Business Advisory Board Toolkit

Business Advisory Board (BAB) Toolkit

Building and Maintaining a Business Advisory Board....................................................... 1

Identifying Potential BAB Members ............................................................................... 1-2

Key Ideas for Engaging BAB Members ............................................................................. 2

BAB Meeting Sample Agenda – 1st Semester .................................................................... 3

BAB Meeting Sample Agenda – 2nd Semester ................................................................... 4

New BAB Member – Sample Welcome Letter .................................................................. 5

BAB Member Roster .......................................................................................................... 6

BAB Recruiting Letter…………………………………...………………………………..7

BAB Flyer…………………………………………………………………………………8
 Building and Maintaining a
Business Advisory Board

A Business Advisory Board (BAB), if utilized to its maximum potential, can serve as a
tremendous asset to your SIFE team. Business Advisory Board members can provide
resources that will help create sustainability within your organization by serving in the
following capacities:

• Providing guidance and mentorship

• Introducing you to other business leaders in the community
• Suggesting project ideas
• Providing access to needed resources
• Funding opportunities
• Giving feedback on projects and your presentation

By identifying key individuals in your immediate community who will add value, your
Business Advisory Board then becomes a vital part of your team’s success.

Consider looking at the following groups and strategies to help build your Business
Advisory Board.

• SIFE Donor Companies in your community

‐ Identify a manager or director
‐ Send the manager or director a letter introducing the SIFE organization
and your SIFE team (Be prepared to explain what SIFE is)
‐ Follow up with a personal phone call
‐ Create a BAB packet to give the potential BAB member (Packet can
contain a recruitment flyer, a copy of your team’s annual report, and a
project proposal to the store manager)

• Leading business, educational and civic organizations in your community

‐ Organizations such as the Chamber of Commerce, Rotary Club and
Economic Development Groups in your area have monthly meetings to
discuss local issues. This is a great opportunity to discuss SIFE, your
SIFE team and how you can become involved.

• Local businesses with an interest in and ability to provide guidance and

materials
‐ Organizations such as financial institutions or investment companies can
provide information and materials for projects such as opening and
maintaining a bank account as well as investing for your future projects.

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 • Members of the Mass Media
‐ Invite members of the local mass media to join your BAB ( i.e.
newspapers, news stations, and radio stations). This can help you receive
media attention that will increase your team’s credibility with university
administration.

• SIFE Alumni
‐ Invite previous SIFE members who are now in the workforce and in your
immediate area to join your Business Advisory Board! Alumni are
familiar with SIFE and can assist in recruiting new members. To search
for someone in your area, please use the following link:
www.sife.org/alumni_network/directory.asp?ID=Alumni

Key Ideas for Building and Engaging Your BAB:

- Create a list of BAB members with their
updated contact information.
- Create a presentation, brochure or packet to
attract BAB members.
- Invite community project partners to join your
BAB.
- All members of the BAB must have a purpose
and know that purpose.
- Have BAB members sign up for a specific
project in which they would like to participate.
- Your team’s BAB should meet regularly, or at
least twice a year.
- BAB members can view and critique your
presentation.
- Lastly, THANK your BAB members regularly.
They sacrifice their personal time to be there
with you.

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 1st Semester BAB Meeting Sample Agenda

Welcome

Introductions
ƒ Faculty Advisors
ƒ SIFE Team Members (highlight officers, team leaders and other key students)
ƒ Business Advisory Board Members (Experienced members share previous
experience with your team. New members introduce themselves and reason for
being involved)

What is SIFE?
ƒ Show video, if necessary and available, to introduce participants to SIFE

Team History
ƒ Year founded
ƒ Mention any significant awards/recognitions
ƒ Highlight last year’s projects, but focus on which ones you will be continuing this
year

This Year’s Goals

ƒ Projects in progress and to-be-implemented – have team members give a
presentation on projects
ƒ Resources obtained & resources needed
ƒ How they (BAB members) can get involved – create sign-up sheet for members to
participate in projects throughout the year
ƒ Other commitments (financial contributions?)

Next Steps & Next Meeting Date (or tentative date)

Questions?

Thank You and Adjournment

* Don’t forget to send thank you notes to all BAB Members that attended the
meeting!

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 2nd Semester BAB Meeting Sample Agenda

Welcome

Introductions
ƒ Faculty Advisors
ƒ SIFE Team Members (highlight officers, team leaders and other key students)
ƒ Business Advisory Board Members (Veteran members share previous experience
with your team. New members introduce themselves and reason for staying
involved)

Presentation
ƒ Use your BAB members as an audience of judges to critique your presentation for
the regional competition
ƒ Show the Judges Orientation Video (available online in the spring) and offer
evaluation sheets similar to the ones used at regional competitions)

BAB Member Participation

ƒ Invite your BAB members to cheer you on at the national competition
ƒ Ask BAB members’ assistance in developing your resumes and preparing your
team for the career fair at the national competition or the World Cup.

Next Steps

Questions?

Thank You and Adjournment

* Don’t forget to send thank you notes to all BAB Members that attended the
meeting!

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 New BAB Member Sample Welcome Letter

Greetings!

Welcome to the annual meeting of the [Name of University] Students In Free Enterprise
(SIFE) Team Business Advisory Board (BAB). We are excited and honored that you
have chosen to be with us today and to serve on our board.

We are set for an exciting year! When we combine [Name of College/University] SIFE’s
vision with that of our Faculty Advisor(s) [Name of Faculty Advisor(s)] and students, we
are going to take the world by storm this year! The projects we are implementing are
innovative, exciting and life-changing projects that will affect people of all age levels
from elementary school-age children to senior citizens and everyone in between.

Again, we would like to express our sincere gratitude for your service on the [Name of
University] SIFE Team BAB. We look forward to developing our partnership with you
and ensuring a very productive year!

Sincerely,

[Name of SIFE Team President or Faculty Advisor]

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 Business Advisory Board List
(Insert Your Team Logo)
Name Company Position SIFE Alumni Project Interest
1 Joe Smith ABC Bank Vice President No Finacial Literacy
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15

16
17

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[Date]

Dear [Name of potential BAB Member],

Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) is sponsored by [Name of faculty advisor] who is our
Faculty Advisor at [College/University Name]. This is our [Number] year as a team and
since inception, our team has placed at SIFE’s national competition held in [National
Competition Location] every [name of month of national competition].

SIFE is a unique organization that strategically links students, colleges/universities, and

businesses. SIFE encourages the personal and professional development of new business
leaders, the creation and exchange of new research and business practices, teaching
others how to succeed, and a high level of communication between all parties. Our vision
is helping people achieve their dreams through free enterprise education and providing
students the best opportunity to make a difference by developing leadership through
teamwork and teaching others the principles of free enterprise.

SIFE is funded by generous corporate financial and in-kind product/service donations.

More importantly, SIFE sponsors give their time and expertise as well. As a result, there
is no fee for students to join SIFE. The only requirements are interested students and a
faculty mentor that has good knowledge of the enterprise system.

It is equally important that SIFE students have mentors. The Business Advisory Board
(BAB) is a group of business people that are recruited to serve as mentors for our team.
Typically a BAB is composed of 5-8 business leaders in the community. BAB members
can keep SIFE students informed of current business concerns and trends, provide
financial or in-kind assistance for projects, critique annual reports and presentations, and
provide networking opportunities. SIFE is not meant to be time consuming for our
business professionals, periodical meetings are held two to three times a year. Business
leaders from the local community with various backgrounds are excellent advisory
resources for SIFE.

We would be honored if you would serve on our Business Advisory Board for
[College/University Name] SIFE Team. If you are interested is joining, please contact
[Name of team president or Faculty Advisor] at [phone number or email].

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

[Name]
[College/University Name] SIFE President
[Phone]
[Email]

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 (College/University Name) SIFE

Business Advisory Your business tag line here.

Board Sign-Up Sheet

As a (College/University Name) SIFE
BAB member, your input gives us insight
into how we as a team can accomplish
our community based projects.
(College/University Name) SIFE would
like to invite you to be on its Business Welcome to
Advisory Board. To join, simply fill out
the form below and mail it to the ad- (College/
dress provided at the bottom of this
form. We would like to thank you for University Name)
your time and consideration.
SIFE
College/University Name
Name:

Business: PUT SIFE TEAM

PICTURE HERE
Address:

Phone Number:

Email:

(College/University Name) SIFE

Questions or Comments:
Primary Business Address
Your Address Line 2
Your Address Line 3
Your Address Line 4
Phone: 555-555-5555 Business Advisory Board (BAB)
Fax: 555-555-5555 Information Pamphlet
E-mail: someone@example.com
 (College/University Name) SIFE

Your Role as a Business Advisory Board

(BAB) Member
PUT YOUR SIFE TEAM
What is Students In Free Enterprise?
SIFE is a global non-profit organization
active in more than 40 countries. SIFE is
funded by financial contributions from MISSION HERE A BAB is very important to the success of our
SIFE team. We welcome a variety of mentors to
corporations, entrepreneurs, founda- our team from business leaders to teachers. As
tions, government agencies and indi- a member of the (College/University Name) SIFE
viduals. Working in partnership with Team’s BAB you will:
business and higher education, SIFE
establishes student teams on university
• Be invited to two formal BAB meetings each
campuses. These teams are led by fac-
ulty advisors and they are challenged to year

HIGHLIGHT ONE OF
develop community outreach projects • Advise the team on project ideas, objectives
that reach SIFE's five educational topics: and goals
• Be asked to participate in at least one pro-
•
•
Market Economics
Success Skills
YOUR SUCCESSFUL •
ject with the team each year
Offer suggestions and feedback on current

PROJECTS HERE
• Entrepreneurship projects
• Financial Literacy • Serve as mock judges during practice ses-
• Business Ethics sions before Regional Competition

SIFE team members leverage their per- TO GIVE THEM AN

sonal educational experiences, the ex-
pertise of their faculty advisors, the sup-
port of their local business advisory
IDEA OF WHAT YOU (College/University Name) SIFE will provide the
BAB with the following:

DO
boards, and the resources of their insti-
tutions to implement programs that • Information on our current projects
create real economic opportunities for • A detailed monthly news letter that ad-
members of their communities. The dresses the scheduled meetings, events,
effectiveness of their programs is and upcoming projects
judged at competition. Each national • The opportunity to work as a valued mem-
SIFE organization conducts a national
ber of our team
competition, which is judged by leaders
from its business community. At compe- • The opportunity to have involvement with
tition, SIFE teams present the results of
their educational outreach projects and
ADD A PICTURE HERE local area businesses, schools, and non-
profit organizations
compete to determine which team was
most successful at creating economic
OR ON ANY OTHER • The opportunity to make a difference in our
community
opportunity for others. SIFE National
Champion teams advance to the top PAGE
level of competition, the SIFE World Cup.