BSA Executive Salaries

[gblotter]

23 minutes ago, carebear3895 said:

I try to be humble about our jobs because this truly is a volunteer driven organization

@carebear3895  As a professional Scouter, you have a unique perspective. I'm curious to know your thoughts ...

When BSA National makes membership decisions and program changes that are objectionable to many of us in the volunteer force (indeed, with complete disregard and defiance to our opinions), what do you think is the correct response we should have?

Edited May 21, 2018 by gblotter

[carebear3895]

Unfortunately, National has it's own "volunteer force" that make a lot of these decisions. Believe me when I say there is a HUGE disconnect between those in Dallas and those in the field. We all feel that, pros and volunteers alike.  There are a lot of things they do that make all of us bang our heads on our desks. 

I think Volunteers have every right to complain, the program happens with y'all, but taking it out on Unit-Serving Executives  is not the right way to do things. Believe it or not, we all want the same thing; to provide a quality program to youth. Refusing to give to FoS or sell popcorn because you're mad at National for changing the color of the shoulder loop from red to green only hurts yourself. (I use that example because that actually happened). 

It's a cop out, but I don't really have an answer because I'm still trying to figure it out myself. And for what it's worth, I went through the program as a kid and spent some time as a unit volunteer before sewing on the executive patch

[gblotter]

45 minutes ago, carebear3895 said:

Refusing to give to FoS or sell popcorn because you're mad at National for changing the color of the shoulder loop from red to green only hurts yourself. (I use that example because that actually happened). 

Obviously, some changes are trivial (shoulder loop colors) and some are not (restructuring the program for girls). Responses should be proportional.

When our opinions as volunteers are ignored and disregarded, it seems we have only two ways to object: with our feet and with our dollars. How else to send a message they will pay attention to?

[David CO]

1 hour ago, carebear3895 said:

Believe it or not, we all want the same thing

Not.

 

[WonderBoy]

9 minutes ago, gblotter said:

When our opinions as volunteers are ignored and disregarded, it seems we have only two ways to object: with our feet and with our dollars. How else to send a message they will pay attention to?

The economist in me smiles at this statement. This truth applies to almost anything we do. That said, and I'm not trying to defend some of the boneheaded things coming out of Texas, the great U.S of A. is a VERY big place. It's sometimes hard to remember that what's "natural" or "apparent" to us locally doesn't apply or have the same meaning to someone across town, across a District, or across a Council, much less across a country as big as ours. A Scouter's experience growing up in a local Pack, bridging over to an attached Troop and eventually finding a home as a Scouter all with an involved CO in a small community is/can be very different from the experience of a Scouter who's experience is in a larger community with multiple CO's, both religious & community based, who are very "hands off". 

For me locally, I know our DE works her butt off. But I'm still not convinced there's much "value added" to my Cub Scout Pack. After all the money that comes out of my personal pocket (much like classroom teachers) for this & that in our Pack, the popcorn sales, the registration fees and the many hours a month that I volunteer, FOS solicitations kind of feel insulting to me.

Just my 2¢, YMMV.

[Jameson76]

1 hour ago, carebear3895 said:

Believe it or not, we all want the same thing; to provide a quality program to youth. 

Possibly, but not really.  I was a DE for a while.  Key thing was membership numbers and money.  Quality program never enters the conversation

[ParkMan]

I think this is a bit unfair for us to generalize.  We're making statements about who DEs are and what their motivation are.  We all have different experiences.  I know mine well and he was a guy who was a dedicated scout and later volunteer.  He decided he wanted to make a living out of it.  Yes, he worries about money and membership because he has to.  But he's also first to be concerned about program too.

 

 

[numbersnerd]

4 hours ago, Jameson76 said:

Possibly, but not really.  I was a DE for a while.  Key thing was membership numbers and money.  Quality program never enters the conversation

So true. The only time we hear from our DE is when he's trying to drum up registrations or rather, trying to get US to drum up more registrations. Sure, what volunteer doesn't want to do FOUR rounds of membership rallies every year? 🙄  Dude can't even get flyers printed properly for us. Go away.

It's that or to schedule a FOS presentation.

[gblotter]

What's the difference between a District Director and a District Executive? Our council has a mix of both positions.

Is a District Director an unpaid District Executive?

Edited May 22, 2018 by gblotter

[ParkMan]

3 minutes ago, gblotter said:

What's the difference between a District Director and a District Executive? Our council has a mix of both positions.

Is a District Director an unpaid District Executive?

A District Director manages District Executives.  It's a first line management position.

[gblotter]

10 minutes ago, ParkMan said:

A District Director manages District Executives.  It's a first line management position.

A difference without a distinction in our case.

Our district has a District Director but no District Executive.

[ParkMan]

Sounds like a guy who needed a bigger title for some reason - longevity, pay, whatever.  Maybe your district has some specific needs that require a more senior person. 

[carebear3895]

There's a lot of hate for those in the profession, including me when y'all don't even know me. I mean I get it, there are A LOT of bad, even crooked Pros out there. Whatever, it's not gonna stop me from doing my job of trying to grow scouting and give kids opportunities. Again, I believe we work together and have the same goals in mind... I'm sorry if that's not the case in your council.

Thank you all for what you do for scouting. 

[PACAN]

The impression of a good number of volunteers is that the Professionals in council are woefully unprepared to serve their customers.  We see no Customer service, Poor or non-existent communication,  lack of quality programs (you know good programs actually improve new members and retention),  no innovation, not really knowing how to leverage their 99% volunteer workforce, blame the unit for not making goals on FOS or popcorn or not signing up for events when no information is provided on theme, location etc.   Do you get training in these are or do the DEs/DDs/SEs just ignore it?

Also the Franchise model on individual feifdoms that councils have is outdated and there no real way to transfer your unit to a different district or council when you get poor service like you can in other areas.     So units "retrench" and just do their own program and only interface when absolutely necessary because they see no value added.   

I don't see anyone "hating" professionals unless they are vindictive and retaliatory.  They all seem to use the "thank you all for what you do in scouting" tag line but it is used over and over sounds insincere. 

 

Edited May 22, 2018 by PACAN
typo

[David CO]

2 hours ago, carebear3895 said:

There's a lot of hate for those in the profession, including me when y'all don't even know me.  

Hate is a word is being greatly overused now days. If we try to maintain moral standards, we are accused of hate. If we support upholding our laws, we are accused of hate. So it is of little surprise to me that if some of us would wish to limit the salaries of BSA employees, we will be accused of hate.

I don't need to know you in order to come to a conclusion about executive salaries. I can read the numbers.