C10 -Focus on Membership - California State PTAdownloads.capta.org/con/handouts/2016/C10-FocusOnMembership.… · membership marketing section of the website-Toolbox for theme ideas

Welcome to today’s presentation about PTA membership and conducting a PTA

membership enrollment campaign.

12016 California State PTA Convention

C10 - Focus on Membership

This workshop is designed to guide you through the creation and

implementation of a successful, year-long membership campaign.

This is basic and for first timers although probably a good review for those

who have done membership before without any training.

We will discuss

• resources and support available

• membership campaigns and procedures

• membership dues, how much and where they go

• how to promote and increase your membership by marketing

your PTA

We plan to have time for questions and answers at the end of the

presentation.

The message: you should be having FUN with membership! It is the one PTA

position where you can be as creative, as much fun, as celebratory as possible.

So, relax, soak up what we have to tell you, then let your imaginations run

wild with creative, fun ideas!

Our new State PTA membership theme is Do Good Things for Kids



You’ll need resources to get started, and luckily, PTA is very strong with

resources.

Your local council PTA and district PTA should be the first places to go for

support. Both should have a membership leader. They will be the first to

welcome you to the position of membership chair or vice president, and to

show you what PTA has to offer you as you begin your plans for your

membership campaign.

•These local leaders will understand your school’s unique needs.

•Additionally, the district PTA is responsible for offering support and

information such as field service visits, annual training and newsletters.

You should know your counterpart at the council and district. FIND OUT

WHO THEY ARE AS SOON AS YOU GET BACK HOME!



See HANDOUT on Resources

Visit the California State PTA website for your resource needs.

• The Membership section of the website has lots of information for you

Check out membership marketing tools- new Toolbox section- especially theme ideas

Member Perks

Customizable Membership Marketing Tool

The Webinar!

• The Toolkit, a major resource for PTAs in California, can be found online

The annual service mailing is a package of materials that is sent to every PTA president, usually during the summer. The membership portion should be shared with the membership chairman or vice president.

Chain of communication is considered very important in PTA.

• No one likes surprises and everyone should be informed when you seek answers from outside of your local PTA. Go to your council, and then district for your answers first.



See HANDOUT Membership Awards and Due Dates

• Your council and/or district may have their own awards

Awards must be received in the state office so councils and districts will

have earlier due dates.

• The Ready, Set…Remit Award - 30 memberships by October 30th

Spotlight Awards: Membership and Outreach.

A PTA must have qualified for Ready Set Remit to apply, and have

current bylaws. Application due February 1st. Free convention

registration.



Members are the strength of our organization.

PTA is the largest children’s advocacy organization!

The more PTA members…

• the greater our strength as an association,

• the greater and louder our voice, and

• the more effective our advocacy efforts.

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So let’s understand

why we believe that

membership is so

important

Let’s talk about why we

have campaigns - why do

we want members?



At some schools, membership is a short routine with little effort

expended - at some, only envelopes are distributed

Many think of membership as a perfunctory activity at beginning of

year to be finished quickly.

Award the class with largest membership - using ice cream or pizza

or popcorn and the job is done.

Some of you may even have been talked into taking the job of

membership with that limited description.

Membership is not always seen as a necessary, integral part of PTA and

it’s not always considered to be a required position.

Results of our convention survey: reason membership went up or

declined---the membership chairman and the way the campaign or lack

of campaign was run.

Necessary to have designated membership leader.



Where do you get the cards and envelopes? From council and district PTA leaders.

Procedure book, or flash drive



If your PTA does not include a membership committee, discuss forming one with the executive board.

Develop a plan with the president, principal and membership committee. Successful campaigns have a

theme, and involve the principal and students. Teachers are key!

•Set goals. A goal might be

− to increase membership by a certain percentage over last year’s total, or− to have 100% teacher and staff membership, or− to successfully reach out and include previously unrepresented areas of the community.

•Develop the fun aspect of your campaign: Have a theme, with incentives. Check out the

membership marketing section of the website- Toolbox for theme ideas.



•Develop a budget (may include costs for materials, campaign promotion,

incentives and mailing)

• Use council/district due dates to create a membership calendar. Be aware of

council and district PTA due dates.

•Determine how you will reach all prospective members. Review the membership marketing study information first!

Membership campaign plans must be approved by the executive board.

Membership report at every meeting!



CAPTA commissioned a membership marketing study. We asked PTA members

and non-PTA members why they did or didn’t join, and this is what we heard:

Parents don’t join because they fear being asked to attend meetings or to

volunteer

They only care about their school

The teacher is key

Parent Mindset

Parents’ biggest problem is lack of time.

Working parents often feel guilty

Parent sphere of interest is very narrow – their school, not state PTA

Primary point of contact with the school is their child’s teacher.



Focus on the school and how PTA benefits the school

Separate joining from volunteering or attending meetings

Focus on member benefits See Handout Member Benefits

GenX parents are equally motivated by showing support for the school, showing their

children they care about their education and paying for valuable programs at the school

Millennial parents are primarily motivated by one reason: to show their children they care

about their education

High income parents are motivated by showing support for their school and paying for

valuable programs.

Low income parents are motivated by showing their children they care about their

education.



Early campaign start and use of multiple touch points.

Using teachers as key influencers and campaign drivers.

Ongoing tracking reports to measure and report progress.

Targeted outreach to those who have not signed up.

Public posting of progress – citing specific classrooms and even specific teachers.

Contests, prizes and incentives.



Messaging should address primary concerns all parents have about lack

of time, and unbundle the concept of “membership” from the

obligation to volunteer.

Joining should be positioned as a valuable act in and of itself, that shows

support for the school and their child.

Highlight the programs and services that are considered valuable and

are being provided by PTA at the school.

PTA is the bridge that connects parents and the school



•Every member needs a membership card, hard or soft copy. Cards list the name of only one member.

•There is no issue or expiration date on the card. Cards expire on Halloween 2015, to allow members the opportunity to vote at the first meeting of the year.

•Hard copy cards can be printed by using the template on the CAPTA website. Some units stamp their cards instead, sometimes “lowtech”works best.

They will be mailed to the district PTAs in early summer.

•The templates for the electronic cards were sent to the unit PTAs after they completed a survey. Not all district PTAs chose to use the electronic cards this year. Templates should not be posted on any website.



Let's talk about membership envelopes- can be ordered at any time 3 cents each

California State PTA offers membership envelopes but there is no requirement to use them. (The requested information on the envelope is the information that PTA needs to collect from its members.)

• Districts order these for their units and or councils & usually pass on the cost by selling them to units.

• They are in an English/Spanish format.

• Envelopes may be duplicated or re-created or not used at all

•Envelopes are a service provided by State PTA; we make no money on membership envelopes

Districts, councils and units may create their own envelopes and their own membership applications.

Make sure your PTAs know to create a membership list that should be kept for 3 years ---IRS purposes.



Available on the PTA website, customizable for you. Download the flyer, print it out, attach

the membership envelope, and you’re all set.



Each season a new member perks flier is uploaded to the website.

Legoland, Hertz, Enterprise, CA Academy of Sciences to name a few.

See handout Member Perks




2016 California State PTA Convention 19



Keep a record of members.- name and email is all that is required.

• kept on file with the president, secretary, and membership chairman.

• available at association meetings to determine who is eligible to vote and

• be provided to the nominating committee.

Keep Membership lists for 3 years for IRS

•Membership on every agenda

•Report numbers, be sure it matches what is sent to council/district by the

treasurer

•Is the job of every board member

•Prepare successor

•Procedure book, or flash drive

•Pass on all materials

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Who can join PTA?

Anyone!

All members should receive a

membership card:

Voting, member perks.



• Membership dues should be high enough to include the per capita sent through

channels and to include part of the PTA insurance, but low enough so that

everyone may join.

• A PTA may wish to have a student/staff dues structure. The student/staff dues

amount must be enough to support the per capita remitted through channels. If a

unit wishes to include a student member dues structure, the bylaws must be

amended and forwarded through channels to the California State PTA

parliamentarian for approval. Do not need to be a PTSA to have student

members.

• Family memberships are allowed, the structure must include the payment of

per capita dues and the bylaws must stipulate the number of members considered

to be a family. Each member is then entitled to the privileges of membership and

is issued a membership card. Again, if a unit wishes to include a family

membership dues structure, the bylaws must be amended and forwarded through

channels to the California State PTA parliamentarian for approval.

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• The dues amount for your PTA is

stated in your bylaws. Any change to

the dues amount requires that the

bylaws first be amended.



Encourage the return of all membership envelopes, full or empty, by

awarding prizes to all students who return envelopes.

This will allow the recognition of all students for their efforts,

whether or not their families at home join PTA.

Create a process for collecting membership envelopes. As memberships are

received, have two PTA board members, not related by blood or marriage

count the receipts and forward all money promptly to the treasurer or

financial secretary. At the beginning of the campaign, this should be done

daily. The school staff is not responsible for collecting and storing money for

the PTA.

Use Cash verification formswhen counting money from membership envelope

Think about how many hands will those membership envelopes go through

before being opened and counted?

Every year - NGS units - no membership (or maybe also insurance) by due

dates

Next we’ll talk about the breakdown of membership dues

So you can understand “money not belonging to the unit”



The unit PTA does not keep all membership dues collected - ¨.

Portions of each person’s membership dues, also known as per capita, are sent

through channels: from unit to council to district to state, and from state to

national.

Membership dues are used at each PTA level for programs, training, publications,

advocacy.

Each month the membership chair reports on the membership total. The total

memberships reported should match what the treasurer has remitted.



One other important topic to touch on - Outreach

important that the membership and involvement in all PTAs reflect

their communities.

Only when all areas of the community are represented - when all

voices are heard - can PTA be an effective voice for ALL children.

Outreach is forming respectful, trusting relationships throughout the school

community and recognizing that everyone has value.

Outreach is sharing and distributing important information about PTA and

topics of concern that inform and invite action.

making sure that your PTA is offering what your membership values







Documents

C10 -Focus on Membership - California State PTAdownloads.capta.org/con/handouts/2016/C10-FocusOnMembership.… · membership marketing section of the website-Toolbox for theme ideas