To have a successful meeting you have to get the butts in the seats. Get the word out to parents every way possible. If you use these five techniques, every parent should know about your meeting.
1. Have your meetings on the same day every month. Parents and administrators like consistency. If you have your meetings on the last Wednesday of every month at 6:30 PM, you'll notice an increase in attendance.
2. Send home a flyer with all students announcing your meeting at least one or two weeks before your meeting.
3. Have your meeting appear on the school marquee.
4. Send out email blasts one week before your meeting. Repeat one day before your meeting.
5. Have the Principal announce your meeting through the school's weekly PA announcements.
Offer free food. Nothing brings people to an event like the promise of free food and drink. If you mention that you'll be offering food at your meeting in your flyers and announcements, you'll notice an increase in attendance. This is especially true if for evening meetings. Have your members feed themselves about 15 minutes before the meeting official starts. You don't want people getting food during the meeting. It's distracting.
Contact local pizza parlors or food vendors and ask if they can provide free or discounted food for your meeting. You'd be surprised how supportive local businesses are toward the PTA. Plus, all PTA units and councils operate as 501(3)Cs (non-profits). Therefore all donations are tax deductible. Provide your hospitality person with a small budget (no more than $40) to spend on food and drink.
Create an agenda. On or two weeks before your meeting, have an informal meeting with your officers and school administrators to determine what you'd like to discuss at your meeting. Try to be as specific as possible on your agenda. Make enough copies so that every one in attendance at your meeting can have a copy. Issue-based agendas will increase attendance and bring in a more informed and motivated audience.
Stick to your agenda as much as possible. If you start to veer from the agenda it can add unwanted time to your meeting and you may not get to hit all your topics.
Bring in guest speakers. Having a variety of speakers from several different school departments keeps parents in the loop and keeps your meeting moving. Always try to include the following:
School Principal or other administrator--usually speaks on the state of the school, budgets, state testing and so on.
Student Council--hear what the kids are up to.
Teachers from varying departments--talk about what's going on in the classrooms.
Outside speakers--invite guests from outside of school. For example, the local police department might speak on Internet safety.
PTA officers--Treasurer should give a financial report. The secretary should read the minutes.
Give your speakers a maximum time of five minutes. If you have a parliamentarian, he should be in charge of the time. But be flexible. If a topic is of particular interest, let the room dictate the time limit.
Keep on track. Many parents come to PTA meetings with a specific agenda that affects only their child . This happens at almost all PTA meetings. When a parent knows that the Principal and teachers attend meetings, they'll come and question specific problems that would best be served in a separate parent/teacher conference.
If a particular problem gets parents agitated a meeting can quickly turn heated. Allow the debate to continue for a few minutes then defuse the situation by saying, "these are all valid points and since you are so passionate about this problem, I'd like you to be in charge of a committee to try and resolve it."
Have a door prize. To get members to stay till the end of your meeting have a door prize at the conclusion. People love free stuff. Ask for donations from local vendors. Join the local Chamber of Commerce to obtain a list of local businesses.