Are we willing to accept that this is just the way it is?

[Eamonn]

For about the last year I have served as the Membership Chairman for our District.

I really wish I could say that I think that I have done a wonderful job. Sadly I can't.

I have been thinking about this.

I used to be able to inspire and maybe at times was guilty of bullying unit leaders into going that extra mile in order to go out and recruit more youth members.

I just don't seem able to do this anymore.

Maybe I have lost my touch?

It seems to me that many of the old timers seem to have just given up and the new younger leaders are able to resist the call or the pressure I try to apply (In a nice way of course!)

I'm really fed up hearing the 1,001 reasons and 1,002 excuses as to why kids are just not joining. I'm not saying that many of these reasons are not valid.

But it does seem that, at least in the area I serve we are so very willing to accept that this is the way things are and that there seems to be no point in trying to change or improve things.

At times it almost seems as if people are saying "Sure Scouting is a great idea, only it just doesn't work any more!". They seem willing to accept that membership will never be what it once was and almost willing to accept that the writing is on the wall, that in time we will go the way of the Dodo bird.

I'm very much aware that I'm no longer the "Company Man" I once was. Locally we have seen some mismanagement which has at times left a bad taste in my mouth. Maybe I'm not as willing as I once was to accept that the BSA "Walks on water".

But I still do strongly believe that kids are better in Scouting than they are when they are no in Scouting.

I accept that kids are busy, I'm OK with the video games, computers, sports, after school activities and the stuff that kids are into.

But I can look back to when Scouting was real big in the UK, when kids left school at 14 years old and worked five and a half days a week! Our youth do still have time on their hands, we can still find ways to offer them fun, adventure and new challenges.

Over-coming the idea that we are flogging a dead horse, seems to be my biggest challenge! I still believe that the horse is alive and kicking, I'm happy that the horse is learning new ways of doing things.

I just need a way of overcoming the apathy and what seems to be a cloud of doom and gloom that seems to be in the area I serve.

Eamonn.

[Eagle92]

Sometimes leaders get burned out. When you have the same few leaders doing the same thing over and over, or doing multiple activities throughout the year over and over, then burn out happens. There are two keys for this in my opinion: Planning well in advance and having everyone buy into the program.

 

 

I had a major membership problem as a DE and I tried to fix it by working with my bosses and my volunteers. While I could not get my bosses to accept my goals that I wanted to implement, I was able to motivate my volunteers. We began planning for Round Ups in June, worked with the school board, etc. and was able to get everyone on board. Round ups went very smoothly. We as a district busted butt and, in my opinion, achieved real positive growth. Only problem was that our district numbers were messed up, and we did not have 'positive growth" according to the skewed numbers.

 

One Idea that may help for next year. Before the Round Up season began, we had a Scout Show in the local mall the tax-free weekend NC has. I know it pumped up my two older kids and they can't wait to be Tigers. The packs and troops had different displays and were out recruiting.

[SctDad]

I remember some of the leaders asking boys what it is that they want to do as scouts. Camping is one of the most popular answers. So if boys want to go camping, then why is it we don't take them. THere are too many boys that go to Cub Scouts and never go camping. there are not enought fun outdoor activities. If all we do is come in and do learning things in meetings, well they see it as school. And they already spend many hours a day there.

 

As for boy scouts, the problems are the same that have been around for many years. THe Fumes. (Car Fumes and Perfumes) But if we can show them that there are benefits, then they will come out. Take them on the high adventure trips. Go on a two day hike. Go canoe camping. There has to be something that can keep the boys attention. I know that when I was in scouts, we made a simple trip to climb a mountain. It only took a day to go up and down. Really only about 5 hours, but it was something that worked and we looked foward to each year.

 

Cabin camping, local camping. These are all things that can be done for a relative low cost. Keep the activities busy. Make them fun and challanging. Summer Camp is not the only thing to do each year.

 

If you can find the leaders with the motivation, then the boys will follow.

[Basementdweller]

Yep, the cubs need to camp. My wolf has almost as many nights camping as some of the boy scouts in the troop. We have 4 family campouts a year, council resident camp, district camp weekends and a father son camp out. he has about 18 days from may of this year. OUTSTANDING.

 

We have a monthly hike program with mileage award patches and do many of the state and metro park events. We go creeking with the naturalist, plus a bunch of conservation projects. A busy scout is a happy scout, the only problem is as a wolf his brag vest is completely full.

 

The cubs are the best recruiters. Let them tell their story.

[Eamonn]

The answer to most of the problems we have with Membership (Not just recruiting) Do have a way of coming back to Program, Program, Program!

Looking at the units (Troops and Packs)in our area that seem to provide the best programs, I can't help but notice that these are the units where the adults get along well together and seem to be having fun.

 

Someone send me a PM asking about "Paper Units".

Back when I was District Chairman,I was very fortunate to work with a really outstanding DE. We both not only believed that having pretend units was wrong, but we also seen that they would get in the way of us reaching the goals that we wanted to reach. Pretend Kids don't go to camp, they don't sell pop-corn and pretend kids parents don't donate to FOS!!

For part of the time I was Chair, we did have a Field Director who was trying to make a name for himself. He did try to bend the rules??

We did clash! I at that time was also serving on the Area Committee. He was looking for a promotion. Needless to say I won!!

 

The District has had some problems over the past 2 or 3 years. We had the worlds worst DE who along with a District Chair who had an ego the size of the great outdoors, managed to mess things up really well and lose many of the hard core volunteers.

The Council faced (and still faces) some really tough times financially, some due to sheer stupidity. We are on our third SE in four years!

While of course none of this should play into how units deliver the program. Some volunteers have questioned if this really is the organization that they thought it was?

Thankfully we seem to have a really good team in place right now. But undoing what has been done and rebuilding is a very big task.

Somehow, someway it seems that the commitment from the adults just isn't there, or at least it doesn't seem to be what it once was.

Attendance at Round-table meetings is way down. Where as they used to be a time of fun and good fellowship it now seems a time when people only attend when they have a complaint or a moan! This has led to the people who organize the meetings to say "What the heck!" and quit!

The District Committee which we had to move because the rooms were big enough is now down to a handful of old codgers like myself!

This isn't burn out! Heck from what I see the volunteers we have are not doing enough to light up! Let alone burn out!

The Key 3 we now have in place are all great people. They are all working hard, trying to tun things around.

The Chair is my best friend, a lifetime Scouter, but even he has voiced that things are bad and he isn't sure what should be done.

I can live with what has been done in the past. I know that I can't change the past.

I'm willing and I think able to do what I can to help change things around.

Maybe I'm hoping that everyone will change! Which is just dumb on my part. I think I need to work on one person, one unit, one committee at a time and look for ways to make what we are doing fun for the adults.

Eamonn.

[fleetfootedfox]

Some of the parents who sign up as den leaders don't want to do recruiting later because they are happy with having small groups. That's not an excuse. They just plain don't want to do it. I see that to a lesser degree in our troop. The SM is afraid that if we get lots of webelos cross over with no parents willing to help then we will have problems.

 

It seems like in our pack lots of boys sign up as tigers, but then as time goes by some of them get very involved in sports which are increasingly demanding. 2-4 practics per week, games, tournaments all year round. It used to be that there were seasons for each sport, but I know boys that play one sport all year long. Then there are the boys that play on multiple teams at the same time.

 

Whether they admit it or not, all those kids dream of being a star athlete, and despite the fact that for the majority of them it's an unrealistic dream, it's hard to compete against, especially since many of the parents also have that dream for their kid.

[DeanRx]

Eamonn-

 

Sorry to hear you are having a down time.

 

I understand your point of view, however I do have some concerns about some of the things you have stated in your post(s).

 

You state that burnout shouldn't be an issue b/c you feel many of your volunteers are not doing enough to "light up". I would first ask WHAT (if anything) your district and council have done to light the fire of these volunteers. 2-3 years with a dud DE and 3 SE's in four years !!! Wow - can you say no consistent leadership at the top?

 

I've only been back in scouting for a little over 2 years and in the cub area at that. But - I am extremely aware that its not the same organization that I was in as a kid. If they put as much time, $$ and effort into making sure the scouts were having fun as they do making sure I (and every other volunteer) isn't a pedophile, BSA would have NO retention / recruitment problems.

 

In the past year these are the things I've seen at the district and council level... all that I've shaken my head at when I view them in the light of the scout oath and law:

 

1) DE being unresponsive to G2SS questions from pack leadership (i.e. 3-4 e-mails and VM, then send e-mail to SE before finally getting a callback - event was already over by the time I got a reply - this has happened twice in a year now)

 

2) Council Fun w/ Son, scheduled, then cancelled, then back on again (within two weeks time), then DE expressed bewilderment at WHY they had such a poor turn out?

 

3) Popcorn sales -

3a) After multiple years of a Kernel's volunteer hours to coordinate show-n-sells, TWO adjacent packs squat on our turf on the same weekends at the same stores. DE's reply: Just play well together and "share the sales". Funny, my popcorn kernel doesn't want to do the job anymore, wonder why?

3b) Popcorn pickup. Was scheduled to be a local delivery. Embedded in an overview e-mail sent last minute - change of plans to the district. Everyone had to go to council offices to pick up (30 miles downtown). Popcorn Kernel and drivers found this out when they showed up at the orginal pick-up point and no one was there.

 

4) Roundtables that are about as exciting as an insurance seminar. Really no good info put out to help improve program, just warnings about "what not do to" or you'll get in trouble. DE shows up late and leaves early from last two RT's I went to...he's the only one getting paid to be there as far as I know.

 

So bottom line.... if the numbers are down - LOOK AT THE LEADERSHIP!

I would NEVER state this in front of my scouts and barely breath it with our adults (just me and the CC talk about it).

 

But - it seems to me the worst offenders in the areas of loyal, helpful, trustworthy... are the folks that are getting PAID to scout.

 

This sours the volunteer base pretty quickly to which they reply, "WTF - they talk a good talk, but when it comes to action they don't live up to the hype." "I'm outta here - I got better things to spend my time on with my son."

 

Yes - those have been direct quotes to me from parents in my pack in the last year as CM because of issues directly linked to leadership (or lack thereof) at the district and council levels.

 

If BSA wants to reverse membership trends and hang on to scouts they need to keep it exciting (i.e. do fun and somewhat dangerous stuff - this means revamping the G2SS (i.e. guide to LAME scouting)) and hold their middle and upper managers (i.e. the PAID professional scouters) to a much higher level of integretity than I've personally witnessed in the past two years.

 

I don't know what a DE or SE gets paid. I'm sure its not much and its never enough for the amount one is asked to do. But remeber - all the adult volunteers see is that they DO get paid (from our donations and popcorn sales), so the expectation on return in service is pretty high. When leadership fails to meet expectations, then a LOT of good volunteers pack up their tents and head to another campground.