Special Note to Jrny2001****
One of the biggest things to remember is that each year you lose parents (in your case, non-attender...lol) and gain new parents (potential volunteers). With this in mind, you could begin your new member campaign by addressing them. I also wanted to mention that when you start out the new year, start it with a decent budget. This way, you can have an Ice Cream Social (or BBQ, etc.) to kick off your New Member Drive. We coordinate ours with Meet The Teacher night. Hope this helps.
Remember, if you are doing stuff for families and students, you are already successful. On your arts and crafts night, maybe you could coordinate that with whatever holiday is coming up and then decorate the school halls with the finished artwork. You have 'volunteers' who made them and these same 'volunteers' can put them up for you. I see bragging rights and better attendance in your future! After all, what child isn't going to tell their friends and teachers about their artwork that is displayed in the hallway?
Good Luck!!!
We to have this same problem. This is my first year as a board member however I have gone to most of the schools open meetings for the past 2 years. We have about 300 students and we are lucky if 5 parents come to the open meetings. I think this sad considering 2 of the 5 our friends of mine. You are not alone in this battle! Keep your chin up! [img]smile.gif[/img]
You know Tim, Your exactly right! We do have a great turn out for our family events and we are very proud of that.
It would be nice to have a few more volunteers to help (it's always the same group of 4). Or at least a few more parents to attend a meeting. As over rated as meetings are, it's an excellent way to find out what really goes on around the school and have input in some small way towards your childs education.
Looking forward to hearing new ideas at the PTO Show. See you on the 27th!
Oh man, jrny, don't beat yourself up. You're doing a great job! If folks are coming out to your family nights -- that's involvement; that's familes connecting with your school. Isn't that what your group is all about?
Keep it up. Find more ways to get those folks connected. If you get 4 people at your meeting and 60 people at your Family Night -- that's wonderful. I'd argue that it's even better than getting 60 at your meeting. Meetings are over-rated. Connecting your community of familes with your school is the goal, no matter how you do it.
I'm in my 2nd year as PTO pres. Last year I took it very personally that the attendence at our meetings were so low. We offer babysitting for free, a door prize at every meeting plus we have managed to keep the meetings at about an hour or less. Nothing worked. The entire board (8 of us) is at every meeting. Above that we get about 5 max non-board members. This year I asked about guest speakers on any topic that they would be intrested in, even sent home flyers to generate intrest...no response. We have been doing a family activity every month and the turn out has been great. So I have accepted the fact that no matter how hard we try to get them there, they are just not going to come. But, I do hold out hope that with the monthly activities (that are free to attend) they will take a chance on us and realize that we aren't all that bad.
While I am surprised about your officers being no-shows, I must admit, I am not surprised either. I am a new president and my first order of business was to increase membership (free membership I might add). In the years past (5 that I know of and have records to support), our PTVO had a core group of about 10, including the officers, and asst. principal. This year, we have a core group of about 75, with about 40 at any given meeting. The first thing I did, was get lucky with a new principal. She and I had worked together last year when she was the asst. She knew that that the best way to get cool stuff and extra programs was to come ask for them, and that people are more willing to give her stuff if they see her at every meeting. The vice principal attends because he is 1)interested 2)the principal says so and 3)his children attend the school. He made it his business to get the teachers motivated by 1)making sure they got school credits for attending and 2)by telling them if they want cool stuff they need to be present at all or most meetings. We got parents involved by assigning committees the first meeting when you get the biggest attendance of the year. I put the vice presidents (I have 2) in charge of phoning room parents, event volunteers and committees. They report to me and believe me, they don't want to have nothing to report...lol... Other things I did was to have free childcare and I publicized the heck out of that. Then there are the refreshments for both the kids (fruit snacks and capri drinks) and for the adults (punch, tea, coffee and cookies or cake) which I accomplished by utilizing the day old bakery and by assigning a Hospitality Committee. I also use Door Prizes. I get local merchants to donate them (grocery stores can usually be counted upon for a $10 gift certificate each month, florists are good for about $25 quarterly, hotels love to help too and don't forget about oil changes, lubes and the local Ace Hardware for the guys! Restaurants are great about buy one get one free and don't get me started on Free Haircuts!). As for publicity... I send the Meeting Minutes out and they include the next meeting date, along with a short newsletter type format about once every 20 days. Everything I send home is done on PTVO PINK PAPER and is hard to miss. I spice up the notes with little funny quips. Basically, I sell myself as the president and them make them feel like they might miss something if they don't attend. Once, I sent home a funny letter called "Top Ten Reasons I can't attend a PTVO meeting" and really spoofed it up. Great response! I hope some of my suggestions help you. If you need more suggestions, feel free to write me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Good Luck!
The Metzy Mom
