If your PTA still collects membership dues with paper forms and cash envelopes, you already know the drill. Forms go missing. Parents forget. Your treasurer ends up chasing people down in the parking lot well after the school year gets going.

Coupled with the reality that there are about 45% fewer members today than just five years ago, and incoming PTA volunteers have their work cut out for them trying to solve two enormous challenges at once.

There's a better way, and as of now, it's available to every California PTA unit.

FutureFund has been officially approved as a vendor for California PTA membership sales. All 3,000+ CAPTA units across California can now sell memberships online - with digital membership cards, online payments, and full dues apportionment.

More importantly, schools using FutureFund have not seen the decline in membership enrollment compared with schools that have not brought their memberships to the digital era. 

See how you can grow your PTA membership with FutureFund.

When your unit moves membership to FutureFund, you unlock a set of tools that give your members real, tangible reasons to join while also giving your board better ways to run events, sell merchandise, and recognize the families who show up year after year.

"We built FutureFund to remove financial barriers for school groups, and that extends to membership. Every California PTA unit should have access to online enrollment tools without having to pay for them. This partnership with CAPTA makes that a reality for more than 3,000 units across the state."

- Darian Shimy, Founder, FutureFund

What Does It Mean to Be an Approved CAPTA Vendor?

CAPTA - the California State PTA - maintains a list of approved vendors that local units can work with for membership-related services. Being on that list means FutureFund has met CAPTA's standards and is authorized to handle membership enrollment and dues processing on behalf of California units.

In practical terms, it means your unit can start selling memberships through FutureFund right now, without having to do any extra vetting or paperwork on your end. The approval is already in place.

Why build your membership with FutureFund?

Here's what your unit gets access to:

• Online membership enrollment lets parents join from any device in under two minutes.
• Digital membership cards are issued automatically after someone joins. Members always have proof of membership on their phone.
• Full dues apportionment is handled by FutureFund. The right amount goes to your local unit, your council, your district, and CAPTA without your treasurer having to calculate anything manually.
• Online payment processing means parents can pay by card at signup. You collect more members because the barrier to joining is lower.
• If your unit uses BeeKeeper, our PTA accounting platform, your sales, remittances, etc. are all automatically synced and categorized.

As always, FutureFund is free for local units. FutureFund's donor-supported model means schools and PTAs keep every dollar they raise. There are no platform fees passed on to your unit.

Membership means more when it comes with tangible benefits

One of the most common reasons parents skip PTA membership is simple: they don't see enough value in it. Online enrollment makes joining easier, but what keeps families engaged year over year is what membership actually gets them.

When parents ask "what do I get if I join?" the answer can be more than simply "you support the school." That's true, and it matters, but it's not what moves someone from being interested to signed up if they are price conscious or have value concerns.

FutureFund gives your unit the tools to make membership the key to unlocking exclusive discounts, unique experiences, insider communications, and more.

With FutureFund, you can:

• Give members discounts automatically on your online store, incentivizing both merchandise sales and PTA membership growth at the same time!
• Provide in-person discounts when members buy tickets to events or items from your snack bar or concession stand
• Give members advance notice about upcoming events, fundraisers, and more
• Automagically include members in an online directory that anyone can access

FutureFund makes it possible to offer those benefits without creating extra administrative work for your team.

Why This Matters for Your Membership

Membership growth is one of the first things a new PTA board has to tackle each year, and they're also one of the most challenging. Moving sales and management online doesn't just save time: it typically means more members, because the process is easier for parents to complete.

With FutureFund handling dues apportionment automatically, your treasurer also gets time back that would otherwise go to manual calculations and remittances. 

How to Get Started

If your unit is already using FutureFund Connect, you can access membership enrollment directly from your existing dashboard. There's nothing new to install and no separate account to create.

If your unit isn't on FutureFund yet, you can create a free account right here and begin selling memberships immediately. Setup takes a few minutes, and support is available if you need a hand.