January numbers will fluctuate all month, drop at the start, grow a bit with renewals/new people. Is your Jan 25 number from 1/1/25? Your numbers are still interesting to compare end of 24 vs end of 25. So... Dec 24 986,520 Dec 25 907,949 Loss of 81,571 or (8.3%) for the year. So, using Krone's loss number, we really lost 341,571 and gained 260,000 to get to the net loss of 81,571. From a strategy standpoint, an EVP of membership and council unit growth executives could/may/potentially help by having people focus on things like renewals and membership vs. an afterthought. I do agree, though, having some additional employees in and of itself doesn't do much. How about a gosh darn renewal system that doesn't break in the last month or the year, or one that works robustly each and every day! That would be a start.

There is no point comparing the costs of scouts to sports, it's a waste of time and not relevant to why most people pursue either activity.  The costs for both are all over the map depending 1) where on the map you are, and 2) what level of involvement you are at. You can absolutely find travel leagues that are less than scouting. There are many access points and participation tiers. You can spend $10K or you can spend $1K. In many cases when you break down the fees and the hours involved in each activity, scouting has a higher per hour cost than sports and that's why a lot of families see it as a better value and use of their time. Both activities are great for kids at whatever level you can afford them and dependent on their interests and how that fits in with the family time and budget. Scouting needs to focus on listening to why more kids don't choose it. 

The system numbers I see tell a different story. As promised, 01 Jan numbers, pulled moments ago... Total Current Youth: 855,685 (Jan 2026)  a 14.22% drop from Jan 2025 Same Month Last Year: 997,529 (Jan 2025) Last Year End:  907,949 (This is the 31 Dec 2025 number in the system.) Dec 2024 End of Year number was: 986,520 So, Dec 2025 year end compared to Dec 2024,  is a 7.96% drop, year to year. These numbers include Learning for Life...about 27K on the books now. And, um, how is hiring an Executive VP of Membership (LOL) going stop the losses?  Or hiring "unit growth executives" at the council level??? Explain it to me like I was a ten year old (who might be looking to join Scouting), please

Did anyone see this from Mr. Krone?   Membership: Recruitment and Retention In 2025, we focused on growth by hiring an executive vice president of membership and leveraging Lilly Endowment funds to hire unit growth executives for councils. We also expanded our marketing efforts, driving a record number of visitors to BeAScout.org. I am pleased to report that by the close of 2025, we will have recruited almost 260,000 new members. But membership is more than recruiting — it is also retention. In the coming year, we will intensify our focus on retention and on delivering a more meaningful experience for all members.   If we recruited 260,00 new members but the overall membership through November is around 900,000 where did 260,000 that were on the rolls the end of 2024 go?

Perhaps, but those days might be coming to a close with the new compartmentalization of risk post bankruptcy.