2022 Membership Numbers

[Ojoman]

You can find most councils annual tax report, 990, on the internet. Usually a year behind but still a good indicator of where the council's income comes from and where it goes. There is a lot of good information to be gleaned. Professional staff, camp expenses and insurances generally make up the bulk of costs. Frankly, the board and key professionals should be generating the bulk of the needed income through various fund raising efforts. Mergers and cutting staff positions are part of the membership problem today. Less staffing equals fewer support services for the volunteers. If each staffer represented 800 to 1000 volunteers and you go from 8 to 6 staff then you will probably see the number of volunteers, units and youth start to decline. The BSA at council levels is far smaller (professionally) now than it was 20, 30 or even 50 years ago. It is a problem... 

 

[yknot]

13 minutes ago, Ojoman said:

 Frankly, the board and key professionals should be generating the bulk of the needed income through various fund raising efforts. Mergers and cutting staff positions are part of the membership problem today. Less staffing equals fewer support services for the volunteers. If each staffer represented 800 to 1000 volunteers and you go from 8 to 6 staff then you will probably see the number of volunteers, units and youth start to decline. The BSA at council levels is far smaller (professionally) now than it was 20, 30 or even 50 years ago. It is a problem... 

 

I think the old models don't work. I don't think the council should be so focused on generating income any more. That is how they have become so detached from what units need to survive and it's killing program, recruitment, retention, membership, and volunteer sustainability. Councils ought to be rebuilt around serving the units. Fundraising has also completely changed. The mix for scouting has to change to allow local units to directly solicit local businesses. The local businesses that are left do not want to give to a council that they perceive as having no connection to their community. They will, however, give to their local organizations or to people they interact with in the community. 

[Ojoman]

12 minutes ago, yknot said:

I think the old models don't work. I don't think the council should be so focused on generating income any more. That is how they have become so detached from what units need to survive and it's killing program, recruitment, retention, membership, and volunteer sustainability. Councils ought to be rebuilt around serving the units. Fundraising has also completely changed. The mix for scouting has to change to allow local units to directly solicit local businesses. The local businesses that are left do not want to give to a council that they perceive as having no connection to their community. They will, however, give to their local organizations or to people they interact with in the community. 

As a youth, Scouting involved learning to 'pay your own way' through den and troop dues and helping in the pack fund raiser. We were taught to 'work' for the funds and not expect handouts. I think that is still a great lesson that helps build self sufficiency and personal responsibility and accountability. District professionals should have a minimal finance responsibility and a primary program/unit support role. Personal opinion, councils should not be tacking on operating expenses on top of the national registration fees. I even have some reservations about the product sales percentage that supports councils but at least packs and troops get a much higher return than the GSA gives its units. 

[Cburkhardt]

I am with SouixRanger on this.  1,000-Scout councils just can’t work anymore.  This council needs to be a large district within a well-run council.    Maybe a DE and an assistant.

[1980Scouter]

1 hour ago, Cburkhardt said:

I am with SouixRanger on this.  1,000-Scout councils just can’t work anymore.  This council needs to be a large district within a well-run council.    Maybe a DE and an assistant.

I think 5,000 youth should be the min number for a council. They always say you need 1,000+ scouts to make a financially successful summer camp go. 

With technology there is no reason why 2-4 councils per state would not be reasonable. DE's could work from home near the area they serve. 

[Ojoman]

Gone are the days when the BSA served upwards of 20% of the available youth. However, IMHO there is no legitimate reason not to be serving around 3% and I know in my council we only serve a fraction of a percent. Professionals need to build and support strong programs that attract youth, families and then retain them. Sadly, I don't expect to see that happen and that is why I expect to see more 'issues', problems and mergers and fewer professionals to serve and support the volunteers. My wife said the only difference between the council here and the Titanic was the Titanic had a band. I don't think she was too far off the mark. It's a shame... 

 

[KevinW]

I am still hoping to find current membership counts for each program like is shown on page 3 of
https://ar2018.scouting.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/BSA-2018-AnnualReport_1.pdf
for 2020 and 2021 (and soon 2022)

2019 is the last one at https://www.scouting.org/about/annual-report/
 

[malraux]

FWIW, membership numbers are now accessible to district committee and commissioners.

[curious_scouter]

Are these national numbers @malraux?

[malraux]

3 minutes ago, curious_scouter said:

Are these national numbers @malraux?

Yes, that is for all councils.

[ALongWalk]

That Cub growth is good to see. 

[malraux]

2 minutes ago, ALongWalk said:

That Cub growth is good to see. 

It'll take a few years for the cub growth to really impact the troop numbers, but hopefully the worst of the storm is passed.

[Scouterlockport]

3 hours ago, malraux said:

FWIW, membership numbers are now accessible to district committee and commissioners.

Sadly none of this matters until recharting is done in march. I hope they show the numbers then too... can this be broken up by councils too?

[malraux]

1 minute ago, Scouterlockport said:

Sadly none of this matters until recharting is done in march. I hope they show the numbers then too... can this be broken up by councils too?

I don’t feel like going down the rabbit hole of when numbers are most accurate, just that this is a year on year, Dec to Dec numbers. 

yes you can break up the data by a huge host of criteria. 

[Scouterlockport]

9 minutes ago, malraux said:

I don’t feel like going down the rabbit hole of when numbers are most accurate, just that this is a year on year, Dec to Dec numbers. 

yes you can break up the data by a huge host of criteria. 

Yeah I can see that point, I just am saying as a former pro, to be wary of any numbers being reported. There is a lot games played with them.