illinoispta Family Engagement, Marketing, Membership, Running a PTA

News from National Convention—Membership

Membership is at the heart of PTA, so it’s not surprising that membership was the focus of several workshops and one big announcement at the 2018 National PTA Convention in New Orleans. The announcement? Every PTA leader who registers or logs in to the Local PTA Leader Kit(formerly the Back-to-School Kit) will receive a new … Continue reading News from National Convention—Membership

illinoispta Family Engagement, Marketing, Membership, Running a PTA

News from National Convention: Attracting Today’s Parents

PTAs used to be able to simply set up a table with a “Join PTA” sign and have parents line up. But those days are long gone, and today’s PTA needs to provide parents with reasons for joining that resonate with them. At the 2017 National PTA Convention, two events focused on how PTAs can … Continue reading News from National Convention: Attracting Today’s Parents

illinoispta Marketing, Membership, Running a PTA

News from the Illinois PTA Convention—Membership Workshops

One of the great opportunities at the Illinois PTA Convention is to attend workshops by state board members that provide you with new ideas and help you to be a better PTA leader. Illinois PTA Membership Marketing Director Julie Holdeman presented two great workshops on growing your PTA’s membership. The first, Planning a Year-Round Membership … Continue reading News from the Illinois PTA Convention—Membership Workshops

illinoispta Cultural Arts, Family Engagement, Health, Marketing, Running a PTA

Plan Your PTA Take Your Family to School Week Event Now

Founders’ Day, February 17th, celebrates the legacy and work of Alice McLellan Birney, Phoebe Apperson Hearst, and Selena Sloan Butler to improve the lives of children. The date marks the first National Congress of Mothers, held in Washington, D.C. in 1897. As part of that celebration, National PTA designates the week that includes Founders’ Day … Continue reading Plan Your PTA Take Your Family to School Week Event Now

illinoispta Advocacy, Communications, Family Engagement, Marketing, Running a PTA

Turn Your PTA into a Social Media Powerhouse

Social media is the place for PTAs and other organizations to engage their members. Whether it is Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or some other platform, social media lets PTAs keep their members informed about events, share information, and connect in ways that printed newsletters in backpacks never could. Now, Skills Platform and several nonprofit social media … Continue reading Turn Your PTA into a Social Media Powerhouse

illinoispta Family Engagement, Marketing, Membership, Running a PTA

5 Ways to Fire Up Your Middle School or High School PTA

PTAs and PTSAs at the middle school and high school level often struggle. It’s not that families are no longer involved with the school, it’s that they are now spread out among athletic boosters, band, orchestra, drama, and other groups as well as the PTA. Here are some ideas to fire up families to engage … Continue reading 5 Ways to Fire Up Your Middle School or High School PTA

illinoispta Communications, Family Engagement, Marketing, Membership, Running a PTA

Create a Welcome Packet to Bring New Families into Your PTA

As the school year comes to a close, many PTA leaders look forward to an opportunity to put their feet up and relax until school starts in the fall. However, there is one thing that PTA leaders should be planning now to make their PTA more successful in the coming year—planning on how to welcome … Continue reading Create a Welcome Packet to Bring New Families into Your PTA

illinoispta Communications, Family Engagement, Leadership, Marketing, Membership, Running a PTA

News from the Illinois PTA Convention—Membership Recruitment, Retention, and Engagement

Illinois PTA understands there are challenges to PTAs in recruiting and retaining members. We believe we can best address these challenges by communicating with you, the local unit members, in finding out what works for your PTA and what doesn’t. Through online conference events and convention networking workshops, we have discovered some of the challenges … Continue reading News from the Illinois PTA Convention—Membership Recruitment, Retention, and Engagement

illinoispta Communications, Family Engagement, Marketing, Membership, Running a PTA

Effective PTA Communications

We live in a media-rich environment with smartphones and the internet providing information in an almost constant stream. PTAs used to be able to send home a newsletter with a brightly-colored front page and know that families would see it, but the “Backpack Express” is much less effective these days. So how can your PTA’s … Continue reading Effective PTA Communications