The calendar template comes with all of the Texas DECA & DECA events on them. Make the calendar your own! Delete the events your chapter doesn’t need and add your own chapter events/deadlines! You may also use this calendar as a social media planning calendar.
Advisor Handbook
Creating a Program of Leadership
By combining your ideas, resources, and the people involved, you can create a strong strategy that will allow you to achieve results. Having a solid strategy is key for achieving the goals that you set forth for the year. A program of leadership is a guide to creating that solid strategy so that you are setting your team up for a successful year of achieving, and hopefully exceeding your goals.
Your ‘Program of Leadership’ or POL guides you to create goals for the year in the areas of PROGRAMS, OPERATIONS, and LEADERSHIP. Check out the resources below to get started with your planning!
See the guide below to help your chapter officer team in planning your strongest year yet!
WHAT DOES THE FILE INCLUDE?
Fundraising Ideas and Resources
Click on the fundraising ideas listed below to see more information about it.
have a great fundraiser that’s not listed? or a modification to one listed that will make it more productive? Let us know so we can add it!
This list is curated by Texas DECA with ideas/suggestions from chapters & state officers.
Used Book Sale
DESCRIPTION
This is a great project you can conduct with your chapter that has no overhead cost. Members and students across the school can donate books to your chapter and you can conduct a used book sale to gain a profit through all the books sold.
SAMPLE TIMELINE
Reach out to your school administrators to seek approval for this book sale to happen in school.
Promote the book sale on social media and in school.
Organize a donation drop-off point and conduct the donation drive → 1 week.
Price books and organize them into genres → 0.5-1 week.
Hold the book sale → 1 week.
Report on amount fundraised.
MATERIALS/EQUIPMENT NEEDED
Donation drop-off point
Used books (through donations)
Bookshelves
Flyers/Banners to put up before and during event
WHO TO CONTACT
School administrators and chapter advisor for approval on the project.
School librarian for help with organizing book sale.
Teachers, students, and parents to notify them of the book sale (through school newsletter, social media, etc).\
Balloon Pop
DESCRIPTION
Host a school-wide event where you fill an area with opaque balloons and hide small prizes in a select few. Sell thumbtacks or darts (or other objects to pop balloons) to event-goers for a chance at popping balloons and possibly winning the prizes.
SAMPLE TIMELINE
Buy appropriate materials to conduct the event (balloons, small prizes, thumbtacks/darts).
Note: Make sure you allocate your budgets appropriately so that you can ensure you make a profit by the end of the event.
Create social media content to advertise the event (flyers in school, Instagram posts/stories/reels).
Conduct in-person marketing by having officers promote the event in their classrooms, during lunch, etc.
Host the event! This can be throughout the day, over the course of a few days, during an advisory period, after school, etc.
MATERIALS/EQUIPMENT NEEDED
Opaque balloons
Small prizes
Thumbtacks/darts/something to pop balloons with
Poster/Flyers for marketing
WHO TO CONTACT
School administrators and chapter advisor for approval on the project.
Students to participate in the event (in-person, social media)
Craft Fair
DESCRIPTION
Use DECA as a way for students to showcase their crafting abilities by hosting a craft fair. Student artisans can put their work on display in exchange for volunteer hours and you can charge tickets at the door or for each piece bought by students. This can be done during the holiday season as people always love to get authentic, crafted items for loved ones.
SAMPLE TIMELINE
Reach out to student artists for help in providing gifts during the craft fair.
Decorate the room where the event will be at.
Promote “submissions for volunteer hours” and attendance at the fair with in-school flyers and social media content.
Create a one-week submission window for gifts and host the fair the next week.
MATERIALS/EQUIPMENT NEEDED
Tables for gift display
Fair decorations
Gifts (provided by students who submit work)
Tickets
Cash counter
Poster/Flyers for marketing
WHO TO CONTACT
School administrators and chapter advisor for approval on the project.
Students to submit gifts for the event with the incentive of receiving volunteer hours (in-person, social media).
Students to participate in the event (in-person, social media).
MAKE IT A SILENT AUCTION!
To make this event a silent auction, print out a page with 20 lines to go with each item. Attendees will ‘bid’ on the items they wish to purchase with the price they’re willing to pay on the sheet. After the allotted amount of time, the sheets will be taken up and you will announce the winner of each item. The winner will pay whatever their highest ‘bid’ amount was.
Sports Tournament
DESCRIPTION
Host a school-wide sports tournament where you charge teams to enter, charge admission, set up concessions, and have a prize for the winning team. You could also charge individuals to enter and then draft teams on-site.
SAMPLE TIMELINE
Reach out to potentially interested students to sign up with a team.
Set prices for admission and teams.
Create a sign-up form for teams to register themselves for the tournament.
Set up a concession stand.
Promote the tournament (to gain more viewer admissions) on social media and in person.
MATERIALS/EQUIPMENT NEEDED
Sport equipment
Admission tickets
Score tracker
Winner’s prize
Concessions
Poster/Flyers for marketing
WHO TO CONTACT
School administrators and chapter advisor for approval on the project.
Students to register into the tournament and attend the tournament.
Athletics department for sports equipment.
Sky Lantern Sendoff
DESCRIPTION
Host a one-night sky lantern sendoff event where people can purchase paper lanterns to make wishes on, light a flame inside, and send it off in the sky. Alternative: You could host this event at a body of water and lanterns could be released to float on the water.
SAMPLE TIMELINE
Set prices for lanterns.
Buy lanterns, pens, and other materials needed for the sendoff.
Promote the event (to gain more attendees) on social media and in person.
MATERIALS/EQUIPMENT NEEDED
Lanterns
Markers
Poster/Flyers for marketing
WHO TO CONTACT
School administrators and chapter advisor for approval of the event.
Game Night/Trivia night
DESCRIPTION
Bring in board games and other fun games to host a one-day game night where you can charge a small fee for attendees to be a part of the fun!
SAMPLE TIMELINE
Set prices for admission.
Bring in board games and more.
Create mini-concessions stand for an extra form of fundraising.
Promote the event (to gain more attendees) on social media + in person.
MATERIALS/EQUIPMENT NEEDED
Board games
Snacks
Poster/Flyers for marketing
WHO TO CONTACT
School administrators and chapter advisor for approval of the event.
Bake Sale
DESCRIPTION
Host a bake sale at your school. You can partner with a local bakery or with a baker, partner with your school’s culinary department, or have members bake items to sell baked goods to fundraise for your chapter.
SAMPLE TIMELINE
Set prices for baked goods.
Decide who will provide food for the event.
Promote the event (to gain more attendees) on social media and in person.
MATERIALS/EQUIPMENT NEEDED
Tables to display baked goods on sale
Cash counter
Poster/Flyers for marketing
WHO TO CONTACT
School administrators and chapter advisor for approval of the event.
Person/people making baked good for the event
MAKE IT A SILENT AUCTION!
To make this event a silent auction, print out a page with 20 lines to go with each item. Attendees will ‘bid’ on the items they wish to purchase with the price they’re willing to pay on the sheet. After the allotted amount of time, the sheets will be taken up and you will announce the winner of each item. The winner will pay whatever their highest ‘bid’ amount was.
Pumpkin Carving Contest
DESCRIPTION
An October classic, host this contest where you invite people to pay a small fee to carve a pumpkin and enter it into the competition. Get participants and viewers to vote on their favorites, and have prizes for the winners.
SAMPLE TIMELINE
Set price for participation.
Get carvable pumpkins and other appropriate materials.
Create a mini-concessions stand for extra fundraising opportunities.
Promote the event (to gain more attendees) on social media and in person.
MATERIALS/EQUIPMENT NEEDED
Carvable pumpkins
Carving supplies
Concessions food
Poster/Flyers for marketing
WHO TO CONTACT
School administrators and chapter advisor for approval of the event.
Movie Night
DESCRIPTION
Watch a movie with your friends while charging for admissions and concessions! This event could be hosted in an inside space on a large screen, or it could be hosted outside as a ‘drive-in’ style event. Consider making your event a themed event with holiday movies!
SAMPLE TIMELINE
Decide on a location for the event.
Set price for admission.
Decide on a movie to watch.
Create a mini-concessions stand for extra fundraising opportunities.
Promote the event (to gain more attendees) on social media and in person.
MATERIALS/EQUIPMENT NEEDED
Projector for the movie
Screen for movie
Movie (if you’re not watching digitally)
Cords for Projector
Computer (if movie is digital)
Concessions food
Poster/Flyers for marketing
WHO TO CONTACT
School administrators and chapter advisor for approval of the event.
Cash Calendar
Put info here
5K Walk/run
DESCRIPTION
Host a 5K race at a community park or near your school and charge a registration fee to enter as a runner all profits will go to whatever cause you’re fundraising for minus any expenses such as prizes. You may also choose to charge a little more and include a t-shirt with the registration fee.
SAMPLE TIMELINE
Set registration fee
Prepare the race location.
Create water/break stands in the middle of the race.
Promote the event on social media.
Design t-shirts (if included)
Order t-shirts
MATERIALS/EQUIPMENT NEEDED
Start/finish line markings
Directional signage for the path
Water cups & water
Snacks (if provided)
Prize for winners
T-shirt (if included)
Poster/Flyers for marketing
WHO TO CONTACT
School administrators and chapter advisor for approval of the event.
MAKE IT VIRTUAL!
Car Wash
DESCRIPTION
This classic fundraising event works great to build teamwork and spirit. Host a car wash and have chapter members take shifts doing different tasks: promoting with signs and washing cars. You could add an extra touch and run it like a true business with thank you floor mats explaining what DECA is and how they’ve contributed to the organization (print a thank you on 11x14 copy paper and place on the driver’s side).
SAMPLE TIMELINE
Scout location to host event (must have access to water hookup)
Set date/time/location for the event
Promote the event via social media
Make signs to hold up and promote during the event
Collect materials for car washing
Print floor mats (if you’re going to use them)
Host the event
MATERIALS/EQUIPMENT NEEDED
Water Hose(s)
Water Hook Up
Soap
Sponges
Buckets
Towels
WHO TO CONTACT
School administrators and chapter advisor for approval of the event.
community garage sale
DESCRIPTION
Most people have tons of stuff they are secretly dying to get rid of. Have them donate it to your sale with proceeds going to DECA. You may be able to get a local company to donate a POD or storage unit to store items during the donation period and pick them up after the sale is over.
SAMPLE TIMELINE
Set donation location and duration
Promote donating on social media
Set date and time for sale
Promote the event on social media.
MATERIALS/EQUIPMENT NEEDED
Donated items
Poster boards for signs promoting the event
Tables to display items
WHO TO CONTACT
School administrators and chapter advisor for approval of the event.
Community members to donate items
Fall Festival/carnival
DESCRIPTION
A carnival is always a fun way to raise funds. And you can invest whatever level of overhead feels appropriate. Skip the antique carousels and make up your own games with homemade booths and costumes for a lower cost and more personalized event experience. You could even invite other organizations to join in and make it a bigger event. Charge attendees to play the games! Be sure you have prizes for the winners. You could even sell concessions such as drinks and popcorn to earn a little extra money.
Example Carnival Games: Ring Toss, Corn Hole, Cake Walk, Face Painting, Bobbing for Apples
Concession Stand at Sporting Events
Candy Bar Sales
https://worldsfinestchocolate.com/
Krispy Kreme Doughnut Sales
https://www.krispykreme.com/fundraising/home
Cookie Dough Sales
Nothing bundt cake sales
https://www.groupraise.com/nothingbundtcakes
Texas Roadhouse Rolls Sales
To get started with an order-taker fundraiser, contact the Managing Partner of your closest Texas Roadhouse.
little caesars Pizza kit sales
https://www.pizzakit.com/how-it-works
auntie anne’s pretzel sales
https://www.justfundraising.com/auntie-annes-pretzels-3708.html
Additional Fundraising Resources:
Bring a Friend Challenge
HOST, POST + SHARE
Double your chapter’s reach on your campus!
Host a chapter meeting and challenge each of your members to BRING A FRIEND who is not a member of DECA yet.
challenge deadline: October 15, 2023
To get recognized at the Texas DECA State Career Development Conference and receive a ribbon for each of your members, follow the steps below!
Promote your event. (use one of the pre-made flyers linked below for easy promotion!)
HOST your Bring A Friend Meeting where each of your current members brings a friend. (check out some suggested meeting activities below)
POST a photo of your meeting on social media and tag @texasdeca.
SHARE your event with Texas DECA! Using the link below, submit a photo of your promotional materials, a photo of the event + a description of your event!
Chapters that submit their efforts as part of the Bring a Friend Challenge will receive a custom ribbon for all attendees State Conference in March!
Suggested ‘bring a friend meeting’ activities:
TEXAS DECA DIGITAL ESCAPE ROOM - Have members split into teams and complete a couple of rounds of the escape room.
DECA Guide
Related Resources:
School-Based Enterprise Guidelines
SBE Competition Guidelines
Re-Certification Guidelines
Certification Guidelines
Related Resources:
School Based Enterprise Lesson Plans and Instructional Units
Related Resources:
DECA Elevate
What does the Official DECA Elevate Booklet include?
Related Resources:
Communicating With Your Chapter Officer Team
Related Resources:
Running Your Chapter Officer Team
Related Resources:
Building Your Chapter Officer Team
Related Resources:
The Responsibilities of Being and Officer
Related Resources:
Glass Class - Chapter Management
Related Resources:
Community Service Ideas for Your Chapter
Related Resources:
Setting Chapter Goals
PREVIEW
What does the chapter goals worksheet look like?
Related Resources:
Perkins - CTE Funding Resource
Related Resources:
Membership System Information
Click on the titles above to skip straight to that section.
LOGGING IN
Website: https://membership.decaregistration.com/deca#
Username: This is your chapter ID. All Texas DECA chapters begin with 145H-(then either a 4- or 5-digit number)
Password: set by you
Issues logging in:
FORGOT CHAPTER ID?
o If you are a returning chapter you can search for a previous invoice in your email from
tx-deca@decaregistration.com
o If you are a new chapter you can search for your approval status information titled “Your Chapter Request Has
Been Approved”
FORGOT CHAPTER PASSWORD?
o Once on the membership website (https://membership.decaregistration.com/deca#) click the blue button
labeled “Forgot Password”.
– You will need the following information
• Chapter ID
• Advisor Email
• First & Last Name
o An email to reset will then be sent
See contact information at the bottom of the page in the event these remedies don’t work.
STARTING MEMBERSHIP FOR A NEW ACADEMIC YEAR
Each year you will be tasked with Graduating and doing a Roll Forward of your students’ Grade in the system. To do this take the following steps:
Part 1: Graduate
• Once in the membership site find the red button labeled ‘Graduate’.
• The system will then populate your screen with students listed as grade 12 during the 19-20 academic year.
On this screen you can update their post-graduation email address if you’d like, or you can move forward to
the next step.
• Select which students you want to move to your alumni tab (this does not add them to an invoice, it just
moves them to a different screen for now) using the checkbox under the “Graduating” tab. Once you have
those students selected you can click “Graduation Complete” at the bottom of the page. (Note: You may also
elect to drop them but having their names and contact information on the alumni tab allows you to track and
keep a database of former members, with the hopes of engaging them later. Again, you are not billed for
their membership unless you later add them as an alumni/professional).
• A confirmation dialogue box will appear for your approval. Click Yes if you’re ready to move on.
Part 2: Updating the remaining students from the previous year
• Click on the Red Edit Students button
• Here you must update the remaining student roster from previous years. If a student is not returning you may
elect to Drop them from this list at this time using the “Drop” button on the right side of that student’s row.
o Click the blue button labeled Bulk Grade Rollforward > Confirm
o Scroll to bottom of the page and click Bulk Edit Complete > Yes
– The number one call we receive is from advisor’s that don’t see this new button appear after the
rollforward
o Once complete, you are now able to add new students
Part 3: Add your new members
• After graduating and rolling forward your previous roster, the Edit Students button is now replaced with an
Add Students button.
• You may add students three different ways:
o Individual member entry
o Bulk CSV Upload (recommended)
o Bulk Member CSV Entry
o There are templates available for both Bulk options to make it easier for you.
• Information required to submit students
o First and Last Name
o Years as a DECA Member
– This includes the current year, so all new members will have a 1, and returning members may be 2-4.
o Grade in school
– 9-12 format
o Member Title
– Ex: Chapter member, chapter officer, etc.
o Information asked, but not required
o Gender & Demographic
– You may select the Opt-Out option for both of these
o Contact Information
– Phone Number and Email address
o Date of Birth
o Field of Employment
o T-Shirt Size
After you add and review your students, click Select/De-Select All to decide which students you will then submit for membership and be invoiced for using the red Submit Membership button.
You will have a few options on invoices and payment, including paying by credit card with 0% convenience fee, entering a PO number (you’ll then need to process the PO for payment) and clicking pay later (then start the payment process on your end).
Membership Statuses
The membership system has three identifications for membership: unsubmitted, submitted and not paid, and paid. You can tell the current status of your roster by viewing the Students tab of https://membership.decaregistration.com/deca#
Unsubmitted
This means that their information is in the system, but has not yet been invoiced, therefore they are not yet official members. In the system, this is indicated by having a checkbox next to their name as shown below. To submit, you will need to check that box and hit the red Submit Membership button.
Submitted, but not paid
This means that you have submitted your student(s) but the payment has not yet been received or processed by National DECA. The phrase Pending will appear to the left of the student. Pending status allows them to participate in programs like the Virtual Business Challenge, Stock Market Game, and the free online practice testing provided by Texas DECA. You will receive a payment receipt via email once processed, and the members on that invoice will be converted to paid.
Paid
This is the final step for membership and will allow you to register these students for District competitions. The phrase Member will appear next to their name. They will also then be able to access the student portal for items like previous ICDC transcripts and their membership card.
Helpful Contacts
If you have membership system questions, feel free to reach out. The following individuals can help you with the membership site questions:
National DECA
• Monday-Friday 7:30 am – 3:30 pm CST (VA office)
• Phone: 703-860-5000
• Michael Mount – michael@deca.org
Texas DECA
• Monday-Friday – 9:00 am – 6:00 pm CST
• Office Phone: 817-900-8037
• Josh Shankle – Shankle@texasdeca.org
• Nicole Willis – willis@texasdeca.org
• Shawn Barry – contact@texasdeca.org
Related Resources:
Alumni & Professional Membership Information
Related Resources:
Competitive Events Update
Get a head start on the 2022-2023 competition season with DECA's competitive topics and resources for business operations research, professional selling, hospitality and tourism professional selling and financial consulting.
BUSINESS OPERATIONS RESEARCH EVENTS
The 2022-2023 topic for each career category is to research an existing business’s website, products, and/or services and develop a strategic plan to adopt a hyper-personalization approach.
Today companies are tracking and collecting large amounts of customer data and are using artificial intelligence to determine patterns within the data to simulate a customer’s thought process. Consumers have raised concerns about privacy and ethics in regards to this type of data collection. Participants will develop a strategic plan to enhance and improve the company’s existing products and/or services by incorporating this approach and addressing consumer concerns.
FINANCIAL CONSULTING (FCE)
For 2022-2023 you will assume the role of a financial consultant to a local bank or credit union.
The bank or credit union is looking to close some of its brick-and-mortar locations and transition more of its services to an online/virtual platform. The bank or credit union is seeking your recommendation on what services could be transitioned to an online-only banking platform without compromising customer service to its customers.
HOSPITALITY AND TOURISM PROFESSIONAL SELLING (HTPS)
For 2022-2023 you will assume the role of a sales representative for a technology firm that specializes in touchless technology integration.
A local amusement park owner has scheduled a meeting with you to discuss how to implement touchless customer options and learn about the types of products that can be integrated into their company to benefit their business.
PROFESSIONAL SELLING (PSE)
For 2022-2023 you will assume the role of a sales representative of a virtual human resource firm that specializes in employee accountability.
Since the pandemic, the company is allowing workers to work remotely and is looking for a solution to hold employees accountable for their workload. The chief operations officer of a major company has scheduled a meeting with you because he/she is interested in using your services to ensure accountability in the virtual workplace.
Related Resources: