We have had a number of enquiries about what is involved in joining the PSFA Committee. So we have put together some general information that we hope you might find useful.

The lockdown period has meant that all our events and normal activities have come to a halt. But that also means that our fundraising has been greatly affected. This is not a situation we want to continue. We are therefore looking for new, innovative ways to raise money that might take us away from some of the traditional events we have put on in the past.

Ordinarily the Committee meets monthly – there are typically 10 meetings held per school year – normally on the first Monday of every month at 7pm. We are required by our Constitution to hold a minimum of 3 Committee meetings per academic year. We are also required to hold one AGM every year. There cannot be more than 15 months between each AGM.

It is important when organising events and activities that discussions and decisions can happen outside of the Committee meetings. We have a Whatsapp group for this.

The organisation has 4 Committee Members/Trustees:

• Chair
• Vice Chair
• Secretary
• Treasurer. 

The organisation needs two of these roles to be filled  to continue. There is nothing to prevent people taking more than one role. However, to ensure proper governance the Chair and Treasurer role should not be the same person.  It is preferable that all people elected to the above positions are signatories to the bank account.

You should allow a minimum 1 hour per month for the meeting.  It is likely that online meetings will be held for the foreseeable future.  These may take less time.

Chair

• Trustee of the organisation
• Responsible for the overall running of the organisation
• Coordination of Meetings, setting and distribution of Agendas, liaison with Head Teacher as and when required
• Liaison with all Committee/ officers to ensure smooth running of events/activities and authorising expenditure
• Coordinates AGM, writes and presents Chairman’s report (annual task).

The time spent  being Chair of the organisation will depend on what activities are being organised and events being held.  You should nevertheless be prepared to spend a minimum of 2 hours per month – this includes time at the meeting.

Vice Chair

• Trustee of the organisation
• Deputise for Chair.
• Support the Chair in liaising with all Committee/ officers to ensure smooth running of events/activities

You will be required to chair and organise the meetings if the elected Chair is unable to do so.  You should maintain regular contact with the Chair and participate in the decision making regarding events and activities. The time spent  being Vice Chair of the organisation will depend on what activities are being organised and events being held.  You should nevertheless be prepared to spend a minimum of 2 hours per month – this includes time at the meeting.

Secretary

• Trustee of the organisation
• Take minutes of meetings, type up and circulate to committee members.

You should be prepared to spend a minimum of 2 hours per month – including time spent at the meeting.

Treasurer

• Trustee of the organisation
• Bank money from events and ensures float available for events.
• Provides financial updates as required (preferably monthly at meetings)
• Manages bank account, signatories and cheque book
• Writes and presents Treasurer’s report at AGM (annual task)
• Arranges independent examination of accounts (annual task)
• Completes Charity Commission return and updates website (annual task).

The time spent  being Treasurer of the organisation will depend on what activities are being organised and events being held. You should be prepared to spend a minimum of 2 hours per month – including time spent at the meeting.

Other roles

We then have a number of volunteer helper roles that are not elected and it remains unclear at the current time how many of these will be required. It helps if these people attend the Committee meetings in order to understand the activities taking place.

GDPR compliance

The recent GDPR legislation brought about changes in how we operate. It is helpful for someone who attends the meetings to have knowledge of the legislation to ensure we remain compliant. This role doesn’t require a lot of activity outside of the meetings unless a query arises. This would typically be done by the Chair or Secretary but equally could be combined with any other role.

Social Media Coordinator

We have a Facebook page, a Twitter and Instagram account. The majority of interactions come via Facebook. We use this page to communicate with parents and advertise our events. This activity will continue throughout any lockdown period promoting any new initiatives as agreed by the Committee. You will receive direct messaging through Facebook with enquiries – not just about events but random things relating to the school which you need to pass on. It is helpful if you can join other groups that are set-up by parents in order to reach as wide an audience as possible. You will need to liaise with event coordinators regarding images and content to be used for publicity. You will require your own Facebook account to administer the Darrick Wood page.

Lottery Coordinator

We run a successful lottery which brings in just over £2000 per year. We have a list of players who pay by standing order. Every month at the meeting we draw 3 winning numbers. These winners receive a prize paid by cheque. To ensure the winning entrants have paid that month we cross reference all payments on our bank statement to our records. Cheques are written and sent off to the winners.

Decisions need to be made with the Committee about whether to continue with this system or move to alternatives. This task has continued throughout the lockdown period. You should allow 1 hour per month for this task. You should be able to use Excel.

Website and Email Administrator

We currently have a self-hosted WordPress based website. We have 4 email addresses associated with our domain. On our website we have a sign-up page for volunteers. This list is managed through MailChimp. We then store the email addresses of our volunteers in email contact lists across the email accounts. We have a contact form on our website and you will receive emails from parents in relation to our events or other queries relating to the school. The responsibility for answering these enquiries could be dealt with by this role or the Social Media Coordinator.

Second-hand Uniform coordinator

We try to hold 3 uniform sales per year. This can bring in approximately £1500 per year. It is useful to have someone who is in charge of handling enquiries throughout the year about uniform and someone who can co-ordinate the sales. Sales need to be promoted through our social media channels. Uniform is donated throughout the school year. We can often have piles of bags to sort through. Setting up for the sale can therefore be time consuming. All second-hand uniform is stored at the school. We have space that it can be hung on rails and kept organised. Access to this is restricted because of Covid. There are online platforms available which would make it possible to sell uniform online. To sell online you would need to keep on top of unpacking donations to manage stock levels.

Affiliate Promotions

We currently raise money by promoting Amazon Smile and also Stamptastic. We receive commission from purchases from certain links and checkout codes. There are further opportunities to be explored in this area – easyfundraising.com being one example/ We normally promote these on our Social Media accounts and Stamptastic through leaflets at various parents evenings. Data regarding sales on Amazon prime should be downloaded every month. This role doesn’t take much time and could be combined with the role of Social Media Coordinator – however the effort that goes into promoting it, the more the Association is likely to earn. You will need access to one of the official email accounts in order to manage these activities.

Volunteer Coordinator

We raise a lot of money throughout the year by selling teas, coffees, soft drinks, sweets and chocolates at open evenings, parents evenings and school productions. To do this we require a number of volunteers. This needs a coordinator to maintain a list of volunteers, to email them regarding the event calendar and arrange suitable timings and cover. They are responsible for ensuring people have access to our supplies and ensuring someone at the event is responsible for the money taken. We currently have a list of approximately 50 parents who expressed an interest in volunteering to help. We probably have a core of 10 parent volunteers.

It is unclear when or if these activities will resume. The only role which might require help will be the Uniform coordinator.

Catering Supplies

In order to sell refreshments at the events listed above we need to keep a stock of supplies. These can be purchased at supermarkets or at a cash and carry. We just seek to obtain the best value for money. These then need to be taken to the school and stored in order that there are supplies ready for each event. A timetable of events is agreed at the start of each term. It is therefore important that someone can get access to the school whilst it is open.

It is unclear when or if these activities will resume so for the time being this role is probably not required.

Event Organisers

One of the main ways we have raised money in the past is by organising events. We have held an annual Christmas Ball, Magic Nights, Murder Mystery Evenings, Quizzes and Discos. It works best if you have a nominated event organiser for each event but with at least one other person to support them in order to provide proper oversight for the Committee. More volunteers may be needed at the events themselves. Some of these events have been more popular than others but all are on hold for the foreseeable future. Events can take hours to organise – but can also be tremendous fundraisers. 3 years ago our Christmas Ball raised over £3000, last year it raised £675. It all depends on support from parents.

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There is nothing to prevent the elected Committee members from taking on some of the other roles. It depends how much time you have to offer. All of the above jobs were split between 4 people over the last year. 3 of us did 12 of the roles but two of us are standing down and therefore the PSFA needs more support.

The more people we have in the School Community who are prepared to come forward and help – the less work everyone has to do.

Our experience is that fewer and fewer parents want to attend our events, and fewer and fewer parents want to volunteer. So….we need to do more online, make it easy for people to participate and donate, and make everything as easy to manage as possible for those who volunteer.

Can you help??

Please do not be afraid to get involved. Encourage friends to come along and create a social side to everything you do. In previous years event planning meetings have been held in the pub!