As a parallel example, think of best room parent or most active individual volunteer you ever knew. The person that organized help for the class party, recruited the local dentist to come talk, got everyone to pitch in for a gift for the teacher, helped plan the field trip, organized a class phone tree. Etc., etc. We've all seen some version of that dynamo!
SHE didn't have a budget or exist as a non-profit organization. She just helped. She recruited resources and enhanced communications.
Similarly, THAT could be your PTP role, but at a school level. (not these exact activities, but in principle).
4thekids - wow, I see your situation as a golden opportunity. Yes, there may be bumps figuring it all out. In fact, MY ideal parent group would be one who's focus was on volunteerism and community building.
I think it's great they have told you to focus on that and not fundraising. Clarify what is meant by that. It might not mean zero funds.
One of the PTO's to which I belong went this direction a few years ago. The school took ownership of fundraisers, and the PTO focused on teacher appreciation, volunteer coordination, and community involvement. It no longer did the big sales type fundraisers, but there were family events run at break-even (with concession sales or admission fees), t-shirt sales, and some smaller things.
To begin with, figure out what would have benefit, not be too complex, and have high visibility. Baby steps - do the easy stuff first. And get lots of ideas from your principal as far as priorities and events/activities SHE wants. Start with her ideas (so you have lots of support) and then grow. For instance, coordinating volunteers for a spring track and field event (where the parents want to come see their kids anyway) is a much smaller task than organizing a mentoring program.
Does your school have someone that routinely submits school news to the local newspaper? Could you get a PTP volunteer to do that? Will the school still run fundraisers? The PTP should organize the parent volunteers. Focus on the communication angle. Would publishing a newsletter be a benefit? What kind of feedback does the school need? Can the PTP coordinate a parent survey?
You can branch out into community support and all kinds of programs. But you can also accomplish quite a bit simply as the communication channel to the parents.
As far as I'm concerned, you've just inherited the fun stuff and been relieved of the tedious. You'll probably be able to keep your income below $5000 per year, so you don't have to worry about all the non-profit administration pieces and taxes. You won't be seen as a fundraising machine.
- Is your group presently independant and/or incorporated?
A PTP is just a name given to a group, just like PTO. Both nomenclatures mean "nothing", except as a reference for your group.
PTA has deeper meaning in that you are connected to a national organization.
Now here's the overall difference, and which way is better is a decision that is different for each group. But here it is in my opinion...
By being a PTA you are required to pay national and state dues. Now this is not that much overall, something like $5 per person, but that money can add up fast. Also I am not a big fan of requiring dues to be part of a volunteer organization. To me my group's member's time is more valuable than their $. By not requiring dues I get to promote my group as "you are already a member, why not become more active". If you charge dues you have to say, "you are not a member right now, but give us $ and then you can be a member". IMO this creates an exclusivity perception which I am not a fan of...
Many PTA groups have upwards of 400 or 500 "members". I use the term member loosely because, again IMO, a "member" is not someone who payed money to be on some list, but those who are willing to give their time to make the group a success. But those PTA groups that have those 400 or 500 "members" are required to pay upwards of $2000 or $2500 for dues each year. That's valuable funds that could be used for other purposes. Purposes that would directly affect the school and your children.
Some PTA enthusiasts would say that with those dues comes valuable resources, such as training and enrichments. I can't speak personally as I've never seen this, but I do know that you can bring in similar anti-bullying, etc., enrichments for a lot less than the thousands of dollars that you might have to send out for dues, and that with resource sites such as PTOtoday much of the things that being part of the PTA provided is now available for free, or for the minimal cost of PTOtoday membership.
As far as increasing your school's sense of community I would have to recommend communication. Look at what both your school and your parent group is presently doing for communication and try to improve upon it. Do you send out a newsletter? Do you have a website? These are two areas that every successful group should have. It's where the parents are going to get the information that is going to help them understand what your group is doing for them and their children. It's the first steps in building that sense of community.
Also, I would not recommend not fundraising. Your group is going to need funds to do the good work that groups such as ours want to do. Does your school have field trips? Does your group help support that? Do you bring in enrichment?
From your write-up it sounds as though your Principal is overall in charge of your group. This is why I asked about the Bylaws and whether you are independant. If you are not I would recommend doing what you need to to become an independant organization. Not only will it make you legal and official, but tax exempt as well.
Let us know and maybe we can guide you in your next step.
It sounds like some of the talk I heard a couple of years ago. Our goals became to raise money only so we could hold events. The events are used to raise the money. We slightly mark up concessions food. We keep costs of the events down.
For sense of community, we invited the local fire fighters to judge our chili contest. They eat free. The Chili is donated (brought in crock pots) by those wanting to enter the contest. It is sold a bowl at a time. We also had a teacher audition acts for a talent contest. This provided a reason for parents to come into the school that othewise would not have.
Think of groups in your neighborhood that could participate in an event Think of things that draw others together.
A Business down the street from the school could be invited to come as the guests, and thanked publicly for providing jobs to little Bobby's dad, and Sarah's mom. They could be asked to share for 5 minutes what they do inside the big steel box of a building that parents drive by on the way to drop off their children at school.
Hi, I am a first time PTP ( parent teacher partnership ) President, and have never done any type of volunteer work in the past. I am very proud to be helping out the school, however I am struggling with several issues at this time, so I am hoping to get some good advice.
We are currently a PTP a few years away the dissolved the PTO/PTA and went to PTP for reasons that I do not know. I am unsure of what our role is in the school and what each board member is responsible for so I have been deligating as I go. I am trying to build our organization from the ground up, we only have about 6-7 people that come to the meetings, that includes our board members (5). Our Principal said that the teachers don't need any money for grants, so we do not need to focus on fundraising. She wants use to focus on building the sense of community in the school, which I am all for, but how do you do that when I must also start at the top, with them.
Our staff liaison, after speaking up in the meeting about balancing our fundraising efforts with family events, was then reprimanded the next day and told that she did not have a voice. I am at a loss with this whole situation, and feel like throwing in the towel, but I want to make a difference in this school for the children and the teachers. I know that I just covered several topics, but my question is, what is the difference between a PTP and a PTO/PTA? And if we switch back what are our rights as parents and teachers, because everyone has a voice?
And which would you recommend PTO/PTA?
