Thanks for the idea - I'll pass that one on too. It would be nice to know if the school could help out just to get started. This last minute thing has just about taken me over the edge!! Just kidding - I just don't want to make any mistakes that could hurt membership or this trial basis we have going. Anyway -thanks again - I'll be sharing tomorrow with the committee.
You want to have a kick-off social and you have little or no money...did I understand that correctly? How about asking everyone who attends to bring a dessert or fruit plate to share and the PTO provides coffee/drinks and the paper goods. We have a welcome back BBQ at the beginning of every school year and the PTO provides the meat, beans, salad, drinks and paper goods and we ask all the families to bring desserts. This has been a big hit and nobody minds bringing something. But when we first did this, our PTO was new and had no money so we asked the school to donate the funds from their entertainment budget. It started off the year on a good foot! Good luck! :cool:
Thanks for the advice! I've scheduled a meeting with the research committee for next week and am going to present those interested in becoming officers to them. I think our best bet at this point would probably be to name officers instead of voting since the numbers are so few. However, I am concerned that there may be a disagreement outside of this committee. With so few people wanting to be an officer, I hate to take it to the first official PTO meeting, but it might be necessary. I need to check those rules out you mentioned. I had a Mom mention to me that we might want to make cupcakes and sell at our fair to try to raise some seed money. The ruritan club in our area has held a fair at our school for years and they donate some of that money to the school, but I'm sure the PTO wouldn't see those funds. I'll still discuss the ice cream social with the group - I thinks it a great idea. Do you get a good turn out?
We had a similar situation with an uncontested slate of officers after searching high and wide. At our organizational meeting, the chair of the nominating committee presented the slate, then asked if there were any other nominations. There were not. You are allowed then, through Robert's Rules of Order, to just state that the slate has been approved, but we went through the motion of having/recording a vote anyway. It seemed kind of anticlimactic to leave out the vote.
As for the amount of food for socials--we do an ice cream social, and I just shopped in advance for the stuff that we would need and took note of the serving sizes on the packages. The principal provided us with an estimate of the number of people she thought we would have. So it was pretty much a simple math exercise from there.
As to where the money comes from--we got some seed money from neighboring PTAs and community organizations. Without that as an option, until you have a fundraiser you might want to approach local businesses about donating the funds or food for you.
What a great place to be!!! Hi - our very old school has a brand new PTO. I know this because the new principal called me 2 weeks prior to back-to-school night to ask me to start one up. With a good committee, we managed to get almost 300 parents to show interest in the PTO. Now, I'm not naive, so I know that not all those parents will show. Question: We need to get officers in place - out of 45 interested parties, I have only received 6 back (including mine). Do we still have an election or can the research committee just appoint the officers? Any suggestions for our very first meeting. I keep reading about these socials, but how do you come up with the funds to do them and how do you know how to estimate how much ice cream or hot dogs needed? I'm looking to some of you old pros out there for some help. I want this PTO to work!! Thanks!!!
