Enhance the PTA Membership Experience: Ask Everyone to Join

By Linda Johnson and Ivelisse Castro, National PTA, Membership and Field Service Team

Nearly 20,000 local PTAs/PTSAs are getting ready to get Back to School, Back to PTA. So much to be done and so little time to prepare for a successful PTA/PTSA year. National PTA wants to make things easy for local PTA leaders and help support a positive PTA membership experience. Since the number one reason why people do not join PTA is that they are never asked, we’ve developed a suite of customizable templates to help local PTAs ask their community to join PTA using the PTA Membership Campaign.

Templates to:

1. Invite everyone to PTA/PTSA for Your Child as we get Back to School, Back to PTA by joining, supporting, or investing in your PTA/PTSA. This letter/email is to be used at the beginning of the PTA membership year as families get ready to get back to school. If printed as a letter, you can add your PTA membership registration form on the back or create a QR code for people to scan.
2. Invite existing and past PTA/PTSA members to continue supporting your PTA/PTSA by renewing their membership. This letter/email is to be used as soon as your PTA membership year starts and anytime to target past members who haven’t renewed their PTA membership this year.
3. Invite PTA/PTSA event attendees to join your PTA/PTSA to support programs and events like the one they attended. Use this letter/email throughout the year after every PTA/PTSA event/program to invite attendees who are not yet members to join your PTA/PTSA.
4. Welcome members to PTA/PTSA and thank them for joining, let them know the benefits of PTA membership and let them know how much their membership means to your PTA and to you as a PTA leader.

Remember since the number one reason why people don’t join PTA is because they are not asked, make sure to ask this year! Sometimes you must ask more than once.  People love it when PTAs/PTSAs take the time to invite them to join or renew their membership. They love receiving a Welcome to PTA/Thank you for Joining message even more. An invitation to join makes them feel like they can make a difference just by becoming a member. A welcome/thank you message makes them feel included, valued, appreciated; it makes them feel their membership does matter.

Use these resources to Market your PTA to make it easier for your PTA/PTSA to provide a meaningful membership experience so that when it’s time to ask them to renew next year, everyone will say “Yes” again, and again, and again. For more ideas to grow your membership, you can check out 125 Ways to Increase Membership and the 10 PTA Membership Myths & Truths

Increasing membership is vital for our PTA voice to be stronger and more powerful or influential.

Have a successful PTA membership year.

P.S.: We would love to know if these resources were helpful or if you need additional tools. Please let us know by emailing us at Membership@PTA.org.