Today, I’m going to talk to you a little bit about parent engagement and involvement and why you’re not quite getting enough parents involved in your PTO (Parent Teacher Organization) and what you can do to solve that pesky problem.
This is a super common topic in the Super Star PTO Leaders Facebook Group and for good reason too: It’s hard to attract and retain volunteers to help with PTO needs!
There always seems to be more work to do than helpers to do it.
The dedicated volunteers you do have are spread too thin and asked to pitch in more than is ideal, risking volunteer burnout.
And this is exhausting for the volunteers you do have, so time to flip the script and bring in some new helpers.
So let’s get to it!
How to Get More PTO Volunteers
What I’ve come to realize throughout my time as a parent leader in multiple PTOs is that there’s a very specific formula that we as parent group leaders all should be following to get more parents not only involved, but also engaged with our group!
And the thing is that it’s not that complicated but it really does take being very intentional and strategic in order to turn things around volunteer recruitment-wise.
A lot of people like acronyms because it makes it really easy to remember what you’re supposed to be doing or remembering, so I’ve come up with one to describe how to get more parents involved in your PTO long term as volunteers.
So, the acronym I came up with is the ACE method.
ACE stands for Attract, Communicate, and Engage, and those are really the three pillars of getting parents involved, and unless you’re using all three in like the correct way, chances are you’re not going to be successful at getting parents involved.
Attracting Parents to the PTO
Because if you’re not, for example for attracting parents, you have to be doing things to position your group to make it more likely than not that parents will come want to be involved and come to PTO meetings and events.
The events and meetings your PTO is hosting need to pique the interest of parents and motivate them to turn out.
Because if you don’t have events that families want to come to then, there’s like really no incentive for them to take the next step which is to get involved in your group.
They’re just going to be disregarding the PTO on like the whole because it’s just not valuable to them.
Communicating with Parents
The next pillar of the ACE method is to communicate, and you really have to have effective communication with parents not only about PTO events and meetings, but more generally too about the value of the PTO as it related to them, their child, the school and greater community.
Basic communication in the “Just the facts, ma’am” style is not nearly enough to get the job done here.
You absolutely must be saying more then the “the Magic Show id on March 23 in the school gym” in both style and substance.
There’s a specific way that you need to be telling families and also students about events, especially as the kids get older.
By the way, students of any age can be used as a method to get the communication through to their parents.
But the way you need to approach this opportunity changes at every age and stage.
Effective communication comes down to knowing what to say, but knowing when to say it and then also how to say it.
This alone is a huge stumbling block for many leaders because they’re unsure, about what to say or the right way to say it.
Engaging Parents
The final component in this ACE method is Engaged.
To get parents involved as volunteers in your PTO long term, you need to be engaging them.
Once you have attracted them to the group, you have to do the next step in order to get them to come back again and again.
And that involves either asking them to be involved or befriending them or there’s a whole bunch of other ways to get them involved as volunteers.
And that’s kind of the entire formula, all laid out for you.
How to Bring the ACE Method to Life to Get More PTO Volunteers
You might be thinking that you’re still not sure exactly how to make any of these three pillars come to life for you and your PTO.
That’s where the Membership Master Plan Guide comes into play!
The guide lays out the exact process for each of the components for the ACE method in detail, enabling you to quickly draw parents into your PTO’s volunteer world.
It’s the star of the Parent Involvement Success Kit, along with the other fabulous resources to help you attract, communicate and engage parents.
Your drive to make this happen, coupled with the strategies and ideas laid out in the Membership Master Plan is what it will take to bring in more dedicated and involved parents to your school parent group.
And know that none of this is rocket science and that you will be able to successfully use the tools and strategies to boost parent involvement, no matter your starting point.
What’s been outlined in this post is and running a successful group, is not unachievable, and it’s not something that just a few groups can master.
I believe every group can master it if they’re willing to put in the time, the effort.
Watch this!
Recommended Resources
Stop struggling to recruit PTO members.
Get results with the Parent Involvement Success Kit.
This comprehensive toolkit provides everything you need to attract, recruit, and engage families effectively.
Forget generic flyers; we’re talking customizable action plans, proven engagement strategies, and ready-to-use templates for welcome packets, back-to-school information, and new member orientation.
Streamline your membership drive, build a strong parent community, and make a real difference in your school.
Get organized, get results.
Over to you!
In sum, the ACE Method (Attract, Communicate and Engage) is the key to getting more parents involved as volunteers for your PTO long term.
Once you start implementing these principles into your volunteer recruitment routine, you’ll see your volunteer base grow and have more helpers at the ready to help bring your PTO programs and events to life!
Now it’s up to you whether you’re ready to take your PTO to the next level.
Happy volunteer recruiting!
