As a Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) or Parent Teacher Association (PTA) President, you’re able to juggle a lot of things at once.
You wouldn’t have taken on the role, otherwise!
And because you’re so smart, you know that you need to have on hand tools to make the job easier, including getting organized.
The question comes up is what are the right tools to have?
That’s exactly what’s being covered in this post!
This post will highlight ten PTO President binder forms that should be included in any school volunteer’s binder.
I’m breaking down the necessary forms into five different core focus areas all PTO Presidents should have: Planning, Meetings, Finance Management, Events and Big Picture Organization.
Planning
One of the keys to a successful term as PTO President and a healthy PTO is to set some goals individually and as a group collectively and then make a plan to reach those goals.
Of course there are some overarching goals all PTOs have, such as improving the school community or putting on events for students and families.
To effectively plan, you’ll need to drill down to figure out exactly how you’ll make improvements, what specifics events you’ll put on and when you’ll put them on.
And all of this requires honest conversations, intentional planning and time management skills.
The best jugglers have a plan for how they’ll handle everything.
And because you’re not just handling PTO stuff, you’ve got to work managing your family, home and work into the mix.
You need something to help you plan and organize your time, so a smart set of forms to include in your PTO President binder are worksheets that help you manage your time.
Weekly To Do List
Due to the variety of things PTO leaders manage in any given week, taking the week as a whole to map out time is the easiest way to stay on track and minimize feeling overwhelmed.
Enter the printable Weekly To Do List binder form.
This binder form helps you get more done each week by segmenting weekly activities into three distinct areas:
- To do
- Calls to Make
- Stuff to Buy
Use it for your personal tasks or for PTO tasks.
Better yet, combine every you gotta do into one comprehensive to do list!
Idea Tracking Forms
Another key to success in the PTO President’s role is getting long range planning done for your PTO.
The most healthy and organized PTOs aren’t just flying by the seat of their pants.
Instead of making up stuff as they go along, they have a plan. And they’re sticking to it!
Part of creating that plan is to keep track of all of the good ideas you come across.
And that’s where idea tracking forms come into play.
No longer will you lose track of good ideas for assemblies, fundraisers or anything else with idea tracking forms.
When teachers pass along an ideas for an assembly, enrichment program, or fundraiser, you’ll have a designated place to track all the information.
In fact, one of the most popular programs our elementary school PTA ever put on was brought to us by the PE teacher.
She’d come across a few really fresh and fun ideas at a conference and was so excited to share the possibilities, she literally stopped me in the hallway to discuss them!
Right after we met, I wrote all of the ideas down and then presented the options a the next general membership meeting for the PTO.
It was great to have the full list to reference and present for discussion.
We decided to add one of the programs into our plan for the year and it was huge success!
And the following year, I went back to the list to see what other programs we could implement.
It was so great to have an easy to reference list of options that I knew already had a base level of teachers and staff support for.
Without this list, my mommy brain surely would’ve forgotten all of the details.
Meetings
Every month, there’s the necessary work of holding general membership meetings or executive board meetings.
It’s hard to run the meeting and remember to take notes on everything you’ll need to remember for later, so using a template can come in really handy.
Meeting Notes
Good meeting notes help you remember things to do or follow up on after the meeting.
And a Meeting Notes form makes making note of the details easy since there are specific sections to note different items.
See how the different areas of action are all laid out?
Such a simple, but effective way to stay organized and easily take action as needed.
No more trying to decipher messy notes taken in the moment.
This form makes it clear to see what action steps are needed next.
Volunteer Sign Up Form
The next PTO President binder form you’ll want to have on hand at meetings is another simple one.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen a volunteer sign up sheet scribbled on the back of a paper pulled from the recycling bin.
Not that pretty paper matters, but honestly, which do you think looks better to potential volunteers?
Scrap paper with details that the volunteer coordinator needs or sign up sheet with all of the details clearly laid out?
Hands down the one with all the information volunteers need to know so they can decide if they are able to help out, right?
That’s why I recommend having this particular type of Volunteer Sign Up Form as pictured above.
Look at the space to note all of the event specifics…
When this sign up sheet gets passed around the room during the meeting, parents won’t interrupt to ask “When is this event again?”
All the details are spelled out on the sign up form itself!
Using this type of form makes it easy for volunteers to sign up.
The scrap piece of paper likely won’t have the same level of detail, making it less likely volunteer slots will be filled.
Finance Management
Another core responsibility for PTO Presidents is helping to oversee the finances of the PTO.
Of course the Treasurer is primarily responsible for managing the school parent group’s money, but the President is too.
School parent group Presidents should be a signer on the group’s bank accounts and have access to all banking information, including the account specifics.
It makes sense to include a few PTO President binder forms to help make this possible!
Account Information
This Account Information Tracking Form makes it easy to have all of the PTO’s bank account information readily accessible.
The new is to write all the bank account details down now to have it on hand when you need it.
That way when the Treasurer get sick and you have to run to the bank to withdraw cash for the concession stand, you’ll know that you have to get there before 5 when the bank closes!
Password Tracker
Similarly, it’s a pain to get locked out of PTO accounts because you’ve forgotten the password!
Make note of all the services your PTO uses in one place, on an Password Information Form:
- Bank account
- Email service
- Google Drive
- Evite
- Social Media accounts
- Payment processor (Paypal, Cheddar Up, Square, etc.)
- Vendors (Amazon, Vistaprint, etc.)
Having everything in one place is important for a few reasons:
1. No more wasting time resetting passwords you’ve forgotten.
2. Avoid having to set up new accounts because you’ve been locked out of the current ones.
3. Makes it easy to see what services your PTO has an account with.
Too much information gets lost during officer transition time if it’s not written down.
Take for example, my PTA’s experience one year.
We’d decided to start accepting credit cards for payments for everything from membership to fundraising and events.
The Treasurer signed up with a company, only to find out later that a former Treasurer three terms ago had already signed up for the same service! Oy!
Double accounts with slightly different sign in credentials was confusing and caused a delay in getting everything set up properly.
Everything was a mess for a while until she got things straightened out.
If the service had been noted on the Password Information form, there would’ve been none of this hassle!
Events
Next on the plate for essential PTO Presidents binder forms is related to event planning.
Event Tool Kit Checklist
Using forms to create an organized system for planning and running events was a game changer for me and my PTA.
I was President of a lower elementary school and we were a really active PTA.
We had a family fun event at least once a month.
There was always something to do.
And before each event, I would make a list of everything I needed to pull together.
But sometimes I would forget something.
Then I’d have to call my husband to ask him to bring a pair of scissors, packing tape or some other essential that I’d forgotten.
It was annoying to make the list each time, but even more annoying to forget things!
Enter the master Event Tool Kit List.
Instead of having to recreate a supply list each time, I put together a master list.
Then I laminated it and used a dry erase marker for a perpetual event supply reference list.
This massively cut down on the worries about forgetting something since I had a checklist to follow.
The list eventually evolved into the creation of an event kit that stayed stocked with frequently used supplies and necessities.
Event Budget Planner
Staying on budget is another job for all PTO Presidents and leaders.
Why wing it when you can track the details?
I love to have a firm handle on events I’m planning because it helps me see the big picture and get a feel for the details that help bring the event to life.
So the event budget planning form has been super helpful to me over the years I’ve served as PTO president!
Event Planner + Summary
Last in the event planning area, set yourself up for success by taking time to write down all the details that went into planning your events for the year.
And this is for the benefit of not only for future Presidents, but also you too!
Because when next year rolls around, you might not remember how many cookies you ended up getting for the back to school table at meet the teacher night.
Or the name of the really good DJ you used for the special person’s dance could slip your mind!
But that’s only if you don’t have an Event Summary Form to help guide you.
This PTO President’s binder form acts like a planning cheat sheet.
There’s space to note all the little details that made the event work.
So you don’t have to waste time recreating the wheel or wracking your brain for the details!
Big Picture Organization
Last, let’s talk about the big picture of what’s going on in your PTO because this is function of being PTO President.
PTOs who have their stuff together and are a healthy, well functioning group have one thing in common.
The have a good handle on the big picture and track information that’ll help them improve year over year.
Groups that aren’t as successful don’t.
Here are a couple of forms that are essential for big picture organization to include in your PTO President binder:
Leader Contact Information Form
Keeping all the people who are involved with your school’s PTO straight is a task in and of itself!
Not only are there the many parent (or guardian) volunteers, there’s also the Teacher Liaison, Teacher’s Union representative, Principal, district communications coordinator and all of the other PTO leaders throughout your school district.
You’ll want to have contact information for all of these individuals, as well as anyone else involved all compiled in one place.
And there’s nothing worse than needing to reach out to someone in your PTO and not having their contact information.
Eliminate the hassle with this contact information form.
You can fill it out yourself and then pass it around at the next PTO meeting for corrections.
Or you can pass the empty sheet around and ask for people to fill it in themselves.
Either way, make sure this gets done so you’ll have everyone’s contact information when you need it.
Board and Committee Summary Forms
You have other parents who’ve stepped up to volunteer or lead the PTO, and they’ve been working hard all year long.
They’ve developed programs and put new processes into place. And all of those details are impossible to remember.
That’s why you have to get them to write them down!
They have to carve out time to document when they did.
That’s how successful school parent group officer transitions begin: with the literal pass off of information.
And since the information is written down, incoming volunteers will have a resource to refer to as they progress in their term.
What’s more, PTOs who have their stuff together and are a healthy, well functioning group have one thing in common.
The have a good handle on the big picture and track information that’ll help them improve year over year.
Groups that aren’t as successful don’t take the time to evaluate programs and events.
Keep your PTO on track by not only filling out a Board Summary form yourself, but insist that each Board and Committee chair do this as well.
What to Do with the PTO President Binder Forms
Now that you have the forms and templates, how to best organize them so you can actually use them?
You’ve probably guessed the answer–compile them all into your PTO President’s Planner!
Printing out these handy forms and adding them to a system like an organized binder will make it super easy for you tactually use the forms throughout your term.
Because what’s the point of having the forms if you don’t actually use them to make your school volunteer job easier?
Done for you Forms and Planner Set Up
If you’re looking for a done for you planner system with all of the forms highlighted in this post and loads more, then you’ll want to check out the President’s Success Kit!
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.Â
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!
Watch this!
Give this video a watch for a rundown of the top forms every school parent group needs to be using:
Over to you!
So now you have a clearer idea of ten PTO President binder forms to start using today.
The forms sneakily add in systems to help you stay on track as the leader of your school parent group and improve the entire group’s organization at the same time!
You’ll see a difference once you start using any of the forms and it’ll make your job easier.
