Rechartering 2015

[SeattlePioneer]

I collected our Pack recharter packet at Roundtable last Thursday.  Today I knocked out the on line rechartering in about an hour.  Tonight I got our Institutional Head to sign off on the recharter.

 

Monday I expect to have the Cubmaster and Pack Committee Chair sign off on the recharter.

 

There are a few loose ends to tie up,  but not many.

 

My basic strategy for a quick and easy recharter is to recharter with those Scouts and Scouters who have completed the requirements they need to continue in Scouting for another year  ---such as completing Youth Protection Training for adults and paying dues for Scouts.  Everyone not currently up to date gets dropped.

 

That means the Pack rechartered with five boys and five adults.  As more boys and adults complete the necessaries,  I send in a check to the DE and reactivate that person.

 

The main reason that rechartering is a pain is that people try to do too much,  waiting for people to do stuff that you can't control.

 

Instead,  simplify the task by registering those people who have everything done.  Reactivate the laggards later as they get stuff done.

[Mom2a]

Interesting idea. I sent out the warning tonight : if you aren't up to date I can't register you.

My first year doing recharter was a nightmare cleaning up the mess of a roster that had been dumped in my lap. Second year was much easier.

[Krampus]

@@SeattlePioneer. we tried this approach one year which ended up costing our membership person countless hours registering those folks who lagged. So we revised the approach to require folks to get their paperwork in two months in advance. That way the word was out and the membership person was able to get all packets early. Also, we did not accept incomplete packets. Lastly, everyone was told that if you miss the deadline you had to get to council on your own to register.

 

That revision to the process reduced the amount of time spent and increased the number of complete, on-time packets.

[blw2]

for the years I did recharter, my biggest aid was just having my ducks in a row.

when a new scout or leader registered in the fall, I did not wait until recharter to enter them.  This is how my predecessors/successors operate, and it gets messy.  Lost applications and all.

I kept a spreadsheet roster of the unit

and asked the den leaders in December to update any drops

since everything would now be up to date except for any drops, everything was neat and easy.

 

I tried not to wait till the last minute but I surely didn't do it 4 months early!  Early January was fine.

[NJCubScouter]

Seattle Pioneer, how much in advance do you notify the people with delinquent paperwork or dues that if they don't fork it over by a certain date, they will not be on the charter?

[SeattlePioneer]

I got the pack recharter packet at the October Roundtable. 

 

The DE had taken the time to mark off each existing leader who needed to renew their YPT.  I sent out a reminder to that person a day or two later.

 

That was the Cubmaster.  I'm expecting to get that certificate at the Monday Den Meetings...

[blw2]

They're really pushing that recharter earlier and earlier!

 

October round table?!?  I think they're giving ours out at the November round table (early November), which is still very early by my thinking.

The thing isn't due until the END of January!

[Miami_Chief]

Councils vary on when they administer the recharter process.  Sometimes even within a Council each District has a different month and occasionally not all of the Units within a District recharter at the same time.  It can get pretty messy.  In my current Council we recently re-aligned the process so everyone recharters at the same time.  The membership all expires at the end of December and packets are handed out at the October Roundtables with a "due date" of mid-December to allow the Council a couple weeks to work with Units to clean up as many issues as they can with incomplete paperwork, training, etc. 

[Krampus]

They're really pushing that recharter earlier and earlier!

 

October round table?!?  I think they're giving ours out at the November round table (early November), which is still very early by my thinking.

The thing isn't due until the END of January!

 

October RT works when you think about it. As @@Miami_Chief said, our councils is aligned with end of year, but even when it was January we did this:

 

October: Units prepare paperwork needed to collect from unit members. Prepare communications and make staff assignments for collecting, checking and processing paperwork.

 

November: Announcement goes out. Paperwork distributed and posted for members to pull down, fill out and submit. Myriad of questions. Our unit will only accepted completed packets to avoid rework and additional processing time.

 

December: Deadline for unit members to submit paperwork is 12/1. That gives unit leaders two weeks to validate and process paperwork before the Holidays kick in. We submit to council at the end of the month after all the docs have been collected, copied and checked off. Stragglers are on their own during January to get registered. We don't do it for them.

 

We've taken this approach every year because it reduces the work on our part and we have found folks more responsive than during the Holidays. January is busy enough and none of our leaders want to bust their butt because someone sat on theirs for two months and couldn't be bothered to get their paperwork in.

Edited October 18, 2015 by Krampus

[T2Eagle]

Krampus, I'm curious what paperwork you're referring to.  With the exception of the signed copy of the charter signed by our COR, and of course the check,  we don't have to turn any paperwork in to the council.  If you're up to date on YPT you're good, if not you have to get good, other than that you check the box online next to the scouts and leaders who are staying and fill out some code for scouts who are being dropped.  We charge an annual dues, but we're fortunate enough to have the funds to cover the rechartering costs without collecting each individual check before we write the big check.  If we are somehow unsure that a scout is going to continue we contact them directly and ask before we recharter, but that's no more than one or two a year.

[Krampus]

Krampus, I'm curious what paperwork you're referring to.  With the exception of the signed copy of the charter signed by our COR, and of course the check,  we don't have to turn any paperwork in to the council.  If you're up to date on YPT you're good, if not you have to get good, other than that you check the box online next to the scouts and leaders who are staying and fill out some code for scouts who are being dropped.  We charge an annual dues, but we're fortunate enough to have the funds to cover the rechartering costs without collecting each individual check before we write the big check.  If we are somehow unsure that a scout is going to continue we contact them directly and ask before we recharter, but that's no more than one or two a year.

 

So we have a "packet" that requires the following:

 

Existing Member:

• Unit dues form. This is a piece of paper that allows the family to identify how many scouts/adults they are registering, how many Boy's Life they want, what roles the adults are going to take, etc. This is the "top sheet" of our packet. It walks through the process, key dates, location of the various forms, etc. since using this form and process we have nearly eliminate problems and questions in paperwork completion. This also allows families to change contact info in case things have changed since last year.
• BSA medical form (parts A,B,B). We collect these before the beginning of the calendar year. They go in to a book which we take on every outing. Also included is a copy (front/back) of their insurance card.
• YPT certification. Must be valid for at least 90 days in to the New Year.
• Annual release. We use the standard BSA release form. this eliminates the need for event-driven release forms. Specialty releases such as for climbing, shooting sports, scuba or other such activities are covered as events are scheduled. This release covers leaders for all other events.
• Payment. While members can pay online, we leave the option for them to include a check.
• Application (Optional): Adults only fill out an app if their role has changed or if adding a role like MBC.

New Members

• Same as existing members.
• Applications for youth and adults are not optional.

 

We've found that collecting this paperwork during recharter is MUCH easier than chasing folks later on. Part C of the med form is only needed for summer camp and we collect that in March-May when we collect summer camp paperwork. 

 

We've tried many other ways. Our membership folks swear by this method. With everything our council requires this has been a perfect process for us. Everyone is 100% done with annual paperwork by Xmas and ready to go in to the New Year. Money is collected, forms on file and no admin burden or people to track down.

 

Folks who miss the process have to go to council and take care of things themselves.

Edited October 18, 2015 by Krampus