Start a PTA at Your School
As a member of the PTA, your school’s volunteers will have a strong support system and network of resources to benefit the families and students at your school while also retaining autonomy to decide how best to support the unique needs and interests of your local school community.
All PTAs are noncommercial, nonsectarian, nonpartisan and organized exclusively for charitable, scientific, literary or educational purposes under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Service code. PTA provides access to programs, event toolkits, and grants that your volunteers can use to help build school spirit, celebrate students and create the types of traditions that help your families and your community get excited about learning together. Additionally your community will have access to best practices and governance from a nation-wide network of support which ensures compliance with non-profit law and personalized support when your community encounters a problem. For more than 120 years Virginia PTA has connected parents with education resources and provided parents with a voice to advocate at the local , state, and federal level for the academic success, health, and safety of all children.
- Governance. Provide your volunteer community with peace of mind knowing that you are meeting state and federal non-profit law and best practices. All PTAs in Virginia are organized under Uniform Bylaws and a Local Organizational Structure determined by members of your school community. Annual reporting under the Virginia PTA Standards of Affiliation helps maintain your PTA’s tax-exempt status as well as eligibility for grants, student recognition programs, scholarships, and volunteer awards programs.
- Community Participation & Membership. All members of your school community are welcome to participate in PTA events and meetings. PTA works to support all children and your entire school community, however, when it comes time to elect officers and vote on the budget or other matters placed before membership, individuals must be a PTA member to vote. Every person who joins your local school PTA automatically becomes a member of Virginia PTA and National PTA. Annual membership dues are determined by the members of each local school PTA and include Virginia PTA dues of $1.50 and National PTA dues of $3.25 which are collected and paid by your school PTA.
- Ongoing Training & Personal Support. Virginia PTA and National PTA provide on-going training, sample templates, and resources so your volunteers can feel confident in the basics of running a strong PTA. If you encounter a problem, your community can contact a Council or State officer for personalized support.
- PTA Management Platform. Virginia PTA provides a FREE Givebacks account to each local unit and council PTA! Givebacks provides your PTA with an online school directory, e-store, volunteer sign-up, school calendar, fundraising platform, website hosting, and more.
- Collaboration & Advocacy. As a member of Virginia PTA, your volunteers will be able to participate in roundtables and events to share ideas and best practices with other PTA leaders from across your city/county, Virginia ,and the United States. Our shared mission and focus on family engagement in schools helps volunteers find community and support for their work. Shared conversation also helps identify resource gaps or areas of concern across our schools that may require a change in policies, funding, or legislation to better support family engagement and the education, physical and mental health, welfare, and safety of children and youth. Our statewide advocacy program and topic specific resources provides PTAs and their members with tools to advocate for improved resources to support students.
READY TO START A PTA?
As a grassroots organization, PTA begins at the local level. Virginia PTA is here to guide you through the steps for each local PTA to become an independent nonprofit business, including the requirements necessary to ensure compliance with state and federal laws. The process is unique to each potential local PTA, but there are general steps that every local PTA will take to begin chartering a brand new unit or to reinstate a previous unit that hasn’t held elections for officers or operated in more than three years.
- Apply: Send Charter application form to Virginia PTA (with lead organizers and principal signature).
- Advertise: Use charter membership link provided by Virginia PTA to advertise that your school is chartering a new PTA, and encourage families to join as a charter member.
- Hold Charter Meeting: Hold PTA Charter Organizational meeting to vote on your local PTA’s Organizational Structure Form, set local unit dues, and Elect Officers.
- Legal and operations set-up: Virginia PTA establishes legal framework for you to operate and sets up a free Givebacks account.
- Finance Set-up: Newly elected officers open a bank checking account using the new charter packet provided by Virginia PTA.
- Get started building community and enjoying PTA resources!
To get started, please complete the application form and email it to the Vice President of Local Unit Operations at Charter@vapta.org to set up an initial meeting/phone call to discuss the process for chartering and the benefits of joining the Virginia PTA. We can generally help you get set-up to start advertising your new PTA within 1-2 days, and you can be ready to operate within in 1-2 weeks, depending on your community’s needs.
