Welcome to another month of tasks and to do list items for Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) and Parent Teacher Association (PTA) school parent groups!
October brings a change of seasons and a slew of to do items and tasks for PTO school parent group leaders and volunteers to handle to stay on track for the year.
Each school parent group officer has a unique set of action items to handle this month, but the collective work means progress for the entire PTO as the school year continues.
Let’s dive into the October PTO leader tasks to pay attention to and taken care of this month.
President
As President of your school parent group, you should be checking in with all members of the team in October.
This includes your executive board, committee chairs and other volunteers who may not have an official role or title, but have stepped up to help with a specific program or event.
It’s crucial to know what’s going on in your group and to let them know you’re available to help with any advice or support they might need.
You don’t want to let a problem fester because someone is unsure of what to do and is putting it off trying to figure it out.
A common reason for people who seem to be “slacking” or not getting things done—it’s often because they’re embarrassed to ask for help or don’t know how.
By proactively checking in with the leaders and volunteers, you’re opening the door for them to ask for the help they need.
If life has changed for them and they’re no longer able to fulfill their volunteer commitment, it’s better to know sooner or later.
Maybe they just need a little help to finish the job.
Or maybe another volunteers needs to come in and take over for them because the original volunteer just doesn’t have the time or space in their life to make it happen.
Don’t skip this step and be sure to check in with the officers and committee chairs regularly, especially when they have a program, evenest or deadline coming up.
Check in With the Principal
Likewise, check in with the your Principal.
Follow up about any outstanding issues and talk through what’s on tap for the coming months.
Make sure both of you are on the same page and resolve issues as they come up (don’t put off having a difficult conversation now- it’ll likely only get worse if it goes unaddressed).
Fill Open Positions
Another key task for Presidents in October is to continue filling any open positions that your group has, whether elected or appointed volunteer positions.
Having volunteers in all roles this takes the burden off your shoulders.
A quick reminder that if there are programs or events your PTO wants to continue but no one to run them, it’s not your job as President to do all the things.
Your role is to delegate and be the conductor of the PTO, ensuring everyone is working together in sync.
Your job is not to be the primary decision-maker, planner, or doer.
Keeping this in mind will help prevent overwhelm and burn out, which both happen too often with PTO leaders.
Resources for Presidents
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.
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Membership Chairs
Even if your school year started in August and you’ve already held your annual membership drive utilizing a membership table, you’re not done yet as the Membership Chair for your PTO.
Continue to be on the lookout for ways to get more parents involved.
Having more members will only benefit your PTO in the long run.
Strengthen Communication
Develop a system to collect contact information and make the outreach yourself!
Getting contact information for parents allows you to let them know about opportunities to participate and support the PTO.
Most people want to help in some way, whether it’s volunteering or writing a check.
You just need to give them the chance to get involved, and that means asking more than once.
If you don’t control your contact list, how will you reach people?
Relying on flyers or carline sandwich boards isn’t ideal or effective.
I’ve long advocated for starting your PTO’s email list.
I’m an even more staunch advocate for collecting contact information for parents because of what happened with my own PTO.
To make a long story short, we were relying on emails from the school to reach parents.
But for over a year, the school’s emails were heading right into parents’ SPAM folders.
Few parents were actually seeing messages about PTO meetings, fundraisers, events and student volunteer opportunities.
Our involvement levels dropped, making it much harder to get things done.
We had fewer volunteers, lower membership numbers, and less support for fundraisers.
Don’t let this be you.
Coordinate with the Secretary to firm up your communications plan.
This is a great project for the two of you to tag team to boost and strengthen communication with your school community.
Include New Families
As the Membership Chair, you should also check in with the school secretary to reach out to new families who have transferred in since the school year started.
If your school has a lot of new families coming and going, this is a great opportunity to get them hooked into your support network and welcome them into the school community.
Resources for Membership and Parent Involvement Chairs
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Fundraising Chairs
October tasks for the Fundraising Chair depends on whether you’ve completed your fall fundraiser.
f you have, review the numbers to see whether or not you met your fundraising income goal.
If you exceeded it, congratulations!
You can decide how to spend the extra money or roll it over to next year.
If you didn’t meet your goal, you’ll need to start planning another fundraiser to fill in the gap.
The amount you need to raise will determine the type of fundraiser to try next.
A small goal might mean a restaurant night, while a larger goal could require a catalog fundraiser or an event to bring in a larger haul of money for your PTO and school.
If you haven’t held your fall fundraiser yet, you should be finalizing your plans and solidifying your publicity strategy.
Make sure you’re letting people know about the fundraiser in many different ways and at different times.
Be clear about why it’s important and what the money will be used for.
Parents are busy and often don’t realize that your efforts fund many of the fun school events. You have to spell it out for them.
After choosing a fundraiser, a strong publicity plan is the most important next step for effective fundraising.
Resources for Fundraising Chairs
Ready to dive more into the work of PTO and school fundraising, but wish you could have a plan of action ready at your fingertips?
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Family Event Chairs
Family Event Chairs will benefit from having a group of volunteers ready to help you pull off your fabulous plans.
Continue recruiting parents to act as volunteers.
You absolutely do not want to run everything yourself; that’s a surefire way to get burnt out and not enjoy the events.
I have a friend whose kids told her they wished she wasn’t volunteering so much so she could just be “mom” more often.
Be mindful of this and try to strike a balance so you can also enjoy the events with your own children.
Working out a PTO Life balance is hard, but doable.
Resources for Family Events Chairs
Staff Appreciation Chairs
Look for ways to show your staff appreciation throughout the year. It doesn’t have to be a major event or expensive. A simple handwritten note can be a wonderful, uplifting treat for teachers, letting them know someone is thinking of them. The start of the school year is hectic, so any little bit of appreciation you can add to their day, week, or month is a great thing.
Room Parents
October is one of the Class Room Parent’s first chances to shine with a class party for Halloween or a fall festival.
Be sure to finalize your plans for the party, including connecting with the teacher, and sign up volunteers for both donations and in-class help.
Give everyone a chance to participate, whether by coming in to help with the party or by sending in decorations or supplies.
Not everyone is able to take off of work to help in person, but still want the chance to feel included and contribute to the class celebration.
Resources for Room Parents
Unlock Effortless Classroom Community with the Room Parent Success Kit.
Whether you’re building a program from the ground up or looking to organize and streamline your existing efforts, this kit is your essential resource.
Our comprehensive manual guides you through every step of establishing a thriving Room Parent program, while our ready-to-use templates and forms simplify party planning, volunteer coordination, and donation management.
Plus, discover simple strategies to transform classroom volunteers into powerful advocates for your PTO or PTA.
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Treasurers
If you haven’t already, you should set up a binder system to stay organized in your role as Treasurer.
The easiest way to prepare for the annual audit is to keep up with it as you go.
Whether you use a done-for-you binder system or your own method, get it set up early.
This way, you can just slot in receipts as you get them, and you won’t be left with a giant shoebox of receipts at the end of the year.
Be sure to regularly update your PTO’s money management system so that monthly Treasurer reports are quick and painless to prepare.
You’ll feel like a rock star!
Resources for Treasurers
As a PTO/PTA or Booster Club Treasurer, you’ve got enough on your plate and don’t need another full time job.
Stop spending precious volunteer hours battling confusing spreadsheets and struggling to make sense of your group’s finances.
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Watch This
Prefer to watch or listen to what to do items and tasks to handle in October as a PTO/PTA leader?
Check out this video for a complete run down of officer to dos for the month:
Over To You
That about wraps up what school parent group volunteers, whether PTO or PTA leaders, should be paying attention to and taking care of in October.
If you enjoyed this post, you’ll also love to see recommendations for what PTO leaders should handle for the other months of the year so you can anticipate what’s coming up next.
Some months’ tasks build on each other, so looking at the bigger picture of what PTOs do for an entire year can be really helpful and ensure you don’t overlook an important aspect of running your school parent group.
Even More Resources You’ll Love
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)
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- 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)
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