5 Reasons to create a Facebook Group for your PTA

Facebook Groups for a PTA

Many PTA groups create their own Facebook Page, willing it to be a goldmine of engagement, information sharing and volunteer recruitment. Unfortunately, a lot of these pages are left abandoned by the one time enthusiastic admins that suddenly realise the time and input required.

To create and sustain an engaged Facebook page, you need a volunteer/s to update them regularly and post often. This is how you get your news-feed in front of the school community and sponsors.

However, this is not conducive to a PTA group given the traditional lack of volunteers leading to frustration and many PTA groups abandon their Facebook page, leaving it looking unloved and outdated. Not a great way to represent your PTA to the outside world!

“ But Facebook is free and most of the parents and our sponsors are on there! We need it to communicate , we really do! “

I hear you, I really do. And I agree, Facebook is free, can be super useful and be a great communication tool.

If you want to bounce ideas back and forth, ask questions and create an engaged PTA  community, how about you switch your focus to having a Facebook Group for your PTA instead?

A Facebook Group is a viable way of building a highly engaged community of individuals who are likely to be more invested in your events and fundraising initiatives. If I haven’t convinced you yet, here are five reasons why you should consider a Facebook Group for your PTA.

1. It provides more personal engagement.

A Facebook Page is visible to everyone on the internet by default and people often feel intimidated posting publicly online but in a Facebook Group setting, that barrier is removed. Your PTA Facebook Group can be a closed space, just for PTA fundraising matters. The right discussion can really take off amongst your members in a PTA Facebook Group as it feels like a familiar, safe place to engage and post. After all, lots of their school mum and dad friends are in the group.

2. It focuses attention to a call to action - Pinning a Post.

In a Facebook Group, you have the ability to pin a post to the top. This is a great place to put a call to action and guarantee you draw eyeballs to it. You don’t want to throw up something overly spammy or desperate, but an invitation to join your PTA newsletter is perfectly fine, especially if you provide value to the group members.

Not every group member is going to jump on your call to action immediately, but if you remain value-focussed, you will see group members join that want to receive more of your content. You can unpin and pin new posts depending on the relevance of you particular message at the time. No longer require donations of chocolate? UNPIN that post! Need volunteers for Santa’s Grotto? PIN that post!

3. Receive immediate feedback from polls.

Groups are a great source of immediate feedback, and if you build a loyal group from the beginning, the feedback you receive will be extremely valuable. By creating polls in your group, you can receive feedback on any subject matter or question you might have. For example, what movie should we show next film night  or should we have fish ‘n’ chips or curry next quiz night? 

This can be beneficial for every PTA, no matter what size you are. Facebook Groups allow you to poll your members, and receive feedback as well as start a conversation around any topic. From fundraising ideas to event experiences, it’s a source of the most honest feedback you can find in a dedicated online environment.

4. Making Announcements - Broadcast PTA Success

Creating a group gives you a highly targeted audience to announce events and  request volunteers when the time is right But in the meantime, focus on creating an engaging community. Without that element, nobody will be interested in your events or volunteer requests! A PTA Facebook Group is a also great place to broadcast your success and even promote your sponsors. Indeed, it can be an added incentive for sponsors to sign up!

5. Building trust helps you recruit volunteers

All four points previous discussed above require one key element - trust. Without trust, you won’t have a highly engaged group, you won’t drive interest to your call to action, your polls won’t receive feedback and any volunteer requests won’t be well received.

To build trust, you must provide value. Things like sharing first-hand experience, answering questions and simply providing the online community can all help strengthen the relationship between the PTA, your members and your parent community. Holding question-and-answer sessions, creating polls and passing helpful school related information to your group are just a few examples of how you can provide added value. The more your members feel they are included in PTA matters, the more invested they will be in your events. Who knows, one day you may be turning volunteer help away!!?!

I hope this gave you some insight into Facebook Groups and how creating one can work for your PTA. Here is a useful link to get you started using Facebook Groups for your PTA https://www.facebook.com/help/1629740080681586/

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