FUTURE BUSINESS LEADERS OF AMERICA
CHAPTER TOOLKIT SPRING EDITION
FROM THE FALL AND WINTER TOOLKITS, I hope that you’ve gained valuable insight and information on how to be more successful in FBLA as a member and as a chapter! Though the membership year is winding down, there are still numerous activities you and your chapter can engage in to finish the year off on a high note, in addition to preparing for next year. And for those attending the National Leadership Conference, this season is an exciting time, as you prepare and await for the conference. With this, I am more than excited to welcome you to the 2018-19 FBLA Spring Chapter Toolkit! In the Spring Chapter Toolkit, you will find resources for a smooth chapter officer transition, information about community service projects, ideas for the summer, and tips for membership recruitment and retention. Moreover, you will find helpful advice for members transitioning from Middle Level to FBLA, and ways to help you prepare for the National Leadership Conference. As state conferences have concluded, it is now time to look forward towards this year’s National Leadership Conference! The National Leadership Conference will be an incredible experience — the culmination of the amazing year we’ve had together. At the NLC, I encourage you to create lifelong memories and friendships, lead your chapter to success, and inspire others to make the most of their experiences in FBLA. I cannot wait to see you at this year’s conference! As you are preparing for the end of the year or for NLC, I hope that you find the FBLA Spring Chapter Toolkit to be the ultimate resource guide for your chapter this season. We look forward to hearing more about all the ways you Create, Lead and Inspire! Best,
Eu Ro Wang FBLA National President
MIDDLE LEVEL
MEMBERSHIP RECRUITMENT & RETAINMENT
PLANNING FOR THE SUMMER
CHAPTER OFFICER TRANSITION
COMMUNITY SERVICE
NATIONALS AT SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS
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he 2019 National Leadership Conference will iiiiiiiiiiibe in San Antonio, Texas from June 29th to July 2nd. To register for conference, you can register on www.fbla-pbl.org. The deadlines can be found on the upper-right hand corner of this spread.
The Institute for Leaders (IFL) is held prior to the NLC. This year’s IFL will take place June 28-June 29. IFL is open to anyone who wants to grow as a leader, network with fellow FBLA members, and increase your knowledge of FBLA. There are several sessions IFL attendees can attend, including tracks for chapter officers, state officers, and more! At NLC, there are several exciting opportunities to take advantage of. For instance, you can serve as an intern at NLC. Serving as an intern can enhance your experience at NLC through helping the National staff with conference logistics and headquarters office management.
If you are interested in being an NLC intern, you can apply at http://bit.ly/NLCIntern by May 10th. You can even apply to host a workshop at NLC! Maybe you want to share social media tips or what you can do to become a better leader. You can submit a workshop idea at http://bit.ly/NLCWorkshop NLC also gives each individual the opportunity to compete in an Open Event. You don’t have to be a state winner—just a member. FBLA and FBLA-Middle Level members may only take one open event on July 1. FBLA members can compete in Data Security, Digital Photography, Human Resource Management, Project Management, Public Relations, or Python Programming! FBLA Middle Level events include Business FB Communication, Entrepreneurship Concepts, Leadership Skills, and Study Skills. As soon as possible, you should begin studying or preparing your competitive event for NLC. There is an
abundance of online resources to study for objective tests. To start, look up your competitive event on the FBLA National Website. Here, you can find practice tests and look at the competencies for your competitive event. For more practice test questions, use FBLAtests.org. Studying old tests questions is one of the best ways to prepare for an objective test! Lastly, you can simply search your competitive event on Quizlet.com and review using their flashcards. re
Because NLC expenses can start to add up rather quickly, it is important to start fundraising as soon as possible! One way you can raise money is by planning a Color Run, where participants white t-shirts, and at specific checkpoints, volunteers spray them with water-based paint or throw water balloons with paint inside. Raise money by charging a participation fee or by getting sponsors to pledge money for each lap completed.
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To start preparing for presentation events, begin by looking at the rubric for your event on the FBLA National Website. Be sure to meet all of the requirements for your performance event, including any materials you need to make and bring to your competition. If you plan on creating a powerpoint for your presentation, use templates on Canva.com or SlidesCarnival.com to make your presentation more eye-catching and unique than other competitors. Another tip is ey to have past presentation event winners look over your content and offer style suggestions. After you prepare the materials for your presentation, start practicing in front of other people!
Make sure you become comfortable with presenting your topic to anyone; ask your friends, parents, or chapter officers to take time to listen to your presentation and give feedback. You can dedicate an entire study session to practicing performance events and scoring each other against a rubric. The more you practice, the more confident and prepared you will feel to give your performance!
EASTER EGG HUNT
During April, when most conferences and competitive events end, your chapter may choose to focus on local level initiatives, such as community service. Spring is the perfect time to start community service initiatives. During April, your local chapter can start various community service projects for Easter. For instance, you can work with other clubs and organizations at your school to create Easter baskets for the local children’s hospital or foster care home. You can also organize an Easter Egg Hunt for kids in your local community. There are also many Easter events being held in the community, so your chapter can reach out to sponsor or help with another event if you’re unable to host your own.
MARCH OF DIMES
And while BAA and CSA submission deadlines were due earlier in the Spring, it’s not too late to get started for next year! After SLC is a prime time for chapter members to regroup, and revisit these National Programs. For example, consider hosting a chapter community service project for the CSAs — specifically, for our National Service Partner, March of Dimes! In fact, many March for Babies walks are currently going on in April/May, and they’re always looking for students to create teams or volunteer. FBLA also has a new and improved donation submission form bit.ly/FBLAMOD so make sure to share with your adviser and chapter leadership.
SPRING SERVICE
Your chapter can even consider organizing a spring cleaning event for your school! Members can aid teachers in organizing and cleaning their rooms for the upcoming year. Moreover, you can host a “college-survival drive” in which members can aid in collecting necessities for seniors who are on their way to college. Members can create baskets filled with bedding, flash drives, hangers, etc. to give out to outgoing seniors!
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LEAD2FEED
Throughout these service events, don’t forget to tap into Lead2Feed, a Th FBLA partner who offers a few leadership program to prepare young people to tackle community problems. Your FBLA Adviser can register members for this opportunity, and your project may be nominated for a prize (deadline May 31)! In the past, FBLA chapters have won up to $20,000 for their nonprofit of choice and $10,000 for their school for service projects ranging from creating meals for firefighters battling a local fire, to creating space for senior citizens a space to socialize and stay active. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to take your chapter’s service work to the next level!
CHAPTER OFFICER
TRANSITION D
uring the Spring, when most of your chapter pppiiiiiproceedings become less active, it’s important to think about next year’s officer team. This includes evaluating your team’s success, preparing transition materials, and selecting the officers, either by election or appointment.
Once you have established your officer team, it is important to forge an effective transition between the outgoing and incoming officers. You may choose to have a week-long “officer boot camp” in which your outgoing officers and adviser(s) prepare the incoming officers for the next year through team-building activities, explanations of chapter proceedings, etc. pr
With this, you are able to reflect on the past year and assess what worked, what did not, and what needs to change. Reflecting with the incoming officers can prove to be beneficial as they can provide insight from a different perspective, which can generate ideas on what can be implemented for the upcoming year. For example, the outgoing officer team can help the incoming officer team set goals for the upcoming year and determine how realistic those goals are based on the chapter’s previous activity levels.
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Electing the team’s officers is beneficial, as members can have a voice in selecting their representatives. In this case, you may rely on popular or majority vote to decide on these individuals. Another option is appointment; after the application process, your current chapter officers and advisor can review and deliberate on the candidates to make a decision. You may even choose to include an interview process, in addition to the application in order to better understand the applicant. You may also choose to combine the two, or do whatever works best for your chapter.
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side from attending IFL or NLC during the summer, there are a variety of other ways to learn more iiiiiiiiiiabout business and learn important skills. To find a summer internship, you can network with businesses in your local community and send out your resume and cover letter to ask about possible opportunities. Here are some useful tips when trying to find a summer job, internship, or other opportunities: Use sites like Linkedin and other job search or networking sites to find opportunities.
Start early! The sooner you search for internship or job opportunities, the better off you will be!
Use formats from Canva.com or other softwares to make a professional cover letter or resume.
If you want to shadow a businessperson for the day, simply send an email or letter explaining your interest in their field. you their job for a day!
Practice your interview skills with friends and family.
Connect with your high school Career Center or Guidance Counselor for local work/internship opportunities.
IN ADDITION TO INTERNSHIPS AND OTHER PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES, you can use your summer to gain valuable volunteer experience and give back to the community. Most local hospitals and food pantries have applications online that you can use to apply for a volunteer position. You can use the summer to build community service hours for your resume or other FBLA awards, such as the CSAs. Remember that not all volunteer service has to be affiliated with a parent organization — even small passion projects, such as hosting a book drive or teaching free English lessons to ESL students, are meaningful! For outgoing officers: remember to prepare leadership materials for your successor! Newly elected officers will most likely have questions for their role, and appreciate your advice, experience, and tips for the future. Consider writing a letter to your successor, exchanging contact information, and compiling valuable information such as past minutes/agendas, program of work, fundraiser/community service contacts and information, chapter email/social media usernames and passwords, etc. There is a lot of information involved in operating a successful FBLA chapter, and it is important for outgoing officers to ensure there is a robust framework in place to pass along this knowledge. In fact, your chapter may consider hosting a Chapter Officers fr Training, which can be a time for new and old officers to directly discuss these roles, and create space for outgoing officers to provide their advice The summer is also a valuable time to begin planning the year with your newly elected local chapter officers. During the summer, you should schedule a time to meet with your local chapter officers to plan for the upcoming year, and ensure the chapter will be off to a strong start at the beginning of the school year. Here are some important topics you should cover at your summer officer meeting: COMMUNITY SERVICE FOR THE UPCOMING YEAR
SCHEDULE FOR MEETINGS & CHAPTER ACTIVITIES
FUNDRAISERS FOR THE UPCOMING YEAR
MEMBERSHIP RECRUITMENT AND RETAINMENT FOR THE UPCOMING YEAR
Additionally, the summer is the perfect time to lay out your local chapter’s Program of Work or POW. Your POW is essentially the general outline of you chapter’s goals for the year including a deadline and the officer in charge, in order to maintain accountability. Here is a sample goal from the National Officer’s POW. Using the same format for your goals is an effective way to keep your local chapter on track. It is a good idea to share this document with your chapter adviser, and get their feedback on your vision for the chapter! GOAL #1: CUSTOMER SERVICE: TO BE RESPONSIVE TO THE NEEDS OF OUR STUDENTS, ADVISERS, AND BUSINESS CUSTOMERS! OBJECTIVE
TACTIC
OFFICERS
DUE DATE
To increase FBLA national membership by 2% by the end of the membership year.
Home State Advantage-- Each national officer will:
All Officers/ led by Maddy
March 1
Southern Region: 1700 membership increase
- Work with state to achieve a 25 member increase over last year’s end of the year total for their State Chapter - Complete Membership Mania
North Central Region: 540 membership increase
- Achieve Connect 10 for Local Chapter
Mountain Plains Region: 410 membership increase membe
- Complete Super Sweeps - Local Chapter will complete Outstanding Chapter
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Western Region: 430 membership increase
Eastern Region: 830 membership increase
STATUS
BY THE END OF THE SCHOOL YEAR, your chapter should begin planning recruitment ideas for next year’s members in addition to keeping your current members active. At this time, your chapter may already have elected new officers for the 2019-2020 school year, and it is highly recommended old and new officers collaborate in these initial brainstorming phases.
early
MEMBERSHIP
drive
orientation and
letters
Fi First, your local chapter can begin recruiting for next school year by hosting an early membership drive. Your membership drive should target current 9th, 10th, and 11th graders. Begin by hanging up posters about FBLA. Next, host an informational meeting for prospective members. As an incentive to encourage students to show up, try offering a snack at the meetings. Your chapter can also sponsor a membership drive competition. The top student who recruits the most members can receive a prize and for every member recruited, the student can receive one point if your chapter ev has a point system. Prior to the beginning of the school year, many schools host orientations or camps for rising freshmen. Use this time to promote FBLA to students. Set up a booth and dispatch officers to talk to the new students about FBLA, its benefits, and why they should become members. In an effort to bring in students who seem like a good fit for FBLA, write personalized invitation letters to urge students to join your chapter! The letter can include why the student should join FBLA as well as recommended competitive events for the specific individual. Don’t forget to do the same for new student orientations, and even exchange students!
tips for keeping members engaged They may use this time to study and prepare for their competitive event if they plan to participate at the National Leadership Conference, or help others. It’s the chapter officers’ responsibilities to assist competitors in improving their event from States, either by hosting study sessions or judging their presentations and providing feedback.
Since April is Financial Literacy Month, invite a guest speaker or experienced student to speak on the topic. Your chapter can hold an Awards Night, where outstanding members from the year are recognized, or a Senior Farewell sending off graduating seniors.
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Chapter workshops are also a great way to engage your members. For example, you can host workshops about business etiquette or building a resume since members may be interested in seeking summer jobs or internships once the school year is over.
middle level T
ransition to FBLA from FBLA Middle Level is a simple process! Joining the high school division of FBLA-PBL iiiiiiiiiioffers several opportunities that builds upon and enhances skills you’ve learned in Middle Level. For example, the competitive events program is greatly expanded in FBLA, with more than 70 competitive events from Public Speaking to Social Media Campaign to Coding & Programming and Political Science. Meanwhile, programs such as LEAD are replaced with the Business Achievement Awards (BAA) and Community Service Awards (CSA). What may be most exciting about the FBLA experience may be new leadership opportunities, whether that be serving on a local chapter level, state level, and even the national level. se
This may seem like a lot of information to take in, and to facilitate this process for middle level members to transition to the high school division, nearby high school FBLA chapters can assign each of their members to partner up with a middle-level member. This “buddy system” can allow for middle-level members to be mentored and guided in competitive events, the LEAD program, etc. by high school members, and ensure a high level of retention for Middle Level members in FBLA-PBL. FBLA chapters are encouraged to start this process near the end of the school year, so mentor/mentee pairs may meet up before the 2019-2020 school year! Furthermore, Middle Level members may consider stopping by a local FBLA chapter meeting to meet FBLA members and form an idea of what life is like in the FBLA division.
ULTIMATELY, going into high school may be a challenging transition, and strengthening your connection with FBLA-PBL is an amazing way to bridge this gap. Not only will you already have a place to fit in (with FBLA), you’ll be part of a supportive community working that reflects shared values of education, service, and progress. Here are some tips to maximize this community:
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Seek out FBLA mentors. As an incoming freshman in the FBLA chapter, upperclassmen will be more than happy to provide advice on not only new FBLA programs/competitive events, but also how to navigate high school life in general! Take advantage of FBLA opportunities. Freshman year is a great time to explore FBLA programs such as the BAAs and CSAs, and potentially take on a leadership role within your chapter (e.g., by serving on a committee). Build relationships with fellow FBLA members and your adviser. Most likely, these are people you’ll be sharing your high school career with, so make sure to build rapport! Similarly, your FBLA adviser will be one of the most important people in your high school career, and it’s important to create a strong start to the relationship.