Membership is what makes PTA go. Members are our volunteers and future leaders, and they amplify our voice when speaking to school leaders and legislators. Some PTAs, like many membership-driven organizations across the country, have struggled recently to grow their membership. Here are some tips and PTA resources to help you grow your PTA membership.

  • Register for your Local PTA Leader Kit from National PTA.This kit has a multitude of resources for PTA leaders, but the key membership item is the free Design Your PTA/PTSA Membership P.L.A.N. that walks you through developing a membership recruitment plan tailored to your PTA, school, and community and loaded with examples, questions to consider, and brainstorming prompts to help you through the process.
  • Register your PTA officers with Illinois PTA to gain access to the Illinois PTA Online Leadership Resources. Like the National PTA Local PTA Leader Kit, these online resources provide you and your PTA with the information you need to have a successful PTA year, including growing your membership.
  • Use the Illinois PTA 2019-2020 Membership Awards to guide your membership activities. Each month from September through May has a specific membership award that your PTA could win.
  • Not sure how to run a short-term membership campaign? Use one of Illinois PTA’s ready-to-use campaigns along with other Illinois PTA membership resource
  • Sign your PTA up for the National PTA School of Excellence program. PTAs participating in the program have seen improvements in family engagement and growth in membership, PTA meeting attendance, and volunteer participation. The deadline to sign up for the 2019-2020 program is October 1, 2019.
  • Use National PTA’s Diversity & Inclusion Toolkit to reach out to underrepresented groups from your school community.Does your PTA membership reflect the diversity of your school? The Diversity & Inclusion Toolkit can help you bring those communities in your school who may not be familiar with PTA into the fold. If you’re not sure of your school’s demographics, the Illinois Report Card can provide you with that information.
  • Check out the collection of One Voice Illinois articles on membership. Illinois PTA’s blog, One Voice Illinois, has been publishing for over five years now, and the archive of articles on specific topics can be accessed by clicking the links in the Categories sidebar.