OMDR Plus

How Do New Officers Access OMDR Plus?

If your unit has elected new officers – or if you know who your next President will be --  now’s the time to enter the name of your next President and an alternate group administrator to the system.  Visit www.JustBetweenFriends.com, click on the Contact Us button – then, click on JBF Customer Support.  They’ll get back to you with instructions that’ll enable you to accomplish this task.

What is OMDR Plus?

National PTA's Online Membership Data Reporting began as a member data entry system for PTAs but has since undergone a considerable metamorphosis into OMDR Plus.  National PTA contracted the services of Just Between Friends, Inc., a software development company, to develop and maintain a system designed to assist units with the challenges of running a PTA on a daily basis and growing it into a strong and effective organization. Additionally, it offers a suite of services that allow members to connect with their PTA and other community organizations.

The functions of National PTA's OMDR Plus are generally divided into two categories.

1. Running the PTA

• OMDR Plus has a robust communication system for getting critical information to families in the school. This communication system has many features such as: automatic reminders that go out via email on a pre-set basis; the ability to create any number of logical groupings (school district, school, grade, individual class, etc.); and to easily select which audience shall receive which emails. Families can access the information from a private and secure account even when they don't have email access.
• There is an events and announcements section automatically populated with the content of the reminder emails. This gives PTAs and school administrators two ways to reach families with critical information.
• The system supports robust directory capabilities that automate the creation of paper directories, significantly reducing the time and effort traditionally needed for this task. It also creates online directories that are private and secure with powerful searching capabilities. The online directories also have many other features, allowing for things like multiple last names in the same family, multiple contact phone numbers and email addresses, and parental choice of what information will be shared and what will not.
• And importantly, the system includes a unique method for designating which PTA leaders and volunteers can use various parts of the system - for sharing the tasks while restricting volunteers to their own area.

2. Supporting parents while promoting membership growth

• The system addresses the needs of individual PTA members who are trying to manage their busy lives. OMDR Plus helps with this challenge by providing one-stop shopping for all of their children's school and community events.
• OMDR Plus provides a service to all families (regardless of whether or not they are a members of PTA) that, simultaneously, is both valuable to the individual parent and also gives the PTA leader the ability to communicate to them about all the great things PTA does, why their support is important, and how they can support PTA.
• Because PTA does not discriminate when it comes to students participating in PTA programs, it is important and appropriate that all families (especially non-members) be informed about the value that PTA offers to the school. Families and community members should also know how important their support is - whether they join PTA or provide support by purchasing the goods and services offered by the PTA fundraising efforts.

Implementation and Training

The following outlines the steps for implementation of National PTA's OMDR Plus:

1. The unit president or designated leader goes through the group startup wizard which is a one-time process that takes about 10 minutes. Remember that local leaders no longer need to know their membership number to sign up.    When this step is completed, the local unit is approved.
2. Unit board members sign up for and receive the appropriate training for their position.
3. Once training is completed, the unit may get their members signed up. As part of their training, they will be provided with suggestions on how to go about this and examples of communications they can use to send to parents and other group leaders.
4. Members can sign themselves up on the system, also through a simple wizard; again, a one-time only process, which will take only a few minutes to complete.
5. After members have signed up through the wizard, the designated unit officer(s) will approve them into the unit, giving them access to all of the functionalities in the system designed for members.

Training classes available are:

• Master Administrator - designed for the PTA president and an alternate.
• Run My PTA - designed for the membership chairman or designated board member.
• Communications - designed for any board member with an ongoing need to communicate with any group of members or school groups. - designed for the directory chairman or designated PTA board member.

Sign up for training.  For more information on training classes, please contact Julia Sheffler at Just Between Friends. Her phone number is 412.561.0500 and her email is jsheffler.training@justbetweenfriends.net .

Startup Wizard

National PTA and Just Between Friends have created a startup wizard process for your PTA. The PTA leader accomplishing this task, usually the PTA president, is termed the "master administrator" for the unit.

Click here to go to the Startup Wizard.  Before beginning, have all of the information ready.

1. The local unit or council ID number - This is the unique identification number already issued to each unit or council by National PTA. Click here to obtain this number.
2. Contact information for the master administrator and the school - Include address, phone and email address. If running a council PTA, include information for the school district or coverage area.
3. Number (or estimate) of students in the school - For councils, use the number of students in the school district or coverage area.
4. Number of families/households (or estimate) that have children in the school - This is the number of families living in one household that have at least one child in the school.  For councils, use the number of students in the school district or coverage area. 
5. An additional person who will act as backup for the master administrator - Include name, address, phone, and email address.

The following information is optional . Any additional information may enhance the value for you and the parents in your PTA.

1. Name of school principal - Include the name of the school district superintendent if running a council.
2. PTA board members - name, title, phone, and email address. When all board members are included, they may then be granted access to parts of the system that will help them do their PTA tasks. Customize their permissions to use only the parts of Just Between Friends and OMDR Plus that apply to their PTA positions.
3. Classes in each grade - Set up the system to show the classes in each of the school's grades. This allows customized communications, school directory information, and newsletters by class. Include teacher name, room number, and class size.
4. Other groups within your school -Including the names of other school groups enables communications and directories for parents of students in other groups within the school (such as school teams, clubs, orchestras, etc.).
5. External groups - There may be external groups (not directly associated with the school or PTA) with overlapping membership - such as local sports associations, theater arts groups, etc. Create the opportunity to make it easy for members to see the events from these groups on the same calendars as they see PTA and school events.

Once the information has been collected, it should take about 10 minutes to complete the startup process, after which National PTA will send information for system training.

OMDR Plus Tips

How to Print Membership Cards - Sign into your administrative account in Just Between Friends. Click on Run My PTA tab. Now click on PTA Members Tab. Then select Master PTA Roster in red. Your print card function is here.  Instructions for printing cards can be found by clicking here or visit www.learnjbf.com

Important

• Always print a test page before putting in your cards.  Use a reality check. 
• Read the help and tips in the instructions; every printer is slightly different use the directions for tweaking your printout.
• Member specific cards are based on the X in the membership year by the name of the member.

Resetting Forgotten Member and Administrative Passwords

(Before resetting passwords, take a look in your mailbox for an email confirming your original password.  Check your junk mail and spam folder.)  Great news:  Not only can you reset instantly your member password but now the ability to instantly reset your admin password is also available.  At each of the respective locations (member, initial login, and admin) there is a link asking you if you forgot your password.  Click on these links for reset.  If you feel you would like to have instructions on this please visit www.learnjbf.com  and click on the appropriate links.  They will be right there for your access. 

Important

• Please try the reset feature before using the Contact Us button. It is a much quicker way to get your password.
• Initially your password was set the same for both logins.  If you reset you will be required to reset each separately and you will now have two different passwords.
• To reset your admin password to something you would rather have (after you reset your admin password and get in):
  • Log into your admin side. Click on the Administrators tab. Click on Modify a Group Administrator, in red words. Check mark the box reset admin password. Type in your new password and confirm. Now scroll down and click on the Update button.  Click here for detailed instructions.
  • If you have not validated your email account, the system will ask to resend that validation, once validated you may use your existing password and username without resetting.  Make sure to click on the activation link within the email.
  • If you have requested your new password to be sent but cannot find it check your junk and spam folders.

How to Add New Administrators - You will want to add additional administrators into the system, including directory chairs (to create and print directories), volunteer chairs (to recruit volunteers and communicate) and homeroom parents (to communicate with their homerooms).  The instructions below show you how.

Sign into your administrative side. Click on the Administrators tab. Click on the red words: Promote an existing user to an Administrator. elect the member and follow the prompts.

Instructions for adding administrators can be found by clicking here  or visit www.learnjbf.com under the How Do I? tab.

Important

• The person you wish to promote must already be a member in the system and have validated their email and must be a member of your group. 
• Be sure to assign privileges based on the group in which they should have privileges.  Example:  A membership chair may have all privileges for the entire unit.  A homeroom parent may have privileges only to send notices in their classroom.
• Write down the password you assign the new admin. If this person is already an admin for some other group you will not be requested to give them a password, they already have one.

What is my token? Do you need a token to invite parents to join?  Did you know you already have it?  It is your National Unit ID number with the letters tok at the end and without the first zeros.  Example:  your national ID number is 0000222 .   Your token would be 222tok .  Don't have your National ID number committed memory?  Then log into your Just Between Friends account and at the top of you page, to the left, is your unit name and a number beside it.  Thus you have your National ID number. 

Want to Invite Parents to Join by Signing up their own account? Why not use the Email Import on the Notices tab.  Use the directions at this link:  

http://www.learnjbf.com/group_admin/documents/EmailImport.pdf 

Greek Lettering - Have some of your notices been received in Greek? Here is a solution to most instances of this problem -Your notices may be represented in the Greek alphabet when you use an incompatible font with the end user's computer.  We suggest utilizing a standard font such as Times New Roman when typing the notice. Be certain that your entire notice is in Times New Roman.  To do this go to the body of the notice you wish to send.  Select all in the body of the notice and change to Times New Roman font selection.