The school year is about half over, and there a many things your PTA still has planned for the remainder of 
the year, but now is also the time to start the process of finding new leaders for your PTA for next year. That process begins with the nominating committee.
PTAs generally elect their officers for the following year at the last PTA meeting of the year, and the nominating committee needs to report the slate of nominees at least 30 days prior to the election. If your election is in May, your nominating committee will need to have a slate by April, which means your PTA should be electing the nominating committee in February or March to give them time to do their work. Check your bylaws now to determine how your nominating committee is to be elected.
Once the nominating committee has been elected, they need to elect their chairman and set a time and place for their first meeting. The committee should ask the membership for advisory recommendations, but they should also be prepared to seek out qualified candidates. One of the most effective ways for a nominating committee to find the best candidates is to examine the bylaws for the duties of each position, discuss potential candidates best able to fulfill those duties, and then have a personal conversation with a potential candidate to have them agree to be nominated.
Once the nominating committee has voted to select one nominee for each of the officer positions, the chairman prepares the nominating report listing the nominees for each position. The chairman and members of the nominating committee who agree with the slate should sign it. At a general membership meeting at least 30 days prior to the election, the chairman reads the nominating report. Any nominating committee member who did not sign the report can nominate a candidate from the floor.
The Illinois PTA has a detailed information sheet on the nominating process available in the “Administration” folder of the Local Unit Packet and on our website.
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