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The school PTAs and PTOs serve an incredibly important mission. I wouldn't have had the same educational experiences without the after-school enrichment, field days, and field trips offered by my school's PTA. To make those events happen, the PTA needs members to share their ideas, volunteer, and become members first! That's why membership drives are so important. Here are a few ideas to ensure your membership drive is well-organized and effective.
Source (PTA and PTO Goals)
PTA Membership Starts with Goal Setting
Make sure you set a SMART goal.
SMART is an acronym for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-based. By implementing a SMART goal strategy, you are more likely to achieve your goals. A great way to implement this strategy for your membership is to create an annual target for a % of membership increase and then break that down by month, indicating how many new members you need each month.
Assign an accountable person
Assign a designated membership person. Making one person accountable for the goals empowers them to be creative, have fun, and hit those goals.
The Basics
Make the ask
Ask school families, and remind them that their extended families can and should also join. Reach out to any families that are new to the school. Ask to get on the school events, staff meetings, or other group events agenda.
Market the way
Develop a “Where the PTA Money Goes” flyer to highlight the spending of your PTA. People may join once they know how money is spent.
Say, thank you!
Send a thank you note to anyone who becomes a member. This includes people who have been members for years. Everyone appreciates a thank you.
Extending It One Step Further: Get the Community Involved
Don't stop at the school families and teachers. Make the ask of others in the community.
Write letters to the city council, other city officials, and school board members asking them to join.
Attend Rotary, Kiwanis, and other Club meetings in the area and ask their members to join.
Reach out to preschools who feed into your school and ask if you can advertise in their newsletter or place a membership flyer in their school.
Send letters to houses around the school with requests to support the local community by joining the PTA.
Ask all vendors to the school to become members.
Creative ideas to take it to the next level
Extend your asks even further.
Ask a celebrity. It can be a local celebrity, an alum, or a bigger celebrity that lives near you. Their endorsement can go a long way.
Ask PTA leaders from other schools to join your PTA.
Offer exclusive benefits
Host a PTA member-only event, such as a pancake breakfast, or offer PTA member-only seating at existing events, such as the spring sing.
Gift a Spirit Wear package to any members with a "PTA member" logo on it
But also make it inclusive
Offer membership subsidies for families who cannot afford the membership.
Run an “Each One, Reach One” campaign to encourage people to bring one new person to a PTA meeting.
Offer interpreters at meetings and flyers in different languages to encourage diverse membership.
Spice it up with a contest.
Have a membership contest with the class, with the newest members recruited winning a pizza party, magic show, or another fun event.
Conduct a phone tree race! Assign each PTA leader a grade. The first person to increase PTA membership within their grade level by 20% wins!
Distance Contest - The winner is the student who can recruit the member from the furthest away.
If you want to hear more about these ideas, join us on The Multipurpose Room episode that shares these tips. If you have some ideas of your own, share them with us!