5 Super Smart PTO President Organization Tips

As a Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) President, you know that this is a role that many are hesitant to take on because of how large the role is.

One of the best strategies to easing the role’s burden is to get organized.

I’d even argue that taking the time to organize the records, documents, and resources your PTO has is one of the very best ways to have a successful term.

This post is chock full of PTO President organization tips because organization is something so many people struggle with.

But the truth is that there are some very basic ways to get organized as a PTO President, and this posts highlights a handful of them.

Let’s get to it!

Why Getting Organized Will Pay Off

Before we get to the specific PTO President organization tips, let’s talk first about why getting organized is so important.

Like anything new in life, it’ll take some time to learn the role and responsibilities of PTO Presidents.

One way to cut the learning curve down is to be familiar with the information and resources available to you.

This could be going through the binder passed down to you from the outgoing leader during your officer transition meeting.

Or it could be reviewing the files in the PTO’s Google Drive.

When you know what information and tools you already have, then you’ll be able to see what others have done before.

This increases the likelihood that you won’t be wasting time on creating from scratch when you could just be editing an existing file.

And when you level up from merely reviewing that information to organizing it, then you’ll feel both more knowledgeable about how your PTO works, what your role in the group is, as well as confident and in control, generally.

Organization Tip #1: Set Up a PTO Bag

The first way to get organized as PTO President is to set up a tote bag for your PTO work.

Establishing a central spot for all of your PTO work to live is instrumental in keeping track of it all.

The idea behind using a PTO tote bag as a President is that you keep all of your papers and supplies needed for meetings in one spot.

This way, you won’t be scrambling to get out the door come meeting night and you’ll always know where everything is.

Here’s more on the process of what to put in the PTO tote bag and with some suggested bag styles.

Organization Tip #2: Get Support

The next way to infuse some organization into your life as a PTO President is to line up people to support you.

Being PTO President is a large undertaking, whether you realize it yet or not!

As President, you’re now in charge of not just attending the monthly meetings, but facilitating them and keeping the meetings on track.

You’ll be called upon to attend new student and family orientations and a host of other event obligations by virtue of your position and role in the school parent group.

And people are coming to you with a bunch of questions and also looking to you for guidance on what to do when various situations pop up (for example, how to respond to the Athletics Boosters request to run a competing concessions stand during home football games).

All of these new responsibilities mean a draw upon your time, even more so than with other PTO positions.

And since cloning people isn’t a thing yet, you need to line up some support to help you!

This could mean having a friend on speed dial so that you have someone to vent to, problem solve with or help you process difficult conversations.

In addition to the IRL support system you can expand your network by connecting with likeminded PTO volunteers in the virtual world too.

Enter the Super Star PTO Leaders Facebook Group, my free community of over 8,000 members!

The group is a fantastic place to get the support you need and you can ask questions, see what other leaders are doing and how they’re handling various situations, all without drama or judgment.

Don’t hesitate to join today.

Organization Tip #3: Get Your Digital Life in Order

As more of us are moving our files online, our digital life is becoming just as disorganized as our papers in real life.

But having disorganized and cluttered digital files is counterproductive, not to mention how frustrating it can be too.

So spend some time organizing your PTO’s digital files.

This is a great project to enlist the help of other PTO volunteers for, specifically the PTO Secretary!

Organization Tip #4: Set Up a President Planner

The fact is that almost no one comes into the PTO President role perfectly prepared for the position.

And that’s because PTOs are more complex than anyone really gives them credit for.

So be sure to equip yourself with tools that you need to get the job done right.

Getting a binder set up to use yourself as well as pass on to the next President, is one of the cornerstones of being organized as President.

There’s just something about having the information right in front of you without having to hunt it down that is simply priceless!

Even if you don’t use a paper planner in other areas of your life, you will enjoy having a PTO President planner because it’ll centralize so much of what you need in your role.

When I first started as PTO President, the outgoing President gave me a thick 3 ring binder that had a ton of information.

It certainly had a lot of information, but not everything I actually needed to do my job.

And I was always looking for what was missing.

I was finding that I was needing to have physical copies of certain things, like my PTO’s Bylaws and Standing Rules, and copies of the meeting child care sign in and volunteer sign up forms.

Loose papers were getting misplaced until I took the time to go through and set up more of the structure (section dividers!), the binder wasn’t very helpful.

But once I took the hour or so to get it set up into an actual system with all the sections and information I needed, I was ready to roll.

And I found that I was spending a lot less time on administrative tasks, cutting down on the hours and hours of time I was spending on PTO tasks each week.

The bottom line is that if you don’t already have a binder or planner or any kind set up tailored to your President role, set one up asap.

The President’s Success Kit has a gorgeous rainbow stripe planner that has everything you’ll need for not only the structure of the binder, but loads of forms and templates that act as a President’s plan of work.

Already have a President’s Binder?

If you have a binder, then take some time to analyze if it’s actually working for you.

Are you finding that it has what you need and you can quickly locate what you’re looking for?

If you seem to always be looking for things that aren’t in your binder, then this a sign that it’s not working well and you need to add some structure.

This post has more details on how to organize a PTO binder, so compare your current set up to the recommendations outlined here.

Organization Tip #5: Set Up Binders for Other PTO Volunteers

The last organizing tip for PTO Presidents is to help others in your group get organized too by setting up a PTO binder for every elected officer and appointed committee chair.

Not all volunteers have the skills to do it for themselves, so if you’re so inclined, you can help them out by compiling role-specific information for them in a physical binder.

I know not everyone uses physical binders, as they’ve successfully migrated their lives to be 100% digital, but this isn’t the case for the vast majority of people (yet).

Being able to put a resource in every leaders’ hot little hands means that as President, you know they have the resources.

So when they have questions, you don’t have to hunt down the information for them or share the google drive link with for the 19th time–you can remind them to check their binder.

This saves you time and empowers them to find the resources they need themselves. Huzzah!

Resources for all Officers

Skip the hassle of figuring out what information to compile for each officer and committee chair in your group by getting this done for you solution:

The Organized Leader Bundle: All you’re missing is the right set of tools to be an effective, confident and knowledgable leader! Picture your entire board:

… Knowing exactly what to do … Having plug and play strategies and systems to get every aspect of your PTO organized … Working as an organized team, reaching all your goals and then some! This bundle combines essential officer success and binder kits, customized for each role:

• President’s Success Kit (Planner + Agenda Template + President’s Insider’s Guide)
• Treasurer’s Success Kit (Planner + Editable templates + Treasurer’s Insider’s Guide)
• Secretary’s Success Kit (Planner + Newsletter template, Calendar Template + more)
• Fundraising Success Kit (Planner + Strategy Guide + A-thon Kit + Fundraising Insider’s Guide)
• Parent Involvement Success Kit (Planner + Strategy Guide + Video Training + Editable Templates + Membership Insider’s Guide)
• Family Events Binder Kit (Planner)
• Historian’s Binder Kit (Planner)
• Staff Appreciation Binder Kit (Planner)
• Vice President’s Binder Kit (Planner)

Purchasing the bundle saves 20% over buying the kits separately.

Get the kit here!

The bundle reduces the frustration of not knowing what you don’t know and replaces the uncertainty with straightforward guidance and best practices so your group can focus on making your school fantastic and not waste time figuring out what to do first.

Watch this!

This video covers some of the ways to get organized as President outlined here in deeper detail, so give it a watch is you’re ready for even more PTO President organization tips!

Resources You’ll Love

Picture this: you, the PTO/PTA President, taking charge like a boss, armed with a treasure trove of resources that will make everyone else wondering exactly how you manage it.

Your secret weapon? The President’s Success Kit!

This isn’t a bunch of busywork templates that look really pretty, but don’t actually amount to anything.

This kit is a collection of game-changing, mind-blowing arsenal of systems, tools, and templates designed to make your life easier and turn your dreams of doing fantastic things for your school community into reality. 

The President’s Success Kit is jam-packed with bite-sized nuggets of guidance that will empower you to lead with confidence.

Get your copy today!

Over to you!

Taking the time to get organized as a PTO President will save you oodles of time both in the short and long term.

Each of the organizing tips for Presidents outlined in this post will help save frustration and overwhelm too, so it’s a wise investment of time to make happen!