2022 Membership Numbers

[mrjohns2]

33 minutes ago, curious_scouter said:

Does this mean their business plan currently relies on nearly doubling membership over the next 3 years?

The y axis isn't at zero. So, it is going from 667k to 1011k. More like 52% growth. Huge, none the less. 

[Eagle1993]

3 minutes ago, mrjohns2 said:

The y axis isn't at zero. So, it is going from 667k to 1011k. More like 52% growth. Huge, none the less. 

Big issue is Cub Scouts.  I would love to know that number.  It recovered some post Covid, but I think we will struggle with numbers as the Covid dip starts hitting Troops.  

667K seems incredibly low... 

 

[gpurlee]

38 minutes ago, Eagle1993 said:

Big issue is Cub Scouts.  I would love to know that number.  It recovered some post Covid, but I think we will struggle with numbers as the Covid dip starts hitting Troops.  

In our council we took an almost 70% hit in Cub membership during the height of pandemic. Yes, that will play out over several years not only in terms of youth but also adult leadership. In addition, several units simply collapsed totally. Forming what is essentially a new unit is more difficult than reviving a struggling unit that still has some structure remaining.

 

42 minutes ago, Eagle1993 said:

667K seems incredibly low... 

Yes it does, especially considering that we were closer to two million members before the loss of the LDS and the pandemic.  However, our council has gone from 15,000 to less than 5,000 members in that time period.  It is very difficult for any business or organization to withstand that level of loss in that short of a time period without major restructuring and other adjustments. And I expect to soon see those changes occur following the approval of the settlement whenever that occurs. 

[curious_scouter]

11 hours ago, mrjohns2 said:

The y axis isn't at zero. So, it is going from 667k to 1011k. More like 52% growth. Huge, none the less. 

Thanks, good clarification. 

Anyone know if Scouts BSA has ever achieved that kind of membership gain in a 3 year period in its history?  Anyone with involvement / knowledge of the strategy at national to achieve such an aggressive goal? 

[RememberSchiff]

11 hours ago, Eagle1993 said:

Big issue is Cub Scouts.  I would love to know that number.  It recovered some post Covid, but I think we will struggle with numbers as the Covid dip starts hitting Troops.  

667K seems incredibly low...

According to Marty Sepulveda, Scout Executive/CEO for the BSA South Texas Council, the BSA especially in Jim Wells County (population 38K) was greatly affected (by covid the last two years) so much that there are no cub scouts in the county.

“We cover 17 counties including Jim Wells (and Duval Counties), (but) there’s no scouting in Alice again,” Sepulveda said. “We need to (re-establish) in Alice again.” (Alice, TX population 18K)

https://www.alicetx.com/2022/07/15/bsa-affected-by-pandemic-look-forward-to-brighter-future/

[Ojoman]

1 hour ago, RememberSchiff said:

According to Marty Sepulveda, Scout Executive/CEO for the BSA South Texas Council, the BSA especially in Jim Wells County (population 38K) was greatly affected (by covid the last two years) so much that there are no cub scouts in the county.

“We cover 17 counties including Jim Wells (and Duval Counties), (but) there’s no scouting in Alice again,” Sepulveda said. “We need to (re-establish) in Alice again.” (Alice, TX population 18K)

https://www.alicetx.com/2022/07/15/bsa-affected-by-pandemic-look-forward-to-brighter-future/

Here in Syracuse NY we have lost 90%+ of our traditional membership since 2000. Covid simply exacerbated the problem. A failure of the council leadership to generate enough funds to maintain the professional staff and other services resulted in mergers and staff cuts which resulted in less support and service to volunteers and a decline in the number of volunteers, units and members. The program nationally started to lose membership in the mid 70's and hasn't seen growth since then except when they lowered the age or added a new program and when you adjust for that there has not been a single year since then that our traditional  programs have actually grown. Syracuse is an extreme example of what has been happening across the nation. Probably the best program for instilling leadership, character and citizenship in kids is dying. 

 

 

[qwazse]

3 hours ago, curious_scouter said:

Anyone know if Scouts BSA has ever achieved that kind of membership gain in a 3 year period in its history?  Anyone with involvement / knowledge of the strategy at national to achieve such an aggressive goal? 

Gains approaching what you described haven’t been observed since the mid ‘60s … before the ageist policy against adults earning Eagle was nationalized. I have not heard talk of any radical program reversal of that or any other policy that would reverse trends in membership.

[Tired_Eagle_Feathers]

Girl Scouts is also suffering declining numbers.

It's a shame.

[PACAN]

@quazse..."before the ageist policy against adults earning Eagle was nationalized."

Not sure what this has to do with youth membership. Adults were allowed to earn Eagle until 1952, in theory, to help the WWII vets who went to war.  Councils ignored this and continued to award Eagle until national changed the rules in 1965 by adding the requirement to service in a Troop Warrant Officer position (and added the Eagle Project).

 

[Jameson76]

Has National BSA just stopped publishing annual reports and membership numbers?  Last one I can find is 2019

• CUBS - 1,1176,119
• Scouts BSA - 798,516
• Ventures - 42,571
• Explorers - 101,243
• Learning for Life - 145,463
• CO's - 80,756

My council does not seem to publish any numbers.  If you are lucky enough to hear one of the chosen professionals (the great unwashed and holy) they seem to determine success by money raised.  Also they all seem to be getting promoted.  I guess that means more cash for them.  Never see them and not sure how they positively impact the program, but I digress.

So how many Cubs / Scouts BSA / Ventures / Explorers are there now (or end of 2021).  I guess that is a state secret

 

 

 

Edited September 3, 2022 by Jameson76

[yknot]

22 minutes ago, Jameson76 said:

Has National BSA just stopped publishing annual reports and membership numbers?  Last one I can find is 2019

• CUBS - 1,1176,119
• Scouts BSA - 798,516
• Ventures - 42,571
• Explorers - 101,243
• Learning for Life - 145,463
• CO's - 80,756

My council does not seem to publish any numbers.  If you are lucky enough to hear one of the chosen professionals (the great unwashed and holy) they seem to determine success by money raised.  Also they all seem to be getting promoted.  I guess that means more cash for them.  Never see them and not sure how they positively impact the program, but I digress.

So how many Cubs / Scouts BSA / Ventures / Explorers are there now (or end of 2021).  I guess that is a state secret

 

 

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/01/us/boy-girl-scouts-membership-decrease-covid.html

This is from about a year ago.

Somewhere on this site is a chart from March of this year showing this year's number is about 650,000.

 

[RememberSchiff]

Iroquois Trail and Greater Niagara Frontier Councils (Western NY) are discussing merging...

The Iroquois Trail has seen youth membership cut in half since Covid-19 caused troops and packs to stop meeting in person for several months beginning in March 2020.

“All reasonable indications are that it will take several years to regain those youth members,” Council leaders state in their letter. “This challenge, combined with a dramatic reduction in other funding sources, has put the Iroquois Trail Council on a course that is not sustainable over the long term.”

“While the council might survive a bit longer on its own, merging operations enhances our ability to deliver quality Scouting programs,” the leaders write in the letter. “Simply put, the recovery period is too long to remain independently successful.”

Source:

https://orleanshub.com/boy-scouts-discussing-merger-of-iroquois-trail-council-greater-niagara-frontier/

[PACAN]

Gotta believe these mergers will be more shortly.   There are close to 15% of all councils with less than 1000 youth.

[carebear3895]

16 hours ago, PACAN said:

Gotta believe these mergers will be more shortly.   There are close to 15% of all councils with less than 1000 youth.

Talking with some old buddies still in the field, it's the same story that it has been for the last decade. The big metros with high income suburbs are recruiting very well while the smaller, rural councils are suffering. 

 

 

[SiouxRanger]

17 hours ago, PACAN said:

Gotta believe these mergers will be more shortly.   There are close to 15% of all councils with less than 1000 youth.

So, what is a council's budget that has 1,000 scouts?

At $1 million, that's $1,000 per scout for a year's program.  Hmm.

Even at a council budget level of $500,000, that is $500 per scout.  If every scout attended 2 camporees at $25 each, and summer camp at $350, total council revenue from those sources is only $400,000, falling $100,000 short of breakeven.

A Fortune 100 company I noted the other day had revenue of a little over $500,000 PER EMPLOYEE, and over 100,000 employees.

So, a 1,000 scout council has perhaps 6 to 8 employees, and a revenue stream per employee of $62,500 to $83,000.

Every year starts off in a hole. The shortfall was made up "by the kindness of strangers," in the words of Admiral McRaven, but that model seems to have run its course.  FOS seems to be kaput, replaced by an annual membership fee.  But, as grandparents, extended family, and businesses are not solicited for FOS like in years past, at least in my council, it shifts the cost to participants.  Golf outings and distinguished citizen dinners seem to be very successful, again, in my council.  But, those events were formerly frosting on the cake of fundraising, and now are a primary vehicle.

The 1,000 scout council would need to increase its membership to 1,250 to break even-a 25% increase in membership. That is asking a lot, too.

It just seems that the odds are strongly cut against this model being sustainable. 

Council mergers, as cost-cutting vehicles, mean that many senior staff will lose their jobs.