WASHINGTON STATE PTA PT AVENUE GUIDE

Transcription

1 WASHINGTON STATE PTA PT AVENUE GUIDE OVERVIEW In September of 2015 Washington State PTA began using a cloud based membership database system designed for PTAs called PT Avenue. Through this platform, in combination with our accounting database, we are able to provide most of the features PTA leadership have been requesting, along with direct technical assistance from PT Avenue. As a replacement for the previous database the membership only version of PT Avenue is provided by WSPTA at no charge to our local PTAs. Upgraded versions are available to PTAs who wish to subscribe to them at their own cost. Every PTA in Washington is required to use some version of PT Avenue. PT Avenue is a web-based system utilized by PTAs in other states and by other parent organizations. While we feel comfortable about how it meets our needs, and we do have input on updates and upgrades, it is not custom software designed specifically for WSPTA. As such there are a few elements not used by PTAs in Washington, or used in a particular way. This document was written by WSPTA for covering the features of the basic membership only version of PT Avenue as used in Washington State. Once in PT Avenue you will notice a HELP button in the upper right corner of all screens this will take you to case sensitive help on some screens you will see blue buttons that take you to videos or guides (pdf files) that give more in depth information related to using that screen. For example the Member Area Setup & Data Entry Video and Membership Setup Guide on the Add New Member screen. The videos, help, and guides are broad, as they are written for all state PTAs that might use PT Avenue, as well as other parent organizations. They also cover all three versions of the system: Membership Only, Financial, and Full; so pay careful attention to the applicable version as you watch and read about features. WSPTA PT Avenue Guide (June 2016) Page 1

2 TABLE OF CONTENTS LOGGING INTO PT AVENUE Where to Login Forgot Username or Password Home Page - First Login DATA AND PREFERENCES Review your Data - Profile School grade range, local dues, custom fields, welcome text Review your Data - Corporate/Legal User Preferences address for admin user, password, security question PTA BOARD MEMBERS Individual Board Member Profile Adding a Board Member an Individual Board Member the Board HELPERS - GIVING OTHERS PT AVENUE ACCESS Helper Forgot Their Password BANK ACCOUNT ACH INFORMATION Should we Enter ACH info - Online Join Decision MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION Ways to Enter Members Entering Members One at a Time Importing Members Deleting Duplicate Member Records MEMBER ADDRESS Resend Membership Card ONLINE SELF-REGISTRATION Benefits of Registering Online Online Join Process Adding Additional Household Members Online Transaction Processing Fee Steps to Participate in Online Join MEMBERSHIP LISTS and REPORTS Resend Membership Card Roster - Members Entered or Invoiced by Date Paid Report - All Paid Members Reprint Invoice ING PTA MEMBERS SUPPORT WSPTA PT Avenue Guide (June 2016) Page 2

3 LOGGING INTO PT AVENUE Login to PT Avenue To login to your PT Avenue account go to: Key in your username and password in the Administrators/Board Members section on the right side of the screen, then click login. If you mistype your user name or password you will see the below screen. To try again click LOG IN in the upper right of the screen. WSPTA PT Avenue Guide (June 2016) Page 3

4 Forgot Username or Password If you forgot your username or password enter anything on the login screen, then click LOG IN. Click Send Me My Username and Password ; you will see this screen: Key the address used in your PT Avenue account, select the security question you chose for your account, and enter your security question answer, then click Send Login Information. Your username and password will be sent to the address on your account. If you can t recall the information needed on this screen there are still simple ways to get help. If you are the head admin contact your council representative or region director and ask them to have your username and password ed to you. If you use a helper login, not the head admin login, contact the head admin user for your PTA and ask them to have your username and password ed to you. Once you login be sure to select and answer your security question on the Preferences page see User Preferences below. WSPTA PT Avenue Guide (June 2016) Page 4

5 Home Page First Login The homepage/dashboard for your account: The first time you log in as a helper you will be prompted to reset your password and select and answer your security question. Keep this information in a in a secure place. The address on the account and the security question and answer are used to retrieve your username and password if you forget one or both. WSPTA PT Avenue Guide (June 2016) Page 5

6 DATA AND PREFERENCES Review Your Data - Profile The first time you login as head administrator, you should review the data, correct any incorrect information, and report to WSPTA state office if you re unable to make a correction. Note: The head admin is the only person who can save changes on the organization profile page. Select the PROFILE tab, then the Profile icon: The profile page looks like this: WSPTA PT Avenue Guide (June 2016) Page 6

7 Review, correct, and/or complete the information on this screen as follows: Verify the Name and Organization Type. Confirm the Grade Range for the school. Verify the address (this is typically the school address), Local Unit ID and other information. Enter the Local Share of dues, and verify the Council Share (if applicable) is correct. If your PTA doesn t charge local dues, indicate if you want to allow members to join online with zero local dues (see more on this below) Enter a Membership Coordinator address (see below) Set up to three Custom Member Fields if you wish (see below). Entries in the Website, Facebook Page, and Twitter Feed fields will be included in the welcome . They are not required. In the PTA Member Card Message field you can enter a brief message you would like added to the welcome . The welcome is sent to each paid member with their membership card attached. See an example of what you might include below. Click UPDATE PROFILE to save changes. Grade Range note: PT Avenue tracks student grades in a household, and at year end gives you the option to automatically remove the household if the student is the only one associated with the family and graduates out of your top-level grade - which helps keep your member area clean. For this reason (plus Directory features in the FULL version), you may want to enter the grade range and enter students under a Primary parent listing. Allow Online Join With $0.00 Local Dues? Yes/No is used only if your PTA doesn t charge local dues. If your PTA local dues is actually zero and you want to allow members to register using the pt-avenue.com/join online registration site you ll need to select Yes. Otherwise (if your local dues amount is not zero, or if your local share is zero but you don t want members joining on this site) leave it set to No. Member Coordinator address is the address where the member welcome and attached membership card will be sent if the member doesn t provide an address. This should be an account which someone at your PTA agrees to monitor and to distribute the welcome and attached card to members either by forwarding the (if, for example, the member provides you with an address and asked you not to enter it in the database) or printing the and card and delivering them to the members. If you leave this blank these s will be sent to the on the head admin account (see preferences). Custom Member Fields allow you to track three pieces of additional information of your choosing about your members. It might be Has a Truck, Past Officer, or Volunteer (but note that if you have the full version there is a whole section for volunteer information). If you set one custom field as Past Officer you might enter Pres in that field on the member who was president for the year, and similarly for other past officers. You will then be able to get a list of past officers or past presidents etc. using the report design feature. Some PTAs use one of these fields to track volunteers who are team leaders rather than adding them to the board roster. Once you set the custom member field names and then start entering member information remember that you ll make the member data entered into these fields invalid if you change the field titles. WSPTA PT Avenue Guide (June 2016) Page 7

8 You don t have to set up Custom Member Fields titles now you may want to give this some thought and talk about it with your board. You can always set these up later. Once you decide how to use one or more of these fields, you ll need a way to collect this information from your members. The School Domain is optional. PTA Member Card Message: We suggest you include at least one contact name with address and/or phone number in this field. Note: There is a 350 character limit. Welcome The entire content of the welcome , including the text entered in the PTA Member Card Message field (circled in red) is as follows: WSPTA PT Avenue Guide (June 2016) Page 8

9 Review Your Data Corporate/Legal Select the PROFILE tab, then the Corporate icon: The Corporate Information page looks something like this: Review and report any incorrect data to the WSPTA state office at If you need a hard copy for your PTA binder, you can print it from here click the blue Print Version button in the upper right. WSPTA PT Avenue Guide (June 2016) Page 9

10 User Preferences Select the PROFILE tab, then the My Preferences icon: The User Preferences page looks something like this: If you are the Head Admin for the database for your PTA, enter your name; Enter your contact phone number; Enter your address (this is the one you ll use if you forget your username or password); Set a new personal password; Select a security question and enter the answer remember both in case you need to retrieve your password. Click the Update Preferences button to save your changes. WSPTA PT Avenue Guide (June 2016) Page 10

11 BOARD MEMBERS The first time you login you should review the information for all board members entered, correct any errors, and enter at least the treasurer s mailing address. EVERY BOARD MEMBER MUST BE A PAID MEMBER OF YOUR PTA, AND MUST BE ENTERED AS A PAID MEMBER IN THE MEMBERSHIP AREA. Names must match exactly. Select the PROFILE tab, then the Board icon: Work with Board Members The Work with Board Members page looks something like this: WSPTA PT Avenue Guide (June 2016) Page 11

12 Individual Board Member Profile To see the data for any board member click on their picture or name - you ll see a screen like this: First and Last names, , and Cell Phone are required fields. Address is optional, except WSPTA will need the treasurer s address if there is a need to mail a check to your PTA. It is highly recommended that you enter the president s and treasurer s mailing address and best phone number; you may find it useful to enter addresses for all officers. The show ? and show address? and show phone? yes/no buttons are regarding whether this contact information will show on the printable public directory. The public directory is a printable directory of board members you can share with members, and possibly school staff and others. The private directory is one you would share with the board members only. Be sure to click the Modify Board Member button after making any changes to a board member record. Adding a Board Member The board member profile in PT Avenue allows both a current and future position, so you don t have to wait for the new year to enter or update next year s officers. You can do this as soon as they are elected, and they will be added to the list for Leadership News. The specifics of how you enter the officer depends on whether or not they are a current officer. An Officer This Year and Next Year: If someone is a current officer and has been elected to serve as an officer next year as well, click on either their picture or their name to see their board member profile. WSPTA PT Avenue Guide (June 2016) Page 12

13 The steps to enter next year s position are as follows: Their current position is listed on the first line of the board member profile, with a term of Office reflecting the current school/membership year. Don t change that. On the Future Position line select their position from the first drop down box. If they are a Vice President, Secretary, or Committee Chair you will then see a box where you can select their duty, if applicable. This field is used to group officers for , so it is important to identify your officers responsible for membership, legislative/advocacy, Reflections, family engagement, and to use the list of duties provided so they are included in the right group. In the Term of Office box select the next school year term. Confirm the address is their current . Enter their Cell Phone number if it is not included (or if you don t need their cell phone number) If they are president or treasurer enter their address, city, state, and zip. (You may choose to enter the address for all officers for your use.) Click Modify Board Member. Note: As part of the year-end process the list of your current year officers will be downloaded for you to save, the future positions will be promoted to current positions, and those no longer officers will be removed from the board roster. WSPTA PT Avenue Guide (June 2016) Page 13

14 A New Officer: If this is a new officer, not on the current board roster, click the Add button in the upper right of the screen and you ll see the Add Board Members page, like this: The steps are the same as for a returning officer except: There will be only one line for Position. Make sure to select the next school year term in the Term of Office field. Enter their first and last name. o IMPORTANT: The name should match exactly as entered on their membership entry in the members section. o Remember: After you run the year-end to roll forward to the new year (more on that coming soon) all board members must be in the members section as a paid member of your PTA for the year of their term of office. Other steps ( address, cell phone number, and address) are the same as above. (Optional) Set a Sequence Number to position officers on the Board List screen. In a Basic membership-data-only version, if you want to add a Helper login for this person click to toggle the Create Helper Login? From No to Yes, and enter a unique user name for this helper. Other versions of PT Avenue require you to go to PROFILE>HELPERS to create or modify logins and access areas. You may choose to upload a photo, if desired set this to YES. Click Add Board Member. If you are uploading a photo, you are taken to that screen, to complete the process. If you are not, the entry process is now complete. WSPTA PT Avenue Guide (June 2016) Page 14

15 Some positions have a second field where you can indicate specific duties. If you select the position of vice president, or secretary, or committee chair (think of this as a chairperson, team leader, or director) a second field appears to the right with a list of duties from which to select. For accuracy of data inquiries and lists, please try to use existing duties whenever possible. For example, select Membership for your member database administrator so they are included in about the membership database. Think of this not as a title, but as a way to group together across PTAs within Washington volunteers who have similar responsibilities so they can receive s to those with matching position and duty. If you use unique duties these leaders will not receive important information relevant to their work for the PTA. Remember to click the Add Board Member button to add the new board member record. Click the List button in the upper right of the screen to go back to the list of board members. NOTE: EVERY BOARD MEMBER MUST ALSO BE ENTERED AS A PAID MEMBER IN THE MEMBERSHIP AREA the names must match. A board member can have an address on their board record that is different than the one on their member record. This eliminates the need to change the member record when the board term ends. an Individual Board Member On the main board members screen, click on a board member s address to send an to an individual board member. Note: there are also buttons for printing public or private board rosters, and to export the board roster to Excel. The private list (board roster) includes all board contact information, while the public list includes only contact information marked Show Yes. WSPTA PT Avenue Guide (June 2016) Page 15

16 ing the Entire Board To all board members click on the flying envelope. You can send to specific office holders by selecting positions to include. You can create a group by clicking Create New Group, enter a group name, and select the positions for that group. Be sure to enter the subject line and text, and if you wish enter carbon copies and file attachments, then click Send . Note: The subject should make clear who sent the and the topic. WSPTA PT Avenue Guide (June 2016) Page 16

17 HELPERS You can set up a user name for, and have a password sent to, any other board member you want to give access to the database. Example: you will want to give a user name and password to the membership chair. Every year these should be updated as part of the transition. Note: In the Full version of PT Avenue you ll find expanded flexibility in designating/limiting helper access to areas. Select the PROFILE tab, then the Helpers icon: To add a user click the Add button in the upper right of the screen. WSPTA PT Avenue Guide (June 2016) Page 17

18 Enter their First name, Last name, Phone, , and a unique but easy to remember username for the new user. Hit the Add Helper button. Once you finish entering the data and click Add Helper PT Avenue will send an with the helper s username and password to the address entered. The helper will be prompted to reset their password and select and answer a security question the first time they login. Helper Forgot Their Password If a helper forgets their username or password the administrator can send them this information: simply click on the Send Password icon (it looks like a little person with a big padlock) found to the right of their name on the Work With Helpers screen. WSPTA PT Avenue Guide (June 2016) Page 18

19 BANK ACCOUNT ACH INFORMATION Bank Account ACH Information Select the PROFILE tab, then the ACH Info icon: PT Avenue has set up for WSPTA a website where members can join any PTA online. WSPTA will use your local PTA s bank account ACH Information to transfer the local share of the dues for your members registered online directly to your bank account twice a month. (See more information on this below under online self-registration.) You should enter the ACH information only if you want to allow members to join online through the WSPTA PT Avenue join website. If you don t want members to join online on that site, leave the ACH fields blank. The bank routing number and account number can be found on the bottom of a check or provided by your bank. You can see the local dues as entered on the profile page, and the Yes/No radio buttons used to signify whether your PTA will allow members to join using the online join page if your local dues are zero. WSPTA PT Avenue Guide (June 2016) Page 19

20 MEMBERSHIP General Information PT Avenue allows you to enter more than just paying members. You may enter family/household members of paid members (students, grandparents, etc., although they are not paying members), teachers, and other school staff (in the Staff List area), community members who help support your activities, and government representatives just to name a few. PT Avenue allows you to group a household under a Primary member, with all other people in the household linked to them and listed under their name on the Primary s information screen. Teachers who are paid members must be entered in the membership area just like other members, except with a member type Teacher. In addition, teachers may be entered in the Staff List area if you want to track classrooms. On each person s record there is a Count As Paid Member? Yes/No button which you use to identify when a paying member has paid their dues. Note: Once a member is invoiced by WSPTA Count as Paid Member is replaced by the invoiced date, and you can t change an invoiced member to not paid, and you can t delete a paid member. It is important to review your member list before invoicing (which happens on the second Friday each month.) Note on non-paying Students -- PT Avenue allows you to track student grades, and as part of the year end gives you the options to move all students up one grade, graduate students, and to remove the household when the last student in the family graduates out of your top-level grade - which helps keep your member list clean. For this reason (plus Directory features in the FULL version), you may want to enter students as related to a Primary parent listing. Your board will need to discuss and make a strategic decision about this. In PT Avenue you can find a Membership Guide which goes into more detail about the membership area. Select the MEMBERS tab, then the Membership Guide icon: This Membership Guide (pdf) is generic in that it is written for PTAs in any state that might use PT Avenue as well as other parent organizations, and it covers all three versions of the system: Membership Only, Financial, and Full; pay careful attention to the version references as you read about features. WSPTA PT Avenue Guide (June 2016) Page 20

21 Ways to Enter Members With the Membership Only version of PT Avenue for Washington State PTAs there are three ways to enter new members into the database: Enter each member one at a time. Import members using the template provided by PT Avenue for that purpose. The member registers using an online join site provided by PT Avenue for WSPTA for member selfregistration (if you elect to allow this option) Those using the full version will have the option of an online store feature through which members can join. Those using Our School Pages will find an option in OSP to upload members to PT Avenue. Note that all members are uploaded by OSP as Primary Paid members without household relationship information. All new members (and any member not previously entered into your PTA in PT Avenue) will be entered as a new member using one of these three methods. In subsequent years you will be able to simply change the count as paid member? button from no to yes when a returning member renews by paying their dues or they may do this through the PT Avenue join site. Note: Every board member must be entered as a paid member in the membership area as well as an officer in the board area. The names must match. ONLINE SELF-REGISTRATION PT Avenue has made available to all PTAs in Washington State the ability to allow members to join and pay for their membership online through a PT Avenue join web site. Benefits of Registering Online: Opens membership to those PTAs might not have reached in the past, including those who don t have a checking account and for whom bringing cash to school wasn t convenient. Saves a great deal of volunteer time - reduced data entry and banking. Eliminates lost memberships from lost forms, checks, etc. Increases accuracy of data think of a person entering their own name and contact information vs. a volunteer reading someone s handwriting entering 50 members at night after the kids have gone to bed. Members are in the database as soon as they finish the online checkout. No waiting for someone to enter their data. WSPTA PT Avenue Guide (June 2016) Page 21

22 Online Join Feature The first page of the PT Avenue join site looks like this: When the State selection is made the school district field will appear. When the school district selection is made the PTA/PTSA field will appear. After selecting the PTA/PTSA the member hits the Submit button. If your School District isn t in the drop down list that means no PTAs in your school district signed up for online join. If your PTA/PTSA isn t in the drop down list that means your PTA hasn t completed the steps to be included in the online join feature. The member enters their personal information on this screen: WSPTA PT Avenue Guide (June 2016) Page 22

23 After the member enters their information and hits the Continue button, if the system finds what appears to be a match or matches in the PT Avenue account for that PTA it will show a list of these possible matches and ask them to identify if they are one of the listed members or a new member. If they are a renewing member they simple select themselves from the list and continue. The next screen allows them to enter another family member or checkout. Adding Additional Members To add other family members joining at the same time click the Add Additional Members button. The Enter Member Information screen will display. After completing entry of the new member information this Members Ready to Join screen will display showing both members. This continues until all family members registering as Paid PTA members are entered and they hit the Checkout button. Note: You can only enter paying members on this site. WSPTA PT Avenue Guide (June 2016) Page 23

24 Online Registration Completion To complete the transaction enter their payment information here: This screen will include a $1.00 processing fee so that all dues money goes toward the mission of PTA. The processing fee will be included in the transaction total charged to the member s credit card. Since it is a transaction processing fee, not dues, it is not tax deductible. Fields to enter credit card information will be on the right side of this screen. When the checkout is complete, your PTA will receive an telling you who just joined your PTA; the member will receive the welcome , with their membership card attached. Twice monthly WSPTA will electronically transfer into your PTA s bank account the local share of dues for members who joined online during that time period. PTAs Participating in the Online Join Feature To participate in online join, your PTA has to do three simple things: Enter the local share of dues on your PT Avenue Profile page (if zero select Yes to allow online join) Enter your PTA s bank account ACH Information (confirm local dues and allow online join if zero) Make sure your School District is correctly entered in PT Avenue (you ll find this to the right of the zip code on your Profile page notify the state office if incorrect). If your PTA doesn t want to allow members to sign up using this PT Avenue Join feature, simply leave the ACH information blank your PTA s name will not be available on the list of PTAs to join. Note: If you have the Full version of PT Avenue and are setting up an online store (including membership registration) or you have another online registration system you want to continue using, it WSPTA PT Avenue Guide (June 2016) Page 24

25 is strongly recommended that you not use PT Avenue join. In this case, you should not enter ACH information into PT Avenue so that potential members won t see your PTA listed on the PT Avenue join site. Entering Members One at a Time Select the MEMBERS tab, then the Add New icon: Required fields are outlined in red on the screen: member type, first and last name, and one valid address. You can enter any of the other data helpful to you this is your data. Remember: you must click the Count as Paid Member? button to change it from the grey NO to a blue YES to indicate this is a paid member you will see it fill in the Membership Date with today s date to show when the entry was done. If you are entering a paid member and their paid spouse click the Are there other family members to add? yes/no button (to change to YES) before you click the Add New Primary Member button so that it relates the two. Click the Add New Primary Member button when you are finished entering a member. WSPTA PT Avenue Guide (June 2016) Page 25

26 Note: the blue Membership Area Setup & Data Entry Video and Membership Setup Guide buttons in the upper right; it is advised that you watch and read those before continuing. Importance of Addresses WSPTA requires one working address for each member so we can get their welcome and membership card to them. If the member doesn t have an address simply click the blue No button and the system will enter in the Address field the Membership Coordinator from the profile page, or if that is blank none@none.none. The welcome with attached member card will be sent to this address, or if none@none.none to the address of the head admin user found on the preferences page. A board member from your PTA should assume the responsibility to get the welcome and attached membership card to the member. Concerns about Addresses If you or your members are concerned about providing an address to WSPTA please be assured by the following: WSPTA gives each member the opportunity to subscribe/unsubscribe and will work hard to avoid sending unwanted . In fact we are switching to a new bulk provider this year which will improve and simplify the unsubscribe process. WSPTA will not share member lists with anyone. Entering Addresses Please take great care when entering the address to minimize errors and rejected by doing the following: Enter only one address in an address field. Look at the domain does it look OK and in good form? (no comma?.com?) Only and no spaces in the address No spaces before or after the address If you are uncertain about the handwritten address on the membership form, please take a moment to confirm. Encourage members to use a personal account, not work (which can change on occasion). One way to increase renewal rates is to send a renewal reminder toward the end of the membership year. Member satisfaction can relate somewhat to how well we communicate. It takes a valid working address to do these things, so your care, time, and effort assuring a valid is worthwhile. Please encourage your members to add to their account safe senders list the following: pt-avenue.com mmsend60.com wastatepta.org wapta.org WSPTA PT Avenue Guide (June 2016) Page 26

27 Importing Members Before you download the import template, your board should finalize who you will be tracking; example: paid members, volunteers, family of paid members, teachers, community supporters, etc. Select the MEMBERS tab, then the Add New icon: Then select the Import Wizard button in the upper right, here: Note the blue Membership Entry/Import Video and Membership Import Instructions buttons in the upper right it is recommended that you watch and read these before continuing. WSPTA PT Avenue Guide (June 2016) Page 27

28 To get the import template click the blue Download Membership Template button in the middle of this screen. The Household Group number you enter in column A is used to group people together by family. Even if you are only entering paid members you can indicate paid spouses by entering the same Household Group number for the two of them. Every family, even a family of one, must have a unique Household Group number. Any number sequence is fine - the important point is that each family has a number included for all family members and the number is different for each family. Tips for entering members in the import template: Make sure to put a person into the import template only once if you import the same person on different days (or twice in the same day) you can create duplicate records in your database. Be sure to include data for every member in the required columns: columns A through E with the red headers Group #, P/R/S, First Name, Last Name, and . Put Y in the Member? Y column (column S) for paid members to indicate they have paid their dues. Check carefully that you enter a working address (see more on this above under Entering Addresses). Make sure you don t change the name of the template when you save it as mentioned in the video. After you have imported from the template you can rename that file perhaps by adding the date of import to the end of the file name. Duplicate and Data Validity Check A new feature in the import checks for duplicate names, and other possible data errors. PT Avenue will show the excel data in a check page highlighting the possible errors, and displaying the actual excel file line so it s easier to find items in the import file. WSPTA PT Avenue Guide (June 2016) Page 28

29 Names in the import file are checked against names in the database for the PTA. Those with a match are highlighted in orange. You can continue the import with the matching names, because obviously there can be more than one person with the same name in a PTA. Any R or S (related or student) members who aren t associated with a P (primary) member are highlighted in tan. You can import these and PT Avenue will provide a note about how to associate these with a primary. Any household group with more than one P (primary) member will be highlighted in blue. You must correct these before importing. A check page with errors looks something like this: MEMBERSHIP LISTS AND REPORTS Select the MEMBERS tab, then the Membership icon: WSPTA PT Avenue Guide (June 2016) Page 29

30 Member Search This screen provides several simple ways to find members: If you click the Search button in the upper right (leaving the search box blank) you will see a list of all members paid and non-paid. You can enter name, or other information (phone or ), in the search box, or you can select a letter to see everyone whose last name starts with that letter. The PT Avenue Help and guides have more information on this. Click on a name to open a member record. WSPTA PT Avenue Guide (June 2016) Page 30

31 Resend Membership Card To resend a membership card along with the member welcome first select the member from the list. Click the blue Resend Member Card button on the right side of the screen. The welcome with attached membership card will be sent to this member s address. WSPTA will receive a record of each resent card. WSPTA PT Avenue Guide (June 2016) Page 31

32 Deleting Duplicate Member Records You should review your membership list at least once a month before the second Friday of the month to make sure you don t have duplicates (the same person was entered twice), and that you haven t accidentally marked non-paying students as paid. You ll need to find and remove duplicates and non-paid records so they are not included on the bill from WSPTA which is generated on the second Friday of each month. Two things to remember about deleting member records: You cannot delete a Paid member (but marking them not paid keeps them off the bill). You cannot delete the Primary household member if there are related family/household records. If you find duplicate records like those on this membership list Click on the name of the person whose name you need to delete WSPTA PT Avenue Guide (June 2016) Page 32

33 Since this is not a Paid member and there are no related family members showing on the left side under this person s name you can click the red Completely Delete Family button at the bottom of the screen. If this is a duplicate Paid member record You will see that there is no red Completely Delete Family button at the bottom of the screen. WSPTA PT Avenue Guide (June 2016) Page 33

34 You must click the Count as Paid Member Yes/No button (change to No) then click the Update Member Information button at the bottom of the screen. You will then see the red Completely Delete Family button at the bottom of the screen, and can delete the record. If you encounter a Primary member who is not Paid with a related duplicate who is paid (like Rose on this screen): Click on the name of the member record that is the duplicate but Paid related Family Member (not the unpaid primary) WSPTA PT Avenue Guide (June 2016) Page 34

35 You ll need to make this record (which is currently the Paid-Family Member record) into the Primary record (so you can delete the unpaid duplicate which is currently the Primary). To do this click on the Make Primary Member icon found just to the right of the last name, then click OK to confirm Now that the Paid record is the Primary you can select the name of the unpaid family member to bring up that record You can delete this record by clicking the red Delete Family Member button. WSPTA PT Avenue Guide (June 2016) Page 35

36 REPORTS You will find some predefined reports, as well as a feature that allows you to design your own reports when you click MEMBERS and then the Reports button. The PT Avenue Help in the upper right corner has information on how to use this custom report feature. You can select what type or records to include, search criteria, sort order, and what data to show on the report. You can display the report or export it directly to Excel. The Invoices button, Roster button, and Paid Report button take you to a couple of predefined reports you might use regularly. Roster Report The report lists the paid members who paid their dues directly to you and were either entered or imported by you. You can display members based on Membership Date (a date on the member record populated when you mark the member paid, and which you can edit if you choose to show the date you actually received their membership form), or the Paid Date (the actual date the member record was marked paid), or the Invoice Date. Select your choice of date from the first dropdown, then enter a date range. WSPTA PT Avenue Guide (June 2016) Page 36

37 With this report you can get a list of names included on a particular month s dues invoice from WSPTA, showing the state, national, and if applicable council dues. This report does not include the names of those who self-registered online, although the number of members who joined online is shown at the bottom of this report. Enter the date range you want to see. You generally don t need to attach the officer information, and lifetime memberships is not applicable in Washington. Select the Prepare PTA Membership Roster button to see the report on screen, or the Export PTA Membership Roster button to download the report to Excel. Paid Report The paid report is more like what you have probably called a roster in the past. It lists all paid members in the current membership year (regardless of how they were entered into the database). If you click the Report Options button in the upper left of the report, then check the box for Export to Excel and click Run Report you ll get a list of current paid members, including the address. Reprint Invoice You can reprint any of the current membership year monthly invoices from WSPTA. On the Members/Reports page select the Invoices button in the upper right. You will see a screen like WSPTA PT Avenue Guide (June 2016) Page 37

38 The Select Invoice to Reprint drop down will list the dates of the invoices on which WSPTA billed your PTA for dues. Select the date you want. To print the invoice, right click on the invoice once it displays, and click print. COMMUNICATION Communicate with Members To a member, simply bring up the member s record; then click the flying envelope to the right of the address. WSPTA PT Avenue Guide (June 2016) Page 38

39 Mass to Members To all members click MEMBERS and then the Membership button Completing the Message Choose whether you want the sent to members marked as Paid, Not Paid, or both. Enter the subject and text, include links and images if you wish (it will be sent as HTML), add CC(s) and attach a file if you wish, then hit the green Send button. The most important thing to keep in mind here is to include in the Subject the PTA name and identity of the sender so that members know what it is and who it is from. Perhaps something like Mount Baker PTA Spring News from PTA President Emily Smith, or Mount Baker PTA Upcoming Meeting Reminder. WSPTA PT Avenue Guide (June 2016) Page 39

40 You can enter to be received in HTML format from this screen. You can format various styles, include images and links, use the built in spell checker, and add an attachment. PT Avenue will send only one to each address (so family members with the same address won t get duplicate ). Each recipient will see only their address, not the addresses of any other recipients. PT Avenue will also send the to the sender s address (the one on the Reply To line, which comes from the preference or helper page for this person) so you have a record of s sent. The PT Avenue feature is designed with basic functionality, which may be useful for small PTAs with basic needs. It is not intended as a replacement for products like Mail Chimp, Vertical Response, Constant Contact, etc. which your PTA might be using. SUPPORT If you have any questions about any version of PT Avenue, please don't hesitate to contact PT Avenue at ptsupport@pt-avenue.com For questions specific to PTA in Washington please contact WSPTA staff at support@wastatepta.org WSPTA PT Avenue Guide (June 2016) Page 40