Thoughts and Observations on Recharter & Membership Renewal Policies and Support Systems (A Cautionary Tale Going Into 2025)

[InquisitiveScouter]

OK, the numbers are in....

Look at the numbers hidden by the "grace" period....

As of end of March 2025 (3 days ago) our council, compared to Dec 2024:

Cub Scout Growth Rate, loss of slightly more than 6%

Scouts Growth Rate, gain slightly more 7%

Venturing Growth Rate, loss of slightly more than 10%

Exploring Growth Rate, gain of almost 28%

Overall, Total Growth Rate gain of slightly less than 1%

 

Now, three days later, with the grace period expired, looking at comparison to Dec 2024 numbers:

Cub Scout Growth Rate, loss of almost 25%

Scouts Growth Rate, loss of almost 15%

Venturing Growth Rate, loss of almost 49%

Exploring Growth Rate, loss of slightly more than 11%

Overall, Total Growth Rate loss of almost 20%

(Exact numbers and percentages not posted, to protect the innocent 😜 )

 

 

[mrjohns2]

3 hours ago, InquisitiveScouter said:

Look at the numbers hidden by the "grace" period....

As of end of March 2025 (3 days ago) our council, compared to Dec 2024:

How about vs 4/1 of 2024? That would be a more apples to apples, no?

[Tron]

4 hours ago, InquisitiveScouter said:

OK, the numbers are in....

Look at the numbers hidden by the "grace" period....

As of end of March 2025 (3 days ago) our council, compared to Dec 2024:

Cub Scout Growth Rate, loss of slightly more than 6%

Scouts Growth Rate, gain slightly more 7%

Venturing Growth Rate, loss of slightly more than 10%

Exploring Growth Rate, gain of almost 28%

Overall, Total Growth Rate gain of slightly less than 1%

 

Now, three days later, with the grace period expired, looking at comparison to Dec 2024 numbers:

Cub Scout Growth Rate, loss of almost 25%

Scouts Growth Rate, loss of almost 15%

Venturing Growth Rate, loss of almost 49%

Exploring Growth Rate, loss of slightly more than 11%

Overall, Total Growth Rate loss of almost 20%

(Exact numbers and percentages not posted, to protect the innocent 😜 )

 

 

His numbers seem to jive with what I am seeing in my district/council. Sounds like we lost 25% of membership in 24 hours.

On a personal note I got off the phone with my COR and I told them that we're fine, we have no action to take, the numbers that dropped from our roll were expected and unavoidable. I reminded them that the extra paperwork I had them chasing the past few weeks to get our handful of not renewed over the line is right now paying with dividends as no one at council can complain about our units membership status; we had no sloppy losses due to laziness (which I suspect a lot of other units are now dealing with). 

[InquisitiveScouter]

1 hour ago, mrjohns2 said:

How about vs 4/1 of 2024? That would be a more apples to apples, no?

I wasn't making that comparison, but was showing the effects of hiding numbers with a "grace" period.

But, since you asked...

From Apr 24 to Apr 25:

Cub Scout:  2.4% loss, with a loss of 8 Packs

Scout:  5.7% loss, with a loss of 8 Troops

Venturing:  49% loss, with a loss of 1 Crew (it was a big and popular Crew)

Exploring:  11% loss, with a loss of 3 Posts

 

[InquisitiveScouter]

And I'll bet you the BSA Annual Report had numbers as of year end, which would include those under the grace period...  that is, people who did not pay their renewal fees under the new system, but were being carried on the rolls anyway.

So, whenever we do get to see the 2024 Annual Report, you could probably cut those numbers by 20-25% to get closer to reality.

Edited 23 hours ago by InquisitiveScouter

[mrjohns2]

53 minutes ago, InquisitiveScouter said:

I wasn't making that comparison, but was showing the effects of hiding numbers with a "grace" period.

But, since you asked...

Thanks for the low point to low point comparison. This seems to be the real change, a loss of ~4-5% overall. 
 

Your other point is valid, though, like you said a different analysis. Your point brings about some misleading headlines that National seems to want to publicize by using low point to high point comparison.