June Checklist for Running Your PTA
Ongoing Tasks Attend any board and membership meetings Read meeting minutes and offer corrections Prepare reports for board and membership meetings Get educated: take advantage of in-person and online training opportunities Be familiar with your responsibilities and fulfill them Review and ask questions about the monthly financial report Actively engage in a plan for membership…
Category:
Leadership
June Checklist for Councils Supporting Local PTAs
Ongoing Tasks Offer support to local PTAs who may be struggling with any of the SOA requirements. Work with your region director to support any local PTAs with fewer than 25 members or any local PTAs without an approved membership waiver to ensure they remain “in good standing.” Encourage local PTAs to enter next year’s…
Category:
Leadership
Seeking Candidates for the 2024-2026 WSPTA Nominating Committee
We are now accepting applications from those interested in serving on the 2024-2026 Washington State PTA Nominating Committee. This committee will be responsible for the identification, vetting, and nomination of qualified candidates to serve on the 2025-2027 Washington State PTA Board of Directors. The Nominating Committee’s selections, plus any self-declared candidates, will appear on the…
Category:
Governance
Notes from the Capitol: Here’s what WSPTA asked our U.S. representatives
WSPTA advocates Heather Gillette, Angela Steck, Nigar Suleman, and Danica Noble meet Senator Patty Murray’s aide Abby Laver. By Nigar Suleman, Federal Legislative Committee Note: This is part 2 of 2 blog posts covering WSPTA’s experience at the 2024 National PTA Legislative Conference. You can read part 1 here. On the morning of March 6,…
WSPTA Delegation Makes an Impact at the 2024 National PTA Legislative Conference
By Nigar Suleman, Federal Legislative Committee Note: This is part 1 of 2 blog posts covering WSPTA’s experience at the 2024 National PTA Legislative Conference. Washington State PTA was well represented at this year’s Legislative Conference (LegCon) and Hill Day hosted by National PTA in Washington D.C. from March 5 to March 7. Our delegation…
A Better Payment Processing Option for Your PTA
Guest post by our sponsor, Cheddar Up A very buzzy topic among parent groups is: “Can PTAs use Venmo?” The answer is layered: Yes, you could. It is available to you. But should you use it? Here, we’ll look at a few reasons to pinpoint why Venmo may not work for your PTA and a…
Category:
News
Announcing the 2023-24 Student Programs Winners
We are very excited to announce the winners of both the 2023-2024 WSPTA Scholarship and the 2023-2024 WSPTA Essay Contest. Essay Contest Winners: Special Author – Elementary Division: Verity Truitt – Puesta del Sol Elementary Kindergarten Division: Charlotte Aftab – “My Role Model in the entire World!” – Redmond Elementary First-Second Grade Division: Prisha Prasad – “I love…
All About Givebacks: Our New Database System
This summer, WSPTA will transition away from memberplanet and toward a new statewide membership database powered by Givebacks, formerly MemberHub. We’re excited that Givebacks specializes in serving PTAs and know this change will make member management, communications, and fundraising easier for our local leaders. You can learn more about our transition timeline by visiting Givebacks’s…
Category:
Membership
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News
Ask WSPTA: Can we fundraise for teachers’ professional development?
Here’s a great question we received recently in the WSPTA Support inbox: “Is it appropriate for PTAs to fund or fundraise for the cost of teachers’ professional development?” And here’s the answer, courtesy of WSPTA Finance Officer Liz Nord: I am going to start with districts/WA state should be paying for teacher professional development. But we…
Category:
Governance
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Leadership
Ask WSPTA: Advocacy vs. Lobbying
What’s the difference between advocacy and lobbying? Advocacy is the act of speaking for, in support of, or to plead a cause on behalf of others. For example, PTAs advocate when they inform members or decision-makers on a topic of concern. Lobbying is attempting to influence a specific decision. For example, an activity is lobbying when it involves asking…