We do not have our content edited. We are however careful to get permission to post any students names on our site and we do not post pictures.

I guess you have to wear your "parent hat" when you are updating information, if you think it shouldnt be on there, then it probley shouldnt.

We have had a blast with our and orgsites make it very easy even to pull clip art for every season off of the web, all at no cost!

The more information tools you can give parents and staff, the more involvement (hopefully) you will have. If nothing else, people will realize how much really does go in in a school year!

All PTO content included on our website has to go through the principal.

Thank you so much for your responses!

What you all are saying confirms my own instincts, and dlf, you summed it up: communication.

My task is now to sell this idea to the incoming president, as much as I can. I think I'll just briefly make a case for the communication angle; suggest that she avoid thinking in terms of "webmaster", since the reality is so much simpler; and then just say that my opinion is not that important, but it's rather the opinion of the PTO membership that counts. If people can be convinced that it's not some overwhelmingly difficult task that requires arcane knowledge, and they like the idea, I fully expect someone to step up and take it on. I'd do it myself, happily, but I'm already doing 2 other committees, and there's concern that I'll overextend. I'm not concerned about that, but I don't want to get too pushy!

I'll add that it can be presented to the membership as an experiment. One of the nice things about websites is that they can be works in progress, they don't have to be presented as complete and finished works.

I'm also curious to know how everyone manages editing content. Does content have to be approved?

I had fun looking at the PTO sites you gave. Orgsites is the host I originally evaluated. I don't know HTML, but within minutes I was playing with the text and putting up links. They make it very easy!

We have had our website (through orgsites) up and running for a full year now. Last school year we received over 3500 hits. We posted everything there is to know that is going on, including meeting minutes, box tops contest results, etc... It is updated every week, it sounds like a lot of work, however once you have the basic information there, updating takes just a short amount of time and can be done at any time of the day (or night).

We also have a list of emails that we send meeting reminders and upcoming event reminders (and plea for volunteers) to. Our district has put a link from their site to ours and we did the same. (We have 3 schools under one district and we are the parent group for the entire district).

Sure we still send things "via backpack" but I think the website gives another communciation level for the parents, when the kids are in bed or they are "surfing the web" anyway, they can spend a few minutes and get up to date. Let's face it not all parents receive those items from the backpacks, especially middle schoolers.

I am not saying that will increase your volunteer numbers, but it sure couldnt hurt. Through orgsites the site is totally free and very easy to set up and maintain. I had no idea what I was doing and it just walks you right through it. Our site is www.orgsites.com/il/pride if you want to check it out, but please keep in mind that we are in the process of getting things set up for the upcoming year so it doesnt look like it will come August!

Just wanted to put my 2 cents in...

Pam--here is my thought on a way to get volunteers and successfully grow your organization....
Communicate, communicate, communicate....
There are a lot of communities out there that folks can put their efforts into...their work community, their church community and their school community. I think the primary reluctance in a lot of cases for not getting into the school community and THAT'S because they don't feel like they are a part of it. They don't know who is doing what to whom and they can go to. Our website was a biggie back off of our schools, and then we got the money after our first year to start our own. We did have someone I knew did websites from home, and because the year before we had COMMUNICATED so much, she was happy to help us. It is a dynamic website that is updated about every 2 weeks, the ticker on the bottom says we've had 2400 hits in a year (may not have started at 1 but it sure briefs well) and we post our newsletters on site as well and we have a ticker that posts immediate information. Now we are only a 2 year old PTO (school) but at our last volunteer breakfast over 175 invitations were sent out to know volunteers. HUGE...and I cannot say that it all comes from one form of communication or another, but I know it comes from the community we've built. Emails are a big thing with me as well. If you build an address list and send out weekly emails that are personal, then folks will get to know you in a "girlfriend" sort of way and be more inclined to assist. We were very short volunteers for our Carnival, I sent out an email to the effect that my dog had to man the popcorn machine and within 2 days I had over 50 folks come forward. Believe me it wasn't always like this.
So--I guess you can see I really believe in the power of the email/website. Especially for our working parents....we're in the DC area and they love knowing what's going on and support when/how they can.
So I hope this gives you some ideas as to why I think this is so important. Check out the site at brentpto.com and our newsletters. Yes it is a ton of work. But if you put it up front then it will pay off in the long run....

d

I know others can give you more/better info., but our PTO was just talking about this in June. Since none of us are too computer savvy, we're just going to piggy back the school's website. Like you said, it's not rocket science and the school's tech guy is willing to help get our link on the school's homepage. I think the biggest part would be the initial start up as far as entering dates/activities you have scheduled and what kind of help you need. Our PTO is also putting out a monthly newsletter this school year (again a first), but we are well aware that many of our middle school parents don't get any papers sent home. So our plan is to let everyone know about the school's site, our link, and if they choose to give us their email address, we'll send the newsletter to them via email.

One benefit I hope to gain from the website is a chance for those parents that can't come to the meetings to still feel involved and know what we're doing/planning. If you include a contact email address, questions, comments, other ideas can be shared immediately instead of waiting for another meeting.

Gives me lots to think about. [img]smile.gif[/img]
Deb