Recruiting night...what went wrong?

[83Eagle]

Well, we decided to hold our first-ever spring recruiting event last night (Thursday). Typically we have done only fall recruiting, and our usual group is about 10 new recruits, most in the Tiger or Wolf dens. However, we have an active summer program with 2 events each month, so I figured we could attract boys looking for some summer fun.

 

Our pack typically runs about 35-40. We were down to 29 after losing a large Webelos den at crossover.

 

We have about 300 age-eligible boys in the school we recruit from. We sent flyers to each of the homes a week before and also used the school's bulk email system.

 

We marketed the event as "Blast Off Into Cub Scouting" and advertised that boys would be making stomp rockets.

 

Current scouts were encouraged to "Bring a Friend" to the event in order to earn their recruiter patch, and were invited to come even if they didn't have a friend so we'd have a big group of current scouts. The idea was, the boys would go make rockets, I'd talk to the parents.

 

The day before the event, we had "Pack Pride Day." The boys wore their uniforms to school, and the administration let them walk around during free time to pass out even more flyers in the classroom.

 

The only thing we didn't do was a boy talk.

 

So, we ended up with 7 current scouts there and 6 unregistered boys at the event. I got two completed applications back (only one with a registration fee) and one that is going to "think about it." Now, some of the "bring a friend" boys didn't come with their parents (my fault for not clarifying), so 3 apps got sent home. Not sure if we'll see those.

 

Now, on the plus side, the event itself was great. The boys loved making the rockets and the feedback we got from everyone was that everyone had fun.

 

But my feeling--and that of the den leaders--was that the event failed miserably as a recruiting event. Also, perplexingly, 5 of the 6 boys there would be Bear or Webelos--only 1 would be a new Tiger, and no Wolves.

 

What are your thoughts on this? I don't know why attendance wasn't higher. In retrospect, Thursday night probably wasn't the greatest choice in the middle of little league. But...???

[Eagle92]

BOY TALKS ARE THE KEY TO RECRUITING! (camps for enphasis, not shouting)

 

 

Also you need recruiting nites when nothing else is going on.

 

Good luck.

[kari_cardi]

We had a similar experience and the DE did a boy talk too. Unless they want to send their sons to camp, I think parents see scouts as a better choice in the fall. I think for the most part, they are right.

[SeattlePioneer]

Hello 83Eagle,

 

 

As District Membership Chair, I've been promoting the stomp bottle rocket launch as the most powerful method I know of to attract new boys to a pack recruiting night.

 

I'd say that except for one thing, you had excellent promotion for your event.

 

The one thing that I do which is MOST effective is to visit the schools during lunch with an example of the model rocket and rocket launcher, including the soda pop bottle.

 

I show that to the boys so they understand how it works, and ask them if they would like to come to our rocket launch and see whose rocket will go the highest and thye farthest. Of course pretty much all think there's will be the winner!

 

Our district prints off stickers with the date, time and location of the recruiting night, and boys stick those on their shirts for the rest of the day. They tend to make their way home and into the hands of parents more than flyers.

 

Talking about Cub Scouts, and even the rocket launch, has certain limitations. It is often hard for boys to imagine what you are talking about. Show them the rocket and launcher and they understand!

 

As an additional bonus, I use readily available certificate programs to make a Cubh Scout Rocket Pilot License. When families come in they register with the pack and receive a Rocket Pilot License for their son.

 

Each time a boys rocket travels more than a minimum distance, they get a sticker for their license. Since I have six rocket launchers going at once, boys often can launch their rocket 15-20 times --- even more.

 

My preference is to do the stickering on the day of the event, or as close to that day as possible if I'm doing more than one school.

 

Please don't give up on spring recruiting! It's a really valuable way to help get new Tiger Cub Dens started, especially when you have an excellent summer program!

[perdidochas]

I think the problem is that you were doing it at the same time as Little League. Also, this time of year is hectic for parents, with spring concerts/award ceremonies, etc. on top of Little League.

[shortridge]

I've heard it said that marketers have to repeat a message to someone five (or 10, or however many) times before it sinks in. Point being, a flyer and an email aren't enough. My advice:

 

Repeat your pitch. Try again, focusing on the parents as well as the kids.

- Speak at a PTA meeting. Speak to the school board. Speak to the homeowners' associations in subdivisions with lots of kids.

- Put flyers up in restaurants and stores, especially those that cater to young parents. If you're in a rural area, tape flyers up inside the wooden school-bus shelters by the side of the road.

- Is kindergarten universal in your area? If not, speak with private preschool/kindergarten directors and ask them to send flyers home with their rising first-graders to catch new Tigers by the toe.

- And don't forget to hit up the private elementary schools, parochial and otherwise! Ditto with homeschool groups!

- Send notices to the local newspapers two or three months in advance so they can run in the calendar for several weeks.

- Don't compete with Little League - team up with it! Have your pack carry flags, march in front of the parade and help with the opening ceremonies, then send the Cubs and parents through the crowds handing out flyers.

 

Refine your pitch. Take a good look at the flyers and email. How were they written and designed? Jargony or easy to understand? Were they cluttered with clip-art graphics that obscured the message? Too much information (did they describe in droning detail the different levels of Cub Scouting - not stuff parents need to know right away)? Or not enough (did they explain when meetings are held - a very important consideration)?

 

Figure out what three small pieces of information you want to be your takeaways, then ask someone not connected with Scouting to give your material a read and have them describe the key points to you. The fact that it wasn't clear that parents needed to attend your event, too, is an indicator that they needed an edit.

 

Research a new activity. Look at it from a boy's perspective. By the time they're in elementary school, kids most likely have done them already. They're fun the first time, and the second time, but by the time you're a Webelos-aged boy and have made bottle rockets three or four times, it's old hat. Not all that exciting.

 

Pick a new night - at the start of the week, a Monday or a Tuesday. (And when nothing else is going on, as Eagle92 said. Scour the newspaper event calendars, check with the schools, check with other youth groups to see what's going on.) As a parent of a 6-year-old, Thursday is my almost-there... night - I'm tired, she's tired, the week is almost wrapped up, and we both usually just want to have a quiet evening at home and to go to bed early. The start of the week is much better for reaching people.(This message has been edited by shortridge)

[ScoutLass]

You may not know the success of your recruitment until the fall. Even if only six boys showed up, these six boys went to school the next day and told their friends about the awesome time they had. When your fall recruitment fliers go out, don't be surprised if you end up with a bigger turnout than previously.

 

It's hard to sign kids up in spring, in my experience. Parents don't want to commit to something over the summer and give up their free time with their family. Spring and summer sports are also in full swing. View spring recruitment more as planting a seed for fall, which it sounds like you did well.

 

I assume you have a strong summer program planned since you are trying spring recruitment. If you have the contact information for the boys who did attend, give the parents a call and invite them and their boys to one of your summer pack events. If they enjoy the event, sign 'em up on the spot.

[ScoutNut]

Everything Short said, plus encourage boys, AND their parents, to talk up what a great thing Cub Scouts is to all of their buddies (adult and boy).

 

Fliers going home get lost in backpacks with the rest of the junk in there. Advertising, fliers, etc, should all be repeated multiple times before the event itself. If you can get your boy talk done the day of the event (or the day before if roundup will be on a Saturday), have stickers to put on all boys with the event info.

 

Some Packs do real well with Spring recruiting, some not so good. We have traditionally seen that even families who are interested in joining tend to wait until Fall to actually do it. Although we flier, do boy talks and invite folks to our last Pack meeting in May, we usually get new Tigers who are siblings of current Cubs, and only a very few others to register in Spring,

 

Our main push is in the Fall. The beginning of August the school has registration day. The Pack has a table there. We hand out information on our registration night, flier/invites to our Picnic/Rocket Shoot (weekend before school starts), and collect contact info from interested families. Families who left contact info are sent another invite to the Picnic/Rocket Shoot. At the event we have additional info on the Pack, and plenty of families, and leaders there for interested newbies to talk to. Registration/Roundup is usually the first Friday after school starts (end of Aug). We send home fliers during the week, do a boy talk the day of, and sticker the boys with roundup info as they walk out the door to go home.

 

Another thing to keep in mind is to never stop recruiting. Keep your members talking about what a great thing Scouting is, and what a great program your Pack puts on. Word of mouth does wonders.

[Scoutfish]

It's a tough time to sell. People are tired of school...tired of sports, tired of anything organized.

 

They are ready to let the younginsa sleep in. The youngins can't wait to sleep in.

Beaches, swimming pools, all day video game conquests...

 

But I think your biggest adversary here is the parents. They are looking forward to not driving to or from, not dropping off and picking up..not having to reemeber this dfate or that date.

 

They are ready to just relax a while.

 

That's the cool thing about the scouts who are already active..they can't wait til summer break.....but after the summer is over - they can't wait to get back to scouting and camping and earning some scout bling!

 

 

Having the talk to light that fire sure helps though.

[83Eagle]

Thanks for the comments thus far. I really hope that timing is the issue because we have had much better luck with fall recruiting. I find it telling that half the kids who showed up were in 3rd grade currently, which runs counter to normal recruiting. I believe this is because our current 3rd grade den is pumped about scouting and sells the program.

 

Regarding boy talks, it would have been nice, but we have no one at district to do them any more. I had considered trying it myself (see related thread of mine on same topic) but, well, it didn't happen.

[momof2cubs]

Let me put it in perspective for you: we are a fairly large pack (we clocked at just over 100 cubs before the webs II crossed over in March). I live in a fairly well off area where a lot of people travel over the summer, sometimes several times, so holding summer activities is difficult, but we hold one a month.

 

We held our Spring recruiting meeting last Tuesday. We had sent flyers, there were posters all over the school, etc. The pitch was build your own sundae plus fun and games outside. We had most of the pack show up (about 50ish, which is about 2/3 since web IIs are gone).

 

Results? We signed up 6 new Tigers. THAT'S IT.

 

Spring is hard. Me personally, I don't wanna commit to a dang thing over the summer. Except for day camp. I wanna chill, relax, and not have to worry about driving anyone anywhere anytime.

 

Bottom line: I think yours went pretty well all things considered.(This message has been edited by momof2cubs)

[Tampa Turtle]

Congrats on the 6 boys. You want quality not quantity. Even if you just got a few you are moving forward. Yes it can be disappointing when you do a lot of work and no one shows up. I had a Tiger meeting where only 2 of 20 Tigers showed up (usually averaged 12). Just me and my ADL and our sons. I was getting an attitude and our boys were expecting a meeting. Was really an Dad-son play-date but was Best.Meeting.Ever.

 

Keep your focus on delivering a good program; the rest tends to work out.

[CalicoPenn]

You had 6 new boys show up, you got one new boy with application and fee and one new boy with application turned in. You already have a 33.2% success rate on this event on applications turned in.

 

Sounds like a success to me!

[AnnLaurelB]

I don't feel so bad, now. I took 400 flyers to the school, but couldn't do a boy talk because I couldn't get off work. Who from District does that? Surely that's up their alley.

 

I had three families show up; two registered-- a Tiger and a Wolf. So that's nice, but I was (of course) hoping for good numbers. But, as someone posted, these flyers may have planted a seed. Raise your hand if you've ever cleaned out the back pack and found a paper about something and said, "Awwwh. We'd have gone to that." (*raises hand*)

 

Maybe NEXT time some of those households see a Cub Scout flyer, they'll say, "Oh, yeah. I meant to check into this. Cool. They're doing another sign-up night."

[Scoutfish]

I'll tell you my experiences ( 2) with roundup.

 

The first time I was at a roundup was when my son came home and told me - 5 mins before it started - that we needed to go to his school for roundup. Did I mention the school was 12 miles away?

 

So when we go, the DE sings a song or two with the boys, but pretty much then directs his attention to the parents..wich is technically the correct thing to do since - in theory - he's already hooked the boys at a prior assembly meeting. Then each pack introduces themselves through the CM and oparents pick the best fit and join.

 

I picked what I thought would be the best fit and signed up.

 

3 years later, I am now the CM of that same pack. At my first roundup, I printed a bunch of copies of basic info on paper: pack nbumber and CO, meeting night, meeting time. Who the CM ( me ) is, and phone #, The COR name and phone #

 

THis time, the DE gave his same speach and then left each CM to introduce themselves.

 

WEll, the other CM's ( 3 of them) looked at the parents and talked over the boys.

 

What I did differently was talk to the boys and let the parents listen. THen when the other CM's at down at their sign up tables and waited for people top come to them..I walked around and talked / joked with the boys and answered mom and dads questions.

 

I did this 2 times over 2 nights and my COR did it once since we have 3 elementary schools within 6 miles ( in any direction) of the CO.

 

That first night, I signed up 22 scouts with paymenst in full and registration to the council. I handed out another handfull who would bring the forms and money to our parent/scout orientation meeting.

 

During the roundup, I even explained that not everybody would like our pack, and if they felt like they joined the wrong one, could transfer to another for $1. I also told them that they did not have an obligation to join the closest unit, but should go wherever they felt more comfortable because that would keep their kid in scouting...which is the goal.

 

I think my honesty helped calm the fears of many parents.

 

Again, I signed up 22 that first night as compared to the others doing 2,1 ,0 respectively.

 

The next night, I signed up around 10 more with another handfull of forms going home with parents and the others did 1,0, 3 respectively.

 

The biggest thing is this: I talked to the boys and not at them or over them. And I had no qualms about acting silly or making them laugh.