I agree with beignets; email is essential for my/our group, as well. Announcements, newsletters, leaders getting things done, committees getting things done, volunteer recruiting, thank yous and appreciation -- primarily email. Makes a huge difference for us.
pan01 -- PTO Today does not offer a "listserv" functionality (where all members can send a message to the list and the message is disseminated to all) mainly because we don't think that's a great tool for the PTO setting. Could be good for leaders collaborating, but far different if you're talking about all-school communication. I think a lot of less-connected parents would opt-out of that listserv quickly if they were getting dozens of messages per week from any/every random parent at school.
On the other hand, we do offer a powerful email tool (secure, email addresses not shared with all, send only to the subset you'd like) through PTO Manager. See: www.ptotoday.com/manager
Hi - We had created a PTO specific yahoo email account. It is a single email account. Its dependent on and individual checking it and responding.
What we really want is a mail list. Does PTO today provide email lists for us to use? With a mail list I send to the list and everyone on it receives it and knows it is from me. They can be setup so anyone can send to it and be a member.
we couldnt survive w/o email
pto distribution is done by blind carbon copy, so no one can spam by hitting REPLY ALL.
but most stuff is sent via the principal, and district webserver/email system. pto sends the notices to prinicpal, who then sends it out via email distribution based on email addresses parents AGREED TO at beginning of the year, with SIGNATURE, to be used for school/pto purposes.
it has not caused any problems.
if people want to hand enter email adddresses from the directory, to send unwanted messages, they are creating thier own problems and something like that shouldnt happen more than once if you have a disclaimer on the directory, and a zero tolerance principal. ie good policies and good management nip those problems in the bud, for parents who dont have common sense and misuse a school directory for policitical purposes
During membership, parents are given an opportunity to choose if they'd like email updates. We tell them their emails are never shared. If they choose to do this, we email the minutes from the meetings. About once a quarter I would also send out exactly where we need help: things we need donated, where we need volunteers. I try to be very specific and provide a lot of answers ahead of time so that parents know exactly what the details are before becoming involved. This has worked out very well for us and our feedback has been fantastic. Many parents say they only know what is going on at school because of these updates. We have definitely seen an increase in volunteers because of email. We have a weekly school newsletter, numerous flyers, monthly meetings, etc and yet parents consistently tell us the emails are how they get the info. Go figure. Whatever works!
We don't use email to communicate to parents and we certainly would not publish it for everyone receiving a directory to see. email addresses have been used for negative purposes when a committee set up a distribution list for its members. One person began a negative email campaign to talk about members of the PTO, the Superintendent, other parents etc. Although we knew who it was, many parents didn't recognize the email address and didn't know who it was.
You are treading scary territory. Good Luck!
For the first time, this year, we're planning to ask parents if they would like to add their email address to the school directory and if they would like to be contacted by the PTO via email.
Now what?
Do you use a listserv of some kind to set up distribution lists & send out regular updates? If so, what?
Have you noticed an increase in involvement by including parents who find it easier to communicate via e-mail (rather than the traditional face-to-face on the playground & phone calls)?
What do you send out? How often?
Please share your experiences with e-mail from a PTO perspective.
