Congratulations on your new position as Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) or Parent Teacher Association (PTA) President Elect!
It can be downright overwhelming when you’re new to the role and you’re probably not quite sure what the President elect responsibilities are for your PTO.
Heck, even if you’ve been President before and you’re coming in fresh with another PTO at a different school, that too can be a little much to handle.
But I’m here to share some wisdom and advice on what to do as PTO President elect with you to hopefully make it all better!
Let’s dive into how to prepare as incoming PTO President, with a review of your responsibilities and expectations.
First, Congratulate Yourself!
Really! Give yourself some mad props for being willing to step up as President elect into such a time intensive volunteer leadership position.
I wish more parents would realize that they’re the perfect person to lead their PTOs.
Then maybe election season wouldn’t be so rough for some schools, with all the wondering about who they can convince to be President.
But back to you.
Agreeing to be President, with all it entails, is no small job.
So yay to you for stepping up!
Take some time to enjoy the fact that you’re one a select few who by serving in this role misgiving an enormous part of themselves for the betterment of their school community.
Expect to learn
After you’re done patting yourself on the back being awesome (btw, you totally are!), it’s time to get to work, so let’s talk about some of the PTO President elect responsibilities.
During the transition time (starting with your election and continuing until the end of the outgoing officer’s term) the most important work of a President elect is being ready to learn.
Even if you’ve been involved as a volunteer for a long time, expect there to be quite a few things you didn’t know.
You’re not going to know everything right off the bat!
It doesn’t really matter how long you’ve been around or involved with your PTO, there will still be things that you don’t know.
And that’s ok!
And if you’re kinda brand new to your PTO, then expect the learning curve to be steep.
Don’t think that you’re going to go your entire term without something coming up that you’ll need some help figuring out.
And that’s the beauty of the PTO world.
We’re all in this together.
Plus, none of this is impossible to figure out.
It takes time and there’s certainly a learning curve, but with time and experience, you’ll grow into the role.
You can best prepare as the incoming PTO President by taking every opportunity to learn how to run the group.
This includes:
- How to Run Meetings
- How to Prepare a Planning Calendar
- How to Manage Difficult People
- and so many other things!
This post has links to pretty much all there is to know about how to be a good PTO President, so carve out some time to read the posts it links to.
Look for Opportunities
Now, aside from the resources on this site, where can you find people to answer questions and get feedback from?
Look for opportunities from outgoing officers, building admin and teacher liaisons.
Each provide a different angle on your role as President and the PTO’s functioning in the school.
Pick brains and be open to feedback and suggestions.
Don’t take things personally.
Everyone is looking to help you succeed and any constructive criticism you get should be looked at from that perspective, not as a sign that you’re not cut out for this important PTO leadership role.
Another opportunity to learn about running PTOs is in our free community, the Super Star PTO Leaders Facebook Group.
If you’re not a member, go ahead and request to join today.
You’ll find over 8,000 likeminded volunteers waiting to fill in the knowledge gaps, support you when you need it most and celebrate your successes!
Assess Your Team
Are there missing team members / vacant offices that should be filled?
Start by comparing the leadership positions of your group against this list of recommended PTO volunteer leadership roles.
Have gaps?
Work to fill those positions with volunteers.
Prioritize the experience and high interest level of volunteers over quickly filling the slot with the first person who expresses some level of interest.
If at all possible, fill those positions before school starts, during summer break.
Plan Everything
Next, get the officers and committee chairs together for a planning meeting.
Ideally, this meeting should happen during summer break.
The back to school time s super busy, so if you can make the planning meeting happen before the start of the new school year, that’ll be best.
If that can’t happen, then get together before the first regular PTO meeting of the year.
What I really mean by plan everything is not for you personally to plan everything.
Instead, follow up with your respective officers and committee chairs who are assigned to your events and programs and assure they’re on track.
Work together to develop a game plan.
For events assigned to the President to chair, delegate early and often!
Figure out the Big Picture
The next aspect to prepare as incoming PTO President is to get a handle on how your PTO operates as an organization on the big picture level.
Start by reading your group’s Bylaws and Standing Rules.
Everything should be explained in those two documents.
Don’t forget to look at nitty gritty details as well.
Don’t just skim the documents, really take time to read them thoroughly and ask the outgoing President questions about anything you need clarified.
Consider printing out a copy so you can make notes in the margins.
When you have an understanding of the finer details outlined in your governing documents, you’ll be able to anticipate needs and changes.
If you identify some gaps in the procedures outlined in the bylaws and standing rules, consider updating your PTO’s governing documents.
Get organized personally
Next, it’s time to get organized, personally as the incoming PTO President.
The more organized you are, the better!
Being organized makes everything so much easier and leaves you with more time to work.
As soon as you get your PTO president’s binder from the outgoing President, look through it to familiar yourself with the available resources.
Hold off on decluttering it for now until you know a bit more about your role and the PTO more generally.
You don’t want to toss something now that you end up needing later.
If the binder is truly unruly, considering setting up a new president’s planner system with just the materials you know you need and then use the old binder as a reference.
Incorporate some of the information included in the binder given to you by the outgoing leader into your new planner as you need it.
Get your Entire PTO Organized
Finally, the last step for preparing as the incoming PTO President is to set the rest of your PTO up for success too.
One of the fastest ways to get everyone up to speed is to equip your volunteers and leaders with the tools they need for their position.
That way, they’ll hit the ground running and be able to spend time on doing their job rather than wasting time trying to figure things out!
Recommended resource
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!
Want More Advice for How to Prepare as the Incoming PTO President? Watch this:
Over to you
As the incoming President for your school parent group, use the transition time between your election until you’re installed as President to prepare for the role by:
- Celebrating (yes, really!)
- Being open to learning
- Mapping out the upcoming PTO year of activities, events and fundraisers
- Reviewing your PTO’s bylaws and standing rules
- Assessing the PTO team
- Personally getting organized
- Helping your PTO get organized
When you fulfill all of these expectations as President elect, you’re really going to be well prepared to take on the new PTO leadership role once it’s time for you to take the reigns.
