I wear two hats. I’m a PTA mom and a bit of a tech nerd. I’ve built our PTA site three different ways over the last four years. Some weeks I did it late at night with tea and a baby monitor. Other times, it was on my phone in the school parking lot. So yeah, I’ve been there.
For a deeper dive into that build-it-so-you-don’t-have-to process, check out my full write-up: I built our PTA website so you don’t have to.
Here’s what actually worked for us, what drove me nuts, and what I’d do again.
Quick note on our school and needs
- K–5 public school, about 540 students
- PTA board of 8, lots of new volunteers each year
- We run a fall fun run, a spring auction, and a book fair
- We need to take dues online, sell spirit wear, and schedule volunteers
- We have parents who speak Spanish, Mandarin, and Arabic
- Our treasurer loves clean reports (and hates surprises)
Many K-12 support groups share these same pain points, and there’s a focused look at how purpose-built software can help on this page about K-12 support groups.
For a handy, constantly updated comparison chart of popular website builders (including some I haven’t tested yet), check out the breakdown at Website Builder Awards.
I’ll walk through three tools I’ve used: Givebacks (the old MemberHub), PTBoard, and Squarespace. I’ll share real pages I built and what broke.
Givebacks (MemberHub) Sites — “All-in-one, but you need patience”
I used the Givebacks site builder the year we moved off paper forms. I liked that the website, store, and memberships sat in one place. I didn’t need to glue five apps together. That felt like a win.
What I built, for real:
- Back-to-School Bash page with RSVP. I capped it at 150 families and it actually stopped at 150. Bless it.
- Membership join page with student name, teacher, and grade fields. I exported the list to CSV for our VP. She cried happy tears.
- Spirit wear store with sizes and a “pick up at front office” option. We tied this to a simple inventory count. I did oversell one youth small when I forgot to update counts after a pop-up table. That one’s on me.
- Calendar that pulled from our Google Calendar. Parents could add it to their phone in two taps.
- Teacher grant form with file upload. Our grants chair reviewed them in the same dashboard.
- Donation page for the Fun Run. It had a progress bar. Kids refreshed it during lunch like it was a game.
What felt good
- Money and data in one system. The treasurer synced deposits, and I pulled itemized reports by event.
- Quick dues setup. I sent a single link in our Sunday email. Folks paid by card or Apple Pay.
- Volunteer signups with slot caps. I set 30-minute stations for Book Fair and it filled without fuss.
What didn’t
- The editor felt clunky. I’d drag a photo and it would pop two pixels to the left. Tiny things, but on a long night, I sighed a lot.
- Fees. Payments had platform fees plus card fees. We covered them for members, so we felt the hit on big drives. Check current pricing; it shifts.
- Theme basics. I could change colors and headers, but fine control was limited. The homepage looked “PTA nice,” not “photo spread nice.”
The thing I learned
If you want simple flow from “learn” to “join” to “pay,” Givebacks makes sense. But you trade some design control and you accept the interface quirks.
PTBoard — “Fast for schools, a little old-school”
We used PTBoard when we wanted fast setup and clear signups. It’s very PTA-minded, which I loved during busy months.
What I built, for real:
- Teacher Appreciation Week signups with dish slots. I set 12 slots for “salad,” 10 for “dessert,” and 3 for “gluten-free sides.” It emailed reminders the day before.
- Directory with privacy controls. Parents chose what to show. New families liked how quick it was.
- A very simple spirit wear page with a single hoodie. We used the built-in checkout and limited stock to 40. It stopped at 40 without me babysitting it.
- Announcement bar for late bus alerts. I posted from my phone in the pickup line.
What felt good
- Setup took one afternoon. I had a working site with a calendar, posts, and signups before school pick-up.
- Volunteer tools are clear. Slots, reminders, the whole deal.
- Communication is “one push.” Post a note, email goes out. Simple.
What didn’t
- Design is plain. I got a clean site, but not a glossy one.
- Store is fine for a few items. For a full spirit shop with variants and pre-orders, it felt tight.
- Data exports worked, but fields had odd names. I had to map “child_teacher” to “Teacher” in our spreadsheet. Not a big deal, but odd.
The thing I learned
PTBoard shines when the goal is “get signups filled and dates out fast.” It’s not fancy, but it’s steady. Our kinder families found it easy, which matters.
That same no-frills reliability is what kept me sane when I spun up roster and schedule pages for youth soccer, softball, baseball, and swim—here’s the play-by-play of building four different sports team sites in one season.
Squarespace — “Looks gorgeous, but you’re the glue”
I built a full PTA site on Squarespace when our board wanted a fresh look. Big photos. Clear menus. It felt like a real school brand. But I had to connect other tools for payments and memberships.
What I built, for real:
- A homepage with a hero photo from Field Day. Bold, bright, and actually our kids.
- “Join the PTA” page that linked to a Stripe checkout form I made.
- Spirit wear store with photos taken on a white poster board in my kitchen. I managed stock numbers and sizes inside Squarespace Commerce.
- Volunteer page that embedded a signup form from SignUpGenius. It matched our style pretty well.
- A “We speak Spanish” note with a language toggle tip up top. For full translation, I used a third-party widget. It wasn’t perfect, but it helped.
- Domain setup with our custom URL. I pointed DNS records and had SSL working. Took me 20 minutes and one YouTube video.
What felt good
- Design control. Fonts, spacing, mobile layout. It felt like I was building a brand, not just a site.
- Photo galleries. Our Reflections art page looked like a mini museum. Kids loved seeing their work big and bright.
- Blogging for updates. I posted our “Sunday Scoop” and auto-sent it by email with RSS tools.
What didn’t
- I had to stitch payments, memberships, and volunteer tools. Each one had its own fees and quirks.
- Data was spread out. Members in Stripe. Volunteers in SignUpGenius. Donors in a Google Sheet. I kept a master CSV and updated it weekly.
- New board members got a little lost. The editor is simple once you learn it, but it’s still a shift.
The thing I learned
If your PTA wants a polished site and you’ve got one tech helper, this works. Just plan time to glue the parts and write down your process for the next person.
Real moments that sold me (or scared me)
- Fun Run chaos: We had 423 small donations in one week. Givebacks handled the rush without timing out. The live total pushed kids to share.
- Book Fair help: PTBoard sent a reminder to a parent who had forgotten her slot. She saw it on her watch, ran over, and saved our lunch rush.
- Spirit wear mix-up: On Squarespace, I mislabeled two sizes during a fast restock. I fixed it, added a note to the product, and sent a kind email. One parent replied with a smile emoji. Human beats perfect.
- Back-to-School Night QR codes: I taped a QR code on the welcome table. Folks scanned it to “Join PTA” right there. We got 37 new members that night.
- Annual audit: The treasurer asked for a report with fees, net, and item counts. Givebacks gave me that in one click. On Squarespace, I had to blend Stripe data and a sheet. It took 40 minutes. Not awful, but not one click.
Working on school teams often feels a lot like league sports, and if you want more crossover tips, my recap of building three separate sports websites digs into quick-hit tactics that translate beautifully to PTA life.
Cost talk, without the headache
I won’t list hard numbers, since plans and promos change. But here’s how it felt on our budget:
- Givebacks: platform