How do we recruit new scouts?

[Kudu]

Eagle732 writes:

 

I'm thinking that recruiting the 5th graders towards the end of their school year (April or May) might get some results.

 

Yes, if you can only get access to the elementary school and not the middle school.

 

The downside of recruiting at the end of the school year is that the families are likely to have already made plans for other summer camps (if they can afford it at all without Troop fundraisers), so you might want to offer an active summer program for those who will not go to summer camp with the Troop.

 

Most Scoutmasters report that the percentage of Webelos crossover recruits who do NOT go to Boy Scout summer camp but DO return the following fall is very small, if not zero.

 

I never school-recruited non-Webelos fifth-graders in the spring, but the retention rate of newly recruited sixth-graders who did not go to summer camp but did remain in my Troop through the following fall was close to 100%.

 

I'm not sure why. I believe that the Cub Scout program acts as a filter so when you recruit in the public schools, 100% of the Scouts you recruit were either filtered out of Cub Scouts or never joined in the first place. The boys that the Cub Scout program filters out seem to make better Boy Scouts in an Old School, backwoods, hardcore Patrol Method program (but the downside is that their parents are less likely to become Assistant Scoutmasters).

 

But part of this higher retention rate might be that by the end of sixth-grade, boys are much more mature than fifth-graders. They take to Hillcourt's version of the Patrol Method right away.

 

Remember that for many years the BSA's minimum age was 12, and that may have accounted for something back in the days when Scouting was very popular with boys.

 

By the way, I recruited in November only once and it was a complete disaster! As usual 70% of the audience signed (in front of their peers) my "Yes! I Want to Go Camping" list, but when I called each parent that afternoon all but four of them said they would not allow their sons to join any new activities. It turns out that grade reports had just gone out and apparently close to 100% of sixth-grade boys are flunking in November.

 

So, if you can get access to the middle school I would recommend that you also recruit those sixth-graders at the end of the school year this year so you do not lose them, and then return the following fall to get next year's sixth-graders. After all, if you offer them dangerous adventure, you should register 28% of the audience each time.

 

http://inquiry.net/adult/recruiting.htm

 

Yours at 300 feet,

 

Kudu

 

 

[Rockford8070]

Kudu,

 

Would recruiting earlier maybe have gotten you better results? I know in our council our recruiting is done in September for Cubs. Usually during the first two weeks of school (we start after Labor Day here).

 

Edited to add:

 

If school access during the day is an issue, what about recruiting outside of the school during evening functions? Would it be possible to set up a model camp site or something similar near the school entrance but not inside the school during some kind of open house event or new parent orientation night? Or even on event nights for plays, performances, and things like that?(This message has been edited by Rockford8070)

[Kudu]

Yes, Rockford, recruiting in September would probably have resulted in about 15 registered Scouts rather than four, but that year the first opportunity was in November.

 

It is now November, so Eagle732 might try the current sixth-graders at the end of this school year.

[Eagle732]

End of the school year is when parents start thinking "what can I get little Johnny into so I don't have him sitting around the house doing nothing all summer?" How about SCOUTING!

[Rockford8070]

And if you get them recruited right before summer there's summer camp to keep them interested. My only bit of advice is to make sure you have a good summer program if you are going to recruit in the spring. I see it more with Packs than Troops so it may not be an issue, but you'll get a big push in the spring and some will drop over the summer because there is no real summer program.

[Eagle732]

We camp and have meetings throughout the summer months. Next year we're camping/fishing in June, summer camp in July, canoeing / kayaking in August, caving in Sept. Don't know why boys aren't beatin' the doors down to do stuff like this! After all boys choose the program.

[Mike F]

Eagle732,

 

It sounds like you have all the program stuff in place and you are actively working on outreach, so Id like to probe more along another line of thinking.

 

Do your guys really want to recruit?

Do they want to grow the troop?

Are they ready, willing, and able to take on a bunch of guys without experience?

Are the willing to go through that initial phase with lots of enthusiasm, but immature outbursts?

Do they look after the troops newer guys right now as if they were younger brothers who they like?

 

If any of these are no, you need to work on a culture shift first.

 

I have seen recruiting efforts hampered by older boys in the troop who didnt want the hassle of new guys. They didnt actively run them off; they just ignored them and/or clearly showed their annoyance.

 

[Eagle732]

"Do your guys really want to recruit?""Do they want to grow the troop?"

 

Well I asked my son this very question yesterday and he said he kinda likes going on camping trips with 4 other scouts (we've had only 5 boys on the last 2 camping trips). My question to him was what happens when it only 2 or 3 on a trip and only one adult willing to go? They don't understand the ramifications and that it becomes harder to recruit in a failing troop. I will discuss this and explain it in detail with them.

 

"Are they ready, willing, and able to take on a bunch of guys without experience?"

 

Our guys are very willing to work with new scouts. I think one of the reasons why is that the higher ranked scouts (Star and above) have sign off privileges. They take that privilege seriously and do well with making the decision on when a scout has met a requirement.

 

"Are the willing to go through that initial phase with lots of enthusiasm, but immature outbursts?"

"Do they look after the troops newer guys right now as if they were younger brothers who they like?"

 

I have always been impresses with how our guys take the new ones under their wing. Other adults have commented the same. I've seen in other troops what you describe, older scouts not wanting to be bothered with the new ones. Our guys seem to enjoy helping the new ones learn. This is the very reason why my son wanted to join this troop.

 

The current situation is not that boys are visiting and not joining, in fact if we can get a boy to visit he usually joins, the problem is that we can't get them to come at all.

 

Seems like the boys need to decide if they want to commit to growing the troop. How do I get them to buy in to this?

[Kudu]

Eagle732 writes:

 

The current situation is not that boys are visiting and not joining, in fact if we can get a boy to visit he usually joins, the problem is that we can't get them to come at all.

 

No, your problem is that you can't get Webelos to come at all

 

Recruiting in the public schools is the solution to the Cub Scouts problem.

 

Cub Scouts is a Filter!

 

By the time they get to Webelos, all that remain are the boys who can tolerate sitting around an adult-led table, learning boring stuff that adults pretend is "Fun."

 

The mega-troop of 80-90 Scouts 12 miles down the road may seem like a lot to you, but what is the Total Available Youth (TAY) in your school district?

 

When I report that my recruiting presentation can bring in 28% of sixth-grade boys when held in September, that is 28% TAY in addition to the BSA's TAY percentage. In other words those 15 new Scouts are above what the best efforts of the local Scouting professionals and volunteers had ALREADY extracted as Webelos "Crossovers" to other Troops the previous spring.

 

http://inquiry.net/adult/recruiting.htm

 

On another note, I would caution you again against recruiting fifth-graders in the spring unless you will not be able to get access to them the following fall in sixth-grade. I think they are too young. Instead I would try to recruit the current sixth-graders this spring, but do your homework first: Try to network permission to recruit through a personal connection with the school principal or school district.

 

The BSA push to recruit fifth-graders is most likely the reason that most Cub Scout parents are more comfortable with adult-run mega Troops.

 

Yours at 300 feet,

 

Kudu

 

[Eagle732]

The only access to 6th graders I have at this time is through my new scouts. No school access at this time, this is strictly controlled by the DE. You can't even send a flyer home without prior review and approval by the DE. I'll have to work on establishing a connection somehow.

[dScouter15]

Our troop has never really recruited in schools, but have taken a more informal approach. At any public event we participate in we have a couple large posters will some candid action shots of our troop's activities, and some simple "marketing slogans." We also have developed some simple pamphlets we hand out to anyone showing any interest. We actually have two pamphlets, one geared towards youth and one geared towards their parents. The youth pamphlet is heavy on pictures of our adventures, and descriptions of our most interesting activities. The parent pamphlet focuses on more of the "logistics" of the program, and the opportunities leadership development, good citizenship and community involvement, skills development, etc. A couple of our Scouts update these posters and pamphlets roughly every year, so that the photos and descriptions reflect our current and most recent events - people seem to be skeptical of photos from events that clearly occurred several years ago.

 

At some public events, try to have a fun activity that's reserved for currently registered Scouts in your troop. For example, our troop runs a dunk tank every summer at either a town carnival or a church picnic, which is manned by our troop's Scouts. We always get several of the Scouts' non-Scout friends who come up and ask if they can go in the dunk tank. We always say no, that only Scouts are allowed to get dunked, but tell them "maybe next year you can" and give them some of our recruiting material.

 

More importantly, be prepared to follow through with something more than just handing out pamphlets, or talking about your program. Invite anyone showing interest to an upcoming troop meeting, or an upcoming camping trip or other event. Make sure this event isn't too far in the future - I know many troops run once-a-year events focused specifically on recruitment. These are great, but it is important to remember that youth will lose interest quickly if they have to wait too long for follow up from the troop.

[Beavah]

No school access at this time, this is strictly controlled by the DE. You can't even send a flyer home without prior review and approval by the DE

 

Yah, hmmmm...

 

Can't see what business that is of the DE. I suppose yeh get tomfool execs who like to stick their noses in.

 

Unless you're aware of some really special circumstances, I'd ignore the DE and just approach da schools directly. If they give flyer access to any outside groups they have to give it to you. Or, alternately, work with other kids programs like soccer leagues and such.

 

Beavah

[OldGreyEagle]

I have to ask, what would/could a DE do if you sent an unapproved flier out? Pull your charter?

 

There has to be some reason, perhaps an agreement with the School that only certain language may be used, or not I have no idea but I would love to see a DE get all excited and angry about any unit recruiting

[Rockford8070]

I'd seriously worry about a DE that got bent out of shape that you want to recruit in a school. My guess is that there have been issues with the school and that they just want to make sure that all of the language is correct. I know on our flyers is must say "NOT AN ISD 883 SPONSORED EVENT." And yea every flyer order is reviewed and approved before printing, but that's mostly as a double check. I'd talk to the school though, specifically the principal, if you can get them in your corner, it'll make it all easier.

 

I'd also like to repeat one thing I've heard repeatedly at our membership committee meetings, recruiting is a year round process.

[ScoutNut]

No DE can control school access. Unless of course he is also the Superintendent of the School District.

 

Call your local school's Principal, and ask about their rules concerning sending home fliers. You might have to go thru your School District, and there might be specific language requirements, but the school's Principal should know about all of that.

 

It is also possible that you have misunderstood your DE. Councils offer units free printing of fliers. You provide your info, and the council provides you as many fliers as you need - FREE. This is not an approval process. It is simply a nice recruiting help for units. You are not required to use it however. If your unit wants to spend its own money on paper, ink, and printing, go for it.