if you give parents the opportunity to let their voice be heard for those that don't come to PTO mtgs, then you give them an opportunity to "take ownership" for their answers.
this way you can say: our surveys indicate that the community wants..... or does not want.......
this way, the people that didn't participate in the survery may think twice next time.
we give a pizza party for the class with the most surveys coming back to PTO.
Our Parent Support Group had an information booth outside the school library during Open House in September. We had a brief survey of what kind of fundraisers they would like to participate, help out or buy from, etc... Everyone wanted "something different." We also made up lists for the events that we would host and they wrote their names, e-mails and phone numbers if they could help. Pretty much everyone who signed up in September has helped with what they said they would. We are a completely new group of members and we changed every fundraiser from the same old same old to something that hadn't been done in at least 5 years, if at all. Generally, the parents want to know what the money is going towards and what is going on in the school, even if they don't help out.
Wow, what a variety of responses. Just to throw in my experience.... I sent home a parent survey during the middle of the year last year. I had a page of questions, all with quick options to choose from plus a place to make their own comments. The questions were from simple (what movie should we show on movie night?) to more involved (what fundraisers do you like and how should we spend our money?). Of our 300 students, I received over 150 back! I did have it translated since we have a large population of Spanish-speaking families. The school staff and pto board were shocked at the return rate. Very unusual. I was so happy we did this! Like most schools we do not have a huge pool of volunteers nor do we have a big turnout at meetings. I put all of the results on a spreadsheet so that it would be available for everyone. It was incredibly empowering for me to know exactly what our families wanted. It was a very useful tool for planning and during meetings I felt like we could make much better decisions even when only a handful of people attended. There were a lot of positive comments on the forms to let me know some things we were doing right and that good feeling has carried over through this year too. I think it really made many parents feel included and they liked that. At the same time as this survey went home, I sent home a little letter reminding people what the PTO does and asked for people to volunteer. They could choose their level of availability (yes, I can help whenever; I can bake or donate things or help after school hours; I can only help from home; or no, I can't help at this time). I did get about 15 solid volunteers, a large number of people to help after school hours, and about 50 people on an email list. I hope this helps you! It was great for us.
well, capeDad.. you have a much healthier perspective than I , and thanks for the revision on my perspective.. I guess after 9 years of doing this.. ( and this is my last, as my last child is moving on to middle school).. I suppose I have a very tainted, tired vision..
I agree that parent surveys can be useful, but every PTO has a different dynamic and shouldn't make major changes to their group based on the results of their survey. I'm working on a parent survey now and will use the information to try to bring about new ideas and more success to our group, but I have no intentions on changing our group's dynamic based on these results.
"If the PTO is an airplane, the members should be the engines, not the passengers." ~~~ Very well put CapeDad!
I agree with you completely on the value of surveys reflecting what the current members would like to see the PTO do with and for the student body. And since the current members could go through a lot of changes each year, it seems like an excellent idea to do the survey at the first PTO meeting each year.
Even if out of 500 students, you only discover 30 new parents truly interested in volunteering and working with the PTO ~~~ that is 30 more than you had before the survey. And if those 30 talk to just one friend and get them involved also... well, then you would have 60 more volunteers.... and so on and so on!
One small step really can make a big difference, if we let it and truly work with the results. When those 30 new parents show interest in helping, then the current PTO members should really do all they can to help them stay interested and keep them involved... find their individual strengths and talents and let them use them.
A survey is a great way for the PTO to see what interests the members have and it is also a great way for the members to learn more about the PTO ~~ especially the members who have never been part of a PTO before. It works both ways.
I am definitely going to make the suggestion to our current board for a survey to be done. I think it would be very valuable for us and future members.
