Welcome to Summer! Thank you for stepping up to lead your local unit. Hopefully you have taken the time to register for our upcoming Summer Leadership Conference being held on July 26, 2008. This training will give you an opportunity to learn valuable information to assist you in the coming year, meet the leadership team of Maryland PTA and meet other leaders from around the state.
While attending the conference, come join us for lunch as we kick off our membership theme “Let’s Get Growing”. Membership is vital for all of us and as leaders it is our responsibility to provide information to our parents on the importance of being a member of PTA. There are different levels of membership:
Level 1- This member may not be able to volunteer in school but is willing to support the PTA as a member and in attending the programs that your PTA will offer this year. These members are also willing to do activities from home such as:
- Collate materials for events
- Assist with the newsletter or website
- Participate in fundraisers
- Develop flyers to send home to members about events
Level 2- These parents may be available to volunteer a few times a year in school.They will assist with at least one PTA program. They will participate in the programs and fundraising programs.
Level 3- This member is more likely to be an active volunteer in the school. They are more willing to chair a committee for the PTA and assist in developing and implementing PTA programs.
All of these members are valuable and we need to actively encourage them to join the PTA. Maryland PTA is challenging each PTA unit this year to increase their membership by 5 members over last year’s membership. If all of our units in Maryland bring in 5 new members, we will increase our membership by over 4,000 new members through out Maryland. Currently we have over 210,000 PTA members through out Maryland.
Consider developing a Benefits of Our PTA letter. This will let those who may not be familiar with PTA know what your PTA is planning for the year. Don’t forget to go online to www.pta.org as well as to review the material received in your Back To School Kits which should arrive in mid August. You will find a wealth of material as you build your membership campaign.
Ideas for Membership Campaign
This year, our theme is “Let’s Get Growing”. In your conference bag is a packet of seeds. There is a wide variety of seed packets: flowers, vegetables, herbs and fruits. This demonstrates the diversity of PTA. Please feel free to use this theme or create one of your own.
To help create your own gardens consider the following:
- Design a garden on a hallway wall. As members join, add a flower, vegetable, herb or fruit with their name on it.
- Have a bare tree and the members become the leaves to fill the tree out
- Use paper cut outs of people and line them down the wall of the school so that the members “surround” the school
- Build a PTA house. As members join, add a brick with their name to the PTA house.
While most of us have big membership drives during September, remember that membership is year round. Make sure that you have a membership table at every PTA event. You may want to consider giving a discount to events for PTA members.
Develop a plan that your board adopts and make membership everyone’s business.
When I consider the many benefits of PTA, the one that stands out as being the most beneficial to me is the personal contact that you have with PTA. The leadership team of Maryland PTA is here to assist you. Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or concerns.
Once again THANK YOU! We look forward to working with you.
Debbie Ritchie
President 2007-2009
Maryland PTA
president@mdpta.org
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The Bylaws Template can be found in the
Members Only Section of this site. |
2008 Regional Trainings |
August 9, 2008 9-4 pm
Montgomery County - click for link
September 27, 2008 9-4 pm
Calvert County - click for link
October 4, 2008 8-4 pm
Kent County - click for link
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2008 Summer Leadership Conference
July 26 - Anne Arundel Community College
2008 All Day Treasurer's Workshop
August 23 - Maryland PTA Office |
What's the difference between “PTA” and “PTO Today”?
One common question PTA leaders are asked is, “What’s the difference between PTA and PTO Today?” Below is a list of replies you can give. Item 1 is the most important, so use that if you only have a little time. Use more when speaking or making presentations to interested non-PTA parent or community groups.
1. In a nutshell, PTO Today, which appears to position itself as a national affiliation organization, is a for-profit business that sells information through a magazine and a Web site. Whether or not they pay PTO Today a single dime, non-PTA parent groups are not part of a larger organization.
2. Most state PTAs (though not all) offer automatic not-for-profit and tax exemption to their local units. PTO Today cannot do this. All non-PTA parent groups must apply for this status themselves if they want the benefits of not-for-profit status. The current fee for filing for not-for-profit status with the IRS is $750.
3. The money that goes to PTA is not money taken away from schools. It is put back into the organization to provide services and resources to members so that they can be more effective at helping their children and schools. PTO Today is a privately owned company with $2.6 million in revenue in 2004 (Boston Business Journal, April 18, 2005). Its owner benefits from the profits from the services his company provides.
4. State PTAs are made up of trained and passionate volunteers who have led local units. They provide personal support to local units and assist with legislative issues, training, tax changes, and many other items that specifically affect PTAs. PTO Today does not have people in the field and provides no such support.
5. PTA is an extremely well-recognized organization that has worked to make significant, positive changes for all children, including school breakfast and lunch programs, nationwide polio vaccinations, and most recently, parent involvement standards in the federal act known as No Child Left Behind. PTO Today isn’t and hasn’t.
6. The portion of dues local PTAs send to state and national PTA is low (only $1.75 to national and a few dollars to state), but the return on investment is very high. PTO Today claims to be cheap—but you get what you pay for. (See number 7 below.)
7. PTA’s growing list of resources currently includes 18 comprehensive campaigns and programs; 5 national award recognitions; 1 annual convention (and 1 state convention in each state), dozens of print publications, including Our Children magazine; a resource-filled Web site; 8 national print and e-newsletters, as well as state newsletters and Web sites; 10 e-learning courses; live workshops; and member discounts at popular retailers. PTO Today offerings are much more limited and narrower in scope.
8. PTA welcomes and works with all people interested in children and education, as well as a wide variety of national, not-for-profit groups and non-PTA parent groups to ensure that each child has a good start in life. PTO Today has no such reach.
9. PTA’s loss of membership—touted by PTO Today as proof PTA doesn't work—reflects losses across the entire not-for-profit world, as the pace of life and time for volunteering for any organization has decreased for everyone. PTA is nearly 6 million members strong—still a formidable advocate working successfully for children, families, and education.
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Three for Me
is a parent volunteer program. Participation opens school doors to parents and helps create a family-friendly school environment.
Go to www.three4me.com
to learn how to start and sustain a program in your school.
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