Leadership News, June 13, 2024

Transitions

PTA is designed to require transitions. There are term limits and yearly elections that ensure that a PTA will always have new leaders stepping up to run the association. If new leaders have to start from the very beginning figuring out their job or crafting new processes or policies, it takes away from time that could be spent supporting the children and families in their communities. That’s why intentional transitions are so important.  

Read this blog post for great ideas and tips to help finish the year strong and set up next year's leaders for a great start!  

Share Your Talents 

Washington State PTA is looking for volunteers to be a part of a WSPTA committee for 2024-25.  

Volunteering to chair or serve on a committee is a great way to participate in your own professional development while you give back to the children of Washington state. Click here to learn more about the various committees.  

Consider joining us as we continue to tackle important issues to move our association forward. We need your energy, experience and expertise to support, assist and empower our local PTA leaders. Complete the online Volunteer Interest Form and let us know how you can help.  

Memberplanet Transitions – Things to know

Membership Audit - As we are wrapping up the year with memberplanet as our membership database, it is important that our yearend work with reconciliation begins now.  Please look at your PTA's total “quantity of memberships” and ensure that the number matches how many members you currently have.  If you are unsure how to add members or remove members please head over to this page to watch a quick video on the process. 

Monthly Deposit Audit - memberplanet will be doing an audit July-August to ensure that all dues have been paid and that all deposits have been closed out and made to PTAs.  On a monthly basis, treasurers have been looking through deposits and ensuring that all has been made accordingly.  It is important that this continues to be completed through June 29th.  This is a great resource for PTA leaders on how to close out each month and reconcile payments.

Officer Reporting – Please continue to enter your 2024–25 officers into the “committees” tab in memberplanet as we will be sending a final list of officers to Givebacks on July 1st so that Givebacks has the most up to date information.

Membership Lists - Your PTA does not need to enter previous members into Givebacks.  WSPTA has transferred all the membership information for each PTA to Givebacks so that they can be uploaded into your PTAs Givebacks account.  Entering your members from this year will make it appear like your PTA owes funds for membership.  This year and previous years, members will be entered into Givebacks as a contact so that your PTA can reach out to them after July 1st to join your PTA again.  Your PTA will want to run your own membership list though to keep in your files.

Active Subscriptions – Your PTA's subscription will continue until the subscription ends.  If your subscription goes beyond 7/5/2024 and your PTA wishes to cancel your subscription, please contact support@memberplanet.com with a request for a refund.  If your PTA wishes to remain on the memberplanet platform for website services, your PTA will want to check out the updated pricing here.

Final Day to Submit Members – memberplanet will be removing members and membership tabs from all PTA groups on June 30th.  This is to ensure that no further members are entered into the memberplanet database.  Run all final reports on June 29th.

Givebacks

We hope you had the opportunity to schedule a 1-1 with givebacks or swing by their table at Convention.  If you were unable to attend Convention and have not received your email yet to schedule a 1-1, you may do so here.  The link requires you to enter your email address so that you can be connected to the correct representative from Givebacks for your area.  You will want to ensure that you are using the email that is associated with your contact information in the “Committees” tab in memberplanet.

Thank you for participating in the Wear Orange campaign from June 7-9. PTA members from all over the country wore orange to spread awareness about the gun violence epidemic and to create a future that is safe from gun violence in schools.  

In honor of Gun Violence Awareness Month, learn how you can help take action to end gun violence and see our full legislative platform at https://www.wastatepta.org/focus-areas/advocacy/

Communication Changes

We asked, you answered, and we are changing. In a recent survey we sent to you and other PTA leaders in Washington, you told us that we should pare down our communication channels. Starting July 3, we will send Leadership News every other Thursday. We will no longer be sending a separate Council Connection and Membership Made Easy newsletter. Instead, look for council and membership focused articles in Leadership News.

We will be "retiring" our region-specific Facebook pages this summer, and asking members to follow our main page at https://www.facebook.com/WashingtonStatePTA. There you will find updates on state-level activities as well as what is happening in your region. Don't miss a beat - like our Facebook page today!

Also, this summer, we will debut a closed Facebook group for local and council PTA leaders in Washington. There our volunteers will be able to support each other in their work and have access to experienced leaders from across the state. Look for your invitation to arrive in July.

It's Pride Month! Washington State PTA believes that schools should be a safe, supportive and respectful environment for all students. Learn more about how your PTA can advocate for LGBTQ+ youth in your communities. 

Tip of the Week
Financial Review

Every PTA must conduct a year-end financial review, as specified in the WSPTA Uniform Bylaws. This is both a PTA requirement, through the WSPTA Standards of Affiliation, and an important business practice.

The year-end financial review should be completed no later than August 31 and should cover the period of July 1 to June 30. If a mid-year review was completed, the year-end financial review only needs to cover the part of the year that has not yet been reviewed.  

The PTA president should appoint a financial review committee of at least three members who are not signers on the PTA accounts. The treasurer should not be present but should be available in case of questions during the financial review.

To assist PTAs with completing this task, WSPTA has a Financial Review Checklist. For more information about the financial review process, please refer to the Board Resources/Finance resources in the Leadership Guides section of the WSPTA website.  

And, if your financial review committee will be meeting virtually, be sure to read this blog post on online financial reviews

We’re inviting all WSPTA members, their families, and friends to come out and enjoy a fun-filled day at the ballpark. PTA Day at the Park is a benefit for WSPTA members, and this is not a fundraising event. This year’s date is a high-demand game against the San Francisco Giants so buy your tickets soon!

Upcoming Events - Mark Your Calendars 

June 19Juneteenth National Independence Day-Office Closed
July 4Office Closed for Independence Day
August 23-24August Leadership Launch
August 25PTA Day at the Park
September 2Office Closed for Labor Day

Sponsored By

Leadership News
June 13, 2024

Washington State PTA
15 Oregon Avenue, Suite 202
Tacoma WA 98409
253-214-7410

support@wastatepta.org 

 


The deadline to submit articles for the July 3 Leadership newsletter is Sunday, June 30. Send submissions to commplan@wastatepta.org