Another organization I belong to encourages members to engage in volunteer activities by holding a quarterly drawing. Members turn in how many hours they've volunteered, and you get one chance per hour. A store provided a discount on gift certificates for the prizes. The more you volunteer, the better your chance of winning.
In certain private schools and some recreational groups (our kids' swim team) requiring volunteer hours is an accepted practice. Basically, parents are made to understand that becoming part of that organization also means pitching in.
But trying this in a public school may very well backfire on you. I don't know how you could require compliance or enforce participation. Even those would participate freely might resent being coerced.
You could set it up as a voluntary situation, setting goals for volunteers hours and encouraging everyone to participate. You would want to include positive rewards and recognition, but not negative "punishments". The book idea is nice.
I think you'd have to be careful about how you worded and organized the details. Good luck.
Just a thought... I would be VERY turned off by this, and I'm even a PTO prez myself. People don't like ultimatums. I think you're headed for a mess of trouble if you try to put this idea into action.
What is it you need so many volunteers for that you're not getting? Many times, PTO's get hung up on numbers and meeting attendance unnecessarily. Our meetings were usually just the board members and maybe one or two parents now and then, and we still did quite well. Small groups can make big changes!
We get volunteers for things - they're just scattered throughout the year in various committees or as needed for certain functions.
I do not have an answer to your question but I'll share something we do. On the school sign in sheet, we have a space to check if volunteering. Since you must put the time in and out and where you will be we have a record of your volunteer hours. For every 20 hours volunteered in a classroom, that class receives a book (teacher chooses) and every 50 total vol. hours the Library receives a book. (we are a K-5) It has worked out very well for us but you could get real creative.
Judi
B/C our PTO is having difficulties with people volunteering we are exploring the possibility of requiring so many hours or buying your way out. Has anybody tried this? If so how do you determine say how much time for baking a cake for a cake sale. Also how do you determine what amount to charge per volunteer hour? Any suggestions, ideas, forms would be appreciated. Thank you.
