HAPPY MEMBERSHIP MONDAY!!!
Today we celebrate Presidents' Day in honor of past leaders, but it's also that time of year when we need to seek out future leaders as well. Do you know who your Local Unit President and Board Members will be next year? One of our responsibilities as PTA leaders is to look for and develop potential leaders. Basically, we need to start looking for our replacements from day one, particularly since we're in a military community and lose people to PCS on a regular basis. If you haven't done so already, now is the time to start your search! HOW DO YOU FIND THOSE ELUSIVE POTENTIAL LEADERS?
YOU CAN DO IT!!! Finding and engaging potential leaders is a year-round process, and it can be challenging in our community of transition, but it can be done! Just remember to be inclusive and welcoming, and keep the lines of communication flowing. If you ask them, they will come!
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HAPPY MEMBERSHIP MONDAY!!!
PTA offers many things for its members at the local, state, and national levels, so it's important to get the word out there to your members and your communities, to promote the #ValueOfPTA. Here are just a few valuable programs that are either in progress or are coming up soon at the European (state) level:
To find out more about what European and National PTA have to offer, visit the EPTA website at http://EuropeanPTA.org and the National PTA website at http://PTA.org. PTA LEADERS: Have your membership numbers slowed down to a post-season membership slump? It’s time to shake off the mid-winter doldrums and get back our collective energy!
EUROPEAN PTA is challenging all Local Units to build their membership numbers during the month of March as a part of our MARCH MEMBERSHIP MADNESS competition! The Local Unit with the highest increase will be recognized at the 60th Annual EPTA Convention Awards Banquet on May 19, 2018 at the Edelweiss Lodge and Resort in Garmisch, Germany. CONTEST RULES:
SO, WHERE DO WE START? We're still a month away, but now is the time to start planning your school's membership campaign. This is a great opportunity to roll out a membership contest or incentive at the class, grade, or school level, so get creative and have fun with it! We even have a toolkit available with graphics and an editable flyer that you can use at https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1NIUKLRUidRguMaCOWedd-cD0zbbyD0tc?usp=sharing. QUESTIONS? Email the European PTA Office at [email protected] We've talked in recent weeks about letting both your PTA members and your community at large know about the great things that PTA does for your school, but it's important that we don't forget to share the bigger picture of PTA as well.
For more than 100 years, the National Parent Teacher Association (National PTA) has worked toward bettering the lives of every child in education, health and safety. Founded in 1897 as the National Congress of Mothers by Alice McLellan Birney and Phoebe Apperson Hearst, National PTA is a powerful voice for all children, a relevant resource for families and communities, and a strong advocate for public education. PTA's mission is to make every child’s potential a reality by engaging and empowering families and communities to advocate for all children. It's important that we share that mission with both current and prospective members, and that we keep sight of that bigger picture that is the foundation of PTA, even as we're working hard to coordinate the many programs, events, and activities that our PTAs support in our schools and communities! Here are a few ways that you can bring our shared mission to the forefront:
Across the United States and throughout DoDEA-Europe, parents, teachers, and other caring community members are working together to achieve our mission. Every member matters, and together we really can help to make every child's potential a reality! #MembershipMonday #JoinPTA #MembershipMatters #EPTA2018 There are so many reasons why people SHOULD #JoinPTA, but what are some of the reasons that they DON'T? Most objections to joining PTA fall into the areas of time, impact and perceived value.
What seems like an insurmountable barrier to some prospective members can often be broken down with a little bit of information and communication! Put out information via flyers, membership forms, posters in your school, email, social media, or wherever else you have an opportunity to reach your community that lets people know what they should expect when they join your PTA.
You can find more information on this subject, as well as tips on how you can overcome some of these common membership objections and misunderstandings, at http://www.ptakit.org/Membership/Messaging/Overcoming-Objections.aspx. Membership has its privileges. That saying has been around for years, but it is so very true for PTA! National PTA offers a wide variety of resources and benefits for PTA members, and they're always hard at work, looking for new ways to add value to your PTA membership.
Being A PTA Member Makes You Eligible For:
Being A PTA Local Unit Makes You Eligible For:
This is just a sampling of the benefits that National PTA provides for our members and our units, and opportunities will come and go throughout the school year. There are even a few opportunities that have deadlines this week! The deadline for National PTA's STEM + Families Grants and Giveaways is approaching on Oct. 26.
To apply and enter for both of these opportunities, go to PTA.org/STEM. #MembershipMonday #PTAproud #EPTA2018 #MembershipMatters HAPPY MEMBERSHIP MONDAY!!!
It's been wonderful to watch all of our Local Units make such a strong start this year, but remember - membership is a marathon, not a sprint! Most of us see our biggest membership increase in the first two months of school, but there are a number of reasons why it's important to keep reaching out throughout the school year:
Thank you for everything that you do to support your students, your schools, and your communities, and thank you for continuing to send your Local Unit membership reports and rosters in by the 25th of each month! Submitting membership monthly and on time is an important step toward becoming and remaining a Unit In Good Standing with European PTA for the 2017-2018 school year, along with submission of your Local Unit's board roster, bylaws, budget, and 2016-2017 audit. Please don't hesitate to reach out if you have any questions regarding these changes or the European PTA membership reporting process. Our dedicated volunteers and staff are ready to help, and we'd love to hear from you! Respectfully, Kris Garst European PTA Director of Membership and Communications [email protected] #MembershipMonday #MembershipMatters #PTAproud |