This is my fourth year as MVD Membership Chair, and I am very excited about what is happening both at National and Montana Council to support membership. If you didn’t get to attend the National Kick-off Webinar, it was great. The recording isn’t posted yet in Membership Corner, but I will update this article when it drops. It was very interesting! Some of the messages I was happy to hear:
- They shared the Incredible marketing efforts by Scouting America. Searches for Scout Unit information is up by 28%!
- New fields have been added in the BeaScout Pin that give more information about your unit to people looking for information! That is why it is so important to get those Pins updated.
- They emphasized connecting Troops and Packs during Pack recruiting not just to get in new Scouts, but keep those existing Cubs and help them get excited about Scouts BSA.
In Mountain Valley, we have very little school access, but I sure wish we could implement the Middle School recruiting method that they detailed in the call. If you have school access, be sure and watch the video!
Also on the National call, they emphasized that all 224 Councils also have their own Recruiting plans, and Montana is certainly working hard to support units in reaching new youth. Some of my favorite things from Montana Council this year, and these resources are all in the Membership Resources section of the website.
- Updated Recruitment Guidebook is on-line and District Executives can get you a copy. This really is a great resource to plan your recruiting.
- Updated on-line Promotion Plans with fields so you can submit the plan even if you aren’t all the way done and space to simply give your DE information about what is happening with your planning. In other words, if you have 7 things you know you are doing to promote your Join Scouts night, you can submit the form and always add things later!
- Great new on-line Promotions Materials Request Form! I think this is brilliant, and you can submit it as many times as needed. As soon as you need something, like flyers, just jump into that form and your DE will make it happen.
- Geofencing of Join Scouts nights will happen as long as you have submitted the event information to your DE!
- 100-Point Parent Participation Plans are new, and I think these are brilliant. This form makes it clear that this is a volunteer run program, and everyone pitches in. I wish I had this form when I was a unit leader! 100-Point Parent Participation Plan forms are all available in the Membership Resources section under Parent Involvement & Volunteer Development section on the Montana Council site.
This is a busy time of year, but you don’t have to invent recruiting materials or plans! Just look through all the resources available, use what works for your unit, and plan exciting Join Scout nights!
Betsy Eubanks, MVD Membership Chair
