The Ultimate School Checklist for Parent Volunteer Events
Many schools rely on parent volunteers to make school events successful. These events promote a sense of school community and range from fundraisers to school dances and everything in between.
Parent engagement is essential to running a successful school event, and schools with robust parent volunteer programs tend to see higher engagement rates. Whether your school requires family service hours or offers optional volunteer opportunities through a PTA or HSA, hosting a well-run parent volunteer event can strengthen community relationships, increase parent volunteers, and improve long-term engagement.
Ready to get started? Use this five-step school event checklist and learn how to run a successful parent volunteer event with confidence!
1. Get to Know Your Parents
Before planning your event, take time to understand your parent community. Think about how parents engage with your school and what their volunteer interests are. For example, if you can reference a parent volunteer database and know which parents are interested in specific volunteer activities, you’ll have a better starting point for who might want to support your upcoming event.
Answer the following questions to get a better picture of your parent volunteers:
- What types of parent volunteer opportunities are most popular?
- Do most parents prefer daytime, evening, or weekend volunteer opportunities?
- Do other family members, such as grandparents, aunts, or uncles, want to get involved?
- Are there skill sets within your parent volunteer group that you can tap into, such as marketing, event planning, or accounting?
- What companies do they work for (this can uncover workplace giving opportunities, including volunteer grants and volunteer time off)?
Surveying families at the beginning of the year can help you tailor events to real interests and availability. Schools that align volunteer opportunities with parent preferences tend to see higher participation rates and stronger retention. Understanding your parent volunteer base and meeting them where they’re at is important for the success of school events.
2. Implement Strong Communication
To run a successful school volunteer event, pre-event and day-of communication are necessary. However, if you’ve established a clear plan of general communication with parents in advance, events will run more smoothly. If parents know how often to expect school communications about volunteering and where to find them, then there won’t be a last-minute scramble to promote an upcoming volunteer event. Event communication can include emails, text messages, and updates on a parent volunteer site.
Effective event communication with parent volunteers should include:
- Event logistics
- Date and location
- Shift times
- Event contact and day-of contacts
- Volunteer logistics
- Number of volunteers needed
- Volunteer roles
- Requirements such as background checks
When parents have a clear understanding of what to expect when they volunteer at school events, they are more likely to show up prepared and engaged.
3. Collect Event Signups
You’ve got a good understanding of your parents, and you know how to communicate with them. Now it’s time to organize parent volunteers for your event! It’s important to create an event calendar with a process for collecting RSVPs. An ideal calendar will be linked or embedded on your parent volunteer page so families can easily find it. Parents should be able to sort through different types of events, RSVP for shifts, and receive updates and reminders.
Consider the following features when choosing an event calendar:
- Ability to collect RSVPs
- Ability to add shifts
- Built-in text and email reminders
- Filters and categories for event types
- Embeddable calendar widget
Creating a cohesive signup process and event calendar will make your school events run smoothly and can help grow your parent volunteer program overall.
4. Promote Volunteer Time Off (VTO)
To maximize parent participation in your school events, consider using volunteer time off (VTO). Volunteer time off is a benefit offered by many corporate workplaces that encourages employees to volunteer during daytime work hours and be paid for those hours. Parents or extended family members who have access to this benefit can use VTO to volunteer at school during the day.
This can drastically increase daytime event participation by reducing the workday conflict barrier for working parents. Encourage parents to check with their employers to see if they are eligible for volunteer time off. VTO is a benefit provided above and beyond vacation hours or sick leave and may accrue in a similar way. Many participating companies offer an average of 20 hours per employee; that’s just 10 two-hour event shifts!
Ways to Promote Volunteer Time Off:
- Parent volunteer newsletters
- PTA or HSA meetings
- Identify eligibility based on parent volunteer data
Daytime availability is often one of the biggest barriers for parents volunteering in schools. Educating parents about VTO opportunities helps remove that barrier and increase event participation.
5. Track Parent Volunteer Hours
You’ve made it this far! Parents received your communication, they’ve signed up for events, and they know about volunteer time off. They’re ready to show up and help make the next school event successful. But what happens afterward?
Keeping track of parent volunteer hours isn’t just about good recordkeeping; it’s also about maximizing involvement and demonstrating impact on your school community. For example, you’re likely already checking in parent volunteers onsite, so you know who’s on campus and can check against RSVPs. The next step is to record volunteer hours for additional tracking and reporting.
Top reasons to track parent volunteer hours include:
- Tracking progress toward volunteer hour requirements
- Reporting for parents eligible for volunteer time off
- Recognizing parent volunteers who go above and beyond
- Demonstrating school community impact
With a parent volunteer time tracking system, you can create a robust engagement platform and reporting process. Parents can easily track their volunteer hours and access reports for time off, while administrators can report on parent engagement, event attendance, and trends in volunteer activities.
Bring your school events full circle with parent recognition paired with robust reporting. This will boost engagement and ultimately demonstrate the success of the school event.
Tools to Streamline Your Parent Volunteer Events
For a hassle-free parent volunteer event, you’ll want the best toolkit at your fingertips. This is where volunteer software comes in. As outlined above, one of the best ways to increase the impact of parent volunteers is to leverage volunteer time off (VTO) programs. But how do you know which parents qualify? You can always send out an additional email to remind parents to check with their employers, but that’s one more step (and potential barrier) to parent engagement.
Software like Double the Donation can automate the corporate volunteering process by identifying which parents are eligible for volunteer grants and volunteer time off programs. This eliminates any extra reminders or manual research on your part. As long as you’re collecting employer information in your volunteer management system, Double the Donation can handle the rest!
Other software you may need for a streamlined experience includes a parent volunteer management system, event calendar, and communication platform. The combination of these tools will provide a smoother experience for parents volunteering in schools and ultimately increase engagement.
FAQ: Parent Volunteers at School Events
How can we increase the number of parents volunteering in schools?
Set volunteering expectations early and understand your parent volunteers. Learn their interests and skillsets to offer school event opportunities that work for them. Offer a variety of roles, provide flexible shifts, promote volunteer time off, and meet parents where they are to maximize engagement.
What is volunteer time off (VTO), and how can it be used for school events?
Volunteer time off is a benefit offered by some corporations that allows employees to volunteer during paid work hours. Schools can take advantage of this benefit by finding out which parents qualify for volunteer time off and promoting its use during school-day events. This helps reduce the school-workday conflict, which can often be a barrier to parents volunteering in schools.
Why is it important to track parent volunteer hours for school events?
Keeping track of parent volunteer hours is important for reporting and recognition purposes. Schools that require a minimum time commitment from parents can use volunteer time-tracking software to monitor progress toward that requirement. An hour record is also typically a requirement for parents to take advantage of volunteer time-off benefits. Plus, tracking parent volunteer hours and activities allows schools to report on parent engagement and quantify that impact.
Key Takeaways for Successful Parent Volunteer Events
Above all, staying organized and setting clear expectations for how parents can volunteer at events is crucial. Research shows that schools with some form of participation requirement see higher rates of parent engagement, so the more you set expectations with parents in advance, the better.
Running a successful parent volunteer event requires planning, communication, and the right tools. By understanding your parent volunteer community, simplifying sign-ups, promoting volunteer time off, and tracking volunteer hours, schools can build a sustainable, engaged parent volunteer base for events.
