finally put her foot down and told the teachers no, that they must pay an entry fee like the rest of us. Well, they were FURIOUS at that request, made a huge stink and the following year were virtually invisible with their participation. There is other stuff that they did to undermine the PTO but that's not germaine to this thread.

Needless to say, many parents got their panties in a bunch in response to their pettiness. I am a firm believer that no one...and I mean no one gets a free ride at a PTO sponsored event. Every single chairperson and sub-committee chair must pay to attend their own event. That is just the only fair way to handle it. Running a basket auction is a monumental undertaking. It consumes your life, your home, your every free minute...but you have chosen to do it and the perks you get are bragging rights, not special treatment.

pfewww... Ok, I'm done.

We do every event free to our families so I can't speak from experience but can give my thoughts. I think if someone is doing a volunteer shift that they should have that perk, I mean think about it that if it wasn't for the volunteers would the event be happening. If you have 40 volunteers and admission is 2.00 i think I would swallow the 80.00 as a group. Granted if it is like a carnival your group may give so many free games tickets to each volunteer, I guess you need to ask if the value you are giving up is as more valuable than the time these people are gving. Usually it isn't! If people are just attending the event and not volunteering I would expect them to pay the fee if you are charging one.

[ 11-15-2006, 09:28 AM: Message edited by: pals ]

We have different perks depending on what you do and these are decided on depending on the event and job/time at the event. I think the standard has always been anyone that chairs an event or is there the majority of the time gets a free admission and/or free meal. At carnival, most parents want free tickets to help keep their kids busy while they work. We are always expected to pay admission for our kids though.
Keep in mind, no matter what has been done in the past, it's been brought up that it's an issue now and if it isn't resolved, you may lose volunteers because they feel some are being favored more than others. Just take a few minutes to discuss this at the next meeting or prior to the next event so the air is cleared.