Scoutmaster Training Membership Retention & Recruitment 1

Membership Retention FUN, FUN, FUN !!! PROGRAM, PROGRAM, PROGRAM !!! COMMUNICATION ADVANCEMENT / RECOGNITION FUN, FUN, FUN !!! 2

Never TOO MUCH Communication! Membership Retention Communication Newsletter Email Text Group Unit Website / Calendar Social Media – Facebook – “Private” group Never TOO MUCH Communication! 3

Membership Recruitment PROGRAM, PROGRAM, PROGRAM !!! PEER TO PEER RECRUITMENT COMMUNICATION COMMUNITY CUB SCOUTS FUN, FUN, FUN !!! 4

Membership Recruitment Communication (aka Marketing) Local Media / Newspapers Unit Website Social Media – Facebook – “Public” Group Schools / Churches – Boy Talks, Presentations at Parent Meetings Presentations at Community Organizations – Lions, VFW, Rotary, etc. SPREAD THE WORD !! 5

Membership Recruitment Community Activities / Events Recruitment Events Troop Open House Service Projects Good Organization & Publicity is KEY! 6

ROCKET INTO SCOUTING! 7

Membership Recruitment Cub Scouts Good Relations with at Least 1 Cub Pack Den Chiefs “Shared” Adult Leaders “Dual” Unit Activities / Service Projects Webelos => Scout Transition 8

(You can’t do this all by yourself) How do you do this? (You are not alone!) (You can’t do this all by yourself) Membership is the responsibility of all in Scouting. As a volunteer we can no longer leave it up to the Executive staff to be responsible for bring youth to our Scout units. And Scout Troops can no longer rely soley on new Scouts to be “fed” from Webelos (Cub) Scouts. A focus needs to be made to bring youth into Scouting and work to retain them in the program. The best recruiters for a unit are the individuals in the unit. However, if we want to grow our organization, we need to use our best resource—our dedicated volunteers. 9

District Membership & Marketing Committees NEPA Council Membership & Marketing Committee District Membership & Marketing Committees 10

The Unit Membership Chairman & Committee Why do we need one? Membership Chairman and the membership committee are the backbone of efforts to recruit and retain more youth into the BSA. To impact the lives of youth in each unit, volunteers must be engaged in not only offering a Scouting program but also bringing youth to the program. 11

Scoutmaster & Unit Committee to: Unit Membership Chairman and Committee Unit volunteer(s) who work with the Scoutmaster & Unit Committee to: Develop a unit membership plan Create materials to highlight the unit in the media Contact families who did not renew in the unit Work with the District Membership Chairman and Unit Commissioner Make sure youth in the community get an opportunity to join the unit Listed here are the top 5 reasons a unit should have dedicated volunteer to focus on membership growth and retention in the unit. 12

Unit Membership Chairman Position Description Meet with the unit leaders and committee monthly to discuss membership and retention. Encourage unit to hold recruitment/Scouting promotion events every year to ensure unit growth using peer-to-peer recruitment method. Distribute membership fliers to schools and churches in the Unit’s area. Encourage unit to conduct Scouting rallies and boy talks in schools, leveraging council support when needed. Attend the district’s membership chairman training sessions, which will focus on best practices. Encourage unit involvement in the required number of Adopt-A-School service or community service projects needed for Scouting’s Journey to Excellence score. The position description for the unit membership chairman is as follows: Discuss membership and retention monthly with unit committee Encourage peer-to-peer recruitment activities Have fliers about the unit distributed in the schools and churches in the area Conduct boy talks in the neighboring schools Attend membership training for unit membership chairs Encourage unit to perform community service projects 13

Position Description (cont.) Unit Membership Chairman Position Description (cont.) Ensure that new youth and adult applications, along with funds, are completed and turned in to the council service center within a week after receipt of the applications. Work with the unit committee to ensure the unit reaches Scouting’s Journey to Excellence gold status in membership. Update the unit’s BeAScout pin and follow up with leads. Create and implement a unit membership plan. Work with the district transition chairman to encourage Scouts to transition to the age-appropriate program as they grow older. Conduct an annual customer satisfaction survey of current Scout families. Additional responsibilities include: Make sure that all the youth in the unit are registered Work toward helping the unit reach Journey to Excellence gold status Create a unit membership plan; we will talk more about what that consists of later in this presentation Work with the district transition chair to encourage youth to continue in Scouting Conduct an annual customer satisfaction survey 14

The Unit Membership Plan Identify and verify currently registered members Unit membership analysis/goal Plans for membership growth Community partnership A unit membership plan consists of four elements: Identify and verify currently registered members Obtain membership rosters and cross-reference the rosters against the list of registered Scouts. Register any youth who are not currently registered. (This list will be provided by the local council.) Unit membership analysis/goals Track three-year historical membership. Track three-year retention rate, by names of registered Scouts. Project the number of new youth that will be recruited to start a new pack den or patrol for troop or replace those Venturers who have moved on. Plans for membership growth Send a letter to parents of Scouts who did not reregister in Scouting, asking what can be done to bring them back. Recruit non-Scouts in the fifth through the eighth grade. Conduct peer-to-peer recruitment activity. Work with packs in the area to conduct Webelos-to-Scout transitions. Conduct a troop open house. Community partnership Have Scouts conduct two service projects benefiting the chartered organization. Be visible within the community. Participate, in uniform, in community events, e.g., Scouting for Food and local parades. 15

www.scouting.org/membership Membership Resources The Membership Impact Department has worked on and continues to create resources to assist you as you work on the implementation of a membership plan and being the membership chair. Above is a list of some key support materials. Many more resources can be found on the website www.scouting.org/membership. Other resources are available to assist in the planning process. Your council and district membership chairs, your council executive staff, and the Membership Impact Department at the national Boy Scout office are here to help you be successful.

Questions ?? Thank-you ! 17