The two most important tips I have are COMMUNICATE and DELEGATE! If you want people to feel welcome and needed, you need to communicate. I made sure my monthly President's letter told about everything we had done the last month and the plans for the current month. I always added my phone number at the end. The phone calls bugged my husband for awhile, but he now understands how important talking to people was for the success of the PTO programs. We also made a point of sending home notes for every meeting and event we did so no one could claim they new nothing about an event. We also had a bulletin board in the lobby where we posted any important news, a copy of the budget, and a condensed version of the last meeting minutes and what would be discussed at the next meeting.
Next is DELEGATING. It was hard sometimes to not just do it myself, but I finally got used to letting and getting others to do things. It made the year a lot easier and more enjoyable. Ask people to take on small portions of things and I guarantee the majority of people will ask for more to do. This helped to get some new folks involved in bigger roles this year and some even accepted board seats for next year. I'm looking forward to my 2nd year as President and plan to keep getting more people involved(and hopefully as addicted as I am!) BEST WISHES!
I have been involved with the PTSA for several years but this is the first year as President. The old president who has been around for 14 years has helped me and guided me but with her leaving I fear her friends which make up the foundation for your pta group will not be so willing to help me as much as her. There are actually only 5 of us that have been committee chairs for the past 5 years. As president I don't want to end up doing what no one else will do. I know me, if no one else wants to do something then I'll do it whether I am overloaded or not. We need fresh faces, new ideas, and more involvement. Any ideas or suggestions is very much needed. Anything will help I'm sure.
I also am starting a business partnership program and would like any suggestions others have for using businesses out there to help their schools.
