Truth is that sending home a flier in a backpack asking non-involved parents what position they want to run for is effectively a waste of time. You are not going to increase your activemembership in this way.
But lets first break down the types of involvement that parents provide:
The first are the ones that help out at the school and often in their child's classroom. My recommendation would be to stay out of this as it really isn't PTO related. If some parent wants to help out within their child's class then I applaud them for getting involved. And although I believe that this type of involvement is not related to the PTO, on the other hand these parents are often the perfect ones to approach face to face about getting actively involved in the PTO.
Next you have the "members" who can't or don't want to make the meetings, don't want to be on any committee's or take on any responsibilities, other than possibly manning the bake sale for an hour at the seasonal dance, or maybe sitting at a table for a shift during the book fair or holiday shoppe. These volunteers are very important to your group's well being and I would recommend that any group have a Volunteer Coordinator so that these types of volunteers always have a contact that can sign them up. Sure these volunteers may not be official "active" members because they aren't coming to the meetings or being on committees, but what they do provide is very valuable. One way to possibly sway a few into becoming active is to praise them for their volunteering efforts. Face to face is great, of course, but mentioning a couple of names in a newsletter or in the announcements at the end of the event will make them feel special.
Lastly there are the active members. When I say active I'm talking about those that I would deem as the actual PTO committee. Truth is that because we don't have dues (and I would never support changing this) I can promote that "everyone who is a parent or guardian of a child attending the school, as well as every member of the professional staff, are automatically members of the PTO". This sounds great and may help to get some involved as they may feel like they already belong. That's why I promote the group in this way. But the real truth is that you need "active" members. Sure "everyone's" a member, but you know that the ones that get involved are the ones that make your group so effective. These are the ones that you really want to increase. So, I have found that there are many ways to do this beyond the involvement flier.
- First make your group fun. If parents see all of the cool things that your group does they may want to get involved. Before I became President the PTO didn't really have any big, fun events, other than a couple of roller-skating parties each year, and the end of the year Field Day. One of the first changes I made (actually it was my wife's idea) was a big, free Back to School Ice Cream event, with Radio Disney providing the entertainment, prizes, games, etc. This started the year off right. Then I presented the idea of a Halloween Party, which quickly got a name change to "Harvest Hoopla", but you get the point. Then a Valentines Party, which we had to call something else because we can't use "Valentine's". We also had poker tounraments and golf tournaments to raise funds. The reason I bring up these is that we started to be perceived as fun and also had events that the husbands of some of the active PTOers wanted to be involved in.
- Get the men involved. Before I became President there were no men actively involved in the PTO. I think that once they saw a man as the President many of the husbands, and even a couple of men that did not have wives involved, started to realize that this was not a womens only group, let alone a clique. Here we are less than two years later and my Treasurer is a man, plus there are at least five others that I would have to classifly as active, meaning that they attend the meetings, join or even chair committees, etc. They love getting involved in events such as the poker tournaments and the golf tournament.
- Childcare. Again, my wife's idea. We started to work with a local college to have age appropriate childcare services available during the PTO meetings. IMO, even though you'll hear others say how the monthly meetings are not that important, they really are. When are the committees formed? At the monthly meetings. When are elections held? At the meeting. When are people thanked for doing such a great job? At the meeting (plus in the newsletter, on the website, in the morning announcement podcasting, etc.). If members are at the meetings then they are more likely to raise their hand and say, "Sure, sign me up for that committee". And all on a sudden that bystander is active and getting involved. Once involved it is a self-fulfilling thing. Those who get involved start to feel more comfortable getting involved and starts to get pride in the ways they contribute. So I found that offering childcare during the meetings increased active membership by at least 15%. Especially the dads. Without it they would likely have to stay at home.
- Communication. The flier is fine, but talk things up in a newsletter each month. How about an e-mail list. At our school the Principal podcasts the morning announcements each day, which many parents listen to at work to get an idea of what is happening at the school. Often this is how they hear about the PTO meeting, or the fundraiser, or the family event.
- Approach the right people. A great resource, and often underutilized, is the new parents. Especially the new Kindergarten parents. For many of them this is their first time having a child in school. They have been involved in their child's education up to this point, so they would love to stay involved. The PTO is the perfect place. I wrote out a welcome letter that talks about who we are, what we do, etc. I also make a point at being at the admin evening for the new Kindergarteners. I think seeing a man in charge goes a long way into breaking the idea of a clique, but just getting up in front of these eager people and saying we do this, we want you involved, it is a great way to imporve your child's education, etc. You are bound to get one or two new faces involved each year.
So my recommendation is to try these types of things and you are bound to start increasing your active membership. When I started as President we had maybe 10 active members. What is great is that last month I had the tables set up for the meeting and one of the active men came up to me and said "Don't you think you have too many seats"? To which I responded, "No, you've missed a couple of meetings". By the time the meeting started every one of the fourty seats were filled and I was able to say to the guy "See what I mean?"
So anyway, good luck. If you ask them they will come!
PresidentJim
