The world is moving fast and so are your volunteers. It's time to modernize! Make sure your PTA is operating as efficiently as possible by incorporating these easy tools and best practices. Your volunteers will appreciate it and applaud your ingenuity.

1. 10 Ways
to Modernize
Your PTA
We talk to PTAs everyday (and we love it). Those that are innovating are collecting more
and increasing participation. Find out how.

2. #1
Eliminate
paper at all
costs
Nothing slows down a PTA more
than paper.
Let’s face it, paper is the antithesis of
efficiency. Planning a fundraising or school
event?
From start to finish, from marketing to
payment, think about how you can
eliminate paper from the mix. Send out
electronic communications, promote it on
Facebook, accept payment with Cheddar
Up. This not only makes managing the
project easier (read: no more spreadsheets,
data entry, or trips to the bank!), it will also
increase participation.

3. #2
Consider a direct
donation fundraiser
Nothing says buzz kill like the arrival of a fundraising packet
Never before have parents and kids been busier. Whether its candy bars, wrapping paper, magazines or butter braids,
most parents fall into the same pattern to get the job done. Call the grandparents, email the aunts and uncles, and write
a personal check for the difference.
PTAs are wising up and making changes to better suit today’s lifestyles. How? By offering simple, direct donation
fundraisers – also called annual giving campaigns. It saves everyone time and usually produces better results. Really
savvy PTAs are moving all payments online with Cheddar Up, because:
+ Who still carries a check book? Online payments get the job done in just a few clicks.
+ Collecting money online is more secure than collecting cash and checks.
+ Marketing the fundraiser is easier when people can pay online.
+ The whole “I forgot my checkbook“ excuse is out the window!
+ Schools that offer online payment collect significantly MORE.

4. #3
Collect PTA
dues online
and boost
parent
involvement
If you give a human an excuse...
they’ll take it!
Any school that only collects PTA dues in-
person or via cash or check is handing
parents an excuse on a silver platter.
Give parents an online way to pay and you
will see an instant boost in membership.
Not only is it easy to pay, it’s also easy to
market – you can promote membership via
email, Facebook, or your school website.
Need to collect contact information? If you
use Cheddar Up you can do this by
seamlessly adding custom fields to your
payment pages.

5. #4 Sneak in fundraisers that
don’t seem like fundraisers
Public, private, charter…in all cases, parents can be sensitive to
the number of fundraisers that happen.
This is why we’re a huge fan of what we call “micro fundraising”. This sneaks fundraising into activities
that don’t feel like fundraising! When done well, this is a winner. Some of our favorites include:
+ Family restaurant night. Select a popular restaurant that gives back to
schools. Pick a date, market the heck out of it, and voila. A fun night of dining with
the community turns into instant proceeds. Everyone needs to eat, right?
+ Grocery cards. If your school doesn’t sell grocery cards it should. We all buy
groceries, why not give 3+% back to your school. Schools tell us that in-person
payment limits these programs. Use Cheddar Up to sell your cards and
participation will go through the roof.

6. #5
Use Facebook
to stay in
touch with
your
community
Chances are that most school
parents use Facebook regularly
(weekly, daily, maybe even hourly) –
use that to your advantage!
Facebook is a great way to engage your
community and keep them posted on news and
events. If your school doesn’t have a Facebook
page, set one up today! Here are some tips:
1. Check with the principal to make sure a page
doesn’t already exist. If it does, volunteer to
take it over so the PTA can update and
monitor it.
2. Make sure to create a Facebook fan page and
not a Facebook group. A group requires
permission to join and a fan page doesn’t.
You want to encourage involvement for this
school-community page and the fan page
will do this.

7. #6 Turn teacher giving
into a fundraiser
We know teacher giving is normally not a PTA activity, but this
idea is so brilliant, it’s worth collaborating with the room moms.
Teacher giving usually happens at least twice a year – around the holidays and at the end of the school
year. Let’s face it, teachers don’t like receiving mugs. Thus, the latest trend is a group class gift – usually in
the form of a gift card. Teachers love this; instead of 25 mugs, they receive a gift that can make a real
difference in their lives.
Some schools take this to the Nth degree. They use Cheddar Up to create one big payment page with
every member of the staff listed. This makes it easy for parents and hassle free for volunteers. Cheddar
Up does the work for them. Once collected, the teachers select a Scrip gift card with their collected funds.
Boom! The epitome of a win-win. Great gifts for the staff and an instant fundraiser for the school.
Find out more about how this works >>

8. #7
Find the BEST
tech tools to
simplify PTA
admin
The job of the PTA comes with
some arduous tasks. Automate
them to make lives easier.
Take the time to find the BEST tools for each task. If you
pick the all-in-one tool, chances are you won’t find the best
and most affordable option. For starters, make sure you
have tools to help with:
+ Volunteer Sign Ups. We like BringIt. It
has a clean user interface and great
functionality.
+ Online payments. Call us biased, but
Cheddar Up was created to solve PTA pain
points. It not only helps with paying and
collecting, but also does the tedious task
of tracking and reminding.
+ Scheduling. Lots of meetings and
submeetings happen in a PTA. Save your
inbox by using Doodle.

9. #8 Boost parent involvement
with flexible PTA meetings
Need some fresh faces in your PTA?
This is a common concern among PTAs…how to get others involved. Busy working parents
often sit on the sidelines when it comes to PTA involvement, because they don’t want to
over commit and under deliver.
You can solve this. Incorporate technology into your meetings that allow even the
business traveler to participate. Make sure there’s an online or virtual component for every
meeting. Skype and Google Hangouts are two popular tools that will do the trick.
Don’t penalize parents with busy schedules and work commitments. Advertise your
flexible arrangements and you’ll be surprised by the diversity you can draw to the group.

10. #9
Implement
multiple
communication
channels
In case you missed the memo,
people don’t always read their email.
This is a huge frustration for school administration,
teachers, and PTAs. It’s not that people never read
their email it’s that things get missed. And if
something gets missed, the odds of them going
back to it are slim.
How do you combat it? Multiple communication
channels! Our society is on information overload
and if you have something important to say, your
best bet is a one-two…or even a one-two-three
punch. If your school will allow it, encourage them
to establish a mobile communication channel. This
can be done by putting together an SMS
distribution list or by creating a school app.
Between mobile, email, and Facebook, your odds of
exposure, and hence participation, are significantly
higher.

11. #10 Sign your school up for
the BIG Cheese program
Make money on the money you make. We’ll explain…
If your school and PTA is like most, you collect money for hundreds of different activities –
for everything from band uniforms to annual giving campaigns to after-school chess club.
The list is long. Chances are you’re still doing this collecting via paper methods.
If you use Cheddar Up and sign up for our BIG Cheese program, your school can earn
money back based on the number of people that pay and the amount of money it collects.
Take it one step further and your PTA can also make money on ever dollar that parents
collect – be it for their fantasy football league or soccer coach gift – by simply adding a
special link to your school’s website. Referring back to tip #4, this is our favorite micro
fundraiser of all! Find out more.

12. Get hours of
your life
back
CREATE PAYMENT PAGES IN SECONDS
SEND FRIENDLY, AUTOMATIC REMINDERS
AT-A-GLANCE TRACKING OF ALL PAYMENTS
TRACK BOTH ONLINE AND CASH/CHECK PAYMENTS
EXPORT PAYMENT INFO TO EXCEL
FAMILIES PAY IN 3 CLICKS VIA CREDIT CARD OR E-CHECK
SCHOOLS DECIDE WHO PAYS THE PROCESSING FEES
CREATE CUSTOM BRANDED PAYMENT PAGES
PTAs that use Cheddar Up see results and collect more.
ABOUT CHEDDAR UP
www.cheddarup.com | How it works Need help? Contact us at info@cheddarup.com.