PTA Member Portal(PMP)

Murali VasudevanIT Architect - “Democratizing technology”Passionate Community Worker, VolunteerElixir Addons by Elixir Systems, Inc562-480-4473

WHY? HOW? WHAT? WHO? WHEN?

WHY PMP?• Easy to use online program• Manage membership• Stay connected with the members• Easy to Manage funds• Payment Manager, Reports

• Organize events• Fund raisers, scholarships, email campaigns

• Get ready for Audits• Stay Compliant• Reporting• Meet Organizational requirements

Paper Forms • Need to fill the paper form every year!• No tracking of membership over years• Paper forms need to be consolidated into excel• Different people collect them• Gets dropped at different locations• Typos in names, email make difficult to contact

PMP Solution - Registration• Registration using online forms• Filled by the members – less error prone!• No need for manual entry by board member• No papers to lose!

PMP Solution - Renewal• Renewal emails sent to the members• Remind about membership payment (every year)

• No need to re-enter the info• Just verify and make changes (if any)

• How cool is that?

Cash, Check Payments• Manual Deposits• Trip to the Bank (once a month?)

• Potential missing check/cash?

PMP Solution• Online Payments using Pay pal and Credit cards• No trips to the bank• No checks/cash to deposit• Online transactions with immediate receipt emailed/print

• Cash/Check payments can be entered for reporting

Common Issues• Lack of accurate, complete Member List• Inability to calculate Member count• Membership fee is $10

• If a family of four pays $90 how much is the fee, number of members, donation, amount owe to the council PTA?

• If a family of four pays $20 how much is the fee, number of members, donation, amount owe to the council PTA?

• Inability to calculate amount owed • $5.25 per member

• Inaccurate payment to the council

PTA Member Portal (PMP) does the calculations for you!User Manager will help keep accurate member info

Membership Cards• Membership cards are not issued• Don’t know verification codes• Don’t Plan/Get/Use Back to school kit

• Has paper membership cards

• Do not acknowledge payments• Don’t send receipts or a Thank you note

PMP Solution• Members can print eCards• Instant gratification• No more guessing by member!

• Opportunity to partner with local business• Show eCard and Save!• More discounts for members• More membership• More sponsorship of school events!

Personal Information• Member info is not secured • Available in hard/soft copy with many people

• PMP has Activity Log – Monitoring, Security• All info secured, different level of access

Too much Paper…• Members complain about lack of timely information • From PTA/School• Too much colorful Flyers• Too much junk• Save the Planet• Go Green!

Common Issues – Continued…• Do not have email addresses of members• Do not plan email campaigns• Annual renewal notifications• Payment reminders • Other events notification• Newsletters• Go Paperless

• Associated savings• Environmental awareness

• Run surveys• Get feedback from members • Suggestions to improve, new ideas.

• PMP helps run email campaigns for the above!

Volunteer Signup• Volunteer Management (Broken/Missing)• Plan events calendar during summer• List events and provide sign-up opportunity

• At the beginning of academic year• Track volunteers signed up for various events.

• Contact them before the event • Help them prepare• Delegate responsibilities

• Thank/recognize volunteers after the event

• PMP has Volunteer Manager to do the above!

Payment Management• Too many people (board members) collect the payments• Deposit cash and check into bank account• Too much manual effort• Hard to keep track of

• Payments get lost, eventually go unaccounted• Dissatisfied members• Losing credibility

• Differentiate membership payments from donations• Split payments into fee Vs donations • Reporting rules

• PMP has Payment Manager for the above!• Reconciliation with Paypal• Various reports

Common Issues – Continued…• Scholarship Management• Qualification, Application, Judging

• Struggle with fund raisers• Keep track of payments, payees and acknowledging them?

• How much opportunity you lose due to the above?

PMP is your ANSWER!

Why Elixir Addons?• Technical expertise• Built portal for unit presidents

• Disciplined workforce• Quality conscious• Never compromise Quality to save $

• We work with you, Listen to you and Talk to you• Understand your needs and act upon them!• Past Board member WHS PTSA• VP-Technology CHS PTSA• VP-Technology ABC Council PTA

• We are one of YOU!• Technology to improve Life!• We make playing field even!

How much will it cost?• Various packages• Setup cost $250 • includes importing member list, payments• Includes half a day training for members and admins

• Starting with $250 per year• Customizations extra • Dedicated domain extra• Additional training• Operations tasks can be delegated for extra

• Plan for $500- $700 for the first year

Other services - Extras• PTA web site and integration with PMP• Facebook Group setup and management• Twitter account setup and integration• Integration with Council web site• Fast turn around for additional features (for $)• Scholarship manager was built for WHS PTSA in 8 weeks!• RSVP feature was built in 4 weeks!• eCard feature was built in 3 weeks!

Think about this….• What is the annual income of your PTA?• How much of it is from Membership and donations?• How much of it is from sponsorships?• What would be the result with 50-100% increase in

membership?• Additional Income

• 40-80% of total income?• More members

• More involvement from Parents• More Activities -> More income!

What is your point?• Saying in IT• Good news• We have the tool – PMP!

• Commitment• Need committed board members to learn and use it• Everyone does their part• 1-2 hrs a week• Some seasonal variations

Feature Summary• Online registration• Online renewal• Online Payment• Membership card (eCard) printing• Tax receipts printing• Accounting Features• Email Campaign Manager• Scholarship Manager• Volunteer Manager• User Manager

Recommendations• Plan early – START NOW!• Be Ready for the most important days• 80-90% of the membership registration and renewals occur

during the Schedule Pickup days!• During the Summer• Get events calendar ready• Update website• Order Back to School Kit• Review it and use it!• JUST DO IT!

Recommendations - Continued• Identify Volunteers• Minimum one for every schedule pickup day• Total six sessions• Grades 7 - Registration• Grades 8-12 - Renewal

• Train - Online registration/renewal• 1-2 sessions (1-2 Hrs each)• Be Ready for schedule pickup days

• Paper forms are last option

Social Media Rules….• Facebook Group• Join our FB Group NOW!• https://www.facebook.com/groups/whptsa/

• Twitter Account• Follow us @WHS_PTSA• https://twitter.com/WHS_PTSA

• Less activity updates on website• More on Social Media• Don’t be left behind! Take the Plunge!!

PMP Timeline• Started 2013 January• Worked with WHS PTSA Board• Launched in 2013 August for WHS PTSA (V1.0)

• Enhancements during 2014 (V2.0)• Scholarship Manager• Volunteer Manager• Membership rules, Council Payment Report• No more supported

• Enhancements during 2015 (V3.0)• Shared service model to support more PTAs

• Significant additional features• New version released in Sept 2015

• Cerritos Elementary has been using it• Set to launch for CHS PTSA

• Invested 1500+ hrs of Programming • Design, Programming and Testing• $75K conservative estimate

Thank You!