Running your PTA

Natasha Brennan , Auction and Raffles Officer for Friends of St Mary ’ s , shares her experience and advice on this key fundraising role

Photography : shutterstock . com / PowersPhoto

“ It ’ s keeping a constant track of what ’ s coming in , dividing things up and figuring out how we can raise the most money . Is it going to go into auction , or is this something we can put in a raffle ?”

I ’ ve been part of the PTA since my first daughter started in reception . We ’ re a small , single-form entry Catholic school based in Chingford . Everyone knows each other , and because the school is so small and we ’ ve got a lot of siblings across years , I feel like the parents and teachers are all quite close .

I remember initially being really overwhelmed by the Auction and Raffles Officer role and thinking , “ How are we going to get donations ?" It was a completely new concept to me . But we have people that donate big sums of money every year for our summer fair , for example , or they ’ ll do a sponsorship for a big chunk of what we need .

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My role leading up to the bigger events like the Christmas market and the summer fair is mostly keeping in communication with whoever ’ s dealing with sponsorship and keeping up to date with what prizes are being brought in – because during the big events , it ’ s everyone ’ s role to go and source prizes and donations wherever they can . I also ensure all our raffle tickets are printed with prizes on prior to the event . On the day , I have a booklet with all our auction items with their RRP and what our starting bid might be . Towards the end we will often have a live bidding – which I don ’ t host because I ’ m a terrible public speaker !

PARENTKIND . ORG SPRING 2025

Natasha ’ s top tips

Be organised and document

1 everything clearly . Sometimes leading up to event , I might have a period of time where lots of people are coming to me saying they ’ ve got XYZ , but then I might have three to four weeks of nothing . If I ’ ve already documented everything , I don ’ t have to start backtracking things like that .

Be open and honest with

2 the people you ask for sponsorships and donations . People are more willing to help than you might think . If you ’ re honest from the beginning about what you need , people will often do what they can to help .

Enjoy the process !

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It can get stressful and overwhelming at times . When things do get too much , remind yourself that this is for the kids , this is for their benefit , and it helps put everything into perspective .