District Award of Merit Write up

[theysawyoucomin']

Can somebody please post a sample DAM reccomendation here so I can look at the format?

 

Thank you in advance

[AwHeck]

I just used a basic narrative, making sure that I included all relevant scouting (and non-scouting) activities of the nominee. Showing that the person is active in the district, not just within the unit and service outside of scouts is the key from what I understand. I used lots of superlatives but I truly felt that the nominee deserved all the kudos I provided. I also solicited letters of support from two other scouters, if possible get one or two from other District Award of Merit recipients. In our council/district I believe that we were limited to only 2 letters of recommendation beyond the nomination itself.

[Eamonn]

While of course it is very important you do nominate someone.(I think it's a shame so many good people don't receive awards because no one sends in the forms.)

Having sat on the selection committee for this award a lot of times. I don't feel that the write up is that very important.

I say this because it's the District Award of Merit and in all likelihood the people who sit on the selection committee already know the person and what he or she has done for the and in the District.

Very often unit Scouter's will nominate someone from their unit. This person may have done wonderful things for the unit, but never have served the District.

While it can be argued that by serving the unit he or she is serving the District, more often than not the selection committee will not see it that way.

I think a few lines just outlining what the person has done for the District, and what other organizations he or she might belong too (Church, service organizations and the like)

I have never received letters of recommendation from other Scouter's in support of the District Award of Merit (I have for the Silver Beaver.)When others feel the need to support this award they normally just send in the nomination form.

Eamonn

[Buffalo Skipper]

I would arrange a "resume" for the nominee. I was able to do this for a member of my pack last year by claiming I was updating Packmaster and training records for all leaders and I asked every leader to submit a detailed resume of their scouting history. Of course I recorded this in the computer but it was also sent in to the DAM selection committee. Also included was details about her work with the pack, day camp, and WB staff over the past several years. Unbeknownst to me, I was also nominated and she and I were presented together (2 out of 3 DAMs that year came from the same unit!)

 

On the other hand, this year (serving on the selection committee), there were 2 candidates who were nominated with the from filled out (http://www.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/33720.pdf) but there was not one additional word recomending them; these were from the same unit, but absolutely nothing distinguised these from each other or the average scouter. The other candidates, by contrast, had glowing recomendations which someone had prepared, detailing their repeated dedication to their units, the district, and prehaps most importanly to the scouts. (nothing on the DAM nomination form requires district service, but it does distinguish one from the average "unit scouter.")

 

Our selection process was easy, not because we knew the scouters, but because what was written about them really made them stand out and shine. Our selection took less than 30 minutes.

 

I may add here, that we did not present all the awards for which our district was eligible. The two candidates I talked about were so indistinguishable from one another that we were unable to choose one over another, so the last award went unpresented (this is a criticism of the nominator, not the nominatees). Had we received more nominations with good write ups, this would not have been the case.

 

I cannot emphasize enough, that any additional information on a nominee may be the difference between them being selected or pass over.

[theysawyoucomin']

Thank you all.

[Eagle92]

In addition to the normal form, I always write a letter that goes into greater detail on the services of the individual, especially if they transfer into the council.