[img]smile.gif[/img] I'm soooo excited! We had our monthly meeting last night and had a lot of discussion about fundraising, purchases etc. and best of all this was not brought up by me. One of the other partents broached the subject of a spring fling instead of a selling fundraiser and that went over great!

Other changes discussed were preparing/announcing ahead of time for the different activities. Usually it's announced about 1 week ahead of time and for people like me who work fulltime, I need more of a notice.

Anyway, some great ideas were thrown out and accepted whole heartedly. The board and the principal even asked for more. I'm so relieved to find that out. I'm still not going in there with guns blazing, but at least I don't feel that I have to walk on eggshells.

So on with my quest for new ideas. Thanks for the encouragement and support.

Susan

If the board is all new members, I think that you should step up with your ideas. I say go for it! Your ideas are good ones and I'm sure that you have a great PTO experience coming your way!
As for advertising fundraisers... I guess I need a little more clarification. We 'advertise' at the beginning of the year that there will be a brochure sale to kick the year off, a Spring sale to get things ready for the upcoming year, and we tell a bit about each of the 'no brainers' (ink cartridges, cell phones, grocery stores, etc.). We do keep everyone up to date, but I don't think of any of that as advertising. I guess I had the wrong picture in my head of what you meant. Sorry...

You know, Metzy, library mom's thought about "avdetising" all the fundraisers for the year has actually been very sucessful for our school! One year after a fundraiser a month, the PTO board went to the school board and (joking) said we were ready to surrender our family checkbooks to the school or we needed them to have a beeter plan for advertising fundraisers! They did it! The first newsletter of the school year had one page of the fundraisers planned for the year and were the money was going for! Worked out great!
I even work with the kindergarten teachers to get out important "first of the school year" Fundraisers the new parents might miss in other newsletters. It works!

As far as participation, I have learned not to base how many are involved by who comes to the meetings. A former officer is still our best volunteer but with Scouts and cheerleading practice the same night....you see my point. Of course when I know stuff before others get a letter home I get teased about going to every meeting....but that is the question we have all asked more than once......just wish their was a magical answer...

Welcome Pam1500!

You are absolutely on target with a "mission statement". There should be one. Especially to know what the parameters of your group are. Keeping the fundraising money in the school and for the students/school is a paramount. You really don't want to see hard earned money going outside. To me that is a no-no and I know some groups do that. It is like opening a can of worms and everyone's hand is out. I do not mean to sound like a hardnose here but lately in our community, if someone knows of a person with a medical condition, they start with the publicity in the newspapers, then fundraising to help them out. Lately it has been just about every other week. It goes on and on.

I have no problem with "schools" helping out in the community and doing some community service. Teaching children how to give back and help out within their own communities is a great big "yes". However, that should be a school or other group within the school doing that. The PTO/etc... should really not put any funds out in those areas. It ends up defeating the purpose of why there is a PTO/whatever...Most mission statements make it pretty clear as to the purpose of the organization - and that, in most cases, is to help out within the school.

Communication? What a concept!! Yes, Yes! you cannot be effective without it. I am a true believer in keeping websites current. Unfortunately, most are not and that is a shame. I am constantly emailing "webmasters" and keeping - them informed that they are not keeping US informed!- All it takes is some organization and desire to keep people informed to actually do it. A newsletter is an excellent way of getting the word out. We do it on a monthly basis. (or we did do it)

O.K so I have extra time today to write my book... sorry. But you are on the right track!! Good luck

Since I've been kind of struggling to understand how I might fit in with my school's PTO, this is a subject I can relate to.

I'm probably going to sound kind of clueless here, but I know I'd benefit from seeing a concise 'mission statement' from my PTO. I was kind of surprised at the size of their budget, and couldn't help but wonder where all the fund-raising money goes. Add to that the fact that our school taxes are fairly hefty, and I have a basic disconnect. It's not that I'm suspicious, it's just that I need an education in what the PTO aspires to do overall.

I would also wish to see a basic organizational chart, with an explanation of what each position is responsible for, along with an explanation of how people can become board members. It sounds so basic, but it's a lot just keeping up with regular school stuff, getting to know the teachers, helping your kid adjust to each new grade, etc. Just understanding the PTO structure is a bit of a chore.

I'm also a firm believer in keeping people updated. Our PTO only emails minutes to those that request them, which I find odd. If it were me, I'd send them to every member family, unless they specifically requested not to receive them. Also, it's hard keeping track of so many papers coming home, reminding people of this need or that event. Our school has a web site, and the PTO has a section, but it's not kept up to date, which is a shame. A dynamic web site can be very handy for keeping people apprised of things, and I whole-heartedly believe that it's a good way to show people that the organization is thriving and active, and the meetings are important and of interest.

Thanks for your suggestions. I know that I need to tread softly and not step on any toes, but I really need to share my ideas. So maybe I'll start here.

The board is all new, so I'm hoping that they are not stuck in the same rut. I know the principal is open to new ideas because when I suggested to him at a yearbook meeting that I would be willing to do the school newsletter. He was very supportive and excited as staff has no time (like I really do sometimes )

After the Fall Festival, the board asked for ideas / suggestions and since I was there all day helping set up and take down, I threw in my .02 cents worth and they seemed to like / welcome the suggestions. I don't want to change every thing overnight, but perhaps over the course of time as my ds just started 1st grade and my son will be attending the same school in a couple of years.

Thanks for the suggestions about have documents available for them to see and not just ideas.

The board and the parents that attend don't seem to have any problems getting along as I can see, so hopefully that is a good sign.

Keep the great ideas coming!

Susan