PTO (Parent Teacher Organization) volunteers work so hard throughout the year.
It’s about time that you celebrate them!
This post has five different ideas for acknowledging school parent group volunteers.
The reality is that much of the work PTO volunteers do goes unnoticed because it takes a lot of behind the scenes work to make the PTO’s plans and programs come to life!
Volunteers don’t necessarily receive all of the recognition and praise they’re due.
The end of the school year is a good time to change that and give these deserving school volunteers acknowledgment for what they’re doing to make all of the good things happen in your school community.
Really any of these ideas will work throughout the year to help the parent volunteers feel seen, appreciated, and acknowledged for all of the tireless and worthy volunteer work that they’re doing.
School leaders like Principals, PTO Volunteer Coordinators and Parent Involvement Chairs will especially enjoy having a host of volunteer appreciation ideas at the ready!
Recognize Volunteer Appreciation Week
Each April brings dedicated time to appreciate the work of volunteers.
The third week of April is designated as Volunteer Appreciation Week.
This time of the year is a great time to carve out space to do something special for your school community’s dedicated PTO volunteers.
Personally Express Gratitude
A personal note of gratitude and thanks is a lovely way to express appreciation for volunteers.
The note can be handwritten or typed.
The format doesn’t matter as much as the fact that the note of thanks is sent.
Parent volunteers will really enjoy getting feedback that what they are doing is making a difference and that their contributions are acknowledged.
This can be really powerful for a few different reasons.
First, it makes the volunteers feel more inclined to stay involved because they’re going to feel like their efforts matter and are valued.
It can also make them feel like they’re being counted on and relied on, which is again another really powerful motivator.
And a significantly positive signal when the gesture comes from the Principal.
Public acknowledgements are a signal to yet-to-get-involved parents that the Principal is a good partner and that giving of time and talents to the school community is welcomes, inviting them to get involved.
Awards
It’s always so good to be gracious with appreciation and acknowledgements during your end-of-school or end-of-semester events.
If your school hosts a student achievement awards night, why not widen the group to include volunteer achievements by parent and community volunteers too?
With the school community gathering together, it’s a great time to shower volunteers with gratitude.
Appreciation Reception
Hosting an event just for volunteers will make the helpers feel special and valued.
Even something as simple as a tea with small desserts and other light refreshments will be appreciated.
The specifics of the event don’t matter.
Carving out the time and making that acknowledgement that’s really going to be the most important.
Public Acknowledgements
You can also do public shout-outs to praise volunteers for their contributions.
Following my lower elementary school’s annual carnival, which was a big to-do that required many hours of work by many different dedicated volunteers, the school would actually give a shout-out over the PA system during the morning announcements.
This let the kids know that their parents were involved and just reinforced that spirit of giving back.
My own kids came home and were so excited to share that I’d been called out during the morning announcements.
Their excitement caused me to be excited and I really appreciated the gesture.
Don’t do morning announcements?
Pivot to acknowledging volunteers in the school or PTO newsletter.
Or utilize school and PTO social media accounts to give the volunteers the recognition they’re due.
Following events, post pictures taken at the events and tag volunteers in the caption or give a general thank you to all who volunteered.
In addition to the other methods of recognition, volunteers can also be acknowledged and thanked during the next PTO meeting.
None of these options are that involved, so if you can make a regular habit out of it, volunteers will certainly appreciate it!
It also helps to remember that nothing PTO related really happens on its own; it’s all people-powered.
So it’s important to recognize the individual volunteers’ contributions.
Provide Resources
The last way to recognize the efforts of parent volunteers is to equip your volunteers with the resources they need to do their job.
I don’t know a better way to demonstrate your support for the parent volunteers and the PTO by making it easier for them to run their group.
A great system to check out is the Powered Up Parent Engagement System.
There are dozens of systems, processes available in the form of templates, tools, video trainings, and more. It operates similar to a “PTO in a box” where you just add the parent volunteers.
It has everything they need to effectively run a very efficient and well-organized parent group, and you can use it with all of the parent groups in your school.
So for Principals, you will end up with better parent engagement in your schools, and the parent volunteers will end up with everything they need to do their job.
So this will make it easier for volunteers stay on as PTO members and leaders since they’ll have support and on demand training available.
It’ll also make it easier to get new volunteers since they’ll know they are walking in to their volunteer roles with the tools and resources they need!
Resources You’ll Love
Transform your school’s parent engagement with the Powered Up Parent Engagement System.
This isn’t just a resource bank; it’s a comprehensive, all-in-one platform designed to elevate your PTO, Booster Club, and all parent groups.
Provide your volunteers with the exact tools and training they need, tailored to their specific roles.
Watch your parent groups thrive and your school community flourish.
Our Quick Appreciation Kit makes it so easy to show your appreciation! Print out as a mini card or post the graphics on social media as a quick volunteer thank you.
Over to You
Celebrating the volunteer efforts of the parents who run your school community’s PTO deserve all the thanks and appreciation.
Their tireless dedication to the students, staff and school make the community stronger and better in numerous ways.
Carving out time to thank them individually is something that can be done publicly or privately as long as it’s done regularly!
