PTO ideas. my daughters school just appointed me chairman?

The single most awesome thing that the PTA at my kids' elementary school did was make fundraisers optional. In lieu of them, they gave parents/families the option to donate $25 - $100 (or more) for a year. Larger amounts could be paid in installments over the course of three months. They actually increased their annual revenue over the years that they had relied solely on fundraising sales. As a busy divorced working mom, I appreciated having that as an option. One thing that I didn't appreciate is the clickishness of it all. It may be just the school mine were in, but it seemed as if the moms who weren't SAHM's available to be at the school every day on a moment's notice were routinely excluded from things. For example, every year I signed up to help during events like the book fair, school carnival, or to do things like print/type things at night. My only stipulation was that I would need at least a couple days advance notice so I could make arrangements with my employer. I never... not once in the 6 years I had children there... received a call to help, although I paid my dues, volunteered every time and attended every meeting. The same was true of other working moms that I spoke with. We essentially had to call someone in the 'click' and invite ourselves if we wanted to be a part of anything. We were not included in any of the planning of events, and were not treated as part of 'the group' when we took it upon ourselves to show up to help. It was quite disheartening. It's not an issue now that they're in middle school, as everyone is included. But I've heard several stories from moms who had similar experiences with other elementary school PTA/PTO groups. If this hasn't been the case in your school, please disregard my rant. If it has been, I encourage you to work hard to foster an environment in which everyone who wants to help feels included.

How many kids are on free/reduced school lunches? (You can check that out by going to greatschools.net and looking for your child's school.) Is it a Title 1 school? My child went to a low income public school for pre-K (Title 1 school, about 70% of the kids were on free/reduced school lunches). The only way the school was able to offer special things for the children was because they got businesses to donate money and goods. The majority of children came from single parent households who were either working for minimum wage or on welfare. These parents didn't have any money to offer. If the businesses hadn't paid for the field trips, the majority of children wouldn't have been able to go. I think, you may need to approach parents individually. Listen to them why they haven't joined the PTO (is the dues? no time?) and then try to find a way that they will feel comfortable joining.

You only need about 4 invested people on a regular basis. All activities can be partitioned out to people who will give of their time on a more limited basis. Asking someone to run the book drive once a year for two years is a lot different than asking for lots of parents to attend the monthly meeting and oversee all of the various activities and fundraisers. The most well received fund raiser is the once a year fund raiser of "school spirit" articles of clothing (such as T-shirts, sweat shirts, shorts) and car magnets printed with the school mascot and logo. WE have many more, but that one is the one that people actually look forward to. The best timing for school spirit items is usually the beginning of the year (we have a yearly back to school ice cream social the Wed. night before school starts) - you can buy various sizes to offer for sale at the ice cream social, or you could have an order form that is timed so that the items are delivered in time to make nice christmas gifts - have a spot on the form so that you can have the parent designate whether the purchase is a gift, so that you do not send them home with the student that it was bought for. Some of our yearly activities 5 th grade party (end of the year - it signals the end of elementary school b/c 6th graders go to middle school) Scholastic Book Fair - during teacher conference days. - scholastic donates a whole bunch to the school based on sales Book exchange - kids bring in their old books and exchange them with the other students for books that are new to them. Hoagie Sale - coincides with super bowl weekend Roller skating party for the whole school - PTO pays for it with discounts from roller skating rink - rink closes for everyone else - great bonding! Siblings are allowed too but pay for skate rental. Field trips Yearbook - some years it is so successful that it ends up making money. Expo - kids do simple projects and display them with a poster board backing or they perform instrument or singing and it is held in the evening. Collect Box Tops - great way to get funds!!! You can find box tops on various products... https://www.boxtops4education.com/common/Register.aspx?pid=BTFE_CORE&WT.mc_id=paid_search_BTFE_CORE_DEFAULT_BRANDED&WT.srch=1&esrc=15812 Target also has a reward program for schools https://redcard.target.com/redcard/content/rcw_targetbank_bc_main Pick a couple for a start and good luck!!!