The school year is coming to a close and parent volunteer leaders across the nation are passing the baton with excitement for next year (and a sigh of relief for completing this year's activities).
No matter the size or structure of your parent group, no doubt, your biggest concern will be recruiting as much volunteer help in as many ways as possible.
The best way to increase your volunteer pool is to PLAN NOW to get parents involved. When you succeed at increasing parent participation and commitment to your school — you help improve the fiscal fitness of your school and enhance student success.
5 Tips to Boost Parent Volunteer Involvement:
Go Wide. Don't get hung up on how frequently a parent volunteers; instead, focus on getting the greatest number of parents to participate. Parents who are sincerely welcomed, valued and thanked for their contributions are more likely to volunteer regularly and join leadership and fundraising teams.
Think Flexible. Design a variety of ways for parents to get involved at school. This will open the door for more parents to find a job that fits their interests and schedules. Establish ongoing day-time jobs in the library or cafeteria, quick classroom opportunities like helping with a science experiment or party, weekend opportunities like helping with campus cleanups and fundraising events, and take-home projects like preparing art kits or updating the school website.
Tune in. Look around…have you cultivated connections with all kinds of families to learn about their needs and how they want to get involved? A working mom, for example, may enjoy an occasional weekend or evening volunteer activity that involves her family, such as helping in the school garden. Grandparent guardians may be open to helping out in the library but may not see volunteer openings posted on the school website. An Immigrant parent may purposely keep her distance as a sign of respect for the teacher; inviting her to a parent’s coffee or to help with a staff appreciation event may be the personal touch needed to help her engage.
Rotate parent group meetings to the evenings and provide child care to make it easier for parents with young children and single parents to participate.
Just ASK. Coach your current parent leaders to be parent group advocates over the summer. Consider dropping this one simple, effective sentence into casual conversations at the ball field, grocery store or neighborhood picnic: "Have you thought about how you would like to get involved at school next year?" Parents frequently have an answer, and once you know their interests, you can help them find the right committee or job. It’s also a perfect time to suggest they bring along a friend or two.
Use Volunteerspot’s Free Online Signup Sheets. Make it easy for any and all parents to volunteer at your school. Create a Committee Picker Sign Up Sheet (shown below) to capture parent interest going into the summer. And then, during the school year, 24/7 access to your online sign up sheets makes it easy for parents to quickly choose specific jobs and shifts to fit their busy schedules, or to sign up to donate supplies or food items. As a volunteer leader, you can go on to VolunteerSpot, create your calendar of volunteer needs, and invite parents to sign up with an email invitation or URL link on your website, newsletter or facebook page. This eliminates clipboard signups, pesky phone calls and reply-all email chains. VolunteerSpot also sends automated reminders to help busy parents remember their commitments. Many choices and easy signups make it quick and easy for everyone to fit school volunteering into their schedule, a win-win for both your organization and your parent community.
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Congratulations to all of the new parent leaders out there! Your generous support will help teachers do their jobs and cover critical budget gaps in the coming year. Most importantly, you’ll inspire other parents to participate at school, building a strong community for all our children.
Example Committee Picker Sign Up Sheet (Make one yourself, click here to learn how.)
