Peralta District PTA
Alameda County Office
of Education
313 W. Winton Avenue
Hayward, CA 94544-1198
(510) 670-4109
(message machine)

Membership
Envelopes and Cards / Overview / Awards / What Dues Provide

Membership Envelopes and Cards

Please contact the Membership Chairman to receive your membership envelopes and cards.

Membership cards are free and every member deserves one. It is their proof of membership. A membership card entitles its bearer to a ballot for a PTA election. Applicants for PTA scholarships and grants must provide a copy of their membership card. A membership card is required to register for the California State PTA convention. Remember a membership card has the username and password on it for accessing various parts of the National PTA website and for signing up for member benefits, discounts and resources.

How To Use Membership Cards (Tips for PTA units) provides the information necessary to understand the process and their usage.

Membership envelopes can be purchased from the District Membership Chair or the District President. If cards are available at the time of envelope purchase, each PTA unit will also receive membership cards at least equal in number to their membership the previous year. Additional cards can be requested once per capita has been remitted.

Official PTA membership envelopes are $10 for a box of 500. It is not necessary that you use our envelopes. Units in a council should contact their council for membership envelopes and cards. Units that are Out of Council should contact the District Membership Chair.

Membership Card Distribution

Membership cards can be distributed to your members in a variety of ways.

• During registration - when members join, they get their cards right away
• At Back-to-School night - when members join, they get their cards right away
• After dues are paid using envelopes, cards are distributed in Weekly Folders
• Cards can be mailed to the members' homes

Whenever your parents are congregated en mass, your membership chairman or committee should set up a table, collect dues, and give out membership cards. Units should have cards and envelopes in hand by the end of August so that this process can go smoothly.

Encourage your teachers to join! The "T" in PTA stands for teachers. You need their physical and moral support to carry out your objectives. Your principal and other administrators and staff should also be members. Enthusiasm is contagious!

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Membership Overview

Enrolling members in the PTA is a year-long activity that is carried out by a membership committee. It is the entire board's responsibility to be promoting and encouraging membership. The primary reason for developing membership in the PTA is to build an informed team of individuals to work on behalf of all children and youth. The committee plans, implements, and evaluates the membership campaign following the guidelines of the National PTA and California State PTA. To be familiar with what PTA does, review the brochure Involvement Makes A Difference.

http://www.capta.org/sections/membership/downloads/involvement-makes-difference-en.pdf

Many of the benefits of membership are detailed on the California State PTA website www.capta.org and the National PTA website www.pta.org which also has special sections that can only be accessed by members using the "user" and "password" that appear on the back of a PTA membership card. These change yearly at the end of October.

In addition to increasing enrollment, the campaign should make the public aware of the resources that the PTA offers to parents, educators, and members of the community who work, in large and small ways, to secure a nurturing, healthy environment for children, and strengthen the PTA voice so that policy makers in all areas, at all levels will hear a strong, unified message on behalf of children, youth, and families.

Any individual who subscribes to the Purposes and basic policies of the PTA becomes a member upon payment of dues to a PTA or PTSA unit. Students can be members at any PTA but must be actively included in a PTSA. Each member receives an official membership card from the unit. The membership card issued shows that the dues paid to the unit include membership in the California State PTA and National PTA and expires on October 31 annually.

Each PTA is separate from any other PTA and gives special services to a specific group of children. Members having children in more than one school may pay dues to support the PTA or youth in each child's school. (See Toolkit, section 3.2.1 – Memberships)

Please check the website of the California State PTA for further information and helpful articles about membership in the newsletters PTA in California and The Communicator.

Member Benefits

Numerous benefits are available to dues-paying units and members. Member units have access to many resources as well as the support and assistance of the other levels of PTA. Some of these benefits are intangible and are detailed in a brochure entitled PTA Membership Benefits You, Students, Your School.

Additionally, because of the size of the organization, National PTA is able to partner with businesses and negotiate special discounts, fundraising opportunities, and other valuable benefits exclusively for PTA members. Go to www.pta.org/benefits to learn more.

Membership Dues and the PTA Structure

All members of the California State PTA belong to a unit and are represented by:

• A council (if applicable);
• A district PTA (if applicable);
• California State PTA; and
• National PTA.

A council is a group of PTA units within a District PTA organized under the authority of the California State PTA.

Annual membership dues include per capita dues to the council (if in council), district PTA, California State PTA, and National PTA. The remaining portion stays in the unit. Dues may differ in amount in each PTA and are listed in the local unit PTA's bylaws. Changing the amount of unit dues requires a revision of the unit's bylaws.

Per each unit's bylaws, per capita dues must be submitted through channels to the district by November 15th to remain a unit in good standing.

The portion of dues paid to a unit that is specified in the bylaws as due the council (if in council), district PTA, California State PTA and National PTA, known as "per capita dues," does not belong to the unit but must be forwarded through channels at the completion of the enrollment month and by the first of each month thereafter.

Per the bylaws for every PTA unit (Article XI), a local association (unit PTA) in good standing in California is one which in addition to other considerations also:
• pays dues to and actively supports all branches of the National and California State PTA
• remits dues and annual insurance premiums by dates designated, and
• is comprised of not less than fifteen (15) members .

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Awards

Early Bird Awards

Units that meet the Early Bird Award and Chairman's Club Award deadlines (due to the State PTA by November 1 and November 15 respectively) receive certificates from California State PTA and also have been recognized at an Annual Awards Night that Peralta District PTA has held for the last 2 years.

They are both incentive awards to encourage units, councils and districts to start submitting per capita (dues) in a timely and regular basis once the membership campaign and school year have begun. Per capita should be submitted on at least a monthly basis but the minimum amount must be remitted by November 15 so that Peralta District can meet its December 1 deadline. (Unit PTAs who are not in good standing will be notified by California State PTA beginning in December and could lose their PTA charter in March if they do not remit (either the per capita or insurance premium) to qualify for good standing.

Should a PTA wish to apply for a "My PTA/PTSA Award" (applications are due February 1 and can be found on the State PTA web site), they need to have earned the Chairman's Club award, which is per capita for 50 memberships submitted through channels by the deadline. Winners of a "My PTA/PTSA Award" are acknowledged at the state convention, are introduced on stage and sometimes their accomplishments are detailed in the convention program booklet.

Please read more about membership on the website of the California State PTA and check out the Membership Ideas page at http://www.capta.org/sections/membership/ideas.cfm

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What Dues Provide

The Unit PTA Level

Administrative Reimbursement: Officers and Chairmen
Convention Delegates
Emergency Student Assistance
Hospitality
Insurance
Newsletters, Web site, Print and Electronic notices
Organizational Expenses
Parent Education, Study Groups
Program Booklets
Publications
School/Student Projects

The Council PTA Level

Administrative Reimbursement: Officers and Chairmen
Community Projects
Convention Delegates
Directory
Emergency Student Assistance
Hospitality
Leadership Training
Materials
Newsletters, Web site, Print and Electronic notices
Publications
Workshops
Forwarding of payments through channels

The District PTA Level

Administrative Reimbursement: Officers and Chairmen
Commissioners
Convention Delegates
Directory
Emergency Student Assistance
Hospitality
Leadership Training and Projects
Programs
Newsletter, Web site, Print and Electronic notices
Publications
Reimbursement: Officers, Chairs
Workshops and Conferences

The State PTA Level

Administrative Reimbursement: Officers, Chairmen
California State PTA Convention
California State PTA Offices in Los Angeles and Sacramento
California State PTA Toolkit
Electronic Notices and Communications
National PTA Convention Delegates
Newsletter (PTA in California)
Publications and Supplies
Reimbursement: officers, chairmen, legislation advocates, commissioners
Service Mailing
Special Projects
www.capta.org

The National PTA Level

Administrative Reimbursement: Officers, Chairmen
Electronic Notices and Communication
Field Services
Legislative Offices: Washington D.C.
Magazine (Our Children)
National PTA Convention
National PTA Headquarters: Chicago
Reimbursement: officers, chairs, and legislative committee
Resources / Publications
Special Projects
www.pta.org

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