After some pretty sad turnouts(volunteer wise) at some of the beginning of the year events we were feeling really discouraged. Then we read Tim's commentary on canceling events in the last issue. We decided that we would definitely use this option if things continue this way. We try so hard to not make our work shifts too long or ask anyone for too much and still there are people who can't give 30 minutes of their time to an event that will benefit their children. So it's the typical story of the 15 or so dedicated volunteers we have working their tales off to get things done. Sometimes, events may have been better successes if we had the appropriate amount of help. So if an event is going to not go quite as well or if it is going to be a real hardship for the dedicated bunch to handle, we will just announce that it will be cancelled. I really think it will only take one time for people to see the light.

Also, to Dave...
We have an office on our board that coordinates all the volunteers for the classrooms. It works great. The committee chairs still arrange the volunteers for their individual events because they know how many they need, what needs done, etc. but this office really helps to organize the volunteers and get them into the classrooms where and when they are needed. I highly recommend you push for adding this position to your board. I think it will be a big benefit. If you expand it beyond classroom volunteering, I'd love to hear how you work it so we could maybe expand our position's duties too.

We spent a lot of time working on ways to get volunteers since we faced the same problem. At our december meeting I was able to recognize no less than 114 people for their efforts in volunteerism for our activities. These were the consistant volunteers, not just anyone who showed up for an hour or two.

Volunteers for the most part need direction! If you have 20 people show up and you only have work for 3 you will lose the ones that havent anything to do fast, people do not like to waste their time. I realize that this is difficult becuase many feel they need to ask 20 to show up to get the 3!

Your president and vp should be constantly talking to people, lining them up to do activities. Another key eliment is to have one person able to appoint people to committees (the president) and they need to make sure that committees are doing the planning need for an event.

You need a recognition system that is real and fair, we do awards twice a year. Recognition needs to be on going also, thank those people who show up and give time oh and dont forget to feed and water them too!

Having a party once a year for those volunteers too is a great way to recognize their activities. Or maybe handing out some of those free dinners you get as donations.

Lastly, and something we havent done yet, but it looks like we will be, you need a volunteer coordinator, this may need to be a office. I am now looking at an ammendment to our charter to create this office. If you do the things necessary to get it set up, this office makes sense. Dedicated to membership and corrdinating the volunteers. This keeps the other officers from becoming overwhelmed. The secretary might be a choice but they have enough to do already.

In summary, treat your volunteers right, make sure they have enough to do and direction, comunicate in an effective manner and feed and water them [img]smile.gif[/img] - you will be surprised how people respond.

Perhaps just a threat of cancellation would grab the attention of some helpers. I see both sides. Depending on what the event is and how excited the kids are about it. If it is something that the kids know little or nothing about then I would definately consider it, especially if you have bigger events coming up. You don't want you tried and true volunteers to be totally burned out by the time a bigger event comes up.

[ 12-16-2003, 04:18 PM: Message edited by: C. Brooks ]

I agree. I don't see anything wrong with cancelling an event as long as it won't be detrimental to your overall purpose and mission.

In our school, we spend April and May recruiting chairpersons for the following year. When school is out in June we know if we don't have a necessary leadership position filled and we simply don't include that event on the calendar for the coming year. We try not to burn-out our volunteers and don't ask them to chair more than one event and we ask our officers not to chair any event.

We also have information gathering meetings with the members in February and March when the budget for the coming year is being formulated so we have a feel for which events they enjoy and which ones they would rather eliminate. The budget and our goals are then congruent. We also do an end of the year survey when they can evaluate PTO functions and make suggestions. Only about 30% of the parents participate, but we have received excellent feed back this way and I think it's important that the members know we develop our plan of work based on their in-put. Sometimes when they have a feeling of ownership they are more willing to step forward and take the lead.

Good luck! It will happen!

We too, have a problem with parental involvement. On one level I can understand, but heck, it's our kids, right? This year, at our initial PTA meeting, we put sign up sheets for events that we knew we were going to have throughout the year. We got a few more people that way. I think it's important to publicly thank the volunteers, too. Cancelling an event - I don't know. I agree that you have to weigh your options. I guess the bottom line, is that you are always going to have the same group of people. We are the ones who care too much, and also see the benefits of how we are helping our own children by being an active parent in their school. Keep your chin up and Keep up the Good Work! It really does matter.....

Is it wrong to cancel events when you don't get the new volunteers for it?

My opinion is no, it's not. Although I might want to evaluate carefully how big the event is and what the bottom line impact is to the group. Cancelling something that brings you $500 of profit shouldn't be treated the same way as something that brings in a $10,000 profit.

Cancelling may draw attention to the issue of a lack of parental involvement, or it may end up just showing you that the event just isn't the best one for the school. Since you indicated that parental involvement is so good in the classrooms, it makes me think that there's something up with the type of events you have going. If it's something you have done for years, maybe people are just sick of it. Or maybe the demographics of the school have changed and it's not as important/relevant to the current group.

A couple of years ago, the school my daughter was in threatened to cancel the Market Day fundraiser. Once they did that, someone who really liked buying Market Day stuff stepped up, because she didn't want to lose it. She ended up being surprised at how much less effort it was to run than she expected, and has been running it successfully now for two years.

Sometimes people assume that there's a lot more involved than there really is. If you know there is someone like in my example above, who has really enjoyed a particular event or fundraiser, but hasn't taken an active role in organizing it, maybe you could sit down with that person and outline the responsibilities (including time estimates, if possible), and specifically ask them to take it on. Sometimes you get lucky and a very direct and personal ask is all it takes.

Good luck!