Well, everyone who has been reading my posts for the past couple of years knows that I am totally against the idea of dues.
As President I love being able to tell the new Kindergarten parents that they are already members of the PTO. This is an inviting thing. "Hey, you're already a member, why not get involved?" I would hate the idea of having to say "Please become active, and give us $5."
The point is twofold:
First, many groups boast how huge their PTO is. I see it all of the time, group's stating that they are 300 or 400 members. To me this is not real. To me, the committee members are the active members. That term can be described in many ways and differently depending on who you talk with. IMO the term "active" means those who come to the meetings, or take on responsibilities, or volunteer in the classrooms, or help out at any of our, or the school events.
That's pretty broad. Anyway...
Secondly, the more inviting that we can be as a PTO to getting those active volunteers the better our group is going to be. Yes, if you charge $5 to be a "member" you may raise a couple of grand. And yes, to some groups, $2000 is extremely valuable. But that 2 grand does not even compare to what you will get over the course of a year with just a few extra, new active members.
Personally I like promoting my group in this way. It's inviting and I've been told this by many new, active members.
Is there a conflict? As Diff said, no. But the exclusion perception is something that I would never recommend. Many think of our groups as a clique, so why would you want to play into that?
There is no conflict. YOu can be 501 and still have dues for memberships (they are considered donations). There are many thoughts on this topic. We go with dues but have a very specific target for those monies collected (they can only be used for enhancements to the school in a physical sense - like structural enhancements etc). We tell folks they are a donation and that their support ensures that no one class year ever has to raise money to remulch etc. I do like the idea of no dues but with 250 members we'd miss the 1500 dollars we generate and folks don't seem to mind since we do free events during the year. I don't think the voting thing is a big deal really but I guess it is one way to determine good standing with the organization--although 7.50 or 5 dollars is not really that much of a determinant.
There are many posts on this issue, but I'm in a time crunch. I'm having a meeting tonight (Brand new PTO) and starting to get nervous. I hadn't even really considered dues, but now I'm thinking maybe $5 per family to give them "voting rights" otherwise I see people showing up when convenient and voting only on issues they want. Does that make sense? I saw a post about being a 501 (c) (3)...non-profit = no dues. Is that a conflict? Thanks!
