Recruiting Problems

[Eamonn]

While I'm saddened to hear that the School Board is acting this way. I do question the effectiveness of Backpack mail. (I had never heard it called that before and just love the term!!)

Most of the stuff OJ was to deliver was found in the bottom of the book bag months after the event. If it even made it that far.

Some years back working at recruiting Cub Scouts we had plastic bracelets like the ones used in hospitals, but for some reason that I don't know National send a memo saying that we were no longer to use them?

Selling the program to Boys of Scout age is different then selling it to Boys of Cub Scout age. With Cub Scouts we sell to the parents and the Boys. With Boy Scouts, the sale is more to the Boy.

The wise and wonderful people in this forum have in the past come up with all sorts of interesting ways of attracting Lads into Scouting. National has Cd's and VCR tapes that show how to host an open house.

I suggest that you see if you can get one member of your Troop Committee to take care of marketing. Most small town newspapers will put anything that we give them in their newspapers.

In these days of digital photography sending them action pictures of Scouts in action (Not a photo of a handshake!!) is not that difficult. It does entail someone to take care of it.

As a Troop you need to set a membership goal. Share this goal with everyone. Get everyone on board. Make it something that is realistic, but not too easy. In every newspaper article include the where you meet, when you meet and what your next exciting activity will be. Don't just say "We will be going to summer camp." Make it more like " The Scouts are looking forward to a week of shooting, canoeing, swimming and fun at Camp"

You are selling Scouting. Think like a salesman.

Most important of all is the product.

Working with the PLC, the leaders, the troop committee, the chartering organization. Make the commitment that program you deliver is the very best. Program is what you do every time you meet. Next troop meeting look at the meeting as if you were a young Lad coming in for the first time. Is the meeting fun? Does it have a flow to it? Are tasks being accomplished? Would you want to come back next week? Take your findings back to the PLC. Go over the meeting with your other leaders. You and your team want Troop 123 to be the best show in town.

Eamonn.

[fotoscout]

Shy of the US Mail, I think backpack mail in the elementary schools is a very effective way of communicating with the target audience. Most parents go through their childs backpack with a fine tooth comb. In our elementary schools the kids have take home folders. Everything that needs to be communicated to the parents is placed in this folder. That includes school work and community related things like soccer and scouts.

 

It has proven to be both efficient and effective.

 

[Hunt]

I just thought I'd follow up here with some info on how our recruiting effort went, and some lessons learned. We were able to leave flyers in schools (on shelves, etc.), but we couldn't use backpack mail. The PTA would not allow us to use addresses in the school directory to write to prospects. We got lists of all of last year's 2nd-year Webelos from the district, and wrote to them. We put up a banner touting our open house. We urged all the scouts to invite boys they knew. At the open house, we had two new scouts who had visited before, and 5 new prospects. But here's the kicker--all 5 new prospects had been personally invited by my son and/or me. So we learned a few things:

1. Personal invitations are, by far, the recruiting method with the highest percentage yield. But you really have to press people to do it.

2. Even if the troop really starts its program in the fall, that's way too late to recruit Webelos--we got a number of calls that the boys have already joined troops. So we will recruit again in the Spring, and do it right.

3. The boys who signed up said they chose this troop over others because the boys were friendly.