10 Ways to Rock Your PTO.

1. TOP 10 WAYS
TOP 10 WAYS
TO ROCK
TO
YOUR
YOUR
PTO
www.BelieveKids.com

2. MANAGE
TIME
In other words, work smarter. Make daily, weekly and
monthly goals. Limit them, and make them practical and
achievable. Next, start with most important goal and
leave the easier ones for later as they tend to go quicker
and cause less stress.
Remember, procrastination tempts you to spend your
energy completing low-priority jobs while the high-
priority ones loom dauntingly over your head.
Ease your own anxiety and check off those major tasks
first from your list.
www.BelieveKids.com

3. IMPROVE
MEETINGS
How many of us attend meetings that unnecessarily go
on for hours? Poor presentation planning, a lack of
leadership, and—-- let’s face it—-- social chatter turn PTO
meetings into drawn-out time-suckers.
Designate a mediator to keep meetings flowing on
schedule. Ask a secretary to write down minutes. Limit
open discussions. Finally, leave some time at the end
for everyone to catch up and munch on yummies.
Go ahead and chatter, you social butterfly, you. After all,
the meeting is over
www.BelieveKids.com

4. BUILD
RELATIONSHIPS
With other PTO members. With your children. With the school’s
administration. With the teachers. With the principal.
The University of Texas at Dallas’s psychology department noted a
few ways to build better
relationships on their website. We can definitely apply these
tactics to PTO relationships:
1) Be yourself - Be confident and truthful when sharing your opin-
ions.
2) Communicate - We’ve all heard about “I” sentences by now, so
use them, and
avoid passive aggressive tendencies.
3) Resolve Conflicts - Compromise and get back to basics. Give a
little, get a little.
4) Enjoy Each Other - Be humorous and adventurous!
www.BelieveKids.com

5. ORGANIZE,
ORGANIZE
Binders with color-coded section tabs. Calendars. Email
reminders. Highlighters. To-do lists. Label-maker.
Problem solved? Maybe. But sometimes, we have all the
tools but not the right frame of mind.
On her blog, professional organizer Lorie Marrero advo-
cates for an “organized mindset.” Give yourself permis-
sion, she says, to make mistakes, to let some activities
slide, and to fall a little short of perfection.
Phew. Now hand me that stapler.
www.BelieveKids.com

6. GO AHEAD AND
SIMPLIFY
Less is more. In planning PTO events and activities and in
every aspect of running your PTO, keeping things simple
may be the most important thing you can do.
Let’s just recap for a moment in really big, simple text:
Less is more!
www.BelieveKids.com

7. ASK FOR
HELP
Divvy up the work. We know you were the one who
always ended up shouldering the entire workload in
those high school group projects. But, no longer!
Others want to help, so let them!
Ease up on the reins and share that binder.
Give members individual responsibilities and something
to own. Set a good example and then have faith in your
colleagues.
You’ll get much more done as a group - go team!
www.BelieveKids.com

8. USE
TECHNOLOGY
Have you utilized Google docs, flash drives, and—-- don’t make us
say it -- computers?
Hopefully, we don’t have to convince you that
technology positively affects the organization and flow of parent
group success. But it extends further than
internet research and Excel spreadsheets. Grab a camera
and share photos on Flickr or Photobucket. Capture fun videos
and post them on You- ube. Technology offers you the chance to
T
document good times and spread those awesome videos of the
principal shaving his head all over the internet.
There’s so much amazing free technology out there, go ahead - tell
your story!
www.BelieveKids.com

9. PROMOTE
YOUR EVENT
Facebook, according to its founder, Mark Zuckerberg,
seeks to “help people connect and communicate more
efficiently.” And lucky for us, social networking sites like
Facebook, Twitter, and Foursquare do just that.
With the creation of Facebook events, you hold the
ability to inform every single person on your friend list of
upcoming activities in less than five minutes. The days of
handwritten letters delivered by horseback-riding
curriers left us years, decades—-- centuries -- ago.
So update your status, post fun pictures, and create
e-vite invitations.
www.BelieveKids.com

10. PROVE
IT
For each fundraiser, activity and event,
designate a historian. Record attendance, dollars spent,
profits made, and overall success rates. Jot down
helpful tips, examples of obstacles you faced and
resources you counted on to solve
problems.
Make contact information sheets for every person
involved. Then collect all your documents
and organize them in a binder—for upcoming members of
the PTO.
www.BelieveKids.com

11. HAVE
FUN :)
Hopefully this one needs no real explanation. Just keep in
mind that shared experiences spark relationships. Fun
memories make them last.
So order pizza for those late night PTA meetings. Take a
karaoke break. Involve your kiddos. Wear funny
costumes. Have impromptu water gun fights.
And, please, by all means, share the evidence through
photos, Facebook groups, and victory parties.
www.BelieveKids.com

12. ADDITIONAL
RESOURCES
Building Relationships:
Utdallas.edu/counseling/relationships
For Organizational Tips:
• Clutterdietblog.com
• RealSimple.com
• 365-days-of-organization.blogspot.com
• Orgjunkie.com
Personal learning network for school fundraising:
http://www.TheFundraisingPLN.com
Believe Kids is an elementary school fundraising company. We produced this content because we care about helping schools succeed.
Find out more about Believe Kids Fundraising at www.BelieveKids.com
www.BelieveKids.com