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Membership

Membership ideas to inspire from the winning entries for My PTA/PTSA Awards

TOOT YOUR HORN:

Kick start a membership campaign with a newsletter or e-newsletter on the school website describing all the programs the PTA provides for children. Several months later, send out a “So you haven’t joined PTA yet” newsletter to encourage those parents to participate as well.

2008
STAR CAMPAIGN: Flory Academy of Science and Technology, the year it became a K-5 school.

Theme: “It’s Showtime! And You’re the STARS of the Show!”

Supporting roles:

  • Asked how parents would “star” in their child’s education.
  • Gave each classroom a stage-door poster for their door, marked with a star for each child that returned a membership envelope.
Reviews: Increased membership by more than 100 percent of the school enrollment.

2008
‘MOAT’ CAMPAIGN: Moorpark Council

Theme: MOAT – Member of All Ten – to encourage the community to join all nine units and become an “Honorary” member of the Council.

  • “Cross the MOAT” fliers sent to community members, school board meetings and left in different locations around town.A display in the lobby of the school district building showed the people who “crossed the MOAT,” using a sand castle model with names of MOAT members on pennants flying from the turrets. Success: Every elected school board member joined and all but one superintendent, all assistant superintendents, and one community partner.

2007
WHAT IN THE WORLD? Mint Canyon Elementary School PTA, Santa Clarita Valley Council

Theme: “Reach Across the World,” inspired by a 6th grade social studies project.

  • World famous landmarks were used as a goal to reach membership participation benchmarks.A huge world map was marked as each room reached its participation goal.Incentives included globe key chains and a mystery field trip for the class with highest participation.There was a contest to see which class could bring in a member from farthest away – as far away as Russia.

2007
WEB-WORKED: San Ramon Valley PTA Council

Marketing tool: Improved website.

  • Promoted everything from unit events to districtwide and councilwide activities.Online, real-time resource.

Success: Site generated additional memberships as a result of being such an important tool for parents and community.

2007
TRAINING WHEELS: Corona-Norco PTA Council

Theme: Council training “whenever and wherever needed.”

  • Fostering a positive PTA image throughout a growing community.Council support and assistance for creating a membership theme and creative ways to encourage membership year-round. Ready support for membership campaign basics such as planning a budget, funding, and assembly set-up.
  • The council Honor Roll program recognized units monthly for meeting membership goals, as well as meeting attendance, submitting paperwork and money on time, and participating in council events.

2006
COMMUNITY CAMPAIGN: Santa Clarita Valley Council PTA

Theme: Raising PTA’s profile communitywide.

  • September was declared “PTA Membership Month” in Santa Clarita.The council trained unit membership chairs in both spring and summer.The council approached the City Council, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, and a local newspaper and radio station to publicize PTA’s importance to the community.

Success: Membership equal to total school enrollment and an elevated profile for PTA in the community.

2005
CLEARING HURDLES: Sundance Elementary PTA, Palomar Council

Theme: “Don’t Delay—Join PTA.”

  • Campaign addressed long-standing barriers to membership, including limited resources and simple forgetfulness.A “Special Circumstance Fund” was created from donations to pay for memberships of families with financial hardship.Each PTA newsletter gave a membership update and included a membership form.

Success: A 43 percent increase in membership.

2005
NETWORKED: San Clemente High School PTSA, Capistrano Unified Council

Theme: “Celebrations and Making Connections,” to foster connections with the large high school.

  • A student directory was published for the exclusive use of high school families.The directory was included with every PTSA membership, which matched the cost of purchasing a directory by itself.

Success: Membership rose by 25 percent.