Tips to Grow Your PTA Membership

July 26, 2023 By Leave a Comment
National PTA

As you prepare for back-to-school, a new school year means new opportunities to grow your PTA. We talked to PTAs across the country that continue to grow membership every year—here are the tips they shared to help engage families in the community and grow membership. 

Ask everyone to join (support or invest in) your PTA! 

  • Membership is open to anyone who supports the PTA mission: moms, dads, grandparents, foster parents, extended family members, teachers, staff, students (if allowed), community members, business leaders, public officials, etc. Target outreach recruitment each month to a different group.  
  • Make sure everyone on your PTA board joins! 
  • Use our DEI resources to support your recruitment efforts. Our new Multicultural Reference Guide has strategies to enhance PTA’s inclusion of untapped markets. 
  • Need ideas? Check out over 20 Membership Minute videos in both English and Spanish. Or join us on this year’s Membership Mania journey. 

Start as early as you can.  

  • Ask everyone who was a member last year to support your PTA/PTSA again this year, even if their child has moved on to another school. Send out periodic email or text renewal notices.  
  • Ask your principal if you can have five minutes at the back-to-school staff meeting to share the value your PTA brings to your community and ask all staff to join PTA. Create a PTA value presentation or make a video using our PTA Welcome Back to School PowerPoint template. 
  • Ask everyone to join at all summer or back-to-school events at your school or in your community. 

Make joining as easy as possible.  

  • Use an online membership platform to make it quick and easy to join. Contact your state PTA to find out if they provide a free online membership platform for PTAs in your state. 
  • Use a QR code that links to your online membership platform and put it everywhere! Have it on signs at all your PTA and school events, on your social media, on any flyers that are sent home, on signs around the school or even on business cards for your board. Check out our video on How to Create a QR Code in less than a minute. 
  • Have a paper form to join in addition to an online platform, and make sure it is available everywhere. Not everyone has internet access or is comfortable paying for membership online. Make sure all PTA board members and the school office have a supply on hand. 
  • Use all communication channels—in-person ask, emails, texting, newsletters, flyers, banners, school marquis and social media like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and TikTok. Provide a URL link, QR code or form to join your PTA in every communication. 
  • Make a personal ask to join PTA at every PTA and school virtual, in-person or drive-thru event.  
  • Add a “Join PTA” button/link to all your online event registrations or volunteer sign-ups. 

Share the value of your PTA! 

  • Brand everything you do so your community knows it is the PTA doing the work or providing the financial support. It takes just a few minutes to Customize PTA logos, or you can use graphics from the You Belong in PTA or Membership Campaign to share the value of your PTA. 
  • Toot your PTA horn! Make sure your whole community (not just members) knows how your PTA is supporting students, teachers and families.  
  • Ask your principal to share the value your PTA brings to your school and encourage families and teachers to support PTA at staff meetings and school events. Check out this video for ideas to develop or improve your relationship with your principal. 
  • Provide special benefits/perks to your PTA members: family membership, free popcorn at movie night, discount to a local business, membership bundle with PTA gear, prizes and giveaways, etc. 
  • Offer in-person PTA meetings and events in a virtual way to attract more families who can’t always attend in person. 
  • Translate materials into the languages that are spoken by families in your community to be inclusive. 
  • Check out our grant opportunities and apply for all that will enhance your PTA’s work. Invite your families and community to attend your program event. Share your program stories with everyone! And share them with us by tagging @NationalPTA and using #HowWePTA #PTAProud!  
  • Focus on issues important to the families in your community. Our DIY Kit for Membership Growth helps you determine the needs of your community and how to align your PTA priorities. 
  • Share with your community how your PTA, state PTA and National PTA are advocating at the local, state and federal level to improve the lives of all children and families. 

Back-to-school is a strategic time to focus on membership, but it is also important to focus on membership all year round. Check out the membership recruitment tools on National PTA’s website filled with graphics, PowerPoint presentations, videos and templates for more resources to help you grow your PTA. Together we are stronger and our voices are louder for our nation’s children. And together we can grow membership and make every child’s potential a reality. Email us at Membership@PTA.org if you have any questions or need additional support. 

Filed Under: #PTABackToSchool, Membership, Slider Tagged With: , ,

Show Your PTA Value with YOU Belong in PTA

November 17, 2022 By Leave a Comment

With the 2022-2023 school year well underway, PTAs and PTSAs are hard at work with their initial membership drive, inviting people to join their local units or renew their PTA/PTSA memberships. Encouraging people to join doesn’t end with the back-to-school membership drive though. It’s an ongoing, year-round initiative.

To support your commitment to membership growth, National PTA developed the YOU Belong in PTA Suite of Membership Resources with easy, meaningful and fun ready-to-use flyers, customizable templates, social media posts, and a guide to help you create your own messages that show the value you provide to your communities throughout the year.

The YOU Belong in PTA suite of materials were designed based on research and marketing best practices. National PTA used two very important lessons discovered through the research done for our award-winning PTA for Your Child Membership Campaign:

Lesson 1:  The number one reason why people don’t join PTA is because no one ever asked. 

Lesson 2:  People are most willing to join when they see the value PTA provides.

The research showed three key areas where PTA excels in offering families value for their child:

  1. PTA’s ability to create connections
  2. PTA helps parents support their child
  3. PTA allows people to amplify their voice 

The main reason people join PTA/PTSA is to support their children. They see PTA as the way to be connected, to support their children’s education and to speak up for their children when necessary.

It’s important to understand the reasons why people choose to join PTA because knowing common motivations can be used to recruit others. To grow membership, PTAs need to show they provide value for families to make it worth giving their time, resources (connections, money, talents, etc.) or efforts.  How many times have we heard “I first joined PTA for my child. I’ve stayed for ALL children.”?

It’s also important to remember that the perception of value is in the eye of the beholder. What may be of value to one parent or caregiver may not be of value to another. Successful membership drives include learning about the needs of different potential audiences so that you can speak to their needs. As PTA/PTSA leaders, we need to think from their perspective and know what they value when we’re inviting them to join.

To communicate value that matches your potential PTA members, the YOU Belong in PTA kit includes several print-and-go pieces, social media ready messages and customizable pieces with language provided in the How to Create Your PTA Value Message Guide.

We created this kit based on feedback we received from PTA/PTSA leaders in our annual Membership Survey. Our leaders told us that the main obstacle in growing and retaining members is that “our members don’t seem to see value in PTA.” They also asked for “easy-to-use resources to help in communicating the value” that local PTAs/PTSAs provide to the community and the value of PTA in general.

To include our growing community of Spanish speakers, the entire suite of materials is also available in Spanish.

Many people take a wait and see approach to what PTA has to offer when you first ask them to join. That’s why asking to join PTA needs to be an ongoing effort. Use the YOU Belong in PTA resources to always be ready to ask based on the opportunity offered. If your PTA/PTSA organizes a Reflections event, use the YOU Belong in PTA/PTA Supports Your Child’s Education pieces (they are all colored in green). If your PTA/PTSA is holding a town hall meeting to get to know the candidates and their positions, have a YOU Belong in PTA/PTA Amplifies Your Voice flier (colored in blue) to thank everyone for attending and support your work by joining PTA. If your PTA/PTSA is having a Coffee with the Principal meeting, have a YOU Belong in PTA/PTA Creates Connections flyer (colored in orange) to share with your attendees.

Think about what every activity or event you plan accomplishes and use the YOU Belong in PTA pieces that best conveys the value your PTA/PTSA is providing. If you don’t have time to customize the piece, simply use the print-and-go materials as needed. There are endless possibilities in using these materials – in your eNewsletters, bulletins, posters, reports, etc. Every single communication effort, whether it is in-person, virtual or hybrid, is an opportunity to ask people to support your PTA/PTSA work with their membership.

Our YOU Belong in PTA webpage is full of links to many other resources (QR codes, Membership Campaign toolkit, how to make a logo for your PTA/PTSA and more) you can use to personalize your flyers and directly link them to your PTA/PTSA. 

Based on our webpage activity, National PTA knows many local leaders are taking advantage of the YOU Belong in PTA Suite of Membership Resources. We’d love to receive samples of how your PTA/PTSA is using them by emailing a picture or document at membership@pta.org.

Thank you so much for all you do for ALL children and to advance PTA’s mission to make every child’s potential a reality.

Ivelisse Castro | National PTA Membership Outreach Team

Filed Under: Family Engagement, Membership, Slider Tagged With: ,

Plan Your PTA Day of Service on BAND

March 18, 2022 By Leave a Comment

PTA has been making a difference for 125 years, and there’s still so much work to do to make every child’s potential a reality! That means working together to meet the diverse needs of families and school communities. National PTA is inviting all PTAs to register, plan and host a Day of Service event before June 30 in celebration of the association’s milestone anniversary.

Participate to …

  • Show your community who you are and what you do!
  • Connect your work to the PTA network!
  • Elevate the PTA mission by showing our collective impact.

Planning and hosting a Day of Service event should be easy and fun! We know that PTA leaders already have too much on their plate—and handling everything on multiple platforms can be disorderly, which adds to the stress. You need a tool that will help you succeed.

Enter BAND, the one-stop-shop app PTA leaders are using to communicate with their board and members, plan events and increase parent involvement.

Plan, collaborate and keep track of all things Day of Service in one place. Invite your PTA members and start planning on BAND!

1. Create your BAND!

Customize your BAND with your school group and your own photo!

2. Invite Your Planning Committee & Volunteers

Send them a QR code or Link

3. Set Up a Pre-Planning Meeting

Enter details of your meeting into the calendar: share a location, a photo, a file, and even a link! Then set a reminder for people to join. Click done and share it as a post.

4. Vote on Your Service Project

Click into ‘Post’ and select ‘Create a Poll.’ Customize to allow for secret voting, single or multi-selection, and even set a deadline.

5. Promote Your Project

Plan together by deciding on messaging, scheduling meetings and events, posting task lists, and uploading materials for promotions.

6. On the Day of

Capture photos and videos and organize them into an album to share!

Want to see how the app works? Watch how BAND helps real PTA leaders stay organized with their Board and members!

BAND is a one-stop-shop group communication app for PTAs to collaborate with members, plan events, and get parents involved. PTA leaders can effortlessly streamline communication and stay organized in one place. Through BAND’s alliance with the National PTA, they are on a mission to help build on strong partnerships among parent volunteer leaders, teachers, and students. To learn more about BAND, visit this webpage.

BAND Proud National Sponsor of National PTA. National PTA does not endorse any commercial entity, product or service.

Filed Under: Every Child in Focus, Family Engagement, General, Membership, Slider Tagged With: , , ,

State, District, Council and Region PTAs…Know Your Data to Grow Membership

June 11, 2021 By Leave a Comment

By Linda Johnson and Kirthana Krishnathasan

Data is knowledge and knowledge is power. Taking a deep dive into your state, district, council and/or region membership data beyond the overall total membership numbers gives you the power to make informed decisions to maximize your financial and people resources to reach your goals to grow membership.

Reviewing your data can help you:

  • find local PTA success stories, so you can learn and share strategies across your association to help all PTAs be successful.
  • see PTAs that are struggling, even if they do not reach out for help, so that you can provide needed support before they stop reporting membership.
  • identify geographic, district, council, or region areas with declining membership so you can provide targeted solutions and strategies where they are needed most.

Membership is all year long so reviewing membership data should be done several times a year. Membership status, goals and strategies should be reviewed and discussed at every board/committee meeting and at every level: state, district, council, and region.

National PTA has membership reports that can be used to help state, district, council, and region leaders look beyond the current membership numbers for the stories in your data. Current State PTA leaders can access and download these reports in the State Portal. Ask your state if you do not have direct access to the state specific reports for your state.

The Membership Reporting Year-Over-Year (YOY) by Fiscal Year report provides fiscal year-end membership totals for all local PTAs since 2014 as well as the current fiscal year reporting through the date you download the report. This report is updated monthly as the state reports local membership.

The data in this report can be used to identify the following membership trends:

YOY gain: Identify PTAs that have significant single year or multi-year growth. Are there common stories of training, leadership, or support that can be shared?

YOY loss: Identify PTAs that have greater than 20% single year loss or consistent membership loss across several years. Have leaders at these PTAs attended training? Has there been leadership turnover? Do PTA leaders have good relationships with school staff? Do they know how to effectively engage their community?

Zero reporting PTAs: Identify PTAs that did not report membership in the current year but were reporting in the previous membership year. What has caused these PTAs to stop reporting?

Active PTAs with 2 or more years of zero reporting: Identify active PTAs without membership for 2 or more years. Verify if the PTA is still functioning. Determine if there has been leadership turnover or no current leadership is in place. 

Geographic Trends:  After you identify the above trends in your data, sort the information by city.  Are there specific areas with more growth? What training or support is happening in these areas that can be used to replicate growth in other areas?

How can my State/District/Council/Region PTA support local PTAs?

PTAs are membership associations. Membership is not just a transaction; it is all about relationships. Sending email reminders to a PTA to send in compliance requirements is not a relationship. Most people join PTA at a local PTA, so build personal relationships with local leaders, NOT just the president and help them build relationships with the members in their community.

  • Connect with PTAs that are growing membership, congratulate them and find out how they are being successful. Collect the strategies and stories on how they grew membership. Would these PTA leaders consider mentoring another leader in their area or participating in a training to share the ideas and strategies that helped them grow?
  • Make targeted personal outreach to PTAs that have had year over year loss based on their data. Make phone calls, send texts, or message them through social media to find out how they are doing personally and as a PTA leader. What do they need to develop their leadership skills or help them run their PTA?
  • Don’t wait, contact PTAs that miss your first required membership reporting deadline. Make sure they know how to report membership. Find out if they need additional support. Do not wait for a whole year of zero reporting before making contact and offering support.
  • Provide additional training based on the feedback you receive during your outreach calls.

Training, Resources, Reporting, and Policies

Local PTAs are faced with a lot of rules: IRS policies, state nonprofit laws, school district policies, and PTA unit in good standing or standards of affiliation requirements. There can be a lot of volunteer turnover, so how do your make sure new leaders get the training they need to be successful? Review and align your policies and procedures to help local PTAs be successful and grow membership.

  • Training: Is leadership training required? Keep a record of which leaders attend training from each PTA to verify all PTAs have received training. Make sure new leaders are trained on how and when to report membership, how to engage members and share the value of PTA. Provide training based on the skills needed for different roles in PTA. Provide multiple opportunities throughout the year to receive training. (in-person, virtual, e-learning, etc.)
  • Resources: Direct local leaders to membership resources available to them from district, council, region, state and National PTA so they do not have to reinvent the wheel (Local Leader Kit, E-learning, DIY Kit for Membership Growth, etc.).
  • Reporting: Do you require minimum membership reporting for a PTA to be in good standing? Is reporting required every month or at specified dates? Do you have a membership platform PTAs are required to use? Does zero reporting trigger outreach and support?
  • Policies: Review state policies on how long PTAs are allowed to report zero before they are moved to inactive, or their charter is removed.

Anyone (large-petite states, district, council or region, staff, or volunteer) can use data to help identify next steps in your membership growth plan. How your data analysis is utilized to inform decision-making can have transformational changes to your membership.

Start by doing just one thing. What is one thing can you do in the next two months? 

If you want or need help looking at your data or need more ideas for next steps, reach out to membership@pta.org

Filed Under: General, Membership, Slider Tagged With: