Welcome to Pennsylvania FBLA’s 72nd year serving more than 10,000 Pennsylvania students in 290 chapters in Grades 5-8 (middle school FBLA) and Grades 9-12 (high school FBLA).
As we did last year, we will continue processing membership through the National FBLA membership system. However, the 2023-2024 year brings the launch of a brand new membership processing and chapter management system called FBLA Connect.
National FBLA did the following to launch FBLA Connect:
- An invitation email was sent to all chapter advisers by National FBLA on Tuesday, August 15.
- In order to access FBLA Connect, the adviser and/or co-advisers need to activate their account and set up their profiles.
- Advisers are strongly encouraged to participate in one of the online Zoom training sessions offered by National FBLA. Register for one of the sessions by clicking this link.
- If you, as an adviser or co-adviser did not receive an invitation, you can do one of the following:
- Submit a National FBLA Help Desk Ticket by clicking this link, OR
- Contact Bruce Boncal, PA FBLA Executive Director, at bboncal@pafbla.us or call/text at 570.279.6998.
If you are a new FBLA-HS or FBLA-MS adviser, please complete the New Chapter Adviser Registration Form. Once you do that, Bruce Boncal, PA FBLA Executive Director, will register you as a new adviser with National FBLA. New advisers will then receive an “invitation” email from National FBLA to activate their account.
National FBLA Quick Guides to FBLA Connect
Go to: https://connect.fbla.org/files
You will find the following files in this area:
- FBLA Connect Data Use Terms and Conditions
- Adding Members and Paying Dues
- You should always search for prior year members first before creating a new member record. See the instructions. That is easiest.
- If the student was never a member, you can manually enter the new student’s information.
- You can import NEW (never before) FBLA members via a .csv file. It is a very improved and much easier process. DO NOT attempt to import members who were members in prior years (including middle school). You can find them via the “search.” You need to download the approved template if you are going to use this process, which is great for large chapter. AGAIN, only new members should be uploaded via this import.
- You can provide NEW (never before) FBLA members a registration link to “self-register.” After that, you will receive an email to approve each student’s application.
- Chapter Setup
- Each chapter has its own personal website within FBLA Connect. Just follow the setup wizard.
- Onboard your chapter officers to help with the management of your chapter and assign positions and permissions.
- Exporting Members
- You can export reports on your membership to Excel.
- Information for New and Reactivating Chapters
- If you know any schools that want to start a new chapter or reactivate a chapter, click this link.
Here’s What You Need to Know to Process Membership:
- PA FBLA grades 9-12 dues are $16 per student ($6 state, $10 national).
- PA FBLA middle school (grades 5-8) dues are $13 per student ($3 state, $10 national).
- National FBLA will not be collecting regional or local chapter dues.
- Dues are not refundable!
- Dues are not transferrable to another student!
Effective August 15, the National FBLA website will accept membership from PA FBLA high school and middle school chapters. You will need to be prepared with the following information:
- Student First Name (required)
- Student Last Name (required)
- Student Grade Level — Grades 9-12 OR grades 5-8 (required)
- Student Gender (required) (choices: male/female/not selected)
- Keep in mind: a “not selected” gender means that you will not be able to lodge students in PA FBLA event rooms with or males/females without principal and parent permission.
- Student personal email address (strongly suggested) (required)
WHY ARE WE ASKING FOR A STUDENT’S PERSONAL EMAIL ADDRESS? School systems may block emails from National FBLA and PA FBLA to their school email addresses. Prior-years’ experience of blocked emails support that request.
National FBLA Membership FAQs
use this are to access answers to the following items
- How to Export Members
- How to Add an Adviser to a Chapter
- National FBLA Membership Department Staff
- Membership Registration
- Create an Invoice or Quote (aka Transition Members)
- Membership Payment by Credit Card
- Paying by Check
- Starting or Reactivating a Chapter
- The View When Advisers Log into their Chapter
- Adding Large Number of Students
- COPPA Compliance
- White List the Email Address the Invitation Email and Password Reset Emails Come From
Where to Pay State and National Dues
You will pay all state and national dues to National FBLA; you will not pay your dues to Pennsylvania FBLA. You will be able to generate your own invoice for dues to submit to your school’s business office for payment.
You will be able to pay by check or by credit card (immediately); there is no convenience fee for using a credit card through the National FBLA website. You will also be able to upload a purchase order. Payment by credit card or uploading a purchase order makes your students immediately available for competitive events, conferences, and FBLA programs.
All state and national dues will be sent to the National FBLA lockbox. All state and national membership dues are sent to the following address:
by check
FBLA
(make check payable to FBLA or FBLA Inc.)
PO Box 79063
Baltimore, MD 21279
You must include a copy of the invoice with your check!
by credit card
pay directly on the National FBLA membership site
Click Here for the W-9 Form for Your School System Business Office for National FBLA
State Leadership Workshop
Registration for the PA FBLA State Leadership Workshop will be temporarily delayed until we are certain that National FBLA is accepting memberships and that data is importing correctly into FBLA Connect and then transferring the data to our conference management system, Blue Panda. Students must be entered into the National FBLA membership system before any student can be registered for the State Leadership Workshop. HOWEVER, the students will only appear to be registered for the SLW when they are considered paid (paid by credit card or purchase order uploaded).
FBLA advisers and FBLA middle school advisers have or will establish their own password for the National FBLA Connect. Your password from the 2022-23 will NOT be valid. You will establish your own password known only to you.
Need help? Contact Bruce Boncal at bboncal@pafbla.us or call 570.279.6998 (cell/texts).
