Running a homeschool group

[MusicMama]

Does anyone have words of wisdom they would like to share?  :bigear: 

We have a local group that was started by our last president. She passed the baton to me due to stress and health issues in her personal life. The group was started on meetup.com, and run totally by her. There was no secretary, treasurer, etc. I would like to change that, and spread out the load and responsibilities. I'm not sure meetup.com is what I want to stick with. It's great for posting events and field trips, but maybe not so much for helping the leadership communicate with each other and forming a sense of community with the members. But, I'm fairly new to this (less than one month) and there may be features I'm not utilizing. So, I'm all ears to any advice you have to offer, particularly pertaining to the group's web presence. 

Thanks!!!

[Ellie]

Does anyone have words of wisdom they would like to share?  :bigear: 

 

We have a local group that was started by our last president. She passed the baton to me due to stress and health issues in her personal life. The group was started on meetup.com, and run totally by her. There was no secretary, treasurer, etc. I would like to change that, and spread out the load and responsibilities. I'm not sure meetup.com is what I want to stick with. It's great for posting events and field trips, but maybe not so much for helping the leadership communicate with each other and forming a sense of community with the members. But, I'm fairly new to this (less than one month) and there may be features I'm not utilizing. So, I'm all ears to any advice you have to offer, and particularly pertaining to the groups web presence. 

 

Thanks!!!

 

Are you thinking of a support group or a co-op?

 

If it's a support group, I have some thoughts on that. If it's a co-op, I got nothin'.

 

[MusicMama]

Ellie, so far it's kind of a hybrid. We simply have an online calendar where the organizer posts field trips. For example, in January we have posted a homeschool day at the history museum, another museum tour, a puppet show downtown, Lego club meeting, Park day, and a Schoolhouse Rock live performance. We also have a book club that meets independently, but is comprised of only members of our group, and I teach a science class once a month. It's a pick and choose thing. You see something you want to participate in, you pay, if applicable, and sign up. If nothing fits your needs or schedule, you check back later. Every now and then, we will have a geography fair, field day, holiday party etc. But regular group meetings don't happen regularly.  

[fairfarmhand]

Our group uses Yahoo groups for communication.

 

Our group meets monthly. However, the leadership meets once or twice a month in person to discuss business, plan for upcoming meetings, etc.

 

Is it a support group? How does that look? Monthly meetings, field trips, or what?

 

Ours is pretty formal, associated with a local church. You don't have to be that version of Christian or even Christian at all, but they do publish a statement of faith "Just so you know what your kids and you will be around." Nobody proselytizes or anything but they want people to know what they are getting into. We also have a code of conduct signed each year, and some member dues to pay for some stuff.

 

 

[fairfarmhand]

Ellie, so far it's kind of a hybrid. We simply have an online calendar where the organizer posts field trips. For example, in January we have posted a homeschool day at the history museum, another museum tour, a puppet show downtown, Lego club meeting, Park day, and a Schoolhouse Rock live performance. We also have a book club that meets independently, but is comprised of only members of our group, and I teach a science class once a month. It's a pick and choose thing. You see something you want to participate in, you pay, if applicable, and sign up. If nothing fits your needs or schedule, you check back later. Every now and then, we will have a geography fair, field day, holiday party etc. But regular group meetings don't happen regularly.  

 

Do you like it that way or are there changes that you want to make?

[Ellie]

Ellie, so far it's kind of a hybrid. We simply have an online calendar where the organizer posts field trips. For example, in January we have posted a homeschool day at the history museum, another museum tour, a puppet show downtown, Lego club meeting, Park day, and a Schoolhouse Rock live performance. We also have a book club that meets independently, but is comprised of only members of our group, and I teach a science class once a month. It's a pick and choose thing. You see something you want to participate in, you pay, if applicable, and sign up. If nothing fits your needs or schedule, you check back later. Every now and then, we will have a geography fair, field day, holiday party etc. But regular group meetings don't happen regularly.  

 

That's still a support group. :-)

 

Who plans your field trips and other activities?

 

Would you *like* to have regular meetings of some kind?

[MusicMama]

In the past, the president did everything. She posted everything, paid for everything, planned everything...I don't plan on operating that way! I guess I'm trying to figure out how I want things to work. I only know that I don't want to be the only person running the show! I would like to have some sort of regular meetings. I want my children to feel a connection to a community of people that homeschool, instead of hanging out with the people who happen to go to the same field trips. 

I want things to change, but I don't know what my options are. I'm open to all ideas. :)

[Ellie]

In the past, the president did everything. She posted everything, paid for everything, planned everything...I don't plan on operating that way! I guess I'm trying to figure out how I want things to work. I only know that I don't want to be the only person running the show! I would like to have some sort of regular meetings. I want my children to feel a connection to a community of people that homeschool, instead of hanging out with the people who happen to go to the same field trips. 

 

I want things to change, but I don't know what my options are. I'm open to all ideas. :)

 

This is how we did things in my support group:

 

Our goal was to provide support in such a way that people still had time to spend at home actually teaching their children; some support groups in our area had so many activities that burn-out was rampant.

 

So: We had a monthly Moms' Night Out; it was at a different home each month (and therefore inexpensive, as opposed to going to restaurants); the hostess decided on the agenda.

 

We had a monthly park day (California, where that was possible because of the wonderful weather), always at the same park, beginning at noon.

 

We organized two field trips a month, always on the second and fourth Fridays (park day was the first Friday). Having park day and field trips on Fridays meant that people never had to rearrange their schedules for the sake of the support group. Also, having park day and field trips on Friday meant we could all relax and enjoy going right into the weekend. If you're interested, I'll tell you how we planned field trips.

 

In August, we had the one-and-only business meeting, where we discussed things like continuing MNO, continuing park day (at the same park? on the same day? anything else?), and whatnot. We passed around a sign-up sheet with possible social/family events, such as a Thanksgiving dinner, a Christmas party, not-back-to-school party, etc. People who wanted to do those things signed up for them and organized them *away from MNO*, and let us know what we were doing. If no one signed up, then that event just didn't happen (some support group leaders continue to nag members to plan things. We didn't ever do that.).

 

We had a three-member leadership council. Their primary purpose was to know what was going on at all times, so if people had questions they'd know whom to call. Initially, I brought this up at a MNO because of some things that had happened (before that, we really had no leaders), and three of us were willing to be the leadership team. After that, when we needed a new leader, the other two chose the third member. No voting amongst the populace. :-)

 

The support group had just enough structure to run well, just enough leadership to keep us on track, just enough participation by the members without impeding their own homeschooling.

[Sarah CB]

In our old local meet-up group it was expected that everyone was able to organize an activity.  Basically, if someone said, "Hey, are there homeschool swim lessons?"  Someone else would say, "No, there aren't.  But, great idea - why don't you organize that and post it?"  

 

The official "owner" of the MU group did post some regular meet-ups, but everyone else felt free to organize field trips, post when they were going to the park, etc.  It resulted in a very full calendar with a wide range of activities - everything from baking at someone's house with a cap of 5 kids to a series of art lessons with a local artist to beach days and beyond.  Basically, if someone thought of it it got posted and there were generally other people interested in taking part.  

[MariaT]

If you are looking for the other members to help organize events, whether they are field trips or support meetings, you need to get their buy-in.

 

You might start by holding a Planning Day, with a note asking everyone to bring ideas on how to reorganize/improve/freshen up/ spread the load. You need to allow enough time for you to lay out the issues, and for people to talk about their ideas and brainstorm new ideas. It's best if this is an adults-only meeting, but if that doesn't work for everyone's scheduling, make sure it is in a location where the kids can play without parents hovering too much, so the parents can pay attention to the discussion.

 

No matter what, my advice is to keep the tone positive, and show enormous gratitude for people's time and effort. Show humility. Solicit feedback over and over-- even if you know it will be bad. Feedback is a gift. If someone volunteers to run an event, make it clear that they own it, and no one is going to second-guess them. Then, don't second-guess how they run the event. And, one more thing, make a huge effort to be transparent in decisions. Big smiles, gratitude and transparency absolves a lot of mistakes.

 

Good luck!

 

 

 

 

[Tidbits of Learning]

This is just me, but does the rest of your group realize they can plan things?  I will tell you from experience that when you start to make things too formal....well you normally wind up with one leader anyway and the "president" dynamic says I am in charge.  The whole board thing on homeschool things pretty much goes the same way.  You get 4 or 5 moms that run the show and start making lots of rules.  I don't know that I would want to deal with that either with monthly mandatory meetings for a board for this group (treasurer, vp, pres...the whole 9 yards).  

It sounds like it was pretty informal and that this one mom just took on everything.  Before I changed the entire dynamic of the group, I would send out a message saying that anyone can plan but keeping it without a treasurer keeps it out of the spotlight for needing to file with the IRS and needing to get a 501 ©.  If you haven't thought about that, a treasurer wouldn't want to just take peoples money and checks.  You would get into needing a bank account.  It gets to be a hassle.  I know.  I started a group solely for the purpose of my youngest having a kindergarten graduation.  Once it is a formal group with a name and taking money, you really need a bank account and a 501© status.  You have to have an IEN # from the IRS to get a bank account for a non-profit and you have to file a form every year showing that you didn't make a profit.  

These are just some of the logistics of being a more "formal" group than a meetup.

[happypamama]

We are a support group, and we offer a variety of activities for our members. We do have a co-op as one of the activities. Our group President is not the co-op director. Co-op director can be anyone; currently it's our Vice President. We also have a Treasurer and a Secretary (me), and we recently acquired a member-at-large. The general group holds a planning meeting about once a month, open to any members, run by the President, and the five of us on the Board meet privately as needed. We are self-appointed; anyone can join the Board if they desire, and if we need a new officer, we announce that, and anyone is welcome to offer themselves. The Board votes on any new officers. Our President does create an agenda for each meeting, and I record, type, and distribute minutes, and our Treasurer gives a report each meeting.

 

When our current President took over, one thing she decided was that she wasn't going to do it all. We all looked at the list of things that had been done by our former President and split them between the Board members. Our former President used to run the annual Portfolio Share; it's now my baby. Our current President might ask for someone to plan a party, and she will look through the applications to see if anyone indicated that they might be willing to do parties, and she will call that person and ask directly, but if nobody's willing, it doesn't happen. The President only takes charge of those activities that are most important to her. We encourage our members to plan trips and activities, and the Board will assist them and each other as needed. Our Board is a very good, very cohesive group; we work very well together.

 

We use Shutterfly for our website. We have a public page that is open to anyone and will tell a bit about us, and then there are parts of the site that are only available to our paid members. That provides us with a place for sign up sheets for events, photos for our members to print or download, email, etc. It's working well.

[Ellie]

This is just me, but does the rest of your group realize they can plan things?  I will tell you from experience that when you start to make things too formal....well you normally wind up with one leader anyway and the "president" dynamic says I am in charge.  The whole board thing on homeschool things pretty much goes the same way.  You get 4 or 5 moms that run the show and start making lots of rules.  I don't know that I would want to deal with that either with monthly mandatory meetings for a board for this group (treasurer, vp, pres...the whole 9 yards).  

It sounds like it was pretty informal and that this one mom just took on everything.  Before I changed the entire dynamic of the group, I would send out a message saying that anyone can plan but keeping it without a treasurer keeps it out of the spotlight for needing to file with the IRS and needing to get a 501 ©.  If you haven't thought about that, a treasurer wouldn't want to just take peoples money and checks.  You would get into needing a bank account.  It gets to be a hassle.  I know.  I started a group solely for the purpose of my youngest having a kindergarten graduation.  Once it is a formal group with a name and taking money, you really need a bank account and a 501© status.  You have to have an IEN # from the IRS to get a bank account for a non-profit and you have to file a form every year showing that you didn't make a profit.  

These are just some of the logistics of being a more "formal" group than a meetup.

 

You can get a DBA (Doing Business AS), a EIN, and a bank account without having to incorporate as a non-profit. I've done this for years, with more than one group. None of the groups has ever taken in enough money to have to file a tax return. 

[bethben]

Our group operates on a $15 per person membership fee that pays for those little incidentals that come up.  There are at least 3-4 leaders that decide what they want to focus on each year.  Last year, the leaders planned field trips, this year - not so much. To keep leadership fresh, each year 1-2 leaders switch out.  That means that there are two new people learning the ropes from the experienced leaders.  You cannot run it on your own each and every year.  That will burn you out and it doesn't give long term stability to the group.

[LMD]

Ours runs very similar to Ellie's description and it works well.  We also have a preschoolers offshoot group.  People do organise things separately and invite whomever without issue (I've got a non-official group thing happening tomorrow...)

[MusicMama]

Thanks so much! I really appreciate all the feedback. I hope to get started on things after the holidays.

[mschickie]

Our group has a larger chapter board and then a smaller co-op board that handles only the co-op end of things.  We have people on the board whose job is to oversee one area, Mom's nights, field trips, treasurer....  We use google groups as our method of communications and keep a google calendar.  We have our main "news" group that has any of the formal activities, events and such which only the board can send things out on and then an "exchange group" where members can send out requests for curriculum, community events, garage sales....  Our board started out small and has grown to 6-7 couples (both husbands and wives serve on this board together).  We meet every other month and go over any problems, plan larger events (picnic, square dances...) and talk about what we can do for the group.  As for fees we are part of a state group so $30 goes to that group and then we have a local fee of $30 for the year (does not cover the co-op).  My suggestion is to start out small, make sure there is a leadership team and as your group grows, grow the leadership team in proportion to the group growth.

[SebastianCat]

I highly recommend the book Homeschool Co-Ops: How to Start Them, Run Them, and Not Burn Out by Carol Topp, CPA.   You can buy the e-book for less than $5.   Carol Topp's website, www.homeschoolcpa.com, was also very helpful when our group was growing from a small 4-family group to a larger co-op.

 

You need to check the regulations in your state, because they all vary.   In my state, we were required to incorporate as a non-profit before we could obtain a bank account in the name of the organization, rather than in an individual's personal name.   Even if you never get large enough to require banking services or incorporate, the Homeschool Co-Op book will give you LOTS of food for thought about organizing a leadership team, spreading responsibilities, and setting up accountability to prevent fraud.

[Ellie]

 

You need to check the regulations in your state, because they all vary.   In my state, we were required to incorporate as a non-profit before we could obtain a bank account in the name of the organization, rather than in an individual's personal name.   Even if you never get large enough to require banking services or incorporate, the Homeschool Co-Op book will give you LOTS of food for thought about organizing a leadership team, spreading responsibilities, and setting up accountability to prevent fraud.

 

And check with the banks, too, because the employees in some of them might not understand the law (sort of the same way that public school officials don't always understand compulsory education laws in their own states).

 

I thought an organization had to be incorporated in order to open a bank account, which is pretty much what I was told at the first bank I checked with. But actually, my support group only needed to file a DBA (Doing Business As, a paperwork thing that makes the name of any group "official") and an Employer Identification Number, which does not require an "organization" to be incorporated. Says so right on the IRS site. So in both California and Texas, I filed DBAs for my "organizations" and got EINs from the IRS, then took those into the banks.

[Tidbits of Learning]

There is a new form that has to be filed yearly showing that you didn't make that amount of money for a homeschool group.  And by getting an EIN you are becoming a 501 7C (social groups) which is not the same as a non-profit.  

 

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/k1024.pdf

 

Page 11.

 

It is form 990 and you file and e-postcard

 

http://www.irs.gov/uac/e-file-for-Charities-and-Non-Profits

 

If you aren't doing it and haven't been since 2012 then you are at risk for audit.

[Love]

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Edited November 19, 2015 by Love