recruiting methods for Boy Scouts

[Kudu]

gwd-scouter,

 

So a week later, how are things progressing?

 

Kudu

 

[gwd-scouter]

A week later and we still have the one new Scout mentioned earlier. Of the two folks I did manage to talk to, have not seen them yet. New Scout did mention that he talked with one of those guys at school and he really does want to come to Scout meeting this coming Monday. I had the guys that go to the school look over the list to see if they knew any of the boys. They did recognize some of the names and plan to talk to them at school.

 

Side note: new Scout went on our fall camporee this past weekend. Said that was the best campout he's ever been on and Boy Scouts is awesome! Spread the word at school young man, spread the word.

 

Kudu, I appreciate your earlier advice on this issue and I'm sure you would tell me at this point to try again and call those folks I didn't reach. It's is reasonable advice and I do want to recruit more boys to our unit. But, my opinion here differs from yours. I made the calls, I left messages, and I followed up with a mailout of our newsletter and calendar with all my contact information to those people for whom I managed to find addresses. I'm done. Thinking if I was on the reverse of this situation, receiving more calls from someone asking my son to join a troop/pack/whatever, would seem like badgering.

 

 

 

 

[John-in-KC]

Kudu hit another great point: Quality, Fun, Learning, meeting time week to week. The youth have to want to come

 

I'm not an advocate of doing the MB at the meeting, but setting a group task such that the youth can easily earn a MB (particularly the physical exertion MBs of cycling, hiking, and backpacking) can make for great program. I've seen Troops which chose to do the Cycling training rides across several months as an activity evening for the whole Troop, then build the 50 miler as a campout weekend.

 

 

[Kudu]

gwd-scouter writes:

 

"Kudu, I appreciate your earlier advice on this issue and I'm sure you would tell me at this point to try again and call those folks I didn't reach. It's is reasonable advice and I do want to recruit more boys to our unit. But, my opinion here differs from yours. I made the calls, I left messages, and I followed up with a mailout of our newsletter and calendar with all my contact information to those people for whom I managed to find addresses. I'm done. Thinking if I was on the reverse of this situation, receiving more calls from someone asking my son to join a troop/pack/whatever, would seem like badgering."

 

I would remain silent if I did not share your "hesitance to make cold calls."

 

I hate it. The call list stares at me all week between rounds of calls and I think to myself that I have done the best I could and anything more would be pestering. But every time I call the "No Answers," "Voice Mail" and "Yes" names, I pick up a couple more Scouts. Last night I picked up two more. The mother had said "Yes" but it turns out that the father did not want to get involved again in the nightmare that was their Cub Scouts experience. She told him about the distinctions I had made between Cubs and Scouts, convinced him to give it a try, but had put it off despite their two sons' eagerness to join their friends. She was finally convinced to take action after my fourth call (the two middle calls were just messages).

 

In the fourth round last night I missed another call back from the mother of one boy who had attended two meetings. She left voicemail saying how much he had loved the two meetings that he had attended, but she felt that he is "not ready to go camping." We have three other boys who only have permission to go to weekly meetings with no camping as well (two of them will now be camping with us in December). I might have been able to convince her to do the same if I had been able to receive the call. Now should I call her back? I'm not sure.

 

When they say "No" I ask for the reason and if it is a maturity issue or a scheduling conflict I ask for permission to call back in a few months or in the spring.

 

I have "cold-called" over 200 parents over the last ten years (for four years we were not allowed to give presentations in the school) and I have only been treated rudely twice. Once was in the first round of calls in the first year. The dad said "No" and I asked if I could trouble him for his reason so that I could improve our program in the future. He started to tell me about the time demands of ice hockey but his wife started screaming at him in the background (yes, screaming!) asking why he was "still talking to those people. THE ANSWER IS NO!!!" He was very embarrassed and apologized to me for his wife's behavior.

 

The second time was last night. One of the parents (who was hiding behind voice mail) answered her phone (presumably without looking at her caller ID). I told her that I was calling because her son wanted to join Scouts. She slammed the phone down without saying anything. Oh well.

 

Ten years ago I only called each parent twice but now I call four times. That works out to only one-half of one percent (0.5%) of all the calls that I make ending unpleasantly.

 

So statistically speaking you have another 180 calls to make before your first encounter with someone who is angry at you because her son wants to join Boy Scouts!

 

It is always frustrating as a Scouter when a boy is convinced that he can't do something. He is always certain that another person's experience does not apply to his own unique situation. Given enough time and the ability to mine your own shortcomings for a similar experience of your own, you can convince any Scout that he is capable of overcoming his limitations, and once you do that small part of his life changes forever and there is no looking back.

 

The same is true with adult Scouters who are convinced that the Patrol Method is "just a theory," or that their own older Scouts would never camp in the snow, go backpacking, or become better than adults at leading younger Scouts.

 

I know from experience that with a little effort you can change almost all of the "wrong numbers" to the correct ones and add one or two Scouts. Likewise, if you call the no answer voicemail numbers again and explain that Boy Scouts is NOT like Cubs, you can pick up two more. If you call the two parents who did say "Yes," at least one of them will follow through. That means that on your list of 20 boys who want to join Scouts, at least six of the parents will allow you to change their sons' lives for the better and almost double your Troop size in the process.

 

Can I through the written word convince you (or other readers in a similar situation) not to waste the resource you have been given? Maybe not but it would be wrong of me not to try to get you to overcome your limitations (the "badgering" thing is all in your mind) and follow through or at least hand the list off to someone who wants it more than you do.

 

In the end recruiting requires missionary zeal: An unshakable belief in Scouting that transcends our own personal limitations. I find the following by William "Green Bar Bill" Hillcourt helpful:

 

Ten Essentials of Scoutmastership

 

A belief in boys that will make you want to invest yourself and your time on their behalf.

 

A zeal focused upon one pointthe boys happiness through his formative years"A happy boy is a good boy, a good boy is a good citizen."

 

An immense faith in Scouting as the program that will best serve to mold our youth into fine men.

 

A realization that to the boys Scouting is a gameto you, a game with a purpose: Character building and Citizenship training.

 

A knowledge that to your boys you are Scouting. "What you are speaks so loud that I cannot hear what you say!"

 

A steadfastness of purpose to carry out a planned program with energy and perseverance, patience and good humor.

 

A willingness to submerge yourself and make boy leaders lead and grow through an effective application of the Patrol Method.

 

A desire to advance in Scoutmastership by making use of training offered and material available on the subject.

 

A readiness to work hand in hand with home, church, sponsoring institution, school, Local Council, National Council for the good of the individual boy and the community as a whole.

 

A love of the outdoors in all its phases and a vision of the hand that created it.

 

http://www.inquiry.net/patrol/hillcourt/scoutmastership.htm

 

Kudu