Strong Membership Campaigns - Northshore Success Stories!

One challenge that all PTAs share is in growing our membership each year. Here in Northshore, we have four PTAs that have shown consistent growth in each of the last six years: Canyon Park PTSA, Lockwood PTA, Skyview PTSA and Sorenson PTA! Our Council Membership Chairs asked each of these successful PTAs what has worked for them that has helped drive their ongoing membership growth. Read their responses below and be sure to check out the examples they shared too!

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Canyon Park Middle School PTSA

Co-President Jane Chiodo shared a bit about Canyon Park PTSA's approach to membership at the March 18th Northshore Council General Membership Meeting noting that the secondary level is very different from elementary. One primary difference is that there are no paper flyers as there is no means to distribute them (no more 'kidmail' in secondary!). So taking advantage of all avenues for communicating information and working to get the word out about PTSA is key!

• Facebook is a key method of communication for CPMS PTSA-- so they post often and try to make their posts stand out by using photos and memes. Jane uses online meme generators to help create fun, attention-grabbing posts. Check out CPMS PTSA's Facebook page: www.facebook.com/CanyonParkMSPTSA/.
  
• They have a website and work to ensure it is updated. Check out the CPMS PTSA website: cpptsa.org/.
  
• They use PT Avenue's email system to email members.
• The school sends a regular newsletter and includes PTSA information-- Jane noted that they are fortunate to have a very strong partnership with their school and it makes a huge difference!
• This year, they have made a concerted effort to connect with students and build student involvement and membership in PTSA primarily by connecting with student leadership groups and clubs and promoting the advocacy aspect of PTSA and the power of involvement. They have 39 student members this year and are excited to continue to grow their student member base.
• To build staff membership, they distributed paper copies of membership forms to all staff at the beginning of the school year.
• Taking advantage of in-person opportunities to connect with families is so important! They ensure PTSA has a presence at key school events such as Back to School Bash, Curriculum Night,  and 5th Grade Info Night.

Sorenson PTA

The Sorenson Early Childhood Center has ~256 students and 58 staff members. Their PTA currently has 118 members! President Amber Rosenquist shared Sorenson PTA's membership approach and some examples at the March 18th Northshore Council General Membership Meeting. Here is some of what Sorenson PTA does to promote membership:

Sorenson PTA created an infographic to help inform members about how contributions are used. It was printed and included in their PTA Welcome packets.

• Marketing and branding is key! They developed a logo and they make sure to put it on everything they publish.
• To get information out to membership, they communicate through multiple channels, including  Sign Up Genius, MailChimp, Facebook PTA closed group, monthly newsletters and paper flyers.
• Offer free community-building events, such as free movie screening at a local theater, ice cream social, and more... ways to build community and PTA visibility and show tangible benefits for members.
• Created an infographic that explains what they do and how they spend their money and distributed it via flyer. Here is the template for the Sorenson PTA Dollars at Work infographic (PowerPoint): dollarsatwork_sorenson2018.pptx.
• Amber suggested joining Facebook groups and searching Pinterest for inspiration, ideas and templates that you can adapt and use in your PTA.
• At beginning of the year, they create PTA Welcome packets for both parents and staff. The packet includes membership info, welcome letter, calendar, the infographic flyer, a spirit wear order form, and flyers relating to partnership programs (e.g., Box Tops, AmazonSmile, etc.). Check out Sorenson PTA's Family Welcome Packet:  sorenson_final-complete-welcome-packet-2018-2019-english.pdf.
• The staff welcome packet is similar to the family packet, just with a different welcome letter and a staff favorites survey. See Sorenson PTA's Staff Favorites Survey (Word): sorenson_back-to-school-teacher-survey.doc.
• As a part of their membership form, they offer a "sponsor a member" option.
• Sorenson PTA runs the Scholastic program for teachers who do not otherwise offer it in their classroom. Then, the PTA uses the credits earned to purchase books for all students and puts a membership form in each book inviting families to join.
• When they fundraise, they work to have a quick turnaround and immediately allocate those funds, putting them back into the community quickly.
• Use Community Serve Day (and any other volunteer-based community service events) as an opportunity to earn Disney 1-Day Park Hopper tickets. Then they use those tickets throughout the year as incentives, prizes, and more. Learn more about the program and earning free Disney tickets: http://www.pointsoflight.org/disneyrewards/.
• All flyers/forms are available in both English and Spanish.
• At the end of each year, Sorenson PTA surveys its members to find out how they felt about the years events, meetings and easiest times to attend school functions.
• Using Square, PayPal, check and cash at all events has also really helped increase membership numbers.

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Lockwood PTA

Lockwood PTA membership co-Chairs Liz Nord and Amanda Sics noted that they work to campaign for membership throughout the year! Here is what they shared with us about their approach:

We have sent out 3 different membership forms this year:

1. The first one was a full page form with lots of information on one side about why to join the PTA, it was sent home the first week of school and we had it availale at the opening year events, including the welcome table at the school's Meet n Greet and in the morning, the first couple days of school.  We also sent a renewal email to all past PTA members. See the form here: lockwood_membership-welcome.pdf.
2. The 2nd one was sent home in early November and was a half sheet.  It had discounts listed on one side and the form on the other. See the form here:  lockwood-discounts.pdf.
3. The 3rd we sent out in January, once we came back from winter break.  The 3rd one had the basic form on one side and a pie graph on the other side that showed where the PTA spends money.  See the form here: lockwood_pta-money-membership.pdf.
   

We of course noticed things that needed to be corrected with each form (for instance on the original form, we forgot to say who to write the check out to), and fixed it on the new one.  
Things we do to continue to get memberships throughout the year:

• We have a membership table at every single event, we are right front and center when people walk through the door.  We ask if they are members and if not, if they have time to talk.  
  
• We always have a stack of forms with us, we also keep the school office well stocked.
• The Lockwood office manager handed out membership forms, along with a letter about why staff membership is important, during the staff's opening meeting, a lot of the staff were members before school even started. Currently 61 out of our 71 member staff are PTA members
• We emailed out coupons for our family events.  They were things like a free bingo card with their first purchase of bingo cards. See an example here: lockwood_coupons.pdf.
• We offer a discount to PTA clubs for all members.  So with each new round of clubs, we end up having people sign up.
• We frequently put articles about the importance of membership in our Lockwood Weekly, and on Facebook.  We also remind families that Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, Nannies, and other community members can join the PTA. See some sample posts here: lockwood_reasons-to-membership.pdf.

Skyview Middle School PTSA

Skyview PTSA's President, Melissa Kline, shared a great list of key approaches that they use to promote membership at the secondary level:

Skyview PTSA gave a small gift to all staff at the start of the school year to help promote membership.

• Membership is ALL YEAR, not just Sept/October! See some examples from Skyview's membership campaigns this year: skyview-membership-campaigns_2019-20.pdf.
• Attend 1st staff meeting( with principal approval) and highlight PTA at your school, hand out membership forms and even a small gift. 
• Membership should be front and center on your website, it should be easy to join. Skyview PTSA's website puts membership front and center and clickable on their home page: skyviewjuniorhigh.ourschoolpages.com/Home.
  
• Having an online join option, so folks can join from their computer or phone is key!  Families are not inside middle school very often so this is very important for secondary.
• Regularly highlight membership in your newsletters and when not featuring membership, still have at least a link or graphic every time at the bottom as a reminder.
• Include a membership form and welcome letter in the school's 1st day packet.
• Have a presence at school events (e.g., Curriculum Night, 5th Grade Info Night, etc.) with membership forms and a square for credit cards.
• All fall and into winter we did Membership Mondays on Facebook. Check out Skyview PTSA's Facebook page: www.facebook.com/SkyviewPTSA/.
• Sent a summer welcome email and asked to join then.
• Sent two reminder emails to members from last year thanking them for previous support and asking them to join again. We sent this directly from PT Avenue.
• Have forms and an ask to join at all staff appreciation events.

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Many thanks to each of these PTAs for taking the time to share their
membership approach and some great tips!