It is recommended that you use your personal email address for:
Your personal Givebacks account
Your officer listing
Your personal membership
If your PTA also uses a shared inbox (like president@... or treasurer@...) for sending messages or managing a role, you can create a separate Givebacks account using that generic/role-based email address.
Why this matters in Givebacks
In Givebacks, an account is tied to one email address, and that email is used to uniquely identify you in the system. For PTAs, this helps ensure you are consistently identified across levels (local, council/district, state, and national). Because of that, it’s important to use the right email for the right purpose.
What’s the difference between personal and officer emails?
Your personal email represents you, no matter what role you hold. A generic email (like president@schoolpta.org) represents the role, which may be passed to someone else later.
Keeping these separate makes officer transitions much easier and prevents mix-ups later.
What’s wrong with using a generic email on my personal profile?
If your personal Givebacks profile uses a generic/role-based email, it can create problems when you leave the role:
Confusing transitions: You may want to stay involved as a member, but your account is tied to an officer inbox that might be handed off.
Incorrect historical records: State PTA records may look like the same person stayed in the role because the email never changed.
Emails going to the wrong person: After you transition out, someone new may receive messages meant for you personally (because they now control that shared inbox).
What if my officer email address won’t be passed on to anyone else?
Even if the email looks personal (for example, Jane.Doe@schoolpta.org), it’s still best to keep it separate from your personal account—especially if you’re involved with more than one organization.
If you’re only in one organization and decide to use that PTA email as your personal Givebacks login, make sure you change your Givebacks email address before leaving the unit, since the PTA email may be discontinued when you’re no longer in the role.
What if I want messages to come from the organization instead of me?
The Givebacks messaging tools allow you to choose who the sender of the message is: you or the organization. If you want messages to appear as coming from the PTA, select the organization's name as the "Sender Display Name".
The other option is to create a separate Givebacks account using the generic officer email and log in with that email address to send messages.
Note: You’ll need to log out and log back in to switch between the personal and generic accounts.
I want emails from my State PTA to go to my officer email. Can I do that?
Yes. A recent update allows officers to be added using their officer/PTA email instead of their personal email.
Update the name on the profile to make sure the correct name is shown (and not a past officer’s name).
Questions? Click the "?" icon to contact Givebacks Support.