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November 13, 2024

Ask WSPTA: What are the best practices when changing banks?

Here’s a question that pops up from time to time. Sometimes a PTA finds that their current financial institution isn’t serving them well, so leadership begins to consider a change. What should these leaders consider as they weigh a change? We don’t have a set guide for picking your financial institution, so we’ll cover some…
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Category: Governance , Leadership , Training

March 14, 2024

Ask WSPTA: Can we fundraise for teachers’ professional development?

Here’s a great question we received recently in the WSPTA Support inbox: “Is it appropriate for PTAs to fund or fundraise for the cost of teachers’ professional development?” And here’s the answer, courtesy of WSPTA Finance Officer Liz Nord: I am going to start with districts/WA state should be paying for teacher professional development. But we…
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Category: Governance , Leadership

March 12, 2024

Ask WSPTA: Advocacy vs. Lobbying

What’s the difference between advocacy and lobbying?   Advocacy is the act of speaking for, in support of, or to plead a cause on behalf of others. For example, PTAs advocate when they inform members or decision-makers on a topic of concern.   Lobbying is attempting to influence a specific decision.  For example, an activity is lobbying when it involves asking…
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Category: Advocacy , Training

January 23, 2024

Ask WSPTA: Can a PTA sign up for a Venmo account?

Here’s a common question we receive in the support@wastatepta.org inbox: Can our PTA set up a Venmo account for fundraising? For a long time, we highly discouraged the use of Venmo because it was not designed to work for nonprofits. Over the past couple years, Venmo has introduced a new version of its product that…
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Category: Governance , Leadership , Training