We used to try guest speakers, refreshments and door prizes and soon realized that the people who come just for those things are not the people you really want. I have been told by parents that they would rather have guest speakers outside of our regular monthly meetings. Most of them give great input but really don't care to hear the speakers. I think there are three types of parents when it comes to meeting attendance 1-Those who truly want to help 2-Those who are looking for some kind of handout and 3-The parents who HAVE to be there for one reason or another. I have found that in our groups existence it is better to have smaller more committed groups than the large numbers. I try to keep meetings to a hour and really watch what speakers we have.Time is so valuable and I really try to do the important stuff at the beginning of each meeting and then save the other for the end. There are months that not everything gets discussed but I know I haven't lost everyone to along boring meeting ! We also started provding free childcare this year and have seen our attendence rise alot ! Good Luck !
The obstacle we face with holding a daytime meeting, is where to hold it. We are in a tiny building, while we are building our new facility. It's not a regular school...it used to be a day care. (We are a Montessori w/ only ages 3-11 at present. We add a 'grade' a year)
I'm not sure we would be able to find the space to host a daytime meeting without disrupting the classes. I will still look into it as an option. It may be, though, that we just need to put off focusing on growth and furthering participation until we have a more functional facility.
Sometimes it just seems like every where you turn there's another hurdle...
I am the PTC President at our school. We alternate between afternoon and evening monthly meetings. We usually have a small turn out - average 8 people unless we have a speaker or special program before our meeting. The afternoon meetings allow some moms the opportunity to come. Lots of people are too busy or tired in the evening to attend. We also started a free childcare service at our last evening meeting. We contacted the Honors advisor at one of our local junior high schools and she provided us with a list of students who were interested in handling the childcare for us. They need to acquire community service hours as part of their curriculum - so it helps both of us! We used a kindergarten classroom and provided board games, crayons, etc. We also gave the students walkie talkies so we would be in constant contact should an emergency arise. We told our parents in advance that we would not be providing snacks or diaper changing services. We also asked for a RSVP and NO ONE replied in advance. The day of the meeting I received several phone calls asking if childcare was still available during the meeting and we ended up having 12 children take advantage of our services! Quite a success for the first time!
Thanks, Lisa. It does help. Having an occasional daytime meeting might be a really good option for us. We have a large population of stay at home parents.
Our meetings are typically once a month for 2 hours, 7-9. We did take a vote on making the meeting earlier in the evening, but the majority like it at 7 and are content to be out by 9. Unfortunately we have already scheduled our speakers through the end of the year, so changing them is not an option, however, we could possibly conduct the business portion of our meeting during a daytime meeting. Or, since our families don't seem to want to participate in the everyday decision making, perhaps the co-chairs and myself could just make the decisions without voting. This is how it's been done in the past, and no one seemed to mind.
Sorry for thinking out loud...Your post's just get the thought process going!
We have about 6 meetings a year. Usually run about an hour. We have about 15-20 people attend. I am in charge of programs this year and have been disappointed. I put out a survey and several people say that evenings are just too hard. Have you thought about a survey? Can you do a program during the day occassionally? I will try that next year. Maybe alternate. Parents come for the free fun stuff when they can come as a family, but when its for meetings, or programs, they'd rather be home with their family.
I've also come to realize that many churches and local "outreach" organizations have programs as well. So they may be using that avenue. Do you send out reminders the day of the program? If you do it a few days before, people will forget.
I do believe you had too much going on that night. People don't want to be gone for hours after a long day. We have a separate night for programs and meetings.
As for food, if you cannot get it donated, I wouldnt do it. Personally, I believe the money you raise is for the children. Unless its a family event, I wouldnt pay for dinner.
