Are you and your chapter looking at ways to develop your program of leadership and gain recognition during the best month of the year, DECA Month? If so, I recommend that you check out DECA’s Chapter Campaigns! DECA offers five unique campaigns to help you grow your chapter and build lasting partnerships within your school and community. These campaigns are our Membership, Promotional, Ethical Leadership, Community Service and Advocacy Campaigns.
The Membership, Community Service, Promotional and Ethical Leadership Campaigns are intended to be completed during DECA Month and are due December 1, 2023. The fifth chapter campaign, Advocacy, is due on March 1, 2024.
Not only do these chapter campaigns serve to engage members, but chapters can receive international recognition! There are great awards for DECA chapters that attain recognition through DECA’s Chapter Campaigns, including the opportunity to earn a certificate, pennant, plaque, flag and even two allocations to attend the Thrive Academy at DECA’s International Career Development Conference! DECA provides some additional ideas for all five of these chapter campaigns that chapters can use for their submissions in the Chapter Campaign Guidebook.
Below are descriptions of the five DECA Chapter Campaigns and ideas for submission:
Membership Campaign: Due December 1, 2023
DECA’s membership campaign is designed to help your chapter grow by making the DECA experience available to more student members, keeping alumni involved, and engaging professional members. Recognition for the Membership Campaign will be determined based on your membership submitted in the online membership system. Review the membership campaign guidelines for the criteria.
Ideas:
- Reach out to recently graduated seniors and ask them to join as alumni members
- Leverage DECA’s competitive events designed for 9th and 10th graders to bring enthusiasm to underclassmen.
- Have a contest to see which class can recruit the most alumni, business partners, parents, etc.
Promotional Campaign: Due December 1, 2023
Conduct three school outreach activities, three community outreach activities and share three alumni success stories to complete this campaign.
Ideas:
- Have an alumni member speak to classes with potential DECA members.
- Ask a business partner to give an industry expert presentation as a guest speaker.
- Set up a booth at a school club fair.
Ethical Leadership Campaign: Due December 1, 2023
Submit three Ethical Leadership Challenge entries, conduct three school outreach activities promoting ethical leadership and three community outreach activities promoting ethical leadership.
Ideas:
- Host a panel discussion with community leaders on the importance of ethics.
- Host an interactive ethics quiz (like Kahoot) with your DECA chapter.
- Highlight ethical decision-making of local businesses and organizations.
Community Service Campaign: Due December 1, 2023
Document one or more community service activities, be sure to have at least 75% of your members involved and create at least one form of publicity or promotion.
Ideas:
- Volunteer to help with social media for a local charity or organization.
- Helping at a food bank or homeless shelter.
- Tutor younger students or become a virtual storytime reader.
Advocacy Campaign: Due March 1, 2024
Activities take place in February 2024, during Career and Technical Education Month, chapters are expected to complete three school outreach activities, three public policymaker outreach activities and three community outreach activities.
Ideas:
- Partner with other CTSOs to host a luncheon for the community.
- Write to local legislators about the importance of CTE and DECA.
- Visit your local school board or host a virtual meeting to give information about DECA.
If you or your chapter have questions about Chapter Campaigns, please refer to our Chapter Campaign Guidebook! Also, feel free to contact any officer on our Executive Officer Team for direct questions.
Happy DECA Month, and best of luck with these campaigns! We’re so excited to see how chapters develop a strong chapter strategy while earning recognition for their outstanding activities.
