July kicks off the start of a new PTA membership year. As a PTA leader, you know that members are the lifeblood of your PTA, but perhaps you are unsure how to grow your membership. Here are six simple steps to growing your PTA membership.

  1. Have a membership goal. It’s hard to grow your membership if you don’t know what you are working towards. Use your Reach for the Stars Illinois PTA membership recognition goals as a starting point with a plan to reach the next level this year. If you reach your goal early? Have a stretch goal in mind as well and keep working towards it.
  2. Have a membership plan. Once you have a goal, you need a plan to reach it. Fortunately, National PTA has a lot of resources to help you grow your membership, including a membership campaign toolkit to help you plan. Use a membership link and QR code to make joining your PTA easy.
  3. Plan your year. In addition to your membership plan, have a calendar of events that your PTA will be hosting during the year. A variety of events can attract different audiences in your school community. Use PTA programs to fill out your calendar.
  4. Sell your PTA. Don’t just sell PTA to your potential members, sell your PTA. Share what your PTA has done in the past year to make a difference in your school and community. Don’t focus on fundraisers and purchases for the school, as those make potential members feel seen simply as ATMs for the school. What has your PTA done to help families support their child’s education? Is it PTA Reflections to help support the arts? Is it STEM + Families or an Illinois PTA Family STEAM event to support science and math? Is it a Healthy Lifestyles event to support student mental health? Is it your own Family Math Night working with teachers to help families understand the math curriculum? Share the value your PTA adds to their families.
  5. Reach out. PTA is for everyone, so don’t just limit your PTA membership to those who respond to your e-mail asking them to join or who wander past your sign-up table. Reach out to everyone in your school community. National PTA’s School of Excellence program and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion resources can help you do so. Don’t limit your membership to just those at your school. Have members reach out to grandparents to join, as they would certainly like to support their grandchild’s school and education. Reach out to your business community, as strong schools support strong communities. If you offer “business memberships,” remember that businesses become supporters of your PTA, but your PTA does not endorse a business (that violates IRS rules).
  6. Ask. The most common reason people do not join PTA is because they were not asked to join. Having a table out at registration, open house, or a PTA event is good, but you can’t just sit behind that table. Be active in asking people to join your PTA, and emphasize that membership is merely supporting the mission and goals of your PTA, not signing on to volunteer.

Graphic by Nick Youngson under Creative Commons license.