Being an Adviser to Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) is a part of my career that is a constant. I have had the pleasure of working with 4 wonderful students as they took charge of their future and became Wisconsin State Officers, now I am working on my leadership for the state of Wisconsin.
I was asked this spring to work on the state planning committee for Wisconsin FBLA. Basically working with the committee we pull together the conference for over 2,000 students (and their always happy and deadline following advisers). I knew a couple of people on the committee and I talked it over with my husband on whether I should take on this responsibility (he tells me all the time I work too much and too late). I really felt that this would help me to be a better adviser and give more opportunities to the students at Seymour. So I said yes.
So far I have traveled to LaCrosse to get a tour of the facilities and hash out with fellow members who is doing what. Because someone new was on the committee that is always a good time to figure out what should be done where and with whom. Not having a lot of background on who previously did what I said "tell me what you want me to do, and I will do it!" I have been to several of these conferences to know and comprehend all the background work that needs to be done, but now I have the task of pulling pieces of it together with a great team.
I had a meeting with the state adviser on Thursday to go over my responsibilities and see her vision of where the organization can grow to. We went over in detail each assigned duties, some seem relativity easy (contacting police department and inform them of our conference and schedule) and other daunting (securing sponsorship for events and prizes for awards). This last task was the one that received the most of our time because it heavily relied upon for the continued growth of the organization. But where does one start? I can not focus my attention on smaller businesses, because they need to support the local chapters. I need big businesses that hopefully still have money/resources to give to educational programs like FBLA. The cold letter/phone call is so much hard to garner support. I have been thinking through a flier to help showcase what FBLA can do, but I know that lots of businesses put money and resources into these items only for them to find the direct route to the recycling bin.
So what are your thoughts on how to solicit business? What businesses to contact? Where do I get the list of large corporation in Wisconsin/Nation?
I did work 8 hours this day on this and reading my classroom.
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