RECRUITING AND RETAINING YOUR VOLUNTEERS
Commissioner’s Role
The Community Engagement Commissioner is charged with the responsibility of coordinating the PTA inservice functions and volunteer services. The role includes:
- Working with the PTA president in the selection of the volunteer coordinator.
- Assisting in the orientation of new volunteers and in the year-end evaluation.
- Working with the PTA president, Administrative VP, and the volunteer coordinator to ensure that volunteers are appropriately recognized for their service.
Involving the Community
The Community Engagement Commissioner is also charged with the responsibility of reaching out and involving all members of the community in improving the quality of life and education for children and youth by providing opportunities for all community residents to participate in the neighborhood schools. This role includes some of the following:
- Working with minorities and involving them in PTA leadership roles.
- Working with the principal to set up an information and communication plan in order to reach all of the school community should the need arise.
- Establishing a public relations plan, including a PTA newsletter, to publicize upcoming events and to create a positive climate within the community.
- Encouraging each PTA officer to keep a procedure book that outlines procedures followed in his or her office.
- Making suggestions and/or applying for awards that are available through Utah PTA and other places.
- Encouraging school/business partnerships.
- Working with the school district foundation to stimulate business and community engagement in the school.
- Cooperating with community councils, school community groups, advisory councils, education coalitions, etc.
- Organizing the resources of the community for the benefit of all citizens and the school.
Training Volunteers
Work with the PTA president and school principal to put together training for the volunteers and for the staff. This training may be held quarterly or as new programs come into the school. This training should include district rules and guidelines.
Keeping track of hours
It is important to keep track of the number of volunteer hours and report these to your principal and to your PTA board on a monthly or quarterly basis. You should record total volunteer hours to the nearest quarter or round up to the nearest half hour or full hour. (Example: if a volunteer arrives at 10:00 and leaves at 12:10 you would record 2 hours and 15 minutes; if they left at 12:25 you would put 2 hours and 30 minutes.)
Remember to record the “at home” hours of your volunteers who are working from home. (This could include babysitting, emails, and sleepless nights.) The hours are used by the school district and by Utah PTA to get grants and to let your legislators know how much is saved by people who volunteer in our schools.
Utah PTA collects volunteer hours through the online local reports and presents a check each year to the governor that represents all of those hard-worked hours.
Acknowledging and Rewarding
Use your newsletters to acknowledge your volunteers on a monthly basis. A reward is as simple as a thank you card. People do not volunteer looking for monetary rewards, but they are looking for personal recognition that they are valued. Work with your awards person to be sure that you apply for the different PTA awards for your school.
It is important to remember that giving recognition is not so much something you do as it is something you are. It is sensitivity to other persons, not a strategy for discharging obligations.
Consider having an end of the year volunteer celebration. Include Administrative vice president and Teacher Vice presidents in the planning and gift giving.
When children are in elementary school, the parents come to the school and help out. When they get to junior high some parents feel that they don’t need to help anymore or that their students don’t need it. Students need it just as much at the secondary level. Studies have shown that when parents are involved and at the school, students do better (less bullying, positive feed back, extra set of eyes and ears, students have better academic performance, self esteem, and social behavior). In first-day packets, at student registration, and back-to-school nights, we encourage you to provide a volunteer recruitment form (sample available at the end of this book.)
We encourage positive engagement in all facets of a child’s life. Get involved!
See the Utah PTA Pinterest boards for ideas on volunteer recruitment and appreciation. There are also ideas on the community engagement page below.
A volunteer can be many things - a role model for the students, an extra pair of hands to help teachers and staff or a liaison between schools and the community.
Each school can make its own Volunteer Handbook, personalized for your own school. Using the "Guidelines for Volunteers" Handbook (listed below), please add your own theme and/or school name to the cover page, add a welcome message from your principal on page 2, and list your schools and councils in their region on page 4.
PTA formed and working within a school is most beneficial to the individual child's growth and development when its actions and programs promote parental involvement and community interaction within the school. The old adage, "It takes a community to raise a child," is most evident in the local school environment.
When calculating the hourly volunteer wage go to www.independentsector.org and use the volunteer rate = $31.80.