PT AVENUE GUIDE OVERVIEW

PT AVENUE GUIDE OVERVIEW WSPTA is currently undertaking a database conversion from imis (the previous membership database) to a cloud based service called PT Avenue. The primary reason for this conversion is that the current database system is over ten years old and does not provide the features PTA leadership have been requesting. PT Avenue is a cloud database designed with PTAs in mind! Through this platform, in combination with our accounting database, we are able to provide the features PTA leadership have been requesting, along with direct email 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 on 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, 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. As we transition to this new system it will be important to keep this in mind, and take in the information in this document and other training materials to understand the concepts particular to WSPTA and the elements to ignore because they don t apply in Washington. 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, such as 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; pay careful attention to the applicable version as you watch and read about features. PT Avenue Guide (August 2015) Page 1

TABLE OF CONTENTS LOGGING INTO PT AVENUE Login to PT Avenue Forgot Username and Password Home Page First Login DATA AND PREFERENCES Review your Data Profile Review Your Data Corporate/Legal User Preferences BOARD MEMBERS Work with Board Members Individual Board Member Profile Adding a Board Member Email an Individual Board Member Emailing the Entire Board HELPERS Helper Forgot Their Password BANK ACCOUNT ACH INFORMATION MEMBERSHIP General Information Ways to Enter Members Entering Members One at a Time Importance of Email Addresses Concerns about Email Addresses Entering Email Addresses Importing Members Tips for Entering Members into the Import Template Deleting Duplicate Member Records ONLINE SELF-REGISTRATION Benefits of Registering Online Online Join Feature Adding Additional Members Online Registration Completion PTAs Participating in the Online Join Feature MEMBERSHIP LISTS AND REPORTS Resend Membership Card Reports Roster Report Paid Report COMMUNICATION Communicate with Members Email Mass Email to Members Completing the Message SUPPORT PT Avenue Guide (August 2015) Page 2

LOGGING INTO PT AVENUE Login to PT Avenue To login to your PT Avenue account go to: https://www.pt-avenue.com/login.asp 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. PT Avenue Guide (August 2015) Page 3

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 email address used in your PT Avenue account, select the security question you chose for your account, and key your security question answer, then click Send Login Information. Your username and email will be sent to the email 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 emailed 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 emailed to you. Once you login be sure to select and answer your security question on the Preferences page see User Preferences below. PT Avenue Guide (August 2015) Page 4

Home Page First Login The homepage/dashboard for your account: The first time you login as head administrator, you may be prompted to select and answer a security question (see User Preferences) and/or enter your President s information (see Board Members and Helpers). 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 email address on the account and the security question and answer are used retrieve your username and password if you forget one or both. PT Avenue Guide (August 2015) Page 5

DATA AND PREFERENCES Review Your Data - Profile The first time you login as head administrator, you should review the data imported for you into PT Avenue and correct any incorrect information; report to WSPTA state office if you re unable. Note: The head admin is the only person who can save changes on the organization profile page. Select the PROFILE tab, then the P rofile icon : The profile page looks like this: Review, correct, and/or complete the information on this screen as follows: Verify the Name and Organization Type. Enter 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. Set up to three Custom Member Fields if you wish (you can do this later see below). PT Avenue Guide (August 2015) Page 6

In the PTA Member Card Email Message field you can enter a brief message you would like added to the welcome email. The welcome email 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. 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 11-12 in that field on the member who was president for the 2011-2012 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. 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. For example if you change Has Truck to Raising Grandchild you might send a grandparents day invitation to a 24 yearold who drives a nice truck. 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. PT Avenue Guide (August 2015) Page 7

PTA Member Card Email Message - Example: If you enter your website, Facebook page, and Twitter feed in their respective fields on the Profile page they will be automatically included in the welcome email. We suggest you include at least one contact name with email address and/or phone number in this field. Note: There is a 350 character limit. Welcome Email: The entire content of the welcome email, including the text entered in the PTA Member Card Email Message field (circled in red) is as follows: PT Avenue Guide (August 2015) Page 8

Review Your Data Corporate/Legal Select the PROFILE tab, then the C orporate icon : The Corporate Information page looks something like this: Review and report any incorrect data to the WSPTA state office at support@wastatepta.org. 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. PT Avenue Guide (August 2015) Page 9

User Preferences Select the PROFILE tab, then the My Preferences icon: The User Preferences page looks something like this: Fill in your name, in place of Head Admin ; Enter your contact phone number; Enter your email address (this is the one you ll use if you forget your username or password); Set a new personal password, to replace the random one provided; If you haven t already done so, 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. PT Avenue Guide (August 2015) Page 10

BOARD MEMBERS The first time you login you should review the information for all board members entered (these were imported for you by WSPTA), correct any errors, and enter at least the treasurer s mailing address. Select the PROFILE tab, then the B oard icon : Work with Board Members The Work with Board Members page looks something like this: PT Avenue Guide (August 2015) Page 11

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, Email, 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 email? and show address? and show phone? yes/no button is 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. Be sure to click the Modify Board Member button after making any changes to a board member record. Adding a Board Member To add a board member, click the Add button in the upper right of the screen and you ll see the Add Board Members page, like this: PT Avenue Guide (August 2015) Page 12

You can enter a current position for the current year and a future position for next year. 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 or director) a second field appears to the right with a list of duties from which to select. If you don t see the duty you want you can click the green just to the right and add a duty to your list. For accuracy of data inquiries and email lists, please try to use existing duties whenever possible. For example, select Membership for your member database administrator so they are included in email 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 emails to those with matching position and duty. In the membership only version you can create a Helper login (a Helper is someone you want to have PT Avenue access) by simply clicking the Create Helper? Yes/No button (changing it to YES) and entering a unique username before you click the Add Board Member button. See more on Helpers below. 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. A board member can have an email address on their board record that is different than the one on their member record. This eliminates the need to change the member record email when the board term ends. PT Avenue Guide (August 2015) Page 13

Email an Individual Board Member On the main board members screen, click on a board member s email address to send an email 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. PT Avenue Guide (August 2015) Page 14

Emailing the Entire Board To email all board members click on the flying envelope. Be sure to enter the subject line and text, and if you wish enter carbon copies and file attachments, then click Send E-mail. PT Avenue Guide (August 2015) Page 15

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. 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 H elpers icon : To add a user click the Add button in the upper right of the screen. Enter their First name, Last name, Phone, Email, and a unique but easy to remember username for the new user. Hit the Add Helper button. PT Avenue Guide (August 2015) Page 16

Once you finish entering the data and click Add Helper PT Avenue will send an email with the helper s username and password to the email 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. PT Avenue Guide (August 2015) Page 17

BANK ACCOUNT ACH INFORMATION Bank Account ACH Information 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. This information can be found on the bottom of a check or provided by your bank. 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 a list of all teachers in the school, and/or 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. PT Avenue Guide (August 2015) Page 18

Note on non-paying Students -- PT Avenue tracks student grades in a household, and as part of the year end gives you the option to remove the household if the student is the only one associated 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 students under a Primary parent listing. WSPTA suggests that you keep things simple as we start out with PT Avenue by only entering paid members into PT Avenue only after they ve paid dues. After you have some experience with the system and some time to consider how you might utilize the available features, consider if you want to enter non-dues-paying individuals into your database. 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. Ways to Enter Members With the Membership Only version of PT Avenue for s 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) This first year all members will be entered as if they are a new member using one of these three methods (additionally in the full version there is also an online store feature through which members can join). 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. PT Avenue Guide (August 2015) Page 19

Entering Members One at a Time Select the MEMBERS tab, then the Add New icon: Required fields are outlined in red: member type, first and last name, and one valid email 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. 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. PT Avenue Guide (August 2015) Page 20

Importance of Email Addresses WSPTA requires one working email address for each member so we can get their welcome email and membership card to them. If the member doesn t have an email address please enter the email address used by a board member from your PTA who will assume the responsibility to get the welcome email and attached membership card to the member. Concerns about Email Addresses If you or your members are concerned about providing an email 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 email. In fact we are switching to a new bulk email provider this year which will improve and simplify the unsubscribe process. WSPTA will not share member lists with anyone. Entering Email Addresses Please take great care when entering the email address to minimize errors and rejected email by doing the following: Enter only one email address in an email address field. Look at the domain does it look OK and in good form? (no comma?.com?) Only one @ and no spaces in the email address If you are uncertain about the handwritten email address on the membership form, please take a moment to confirm. 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 email address to do these things, so your care, time, and effort assuring a valid email is worthwhile. 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: PT Avenue Guide (August 2015) Page 21

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. To get the import template click the blue Download Membership Template button in the middle of this screen. PT Avenue Guide (August 2015) Page 22

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 into 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 will 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 Email. 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 email address (see more on this above under Entering Email 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. Deleting Duplicate Member Records You should review your membership list at least once a month before month end to make sure you don t have duplicates (the same person was entered twice). You ll need to find and remove duplicates before month end so they are not included on the bill from WSPTA. Two things to remember about deleting member records: PT Avenue Guide (August 2015) Page 23

You cannot delete a Paid member. 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 PT Avenue Guide (August 2015) Page 24

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 memb er record You will see that there is no red Completely Delete Family button at the bottom of the screen. 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 scree, 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): PT Avenue Guide (August 2015) Page 25

Click on the name of the member record that is the duplicate but Paid related Family Member (not the unpaid primary) 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 PT Avenue Guide (August 2015) Page 26

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. 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. PT Avenue Guide (August 2015) Page 27

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. 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 The member enters their personal information on this screen: PT Avenue Guide (August 2015) Page 28

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. 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. PT Avenue Guide (August 2015) Page 29

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. 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 email telling you who just joined your PTA; the member will receive the welcome email, 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. Enter your PTA s bank account ACH Information. PT Avenue Guide (August 2015) Page 30

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 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. MEMBERSHIP LISTS AND REPORTS Select the MEMBERS tab, then the Membership icon: Member Search This screen provides several simple ways to find members: PT Avenue Guide (August 2015) Page 31

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 email), 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. Resend Membership Card To resend a membership card along with the member welcome email first select the member from the list. PT Avenue Guide (August 2015) Page 32

Click the blue Resend Member Card button on the right side of the screen. The welcome email with attached membership card will be sent to this member s email address. WSPTA will receive a record of each resent card. 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 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 Roster button and Paid Report button take you to a couple of predefined reports you might use regularly. PT Avenue Guide (August 2015) Page 33

Roster Report This report lists the paid members who paid their dues directly to you and were either entered or imported by you. If you enter the first day of a month and the last day of the month this report should list the members who are on that month s bill 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 email address. PT Avenue Guide (August 2015) Page 34

COMMUNICATION Communicate with Members Email To email a member, simply bring up the member s record; then click the flying envelope to the right of the email address. Mass Email to Members To email all members click MEMBERS and then the Email Membership button: Completing the Message Choose whether you want the email 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 E-mail button. PT Avenue Guide (August 2015) Page 35

PT Avenue will send only one email to each email address (so family members with the same email address will only get one email). Each recipient will see only their email address, not the addresses of any other recipients. The email will also be sent to your email address (the one on your Preferences page). 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. PT Avenue Guide (August 2015) Page 36