I have nothing constructive to add to this dialog except that if misery loves company...
In business there are 2 rules:
80/20, where 80 percent of business comes from 20 percent of your customers. That is also true for volunteerism.
The other is that if you want to get something done, ask a busy person to do it.
Truth be told, many of my 'too busy' friends have no time management skills and even when they do volunteer, they don't do it right, need too much hand holding or bail in the middle. Who needs volunteers like that anyway.
I love the tree idea!!! We have done the pictures and bios and highlighting volunteers in the school newsletter, but this would be so cute. Will be recommending this one at our next meeting!
I just attended the California PTO Today Conference. One of the workshops was about volunteer appreciation. They suggest that you include that in your budget and possibly have a committee just for that purpose. Thank you notes are great. Another suggestion was hilighting volunteers in the school/PTO newsletter, listing names of volunteers on the announcements, etc...
One of the ideas that has been used for teacher appreciation is the wish tree. I just came up with a way to use that to spotlight your volunteers. Put up a large tree in your cafeteria, main hall, whatever suits your school. Then add leaves with the volunteers name whenever they volunteer. You could either designate a branch for each event or designate a certain color leaf for each event. That way it is on display all year for everyone to see and it is pretty cheap.
After all you just might guilt someone into helping. Especially if their child sees all of the other kids parents up there and not his/her own.
When I encounter these people who always have an excuse to not help, I battle between two parts of myself. The bitter, angry part of me wants to say that these people are simply selfish and so self absorbed that they think of no one but themselves. The kinder, gentler, "give everyone the benefit of the doubt" part of me says maybe they are simply unaware of how much of a difference they can make.
Yesterday after church one of the great "moms I can always count on" came up and thanked me for the thank you note I had sent her for helping with our book fair. I told her I wanted to let people know how much I appreciate them, especially those who I find myself calling over and over. We talked about how we couldn't imagine ANYTHING more important than helping children succeed. Not just ours, but others too. We both have children who do really well in school, so we very rarely work with our own kids when we are in the classroom. But you know, that doesn't matter. When you spend an hour or two every week helping a child practice reading, accomplish math skills, or study spelling words, and you see the success as they progress on to more advanced levels and get A's where they used to get F's, and you know you helped them get there, it's the best feeling in the world. Some of these children don't get help at home. Sometimes it's because the parents don't care and sometimes because they themselves don't have the skills to help.
That benefit also extends to every event your group puts together. Not every child can afford to go to a carnival or go out for pizza with their family. Your group's fun night or free pizza dinner gives them that chance.
Also, when children see others giving of themselves, especially their parents, it instills in them that same desire to give back. What a wonderful world we would have if everyone looked beyond their own needs to the needs of others!
I have been thinking of having volunteers write a letter telling why they volunteer and how it makes them feel to be part of the school. It could be added to our monthly newsletter. Maybe that would help "educate" people on how they can benefit from involvment.
Originally posted by kmamom: and one of the moms is just amazing. She's been cruising around her office building when she gets a free moment and is collecting donations for an event. On top of that, she's bothering to take advantage of her company's matching donation program! We're looking at a possible $4,000 when all is said and done just from HER! Can you imagine if EVERY parent cared HALF as much? :eek:
That is incredible, way to go to that mom. It would be awesome to have at least half of our parents who cared half as much. Man that is awesome
