One new thing that I am presently working on this year is a bi-annual summary of everything the PTO has done. Rather than include this within the newsletter, as I have done in the past, I wanted to make it it's own document.

The idea came to me over the summer when talking with the husband of one of the PTO members. He was questioning some of the things that we do and I asked him if he knew that we had purchased Brittanica Online for the school, that we purchase books for every child each year, that we support the Library, that we run the Reading Incentive Program each month, etc.. He was not aware of any of this. And this was even more suprising to me since he was married to a very active member.

He mentioned how he almost never sees the newsletters or the flyers that come home, so how would he know.

So this year I am working on the bi-annual summary, which will go home to each family in print, will be mentioned in the morning pod-casting (which the Principal coordinates) and be posted on the PTO website. In addition I have started a new PTO e-mail list, so everything that we do will go out via e-mail. This will include this bi-annual update, which will include some financial information (how much we spent to bring certain programs to the school), the monthly newsletters and invitations to the meetings, which will include the agenda and a general summary of what we will be discussing.

Hopefully in this way, those who might not see the hard copy, or know to go to the website, or those who do not listen to the morning pod-casting, will get the info.

So overall, as everyone else mentioned, communication is the best way.

Good luck,
PresidentJim

Communication is key. But then we've all faced that scenario where we sent home flyers and published newsletters - repeatedly requesting volunteers. Later, some parent would say, or respond in a survey, that "no one ever asked me to help". So ASK - point blank, in groups, one-on-one, in emails, whatever.

The other key is - be able to describe the exact task and how much time it will take. Someone who is reluctant to sign up for an open ended assignment may easily volunteer for a 2 hour task. (And, of course, once you get them volunteering, you encourage them to take on more leadership roles.)

dlf is right on with the importance of communication. Parents have to know that the group exist and its' purpose before becoming involved.

I'd start out with a newsletter letting parents know you exist and invite them and their ideas to a meeting. If you establish some e-mail communication for the group, they can also send you their thoughts through that medium. You can also do surveys(there are samples on this site) to find out everything from what your parents expect from the group to what they are willing/able to do for the group.

I truly believe-and if you look through the boards you'll see others agree-that the best thing to do is communicate. That doesn't mean communicate what you need as far as volunteers, that will come later. But communicate what you as a group are all about, what your goals are and what your events are like. We email about 350 folks once a week and keep it fun and light and provide the service of telling them what's coming up the following two weeks. Folks have responded like no bodies business and I'm proud to say that if we ask for assistance or input we get almost more than we've bargained for. Sometimes I have to turn volunteers away and that is a tough thing to do. It wasn't always like this but the emails, newsletters and website have made a huge difference in providing the feeling of comfort that folks require to be a part of the team. You can see our newsletters and website at brentpto.com (not sure if our latest ones are posted yet - newsletters - as we're having a bit of trouble getting them into .pdf files...but the old ones will give you an idea. If you'd like to see our emails just zap me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and I'll be happy to send you some samples. Keep it real and keep it personal and all of a sudden you'll have hundreds of new best friends looking to assist.

d

Can anyone give any ideas on how to recruit parents for cfso/pto, we need help in our organization, and we are all new to this. i am trying to recruit volunteers and ideas