1. About The 2016 BSA Game Plan: “Field Presentation” Version -
The 2016 BSA Game Plan is a tactical course of action that has been developed to align and focus our efforts to support meaningful organizational growth within the BSA.
This presentation is a “talking document” whose purpose is to unify and methodize the Game Plan’s message with BSA stakeholders, predominantly defined as (i) National Service Center employees (ii) local council employees and (iii) volunteers.
This “Field Presentation” version is designed to present the Game Plan in a format that is most beneficial to larger groups where a full slideshow presentation would be best.
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2. GATES STATEMENT January 2016
Dr. Gates and the National Executive Board believe that this is the BSA’s time—Our time to re-establish relevance with today’s families and the youth that Scouting serves.
In support of this vision, we have developed a tactical “Game Plan” that aligns and focuses our efforts to support growth.
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3. TECHNOLOGY IMPROVEMENTS
MEMBERSHIP GROWTH
Develop an agreed-to and understood membership growth plan that can be implemented across our councils
THE SUMMIT
Continue to build onsite, and increase attendance while inspiring new donor investments
ADULT LEADERSHIP
Focus on the recruiting, education and training of our direct contact leaders
Current Challenges
“The Big Rocks”
TECHNOLOGY IMPROVEMENTS
Transform legacy systems into a user-friendly experience that addresses the needs of our professionals, adult volunteers and youth members
OUR CURRENT CHALLENGES
The first part of any game plan is to identify up front the major challenges. Some may refer to these as the “Big Rocks.” We have identified five “Big Rocks,” which are as follows::
Membership Growth. If we’re not growing, we’re not succeeding in our mission. We have to develop an agreed-to and understood membership growth plan that is adopted across all councils.
Adult Leadership. Our entire program is delivered through a volunteer workforce called “unit leaders” who need and deserve our support. Ensuring that they are properly selected and trained and have first-rate resources at their disposal so that they can deliver superior programs is paramount to our future success.
Technology Improvements. The current state of the BSA’s technology infrastructure falls short of addressing the requirements of the organization and our members. We need to transform our collection of legacy systems into a user-friendly experience that addresses the transactional, information, and communication needs of our professionals, adult volunteers, and youth members. If we don’t get this right, nothing else works.
The Summit: Increasing attendance at the Summit in the near term must be a priority. It is a magnificent facility that not only gives us a permanent site for our national jamborees but also must be incorporated into our culture as the fourth high- adventure base. The Summit introduces a new suite of high-adventure experiences centered around extreme sports that is intended to both provide new alternatives for our existing youth and expand our reach to youth not currently involved in Scouting. Here is an interesting fact: the Summit is the largest project ever undertaken by a youth-serving organization. Its success will be a major point of pride for us!
Costs: Budgets are challenged due to declining membership and escalating general liability costs. We must focus our resources toward membership and revenue growth at the local and national levels.
COSTS
Focus resources towards membership and revenue growth at the local and national levels.

4. The Game Plan The three components of the Game Plan are:
Why We’ll Grow
Our Short Term Strategy
The Game Plan consists of the following three components:
COMPONENT ONE – Why We Will Grow
This component will explain what the BSA’s competitive advantage is. It will tell us why we will grow.
COMPONENT TWO – Our Short Term Strategy
This component will explain what we need to focus on immediately.
COMPONENT THREE – How We Will Grow
This component will explain what we will need to do throughout 2016.
How We’ll Grow

5. Why We’ll Grow Our Key Differentiators
CHARACTER & LEADERSHIP
The BSA will have the most RELEVANT and RIGOROUS requirements for defining character and leadership programs.
The way we deliver character and leadership is the distinguishing feature of BSA
The BSA sets the bar high in terms of how we define membership
A UNIQUE VALUE PROPOSITION
The rigorous character and leadership requirements that define our programs is what makes the BSA uniquely effective
Focus on offering what parents want: programs that put their children on a path to success in life
WHY WE WILL GROW
As we develop the Game Plan to drive growth, we have to keep in mind what makes our program so unique in today’s world. What makes us relevant? What is our “competitive advantage”? Why will we grow?
CHARACTER and LEADERSHIP: What the BSA delivers—character and leadership.
We are establishing the most RELEVANT and RIGOROUS requirements for defining character and leadership programs. The way we deliver character and leadership is the distinguishing feature of the BSA.
Before a program becomes an official BSA program, it has met a high standard. We are setting a national bar that is very high- for everyone. Why? Because it is the right thing to do.
A UNIQUE VALUE PROPOSITION: Parents want programs that put their children on a path to success in life.
The rigorous character and leadership requirements that define our programs are what make the BSA uniquely effective.
We will continue to focus on and promote what parents want: programs that put their children on a path to success in life.

6. Our Short Term Strategy Four Areas Of Immediate Focus
Grow Exploring
Focus On Core Programs
Charter New Units
Create and Expand
Pilot Programs
Our Short Term Strategy:
An important component of the Game Plan is its short-term strategy to promote membership growth. The four areas that should receive immediate focus are the following
Grow Exploring: Here is an interesting fact: in 1994 we had half a million Explorers. Today we have 100,000. This is a tremendous opportunity to bring more youth into our  organization. We are investing in refreshing the Exploring brand and creating new resources to jump-start this program in communities across the country.
Focus On Core Programs: We will continue to promote our core programs as being fun and consistent with Scouting values. An example of this is our research-based national Cub Scouting recruitment campaign Build an Adventure.
Charter New Units: The National Alliances Team will build support for local councils to leverage their ability to organize units by developing new relationships and collaborating with potential national partners and chartered organizations.
Create and Expand Pilot Programs: We must consider pilot programs very carefully and strategically. Within the Game Plan the goal is to determine which pilots are effective and which ones aren’t. The litmus test for pilots will be these three things: (i) Does the pilot build capacity for our traditional programs through reaching new markets? (ii) Is the pilot sustainable? (iii) Do we have the infrastructure to support the pilot?

7. How We’ll Grow Six Key Categories
The following BSA key categories are critical to our goal of increasing membership:
Membership
Expanding Scouting Programs To Our Nation’s Youth
People
Our Organization Is Reflecting The Communities We Serve
Culture
Recognizing People As Our Greatest Resource
IT Infrastructure
Leveraging Technology To Enable Growth
Finance
Maintaining The Financial Health Of The Organization
High
Adventure
Bases
Delivering wilderness adventures that last a lifetime
How We’ll Grow: Six Key Categories
Six organizational categories within the BSA have been identified as being critical to the BSA’s goal of increasing membership.
Membership: Our goal is to expand Scouting programs to our nation’s youth.
People: Our organization is a reflection of the communities we serve.
Culture: We recognize that people are our greatest resource and we are united in our passion for the Scouting program.
IT Infrastructure: We must leverage technology to enable growth.
Finance: We must maintain the financial health of the organization.
High Adventure: We must communicate to local councils the life-changing activities available at our four high-adventure bases that cannot be experienced anyplace else.
We’ll walk through these one by one as well as highlight the 2016 goals that are associated with each:

8. Membership
Current Challenge: Develop an agreed-to and understood membership growth plan that can be implemented across our councils
Short Term Strategy: Four areas of immediate focus are
Grow Exploring
Recruit More Cub Scouts
Charter New Units
Create and Expand Pilot Programs
MEMBERSHIP:
Already identified as a “Big Rock,” member growth is critical because if we’re not growing, we’re not succeeding in our mission. One of the main purposes of this Game Plan is to develop an agreed-to and understood membership growth plan that is adopted across all councils
An important component of the Game Plan is its short-term strategy to promote membership growth. The four areas that should receive immediate focus are the following:
Grow Exploring
Recruit More Cub Scouts
Charter New Units
Create and Expand Pilot Programs 
Our 2016 membership goal is:
Increase membership nationally
2016 Membership Goals:
Increase membership nationally
Strengthen our chartered partner relationships

9. People
Create Talent Management Strategy that will develop the right leadership talent (both volunteer and professional staff) to deliver positive, life-changing experiences to youth and families.
Recognizing and integrating the
volunteer-staff component
2016 “People” Category Goals:
Identifying Leader Skillsets
PEOPLE:
The BSA will create a talent management strategy that will develop the right leadership talent (both volunteer and professional staff) to deliver positive, life-changing experiences to youth and families. Through a process called “succession planning ,” we will identify the key roles and the processes and mechanisms needed to select and develop potential successors for key BSA leadership roles.
Succession planning is important because it will identify, equip, and inspire leaders throughout the BSA.
The 2016 People goals include focusing on:
Our Volunteers—We will recognize and integrate the volunteer staff component (a unique identifier and competitive advantage in our workforce).
Leader Skillset—We will identify the skills, knowledge, and abilities necessary for future leaders.
BSA Culture Gaps—We will bridge the organizational culture and relationship gaps between local councils and the National Service Center.
BSA Talent Management Process Integration—We will integrate the talent management strategy to facilitate leadership development throughout the organization.
Diversity—
Diversity is key as we position ourselves to serve the market of the future.
Increase diversity throughout the BSA from national and local boards, employees, and membership until we reflect the diversity of the communities we serve
Bridging BSA Culture Gaps
(Local and National)
Integrating BSA Talent Management Process
5) Diversity – Increase diversity throughout the BSA from national and local boards, employees, and membership until we reflect the diversity of the communities we serve”

10. Culture
The BSA’s professionals and volunteers — and their passions for the aims and goals of Scouting — are our greatest resource.
Areas of focus in 2016 will include:
Recalibrate and bring alive shared core operating principles for the BSA Culture
Form the BSA Corporate Culture Team
Identify “Keystone” culture project for that will drive home cultural change
CULTURE-
The BSA’s professionals and volunteers—and their passions for the aims and goals of Scouting—are our greatest resource. Corporate culture includes a set of behaviors, beliefs, and operating principles that we share throughout all of the BSA.
Areas of focus in 2016 will include:
Identify, understand, and generate operating principles for the BSA’s culture. These operating principles are the ways that we do things together that support the growth and the strength of the BSA.
Form a BSA Corporate Culture Team that will be tasked with working collaboratively with staff and leadership throughout the BSA to identify the operating principles that we as an organization want to live, understand, and own together.
Identify a significant “keystone” project that will impact the organization’s culture and utilize this project as an opportunity to use the operating principles that have been defined by the BSA Corporate Culture Team. This effort will be led by the BSA Corporate Culture Team.

11. IT Infrastructure
By investing in technology, our goal is to make life easier for those who deliver our programs — unit leaders.
Areas of focus in 2016 will include:
My Scouting Tools
Scout Book
IT INFRASTRUCTURE:
Already identified as a “Big Rock,” this category refers to the computer/network infrastructure components and personnel that support the functioning of the BSA.
We will make strategic investments in our IT infrastructure to help ensure Scouting is delivered and managed in the most efficient, user-friendly ways possible. Areas of focus in 2016 will include:
MyScouting Tools
Scoutbook
Commissioner Tools
Home Page:
Online Retail Page:
Commissioner Tools
Home Page:
Online Retail Page:

12. Finance
Maintaining the financial health of the BSA at both the national and local levels.
2016 Finance goals will include the following:
National Service Center
Balancing our budgets at the national level and focusing our spending on our most critical needs.
Local Councils
Creating needs-focused budget plans
Strengthened Financial Statements—focusing resources on high-potential opportunities to strengthen the brand and grow the BSA.
FINANCE
This category is directly related to one of the BSA’s current challenges: costs.
The finance category refers to maintaining the financial health of the BSA at both the national and local levels finance goals will include the following:
National Service Center—This involves balancing our budgets at the national level and focusing our spending on our most critical needs.
Local Councils—We are focusing our strategy on assisting local councils to strengthen their financial positions in a number of ways:
Creating needs-focused budget plans
Strengthening financial statements by focusing resources on high-potential opportunities to strengthen the brand and grow the BSA

13. High-Adventure Bases
Each BSA national High-Adventure Base is a world-class facility
The 2016 goals for the High-Adventure Bases will be to:
Integrate all four High-Adventure Bases into BSA culture
Maintain commitment to give councils unique Scouting experiences they cannot provide their youth
Market the life-changing activities available at the four High-Adventure Bases
Create a comprehensive business plan for each high-adventure base
Implement Summit attendance growth accountability plan
HIGH-ADVENTURE BASES
This category refers to the four national high-adventure bases (Philmont Scout Ranch, Northern Tier National High Adventure Program, Florida National High Adventure Sea Base, and the Summit).
The 2016 goals for the high-adventure properties will be to:
Integrate all four high-adventure bases into the BSA culture
Maintain our commitment that we will give local councils experiences that they cannot provide to their youth
Through consistent marketing and promotion, communicate the life- changing activities available at our four high-adventure bases
This goal is directly related to one of the BSA’s current challenges: Accountability for attendance growth is in place at the Summit.
Attendance growth will take place by leveraging the full suite of Summit capabilities through a combination of Scouting activities and events, support to other interested youth-serving organizations, and special events (e.g., music festivals and sporting events).

14. The Game Plan utilizes our existing mission and strategy, and crystallizes the aspirational goals into our operational and programmatic execution plan.
We will continue to use Journey to Excellence as our key measurement tool to gauge progress.
CLOSING THOUGHTS:
As Dr. Gates has said, our time is now.
This is an incredible plan. It’s focused—it gets us all on the same song sheet, as it were.
But it’s just paper unless we all do something with it.
We could sit back and say something like, “Oh, that’s national’s job.” Or “The council will take care of that.” Or “Maybe it will work itself out.” But I think our days of waiting for someone else to solve our problems is long past.
And I don’t think that is our destiny. We can shape our future.
How will we do it? We will do it by helping our unit leaders—the most important people in the organization—deliver a terrific program. We will do it by spreading the word about Scouting and Exploring and all of our great programs and encouraging every young person to join the adventure. We’ll continue to innovate and to develop programs that resonate with today’s youth.
We’ll do it by raising dollars, improving facilities, and most importantly connecting with the leaders in our communities and having critical conversations that maybe we haven’t been able to have for so many years. Those doors are open—let’s go boldly through them.
Our time is now.
This is our organization; this is your organization. Let’s not wait, let’s not watch it slip away. Scouting wasn’t built by one person. It was built by all of us. And it will take all of us moving forward together to continue to deliver the promise of Scouting. Let’s act to make sure the greatest youth organization the world has ever known is around for the next century and beyond.
Our Time Is Now
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