How To Recuit?????

[briantshore]

I have been doing a lot of thinking lately about how to expand scouting. I have heard of sighn ups for Cubscouts, that is done by the district, but I have never heard of anything done for Boyscouts.

I can think of several methods.

 

Hand out flyers at the schools,

Set up a booth at the library, park, ect.

I think the best would be a direct sales pitch at the schools. Target 5th graders for Boyscouts. Tell them what Scouting can offer them. Coordinate with the local troops to prepare a special open house, where these new boys could come to a meeting and find out whats going on. Has anyone ever been involved with recruiting, and what are your thoughts on the best method??

[Beavah]

Kudu does school nights for Boy Scouts pretty successfully. I've seen it work for a few troops, but not dat often. Da key is in a jazzy, kid-centered presentation and good follow-up.

 

One old district I was in did pretty good with fliers where da youth were doin' other things... soccer leagues, hockey leagues, skate parks & shops, chess clubs, etc. Active kids need somethin' for the off season. Parents don't feel right unless they're drivin' their kid somewhere, eh?

 

It'd help if troops or districts had a decent web presence that actually appealed to kids and parents, and provided good information. Most first or second contacts these days are online.

[oldsm]

In my experience (and that's all it is), membership drives don't work very well. We've tried school communication, newspaper presence...a lot of work for almost no result.

 

I think a lot of the reason is that by the time boys reach 6th grade, they're too well established in organized sports: baseball, soccer, basketball, track, cross-country, karate, tennis, you name it. So many of these boys and their parents are caught up in the sports-is-everything mentality. Oh, a few kids manage to do both scouting and a sport, but they're few and far between. They quickly find out that scouting is more than 1 hour a week!

 

The best results for us with expanding membership have been crossover from Cubs, word-of-mouth, and constant "presence". Let me explain.

 

If you make a concerted effort for your troop to interact with boys in Cub Scouts, they will have a chance to see what lies in store for them after crossover: more fun, more things to do, they get to plan outings, hang with the "big guys", etc. And they're already comfortable with the concept of scouting, so it's not like they're joining an unknown entity.

 

We encourage boys in the troop to bring their friends. Boys who join as a result of being personally invited by someone they know and respect become "keepers"; that is, they tend to stay in the troop instead of dropping out quickly.

 

By presence, I mean letting the community know who you are. Newspaper articles about service projects, fundraisers, courts of honor, outings all have a tag at the end mentioning our CO and letting people know that boys are are always welcome to join (along with a contact phone number). It means participating in things like Memorial Day parades (looking good in full uniform, straight lines, solemnity), Veterans Day observations, assisting with local emergency preparedness drills, etc. The word will get out about your troop.

 

You didn't state how large your troop is. When I became SM, we were down to about 5 or 6 boys. I was anxious to have at least 3 or 4 patrols plus the boy leadership. My predecessor wisely counselled me against trying for too much growth, explaining that membership is cyclical (years ago there were about 50 boys in the troop). He emphasized that quality was more important than quantity. "People will see what kind of troop you have, and they'll go after the quality."

 

With the exception of one year when we crossed 13 boys into the troop from Cubs, most of our growth has been 2-3 boys at a time. Attrition is minimal. We now have 25 active boys who are all well on the way to becoming tomorrow's community leaders.

 

What has worked for my troop may or may not work for yours. I believe that the keys to growth are are patience and perseverance, which aren't always easy to maintain in this day of wanting immediate gratification.

[briantshore]

Some of what you said as far as community exposer is something I would like to see more of. Newspaper coverage of what the scouts have been doing.

Since I have been with my current Cub Pack, we have had little exposer to the local Boy Scout Troop. This is something I want to correct. If they know where the path is going to lead, they are more likly to stick around. Thank you for your reply

Brian

[oldsm]

You mentioned little exposure to the boy scout troop.

 

I know firsthand that there is often a "disconnect" between different units. In my town there are 2 packs and 2 troops. It used to be that each pack "fed" one troop, although that seems not to be the case now. Where the disconnect comes in is that pack leadership seems to change very frequently (every year), so it's unclear as to who to contact in a pack. I've also seen pack leadership that reaches the burnout point and can't wait not to have anything more to do with scouting - just as soon as AOL is out of the way. That makes it difficult to coordinate meaningful pack/troop interaction for AOL and crossovers.

 

Needless to say, interaction between Cubs and Boys strengthens both programs and ultimately benefits the boys.

 

I suspsect that everyone in every unit is so busy concentrating on their own program that they assume that "someone else" is taking care of inter-unit cooperation. Perhaps someone (who? me?!) should be asked to take on pack/troop relations as a routine "opportunity".

 

Good luck.

[Scoutmaster Ron]

Den Chiefs..Get your boys active with Webelos dens let the boys recruit

[Fuzzy Bear]

Build a strong program with solid supports, then speak to one set of parents at a time about how their son would benefit from such a program and how they can help to make it even better. Document each program and advertise those achievements with the sponsoring organization with a yearly spectualar. After the yealy program has been approved by the Committee, make a calendar and hand it out to everyone in the unit and use it as an advertisement to those that show an interest. Try to use Program Helps as an instructional base for the program elelments that way Boys Life magazine and Scouting Magazine will reflect some of what the Scouts are doing. Integrate Distrcit and Council events into the program to fill it out even more. Make sure that the boys have input from the top to the bottom bu t the deciding factor is what the Committee can effectively support. Make sure that you have a bead program to immediately recognize Scouts who participate in the program. Have a yearly recognition dinner where everyone that has done anything in the unit, boys and parents, are recognized. The basis to strong support is one boy, one parent with that parent taking on some role or event in the unit.

FB