Falling Membership - 2011 Annual Report

[SMT224]

"If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses."

-- Henry Ford

 

Actually want people wanted was to go from point A to point B. But they couldn't think beyond doing it by horse - that's what they knew.

 

If we ask what a bunch of teenage boys say they want or think they want, it likely won't be Scouting. Or school. Or a balanced diet.

 

But take a bunch of video game players on a camping trip and hike up a 3,000 foot mountain, see all kinds of wild life, gaze upon an amazing view from the top, run out of water, find water, filter water, get back to camp tired but happy, go for a swim in a nearby lake, cook a hearty dinner, sit back and watch the flames of a campfire, and finally go to sleep under a millions of stars - you will find that they liked just fine. But if you ask them what they want to do, such an adventure may not come up.

 

The core of Scouting - lot's of camping and adventure - all under the umbrella of the Scout Law - is what they need. It's the balanced diet kids need to grow big and strong.

 

We cannot make all kinds of changes based on what we think will bring in the highest numbers and ignore the core of Scouting.

 

And let's not have a fit 'cause Scouting is not for every boy. Some just can't stand being away from mom & dad. Others really don't like the camping and hiking. So not everyone has to be a Scout.

 

[BadenP]

 

 

SMT- You are right on the mark. We need to offer youth challenges, real challenges that take them out of their comfort zone, instead of some of the mamby pamby scouting programs being offered to them today. You can ask 50 kids what would interest them and you would get 50 different answers, the best solution is getting them to try new things they would never had thought for themselves.

 

OGE your answer was so out of there, I have taken teens on outings where they had to depend on the outdoor skills they had been taught, no GPS, no electronics of any kind, and find their way in small groups to a base camp with just a map and compass. You know what they all had a blast, found out they could do things they didn't think possible. Not one of them complained about not having their electronic toys with them. On the way home all they could talk about was doing this kind of trip again.

 

It really isn't rocket science folks, you give the kids fun but really challenging activities and watch them respond, then they tell their friends and before you know it your scout unit grows from 10 members to 50 in a very short time. As far as Eng61's stereotype that the BSA is a white Protestant male club come to our crew sometime, the crew is about 50/50 male and female,35% white, 20% Asian, 25% Hispanic, 15% African American, 5% Native American, you can't get a better demographic than that. Yeah, times are a changing but the youth haven't when it comes to having fun. Challenge them and they will respond, that is what our schools and society have failed to do.

 

 

 

[SeattlePioneer]

As a unit leader, I find it burdensome to get a youth registered --- and hugely burdensome to get an adult leader registered.

 

What a pain in the neck.

[dkurtenbach]

2010 census data showed a male population, ages 5-17, of 26 million. We have approximately 2.5 million youth members in Cub Scouting, Boy Scouting, and Varsity Scouting.

 

I have two concerns in particular about current BSA programs.

 

First, BSA has largely abandoned recruitment of Boy Scouts from sources other than Cub Scout packs. Even the recommended Boy Scout program recognizes this -- the New Scout patrol and First Class First Year are built around groups coming into a troop in a narrow time window in a particular time of the year. Ironically, the Boy Scouting program is perfectly designed for boys who were _not_ Cub Scouts and for boys even two years older to join and advance at their own pace.

 

Second, I have long believed that Scouting's biggest challenge is the wide variation in the quality of programs delivered by Scout units. There are some very good unit programs, and some very poor unit programs, and everything in between. I think the absence of any enforcement of minimum quality standards makes possible lots of small units that don't have enough people resources to survive, and lots of units of all sizes with poor programs. And there are way too many kids whose Scouting experience will not be particularly good, and so won't bring their own kids to Scouting in twenty years. Yet the incentives to professionals and districts and councils make it more important to keep poor units on the books than to get kids into good programs.

 

Dan Kurtenbach

Fairfax, VA

[BSA24]

For reference:

 

http://imgur.com/ndaaZ

 

Here's a chart showing BSA's annual total traditional membership counts since 1960. The total includes cubs, boy scouts, venturing/exploring (before learning for life came along) and adult leaders in traditional units.

 

There are some good ideas posted here. I see a lot of "make a good program" comments. Unfortunately, program retains but does not attract. "Build it and they will come" doesn't work. Build it, and no one will know you built it, and very few will come.

 

I think there are two major problems: Marketing and Conduct of Business.

 

It is marketing that is missing that attracts youth. BSA is very, very weak at marketing.

 

What is BSA's brand in the market right now?

Who is the target audience?

What sorts of surveys are run on those who are in the target markets and audience (not members) to find out their perceptions and reasons for not joining?

How many TV ads for BSA have you seen that portrayed it as something tough and cool to do?

How many radio ads for BSA have you heard?

How many web ads have you seen off of BSA related sites?

 

Answer for me: I am not aware that any of this is being done. Instead, BSA has an unadvertised web site that any amateur web designer could have built, provides no forums, no ability to comment, no links to outside volunteer sources, no sense of community. I've seen no ads for anything to do with BSA. I have heard no ads. No billboards. No nothing.

 

The company I work for in my day job does the opposite in all of these categories. They flood the market with ads, we survey people who don't use us and ask why not, and we have programs specifically tied to turning customer opinion around about us.

 

I think conduct of business is another major hurdle to success for the scouts. Someone mentioned that a leader wanted to skype into round table. That's a good point. People working in companies with technology are working from home all day. The conference call and web chat for every meeting. They never travel. They never do anything in person any longer. Then along comes BSA who wants a paper check and can't take paypal, only has in-person committee meetings, no conference calls, short office hours, paper applications, and scout shops and program centers located 40 miles away from the average scout parent.

 

BSA is conducting business 1995 style - at best - both in terms of technology and work style. BSA employees still work out of an office. Why? What do they need an office for? BSA still uses paper applications? Why? I don't even use paper to pay my taxes any longer.

 

I think BSA has to wake up and respect the parents' lifestyle more instead of trying to stick their chin out and insist on the parents changing. The parents are not going to change. They need to be able to dial into unit committee meetings, not come in person. Round table does not need to be in-person - not unless you are going to hold it a maximum of five miles away from every leader in the area. Most people can't drive in today's traffic to get to round table after work any distance.

 

I think that marketing BSA better would attract more members. Conducting business where applicable in a 21st century method would probably help some more.

 

We can't have it both ways. We can't hold to principles and say that we don't care if not every boy joins and hope to help produce a useful number of good citizens to impact our country in the future in a positive way. Without big numbers, our members are embarrassed of belonging. Without big numbers, we can't pay for these outrageous scout camps we have everywhere.

 

There is a certain size below which BSA will not be able to operate any longer. It will devolve into a popcorn selling company with kids in t-shirts meeting once a month to visit the zoo or stay in a cabin. That's what happened to the girl scouts, and they have as many members as BSA does today. I think BSA is using FOS to slow down the decline, but it won't work forever.

[SeattlePioneer]

I was recently appointed as a Unit Commissioner for a Scout Troop that has been around for decades. I've found they have good leaders and a quality program, but they are very weak on recruiting.

 

I'm a Treasurer for a neighboring Cub Scout Pack. There are currently four 2nd year Webelos who are membership prospects for the Troop. The Webelos Scouts have been invited to participate in a mountain hike in July, with the hope of getting them to participate in Boy Scout activities.

 

I've found one adult leader who is interested in recruiting new Scouts, and as the District Membership Chair I will be working to put together a fall recruiting campaign for the Troop.

 

It's not at all easy to recruit new Boy Scouts who haven't been through Cub Scouts. We'll give it a try.

 

Unfortunately, a lot of Cub Packs and especially Scout Troops do a poor job of recruiting new boys. It's one of the leading causes of unit mortality.

[BSA24]

Seattle,

 

Recruiting is selling. It's person to person consumer sales.

 

Selling is difficult when the product is unknown, or when the brand is unknown.

 

If the brand is tarnished, or the product has received negative press, it is more difficult.

 

Selling something to someone else successfully... it is essential that the brand of the service or product be strong, and the service/product be known about before hand.

 

Creating demand for a product is marketing.

 

I am unhappy to see BSA depending on their customers to create all of the demand and do all the advertising by word of mouth. There are very few companies that succeed using that model. None of them are huge. And BSA is not run with the sort of discipline that would make them able to pull it off.

 

They need to market.

 

I'm tired of telling parents what we do in the cub scouts. Shouldn't that be well-known before hand to drum up interest?

 

 

[SeattlePioneer]

>

 

 

 

The program of each unit is unique. How can you mass market a program that is unique to each of hundreds or thousands of different units?

 

You may be able to create a generalized interest, but you aren't going to be able to have people sign up on a website and then be assigned to a particular unit.

 

Each unit is too distinctive, I think.

 

Scouting does do some mass marketing to create an image. Council's typically offer staff assistance for unit organizing campaigns, leaflets, yards signs and flyers.

 

But the sale is made when parents and boys attend those recruiting nights, or when families invite friends to join their unit.

 

That's what I see as a District Membership Chair since 2004. I don't see any short cuts. The biggest variable is the quality of the unit program.

[JMHawkins]

It's not at all easy to recruit new Boy Scouts who haven't been through Cub Scouts. We'll give it a try.

 

Out new troop went from zero to 38 in one year, and two thirds of those boys did not come from Cub Scouts. We still seem to be averaging one new recruit every month or so "wandering in" and joining. Don't limit yourself to just recruting Webelos.

[SeattlePioneer]

Hello JM,

 

 

Congratulations on your recruiting sucess!

 

It DOES tend to be difficult to recruit non Cub Scouts into Troops. That makes your fine success all the more commendable!

 

What methods did you find helped make that success possible, may I ask?

[Eagle92]

My old troop did not have a feeder pack for the 6 years I was with them. Our recruiting was word of mouth, friends not in Scouting already,transfers from outehr troops ( that was me)and of course Cubs visiting.

 

So yes do not just limit yourself.

 

Also my Ship did recruiting at the mall and within the CO. That helped too. And of all the Sea Scouts in the ship, there were only 3 of us that were Boy Scouts,or in my case an ASM.

 

 

[Wëlënakwsu]

Yes... more activity options for youth today and public perception of the BSA. Unlikely membership will return to the 1960 & 70's levels.

 

Two additional factors rarely mentioned...

(1) Fewer organizations are interested in chartering Scout units. Amongst the big charterer - religious congregations - many do not see Scouting as part of their mission, ministry, outreach, etc.

 

(2) Fewer qualified adults making the Scouting commitment. Too many well meaning direct contact BSA volunteers are not suited for youth work.

 

One suggestion: Hire college and graduate students to run the program after school so the Scouts can be home in time for dinner & homework. Some Units charge enough dues that this could be self funding. Others will need support from the Charter and Council (wishful thinking).

 

Not a total solution. but would help

[dkurtenbach]

SeattlePioneer wrote: "The program of each unit is unique. How can you mass market a program that is unique to each of hundreds or thousands of different units?

 

"You may be able to create a generalized interest, but you aren't going to be able to have people sign up on a website and then be assigned to a particular unit.

 

"Each unit is too distinctive, I think."

------------------------

 

I think that BSA suffers from putting out a product that is highly inconsistent from unit to unit. Of course, there is a fear that improving consistency from unit to unit would mean not only eliminating units that fall below a certain minimum standard, but reducing the quality of highly successful units to make the product more uniform. There is also a widely-accepted notion that the ability to have distinctive unit programs and personalities rather than one-size-fits all is a great strength of Scouting. Thus I think it would be very difficult to make any structural changes to Scouting programs in the interest of improving unit-to-unit consistency. As SeattlePioneer noted, that is a big obstacle to marketing and recruiting.

 

Dan Kurtenbach

Fairfax, VA

 

 

[dkurtenbach]

There is a radio commercial I've been hearing the last couple of weeks, talking about stuff that accumulates in your house, stuff that you have to step over, stuff that has been there so long you don't even see it anymore. You've got junk! And they can haul it away.

 

BSA has junk.

 

We have to remember that our program is run by amateur volunteers, many of them coming in with no Scouting background at all and no idea of what Scouts do -- they just want to help and do something good for their kids. And I think BSA gives us an organization, administrative burdens, and even a program that is ridiculously complicated.

 

Why are Achievements and Electives counted differently at the Bear level than at the Wolf Level? Why do we have Progress Toward Rank beads, rank badges, Arrow Points, Compass Patch, Compass Points, Achievement Badges, Academic Belt Loops, Sports Belt Loops, service stars, religious award knots, and Summertime Activity pins? What is Bobcat really? Why is the Arrow of Light rank badge different from other rank badges and worn in different locations? And this is all just Cub Scouts.

 

And really, what the heck is a "ScoutParent"? (These are rhetorical questions, by the way -- not intended to be answered.)

 

There is a lot of junk in Scouting that needs to be pulled out and hauled away so that adult leaders have more time to focus on good unit programs.

 

Dan Kurtenbach

Fairfax, VA

 

 

 

[JMHawkins]

SP,

 

For one thing, our community was underserved. Existing troops in the area had fallen into the habit of only recruiting Webelos, so a lot of boys who would enjoy a scouting program were not even being asked.

 

Our CO helped, having a youth group that several boys joined from.

 

We advertised. Flyers around town, talks to local groups, talks to homeschool groups, recruiting nights, business cards printed with meeting info people could hand out, Facebook... It probably helps that our SM does a lot of marketing as his career, and he picked messages, images and themes that conveyed an outdoor, adventure-focused troop. But basically, we marketed ourselves to the community.

 

That got us about halfway to where we are now, but now there's a change. Most of our new guys now are friends of existing scouts - classmates, teammates, neighbors, older brothers - sold on the troop by our existing guys who are having a blast with a good program. None of our scouts made First Class in our first year, but three of them had 30 nights camping, and a bunch more had 20+ nights. We're outdoors every month, even in the rain (we're Chief Seattle Council too, so you know what December and January weather is like - we were out camping in it).

 

I really do believe that having a good, fun program that focuses on stuff Scout aged boys like to do and can't do elsewhere is the key. But you have to sell it.

 

Keep plugging away. Even if it's hard, don't give up. The boys are out there.