Have trouble motivating members?

Many homeschoool leaders have trouble motivating their members to attend events, pitch in and help lead activities or step up to leadership roles.

How can you motivate members?

Kristen & Denise of Homeschool Group Leader blog have written an ebook, One by One: The Homeschool Group Leader’s Guide to Motivating Your Members.

Order Here!

Homeschool group leaders often ask, “How we can we motivate our members to get more involved?” and worry about getting more members to volunteer and share in the workload. Veteran homeschool leaders, Kristen Fagala and Denise Hyde of Homeschool Group Leader, take that question head-on in their idea-packed e-guide, One By One: The Homeschool Group Leader’s Guide to Motivating Your Members. With clear illustrations and timeless principles pulled directly from Scripture, this 80 plus-page e-guide lays out a feast of practical how-to’s for leaders to apply right now.

There are no cookie-cutter members, therefore there is no cookie-cutter way of motivating each one. The good news is that there are tried-and-true motivators that can be applied easily and successfully to each unique situation and member. Whether leaders live in the high desert or in the bustling city, they can motivate each and every member of their group from apathy to action with this e-guide for leadership success. Order your copy of One By One today and start gaining confidence, happy volunteers, and active members.

I was able to get a preview copy and here’s what I think about the book:

One by One is a book that every homeschool leader needs, but does not realize the need until it is too late!  Every leader has difficulty motivating members or getting volunteers, but they only ask for help when it’s too late and they are tired, frustrated and want to quit!  Instead, leaders should read Kristen and Denise’s very practical and encouraging book.

Inside you will find the three secrets to successfully motivating every member and then practical, real-life ways to apply those skills to everyone from moms to teenagers. I especially appreciated the true stories of how Kristen & Denise implemented everything they suggest.  They know their stuff and have a heart to share what they know with others. Take some of the advice, share it with your fellow leaders, apply it and you will find happier members, a more relaxed leader and a successful group!

Sound like something that you could use?  Well, Kristen & Denise are offering a great deal on their ebook.

It is available for three days (Nov 25-27 includes Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday) for the sale price of $19,

then $24 for the next three days (Nov 28-30).

After the six days, starting December 1st, the e-book will be available at it’s regular price of $29.

Order Here!

Carol Topp, CPA

13 benefits of homeschool co-ops

Heart of the Matter has a great article written by Katie Kubesh on the benefits of homeschooling with co-ops.  She surveyed several co-ops members and here is what the received by being in a homeschool co-op:

Kids enjoy the variety of resources and materials provided

Parents do not have to do as much research and footwork on their own; they are able to share with other co-op parents

Co-ops gives homeschooling families the opportunity to bond with other families in their city or state

Co-ops keep homeschooling families on schedule

Co-ops keep homeschooling families accountable for their studies

The extracurricular activities are fun for both the parents and kids, including football games, craft parties, theme parties, field trips, etc.

People who belong to co-ops sponsored by their church appreciate the opportunity to share their faith and bond with other parish families and the pastors, who sometimes participate also

Co-ops that offer classes or unit studies give students the opportunity to learn a broader range of topics and/or to learn a subject their own parents may not be comfortable teaching, for example higher level mathematics, music, or foreign languages

Students are exposed to different types of teachers

Students are held accountable by someone other than their parents

Parents provide each other with support and encouragement

Students have the opportunity to interact with kids of all ages, not just their grade or age level

People who belong to co-ops have a wide selection of experiences. Some belong to large co-ops that include over 200 families. Larger co-ops are able to teach many classes (one offers 80 different classes from preschool through high school with subjects ranging from science, math, history, art, music, foreign languages, drama, and public speaking) and sponsor many field trips and other activities. Some larger co-ops even offer courses that students earn college credits for.

Isn’t that a great list?  I especially like # 9, 10 & 11  because those are the main benefoits I recieve form my homeschool co-op.

Katie goes on to explain the benefits or large and small co-ops.  Sometimes small co-ops grow into large co-ops and the leaders find themselves managing larger groups of people, in a larger space and handling more money. This website
has a lot of tools to help homeschool leaders including articles, ebooks and audios. My book Homeschool Co-ops: How to Start Them, Run Them and Not Burn Out can also help a homeschool co-op leader run a successful co-op, whether small, medium or large, without burning out!

Carol Topp, CPA

Economy drives more parents to homeschool

A homeschool co-op in South Carolina, has grown to 345 students from a small home-based study group!  Wow!

It is a great story and pretty familiar to me. I have heard of a lot of growth in homeschool co-ops lately.  My own homeschool co-op had a waiting list of 25 families this year. We couldn’t accommodate them all, so we helped them start a new co-op. I gave them a copy of  Homeschool Co-ops: How to Start Them, Run Them and Not Burn Out and my ebook Money Management for Homeschool Organizations. They are now going strong with 28 families their first year!

From the Greenville (SC) News online:

Upstate Homeschool Co-op sees increase in students

With 345 students enrolled this school year, the Upstate Homeschool Co-op has seen its numbers swell dramatically since it first began as a small study group in Suzanne Brown’s Taylors home for her three oldest children.

Now, the co-op, which meets twice a week at Taylors First Baptist Church and offers enrichment and academic classes to students 4K-12, is seeing longer waiting lists and has doubled its high school courses to meet a growing demand as the economic recession continues to tighten household finances and more parents become dissatisfied with public school education.

I bet they are a blessing to many homeschool families, but their leaders may also suffer from growing pains!  I emailed their director, Suzanne Brown to tell her about HomeschoolCPA, its Leader Tools and my newly launched  ebooks and audios. She may need some help to manage a group of that size! You might too!

Carol Topp, CPA

Handling funds for big events like a senior formal

Hi Carol,

I’m the Treasurer for our local Home School Co-op and we are in the process of implementing some policy and procedures. My question is: What would be an effective policy for the handling of funds received by the various age-level activity coordinators?

Some activities are free or have a very small fee, while others are big events with tickets being sold and expenses incurred (High School Formal)..  Should there be a set amount that does not need to flow through the checking account and the coordinator be responsible for the collection of fees and the disbursement of funds, or should all monies flow through the checking account and expenses paid by the Treasurer?

Thank you,

Terri K

IRS Intimidates Homeschool Group

I have helped several homeschool groups obtain tax exempt status with a 100% successful track record (no one has ever been denied by the IRS). One homeschool group even received their tax exempt status letter from the IRS in only three weeks!  That’s amazingly fast for the IRS; it typically takes 3 months!

But recently a homeschool group in Texas e-mailed me for help. They had applied for tax exempt status as a 501c3 educational organization.  I did not prepare their application, but looked over their website and they appeared to be similar to hundreds of homeschool organizations across the US. But the IRS was going to deny their application, keep their $750 application fee, bar them from applying again and claimed to be building a file to be used against other organizations like them seeking tax exempt status!

This was horrible and could have had a huge negative impact on homeschool co-ops and support groups across the US.  I recommended they speak to the attorneys at Homeschool Legal Advantage. There is a time and a place to hire a lawyer and this was it!

Homeschool Legal Advantage recently e-mailed this update

https://app.e2ma.net/app/view:CampaignPublic/id:8078.2491060969/rid:4166d5ca89236cc41a5c872dd1372e97

As you can read they were a great help to this homeschool organization and resolved the matter quickly with the IRS.

The article mentioned the difference between 501c3 and 501c7 status and you may find that  a bit confusing. Additionally, the groups use of the word ‘co-op’ confused the IRS as to their purpose. What is right for your homeschool organization? How should you present your group tpo the IRS when applying for tax exempt status?

Feel free to email me to arrange a private consultation via telephone.  Each group is unique and an individual consultation will be very helpful

Carol Topp, CPA

P.S. I was so pleased to meet the attorneys with Homeschool Legal Advantage at the Midwest Homeschool Convention in Cincinati in 2009. They were so helpful in desiring to work with homeschool organizations as well as indiviual families.