Recruitment ideas for girl BSA Scouts

[David CO]

42 minutes ago, Treflienne said:

To get our troop for girls started,  first we looked for the kids. 

That's my point.  You looked for the kids.  It appears to me like most of the girl units are being formed because, for one reason or another, adults want to have girl units.  They then go looking for the kids. 

Edited July 2, 2020 by David CO

[SSScout]

1 hour ago, David CO said:

That's my point.  You looked for the kids.  It appears to me like most of the girl units are being formed because, for one reason or another, adults want to have girl units.  They then go looking for the kids. 

Absolutely.   But after you have the Troop up and hiking , so to speak, then one must be "visible" and "available".  Word of mouth?  Certainly  the femScouts need to be out there doing stuff, helping people,  wearing Scout shirts and caps.  Need a sign out front of the Meeting Place.  Article in the local paper, community Facebook pages,  posters up in school... oh wait....

But I totally agree.  The founding of the Troop needs girls out for the adventure, the "Game". The " Purpose"  is not necessarily their view, their desire, that's from the parents perspective initially. The Scout may see the "Purpose"  later as they mature.  After the Troop is doing the Scout Thing, then you need the recruiting stuff  for the continuity. .  

[yknot]

On 6/29/2020 at 6:26 PM, mashmaster said:

I agree, just stating how I have seen it happen in my small sample size.  I do know many boys are equally focused but they are the minority in the boys I have worked with.

This is local. Our entire unit is totally focused on reaching Eagle and they are all boys. We have the opposite problem. We lose boys who just want to camp and be outside and hike and maybe advance some but are not doing like the Scouting AP level course. 

[yknot]

I can't speak to girls today. I can speak only of girls in my generation. The number one item on my Christmas List was always a subscription to Ranger Rick magazine. I spent all my time in the woods. I tagged along with all the boys who were doing archery and camping and digging for worms and fishing. Thank God for them, they were all my big "brothers", and were so kind and patient teaching me things and treating me like a semi tolerated kid sister.  Today, there are still very few safe places for girls that love the out of doors, love to hike, love to camp, love to explore the natural world, to do that with peers. I could be wrong, but if you want to recruit girls, find ways to reach the ones who are looking for those experiences. Those boys in my past -- some were scouts, some were not -- were the ones who taught me my love of scouting, even when I myself couldn't do it. 

[Treflienne]

5 hours ago, David CO said:

That's my point.  You looked for the kids.  It appears to me like most of the girl units are being formed because, for one reason or another, adults want to have girl units.  They then go looking for the kids. 

I should have been clearer.   The initial drivers of the process were two girls (from different families) who wanted to be scouts.  These two girls then recruited their parents.  Then these two families (the "we") looked for more interested girls/families.  

We had a group of almost ten girls/families before we had a C.O. picked out. 

[Snowball]

When I want to know is what was the best way you found girls.   I know friends are best, but any ideas on reaching girls who are not connected to scouts in any way. 

[qwazse]

9 hours ago, Snowball said:

When I want to know is what was the best way you found girls.   I know friends are best, but any ideas on reaching girls who are not connected to scouts in any way. 

Do you get out much? Looks like you're gonna visit ...

• Coffee shops and ice cream parlors. Put up Scouts BSA posters. Donate copies of Boy's Life and Scouts BSA Handbooks. If they have TV's, ask if they'll let you play some clip.
• Parks. Posters. On a popular day, get permission to set up a tent and maybe a campfire or some other activity.
• Schools. Ask your adults if they want to contact each school in your area to see which superintendents would welcome a presentation (either an assembly or an information table).

With this pandemic it's gonna be rough. But, now's the time to improvise.

Do each of these, and if they don't work, come back and ask for suggestions.

[qwazse]

Hey @Snowball, I forgot to say, "Welcome to the forums!"

Maybe if you tell us a little about yourself (position in BSA, experience as a scout/leader, family, rural/urban, number of folks helping you), we can guide you better.

[Treflienne]

11 hours ago, Snowball said:

I know friends are best, but any ideas on reaching girls who are not connected to scouts in any way.

All of our girls were either friends of girls already in the group, or else were "connected to scouts" in some way.  That "some way" might be that a relative in a different state was in scouting.  Or perhaps a mother had been a Girl Guide in a different country, or been in GSUSA.  Or perhaps the father had been a Boy Scout in a different country.   Or the grandfather had been a scout.  That is,  many of these families already had a positive impression of the scout movement.    Don't assume that families need a current connection to BSA, or even that the father needs to have been in BSA, for the family to think that scouting is generally a positive activity for children.

What such families to need is to realize that your troop (or proto-troop) exists.   Once we got a web presence we ending up collecting several girls from an adjacent school district (not in our council's borders) because they were able to find us on the web.

[David CO]

12 hours ago, Snowball said:

 I know friends are best, but any ideas on reaching girls who are not connected to scouts in any way. 

Not during a bankruptcy.  Trying to promote scouts to people who are not already connected in some way is a pretty tough sell.  How do you promote a bankrupt organization to someone?  I have no idea.