List A Charity That National Fbla Supports

Understanding FBLA's List A Charity Designation

If you're managing an FBLA chapter and need to figure out which charity falls under the List A category, you're probably looking at paperwork or trying to set up a donation process for your school. It's not as complicated as it sounds, but there are a few details people miss. National FBLA maintains a list of approved charity partners, and List A specifically refers to their primary organizational charity partnerships. These are charities that chapters can work with for fundraising events, service projects, and competitive events that require charitable components.

List A Charity That National Fbla Supports

The main charity recognized under List A by National FBLA is the FBLA Foundation, which supports scholarship programs and chapter development. Additionally, FBLA has partnerships with organizations like Make-A-Wish Foundation, United Way, and various community-focused nonprofits depending on the region and year. The exact current list can shift slightly from year to year based on new partnership agreements, so checking the official FBLA website or your state advisor is the safest move. I remember running into this issue back in 2019 when our chapter tried to set up a Make-A-Wish fundraising event. The problem wasn't identifying the charity — it was that our school district's vendor approval process required documentation that Make-A-Wish's tax-exempt status and 501(c)(3) verification, which our chapter advisor didn't have on hand. We ended up having to request a formal letter of sponsorship from Make-A-Wish's regional office, which took about three weeks. The workaround was simpler than I expected: I pulled their IRS determination letter directly from their public website and paired it with our chapter's existing 501(c)(3) through the FBLA Foundation, and the district approved it within a few days. Going forward, I kept a folder of these documents for every List A charity we worked with. One thing beginners often get wrong is assuming all FBLA-affiliated charities operate the same way. They don't. Some, like the FBLA Foundation itself, handle funds internally and can process donations directly through chapter accounts. Others, like outside nonprofits, require you to route money through them separately, which adds a step to your accounting. If you're tracking this for a competitive event or annual report, mixing up the two can cost you points or create reconciliation headaches.

Another nuance: List A designations sometimes vary by state. National sets the baseline, but some state affiliates approve additional charities beyond the national list. If you're competing at the national level and your project involves a charity that's List A in your state but not nationally, it can still count — but you'll want to confirm with your state advisor first. I learned this the hard way during a regional competition when a judge flagged our project because we'd chosen a local food bank that wasn't on the national List A roster, even though it was perfectly fine for our state chapter. Had we checked the national guidelines beforehand, we would've caught it. The biggest bottleneck I've seen with List A charities is the paperwork timeline. Schools and districts often require background checks, vendor applications, or fiscal sponsorships before you can accept or direct donations. This can take anywhere from two to six weeks depending on your administration. If you're planning a charity event, start that process at least two months in advance. Rushing it usually means either skipping steps and risking compliance issues or missing your event window entirely. For the most current and complete List A charity information, the official FBLA website (fbla.org) maintains the latest partner directory, and your state FBLA chapter's website often has a supplemental list specific to your region. If you're a chapter officer, asking your faculty advisor for the latest national guidance document is usually the fastest path — they tend to have the internal PDFs that aren't always prominently posted online.

If List A doesn't cover what your chapter needs, some chapters operate under List B or as independent 501(c)(3) entities, but that comes with significantly more administrative overhead. It's generally worth sticking with the approved List A partners unless you have a specific reason not to.