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About this FREE class

All class topics - For a complete list of lessons in this class, click here.

Each lesson in the Get More Volunteers Without Begging training class is a short, animated video that explains steps in a clear, entertaining way. If you haven’t downloaded the class guide that goes with it, you can now.

• Done-for-you notes - The downloadable PDF Class Guide includes a detailed summary of each lesson, so you can just relax and absorb the video.

• Ready-to-use recruiting tools - Get access to one-of-a-kind volunteer recruiting videos and time-saving marketing templates and resources so you can start getting more parent volunteers right away.

Lesson 6.2 video transcript

Once you have a variety of manageable volunteer jobs and convenient signup options, you need to motivate parents to take action. To go from thinking about volunteering, to actually signing up for specific jobs.

Get more parents to sign up for volunteer jobs

Volunteer sign-up deadlines are very effective for recruiting help for events and they also make planning less stressful. In Lesson 1.2, we looked at four essential leadership principles. One of them is that PTO activities should be subject to volunteer support.

We wouldn’t dream of putting on an event if we didn’t have enough money. And we should look at our volunteer needs the same way.

Be crystal clear with parents. Tell them that the

• The scheduled event will be a valuable experience for the kids and families.

• You need volunteers to make it happen.

• If you get enough volunteers by the sign-up deadline, the event will happen as scheduled.

• If you don’t, the event will be cancelled.

To help you say this in a positive, upbeat way, here is a sample announcement that you can customize for your event.

Hello Cool School families!

Save the date for the [EVENT NAME]!

There will be [EVENT ELEMENTS, e.g., dancing, food)] and plenty of fun for all ages!

With enough volunteers, we can hold a successful event that benefits everyone. So, check out the ways you can pitch in and be sure to sign up by DATE: [LINK] to online signup form.

It takes teamwork to make the dream work!

We know everyone’s busy and will help if they can. There are lots ways to support the event and all help is truly appreciated.

IMPORTANT: If we have enough volunteers signed up by DATE, we can hold a fantastic event. If we don’t have enough volunteers, we’ll have to cancel. We don’t expect that to happen, of course. Not with the amazing school spirit we see at Cool School all year long!

With your support, we’re looking forward to holding another great event for the kids!

Please check out volunteer opportunities and sign up by DATE: [LINK] to online signup form.

Thank you for your support!

P.S. If we don’t have enough volunteers as the deadline on DATE gets close, we’ll let families know so everyone has a chance to make sure this event happens.

There is an editable version of this sample announcement in the Class Guide.

• Be clear about how they can help, how to sign up, and what the deadline is.

• Give them plenty of notice ahead of the deadline if volunteer sign-ups are falling short. Remind them that the event will have to be cancelled if you don’t get enough volunteers by the deadline.

Nobody likes canceling a scheduled event. On the flip side, it’s not fair for a small number of volunteers to get stuck doing all of the work for an event that benefits all families.

And it’s a bad idea for a small number of volunteers to try to fill all the gaps, even for the sake of the kids.

Parents will never really get it if you protect them from consequences. If you tell them, “We can’t do it without you!”, and then you keep doing it without them, you’re making it harder to get new volunteers. And hurting the ones you do have.

If you do have to cancel an event, let parents know why it was cancelled in a straightforward way. It doesn’t help to make anyone feel guilty. It may just be that the event needs to be changed in some way.

If the event was valued by parents, but they didn’t volunteer and didn’t believe it would be cancelled, they will understand the situation better the next time. That’s exactly what we hear from school parent groups who’ve had to cancel events that were popular but still didn’t have enough volunteer support. Recruiting got a lot easier the next time around.

If you do all the right things to motivate parents and there is still not enough volunteer support to hold the event, that’s valuable feedback. Maybe the timing of the event was a problem, or the type wasn’t popular with families, or it needs to be more volunteer friendly. Use that feedback to make improvements.

How to set up PTO sign-up deadlines

Let’s look at setting signup deadlines.

If you have a number of leadership roles to fill, like subcommittee chairs or coordinators, set a relatively early sign-up deadline for those positions, and then set a separate deadline for smaller roles.

For example, if you’re planning a large event, like a fun run or auction, and the planning timeline is 3 months, set your deadline for leadership roles early in the first planning month. If you don’t have enough volunteers willing to serve as committee chairs or in other leader roles by that point, it’s much more likely that a small number of volunteers will get stuck with most of the work. Which is bad enough, but it also hurts your chances of having a successful event.

For smaller jobs, like event day tasks and shifts, consider setting the sign-up deadline about 3 weeks out from the event. If you have a lot of event-day positions to fill, and sign-ups are falling well short, you need to know that before you try to carry out the event.

A deadline reminder to parents is often all it takes to make sure you get the volunteers you need for a successful event and won’t be scrambling up to the last second.

2 - Incentives for volunteering

Happy kids are the biggest incentive that parents have for volunteering. Offering additional incentives where needed, however, will help you increase your volunteer numbers.

For events, for example, offering volunteers free admission or chances to win raffle prizes, are popular incentives. It may cut into the event profits some, but if it means you have enough parents to work shifts so all parents can enjoy at least some of the event with their kids, or it means that the event can happen at all, it’s worth it.

Incentives are also good for those situations where you have inflexible volunteer needs that don’t match well with parent availability.

For example, many schools rely heavily on parent volunteers at lunch recess which obviously falls during set hours at school. Many parents enjoy volunteering at lunch recess, but it can still be a big challenge to fill all the spots that the school would like. Offering parents an incentive, like a student homework pass, for coming into the school in the middle of the day instead of the grocery store or a lunch meeting or a million other things, can help fill the gaps.

To help you motivate parents to help with tasks and events, check out the lesson notes and sample announcement in the Class Guide.

Do you have questions or comments about this class? I would love to hear from you -- and help! Please email me using the Contact link below or in the Guide.