New job for UCs in my council

[click23]

Here is what my council has assigned to the commissioner staff.

 

2008 Fall Membership Campaign

Welcoming Calls Information

 

When Calling Scouts

1. Introduce yourself and explain the purpose of the call

 

2. Ask them if they know the following, and share with them if they do not

A. Unit number of the group they have joined

B. When and where their meetings will be taking place

C. Den Leaders name and phone number

D. Cubmasters name and phone number

 

3. Ask if they have had their first den meeting and how did it go.

 

4. Ask if they know when and where the next meeting will be.

 

5. Ask if they know where the Council Service Center and Scout Shop are located.

 

6. Ask if they know when and where Fall Family Camp will be and ask if they will be attending.

 

7. Thank them for their involvement in Scouting and tell them you are glad they chose Scouting for their family.

 

When Calling New Leaders

1. Introduce yourself and explain the purpose of the call

 

2. Ask them if they know the following, and share with them if they do not

A. Unit number of the group they have joined

B. When and where their meetings should be taking place

C. Cubmasters name and phone number

 

3. Ask if they have had their first den meeting and how did it go.

 

4. Ask if they felt comfortable in their new leadership role.

 

5. Ask if they know where the Council Service Center and Scout Shop are located.

 

6. Ask if they know when and where Fall Family Camp will be and ask if they will be attending.

 

7. Ask them if their den is planning to participate in the Trails End Popcorn Sale to raise money for den and pack activities.

 

8. Thank them for their leadership and support of Scouting.

 

 

[shortridge]

Just as an observation - I would be a little suspicious if a strange adult called my child out of the blue and started asking her questions about where and when her Girl Scout troop met and whether she'd be going on a certain campout.

 

I assume from 2© and 2(d) that these are Cub Scouts the commissioners will be calling. Does your council staff really think that 7-8-year-olds would know where the CSC and Scout Shop are?

[click23]

Although I have not been "Trained" on this, yet, I would assume that top part is actually for the scouts' parents, not the scouts themselves.

[nolesrule]

My DC would tell the council that this kind of thing is not a UC's job. We're supposed to help units, not deliver a survey or pass out information to scouts and leaders on an individual basis.

[ScoutNut]

Ummm, nope, I don't think so. This sounds to much like you are checking up on your units, behind their back, and pushing the popcorn sale and District campout.

 

It is also not up to an individual leader (& especially not a new one) to decide on their own weather or not their den participates in the council popcorn sale. Dens can not fundraise on their own (even a council fundraiser), this is a PACK decision.

 

As a UC we have to overcome a bad rep as being council "spies" as it is. Something like this would only make it worse. I would recommend that UC's talk to their unit's CM's and ask if THEY have touched base with their new Scout's families to see if things are going well. I would offer my help doing it, and I would also offer my help with counseling new leaders. However, if my offers were turned down, I sure would not push it, or do it behind the CM's back.

 

At the earliest Committee/Leaders Meeting I would present the unit leadership (old and new) with information on the District Campout and encourage participation in the council popcorn sale.

 

 

[evmori]

Why would a UC call Scouts? That's not their job. Neither is contacting new leaders individually. Sounds like a watchdog position, not a UC.

[mikecummings157]

This is not the UC's job. The Committee shoud be responsible for checking up on the health of the unit. We have used a survey system in the past to accomplish this with good response.

[John-in-KC]

It gets more fun. UC's in my Council have the task of re-contacting "lost boys" from Cub recruitment to try and re-sell them/their parents on Scouting.

 

That's in addition to contacting the true lost boys, who drop at recharter.

[Gold Winger]

During my brief stint as a UC, I was expected to call boys who hadn't crossed over and ask them why.

 

Even without the "suspicion" factor, I could imagine the conversations would go like this:

 

Hello Timmy? This is Mr. Winger from the Boy Scouts.

 

Yeah?

 

I was wondering why you chose to join Boy Scouts.

 

I dunno.

 

Well, there had to be a reason. Did you think that it wouldn't be fun?

 

I dunno.

 

Do you know what sort of things Boy Scouts do?

 

Sorta.

 

What do you think that Boy Scouts do?

 

I dunno.

 

Camping? Fishing? Hiking? Swimming?

 

Mebbe.

 

Would you like to do those things?

 

I dunno.

 

What do you like to do?

 

I only like dreaming, all the day long,

And video gaming, and singing this song . . .

[SSScout]

I have to agree that calling individual Scouts (Cub or Boy) should not be a UC's job. The UC should deal with the leadership of the Unit, listen to them, encourage them, survey them, instruct them. If the Unit leader wants help in how to approach "lost boys" (Peter Pan?), then I'd be glad to help.

First, I take the list of LBs and go with it to the Unit CC or CM or SM and start the conversation there.

Unless the UC has been asked to assist with boy leader training or is promoting a program to the Unit (at a meeting, yes?), or is dealing with some really bizarre situation, the UC has no reason to initiate a call to a child outside of his own family or Unit.

Sounds almost like a lead in to a FoS "cold call". (shudder)

 

 

[ghermanno]

Wow! Glad my District is sticking to the UC's real job of Unit health. I just got drafted (blindsided) for a UC position with 3 Troops and 3 Packs. Hard enough keeping up with problems in the Unit never mind individual boys.

 

It is the CC, SM/CM, and ASM/DL's job to keep the boys active and to find out the problems with individuals, it is the UC's task to find problems with the Program and Training of the Units so that they can offer the best Program for the boys.

 

If they tasked me with calls to boys or pushing PopCorn/FOS, I would say "Good Bye" and they would be short another UC.

 

 

[Eamonn]

I can and do see that in a perfect world all of these calls would be made by members of the Membership Committee.

In that perfect world all FOS presentations to units would be done by the Finance Committee.

But as we know we don't always live in a perfect world.

I think the idea of contacting new members is a wonderful one.

I kinda think in most cases the adult in the home being called will be the person answering the phone.

Years back in our home the phone would ring and we would pick it up and answer it.

Now with caller ID, we seem to play this silly game of seeing who comes up and picking who will answer it. Which very often results in the person hanging up or being put into voice mail before we choose who will pick up the phone.

 

As with a lot of things, how this was sold to the Commissioner Staff might be a factor.

If it was just a "Hey this is what we have to do!" I can maybe see the hairs on the back of my neck starting to stand up. Trying to see stuff on the back of your neck hurts!

If however the Membership Chair attended a Commissioner Meeting and explained why this is important. Which I think it is. And asked the Commissioners to lend a hand. I think I'd be OK with it.

Membership does play a big part in Unit Health.

Contacting new adults if only to make them aware that there is someone, somewhere who cares is not a bad thing.

Of course the danger is that a lot of things that need doing do have a way of being left to the Commissioner Staff.

While I'm not involved with Commissioner Service in the District I serve. It seems to me that we have so few Commissioners that much of what is supposed to be done just isn't being done and the few Commissioners that we do have are only being sent in to units where and when there is a problem.

Maybe having the Commissioners make these calls might make Commissioners aware where the problems are? It might result in them acting before a unit is in need of CPR?

I do kinda think if I were the District Commissioner I'd find a nice way of telling the UC's to stop moaning and make the call. Maybe finding a place with lots of phones where all the calls could be made in one night, while everyone munched on pizza? With the promise of me buying the first round of adult beverages once we were done.

Eamonn

[nolesrule]

Slightly off topic...Even in an imperfect world, there is no reason a UC should be participating in FOS presentations. You can't be assisting the units and asking for money on behalf of the council at the same time. It can put a bad taste in the mouths of unit leadership. And as for the argument that you can do the FOS presentation at a unit you don't serve, what if sometime down the road you get switched to that unit? When you show up, the leaders remember you as the guy who asked for money.

 

Rather than having UCs do this kind of phone call, it might be better to have it as a beginning of the year practice for the units themselves with new Scouts and new adults. A good way to make sure everyone is on the same page.

[Eamonn]

nolesrule

Having everyone on the same page is a good thing.

Knowing that everyone is on the same page is even better.

As Membership Chair for the District I serve.

I like to think I have helped provide all of the units with the tools they need to bring more youth into our programs.

I can't force anyone to do anything.

This past month was a little hectic.

The Membership Committee ran around getting flyer's in all the schools, arranged Boy Talks. Set up the School Nights and all that good stuff.

The goal was to bring more kids into Scouting.

The goal wasn't to bring membership forms in.

We want the youth who signed up to be active Scouts who receive a great program.

We of course know and are aware that the Unit Leaders provide the program.

You can bet when I seen that some youth had signed up in some units I was kinda wishing that they had joined the unit down the road who I know provides a better program. But that is something I have no control over and the best thing for all concerned is for me to bite my tongue and keep my yap to myself.

The investment, money spent and time spent by the Council in trying to recruit new members is a big one.

There are many wonderful units who I know will reach out to these new Scouts and adults; doing a truly great job. Sadly there are also units where if the new Scouts doesn't appear, will do nothing. These units seem to have lost the book, so getting them on the same page is just a lost cause.

If the members of the Membership Committee are able to do these calls? I say go for it.

But maybe if the Commissioner Staff who knows the adult leaders in the unit.It might be better if after seeing that a few new sign-ups are not where we thought they should be! The UC who knows the leader were to call and find out what is going on.

This might act as a red flag and help the commissioners do their job better.

 

As to FOS. The problem we have faced is trying to get all the presentations done within the time that is allotted. Many Pack presentations are done at B&G Banquets. Having enough people to do these (Sometimes there are 4 or 5 on the same day.) can be a problem.

I'm not sure if the District I serve is that very different than others? But back when I was District Chair, our Finance Committee didn't have that many Uniformed members, in fact we had none!!

In most cases the UC was going to be at units B&G or COH. The U/C knew the unit and the area where the unit was. So while maybe FOS presentations wasn't /isn't his or her job. It just was the easy thing to do, asking if they would make the presentation.

Of course I have had unit leaders who have made the request that so and so never ever be asked to make that presentation again!! When that happened we of course dealt with it.

Eamonn.