Membership decline. - Are we turning the corner?

[Eamonn]

I have been looking at the May National /Regional Membership reports.

 

Cub Scouts show an increase of 0.1% (1,142,031 up from 1,140,417)

 

Boy Scouts are down 0.3% (740,306 down from 742,470)

 

Venturers are up 2.9% (193,772 up from 188,285)

 

While of course the Boy Scout total isn't good news. With the decline we have seen in Cub Scouts over the past few years, I kinda think this is to be expected.

Ea.

 

 

 

 

[AvidSM]

I see what you mean - the past few years of Cub Scout decreases affected the Boy Scout numbers downstream. The opposite affect will happen if the Cub Scout numbers increase in this and the next few years. Let's hope that happens.

[GernBlansten]

Dead cat bounce?

[John-in-KC]

"Give them great program and they will come."

 

H Roe Bartle

Scout Executive, Kansas City 1930-1952

Mayor, Kansas City, 1953-61

Chief Lone Bear in the Tribe of Mic-o-Say

 

Our challenge: Giving the great program

[Mr. Boyce]

I like the above remark.

 

I think, too, better ongoing, professional PR is needed at the local level. The word needs to get out to the general public that scouting exists locally with plenty of good opportunities, good program.

[BadenP]

"Dead cat bounce" about as high as the miniscule rises in two programs, we are far from turning any corner in membership. Inconsistency in program and leadership on both a professional and volunteer level are what is killing scouting, the BSA has lost its true purpose and focus which will lead to its eventual demise or transformation into another type of program entirely.

[Bob White]

When did any volunteer program have consistency in leadership or program quality levels???

 

 

[Mr. Boyce]

I'm not sure the BSA has lost its purpose. There's been a 25% decline in camping since the 1980s. . . I think generally the idea of going outside, camping and hiking, knowing about the natural world around us, just doesn't have much vibrancy with most youth.

 

Instead, it's sports and computers and music.

 

Parents STILL believe their boy will be able to win a scholarship (so they don't have to save for the cost of education), and there are readily available sports camps, etc. (I'm surprised that after all this time, the general public doesn't realize how very FEW athletic scholarships exist relative to the school-age, school-attending population.)

 

One factor I wonder about is whether in today's society, there is much of anything said that is positive about America and American ideals. Ideals will always motivate youth. But political correctness and multiculturalism/enforced tolerance seem to work against any organization that stresses values. (And here, I don't just mean the big hype 3G stuff.)

[OldGreyEagle]

My Boyce, I do not wish to pick apart your post, but you wrote

 

"... I think generally the idea of going outside, camping and hiking, knowing about the natural world around us, just doesn't have much vibrancy with most youth..."

 

Yet most junior high kids and above will tell you with a straight face that global warming caused by humans is killing polar bears.

 

So, there is awareness of the environment, and as far as going outside, have you seen the attraction of the "X" games? There are kids who want to test the limits of their abilites. The question is how to attract those youth to the best program designed to test limits and expand them.

[BadenP]

I don't know Old Grey but your argument against Mr Boyces post is weak at best. He is essentially correct about the decline in camping and outdoor interest by both the youth and many adults in todays world. The BSA is pandering to these sedentary interests of todays youth with their refocusing on technology instead of nature. The youths ignorance about nature just proves that as a society we have distanced ourselves even more from the beauty of the outdoors into a techno world. I think thats why one of the main foci of Baden Powells program was to get these city youth outdoors where they could develop woodland and leadership skills. My point is what is wrong with concentrating on the strengths of what made scouting great instead of turning it into some type of virtual reality game.

[Lisabob]

I dunno guys, I see a lot of interest in going outside and doing camping-related activities among boys in middle school and early high school (my son's age and younger). I don't see a lot of interest among older middle schoolers in being "boy scouts" though - there is an image/branding issue here that has little to do with a love of the outdoors, or lack thereof.

 

As for X games and Boy Scouts - well I had a really interesting conversation with our brand new DE the other day. She hasn't got any scouting experience and is fresh out of college to boot so she's facing an uphill battle in her first year as DE if you ask me. But she did intern with X games and she was telling me about what they do to attract boys ages 10-14 to their program. And I must say, it seems the BSA could learn a few tricks there! Her take was that although X games may be an easier sell (what boy doesn't think Tony Hawk is cool?), one reason the brand is successful is because they do a lot of hands on, fairly aggressive marketing to their target audience. We, BSA, do not. We hold a few "join cub scouts" events and call it quits. Now we're all volunteers and the X games folks are not - big difference in resources available to us, including our time. But it gave me something to think about at any rate.

 

By the way we held an interest night recently for a new crew, in a district and council where crews are practically unheard of. We had 15+ interested youth show up. The only thing stopping that crew from becoming a reality thus far? Lack of adults willing to serve as committee members.

 

So I am not certain I buy the notion that teens and pre-teens don't want to do the outdoors stuff. I do, though, believe we haven't done a heck of a lot to work on making BSA attractive to a lot of youth in this age bracket. Can't fault kids, or even their parents, for that one.

 

 

[Mr. Boyce]

I rather agree with much of Lisa's points above.

 

It is interesting to me that there is a vast gulf in appreciation of the role of marketing between substantial corporations and the average nonprofit organization. Most local and state nonprofits are pretty "heads down"; they do minimal or very modest amounts of promotion.

 

But there are many things competing for leisure time nowadays. Scouting is a great program, and it has MANY attributes that can be marketing. It just needs more emphasis on this. And perhaps some coordination, if possible, with similar organizations.

 

Locally, I think councils would do well to have a dedicated and experienced parade/honor guard unit, which could go to various larger weekend events and show the colors. I was terribly impressed with a large number of Girl Scouts marching in a local parade: they really made the organization's presence known!

[Mr. Boyce]

. . . I'm sorry. I forgot to ask my question: is there any ongoing source of national and international scouting statistics, perhaps compiled over the years?

 

This might be a good thing to see.

[AvidSM]

I agree with all of you so far:

 

#1 - Scouting has an image/branding problem. Most boys do not like the unform, and the new one coming out is not much different. Some of the scouts in my troop have told me outright that their friend do not know that they are scouts - because they do not want them to know.

 

#2 - Scouting is a volunteer organization - mostly parents who are doing their best with the training that they can get.

 

#3 - Scouting does not effectively market itself to its target audience.

 

#1 and #3 are issues for national to solve. Nothing can be done to improve #2.

 

Tigers feed into Cub Scouts, which feed into Boys Scouts. Very few non-Cubs join scouting (I've only seen one in ten years that stayed). The best thing we can do to improve the Boy Scout numbers is to improve Tiger/Cub Scout recruitment and retention.

[meschen]

I agree with AvidSM.

 

While I think the Cub program (Tiger through Bear) is both relevant and exciting, I have seen far too much evidence that we start to fail the boys at the Webelos level. There are many reasons for this. I think the repetition of things we did as Cub Scouts gets to be a bit too much. The uniforms are no longer exciting. Sports activities such as Baseball and Soccer can demand two or three days a week, which crowds out Scouting. I dont believe that the current Den Leader system works how many parents with only the fast start training and no previous Scouting experience can effectively make 20 different activity badges both informative and exciting? Yeah I know you should find parents who are specialists in each activity and have them lead that section, but how many of parents dont have either the time or desire to contribute?

 

And marketing is a major issue too. A few weeks back, the fifth graders in my Sons class came back from outdoor ed. I know that many of them had a great time. Somehow we need to find a to communicate to them that Scouting offers an opportunity to continue do many of the same outdoor activities things that enjoyed, and find a way to make it cool.

 

I dont have the answers. But I know something could be done to broaden our reach into the community.