Scouting America Unit Support NY/PA

Thank you for joining and being a part of the Scouting family!

Here you will find a variety of resources to help grow and strengthen your unit. We encourage you to take time to browse through our website.

Start with your District’s page. There you will find the people who are specific to your area who specialize in different parts of the District Committee.
Review the Commissioners page and how they can assist you.
Follow us on Facebook for up-to-date events and stories. You can also follow and Camp Gorton!
Look at the Council Calendar for upcoming events that your Unit can participate in.

Annual Program Planning

To develop the unit budget, complete the worksheet with the unit leader and committee at the annual program planning conference, and then share it with the parents. Be sure to keep parents involved and informed. The unit’s program calendar and budget information needs to be communicated regularly to families, especially at the start of the program year. By sharing the unit’s program plans and budgetary needs, you can help newly recruited youth and their parents gain a greater understanding of just what fun is waiting for them during the unit’s entire program year. National BSA has a tool to help, click here for the National Annual Program Planning Tool

A planned program is one of the best things that can be done to keep Scouts and help involve families.

What should be included:

- Regular Unit Meetings, this should include Dens & Patrols
- Unit Committee Meetings
- Patrol Leaders Council (PLC) meetings
- Campouts, hikes, activities – there should be something scheduled for each month. Remember to look at the Council Calendar for events that are scheduled that your Unit would like to participate in. Click here for the camping page, which includes approved Cub camping locations
- Fundraising Events
- Community Service events – Scouting for Food (tags out/bags in), parades, school open houses, etc
- Unit Open House – opportunity to have a scheduled meeting for people interested in joining Scouting come and see your Unit in action.

Planning Your Program Budget

Each year your Unit should create an annual budget. This looks at all the planned expenses and they are going to be covered.

Click here for a National Unit Budget Planning Worksheet

Things to take into consideration:

- Expenses
  - Awards & Recognition
  - Supplies & Equipment (repair & replace)
  - Trailer registration & Insurance
- Income
  - Popcorn sales
  - Other fundraisers
  - Activity fee

Unit Fundraising

A Scout is Thrifty: It’s good practice for Scout units, too. Business-like finance management not only assures that your unit will remain solvent and have what it needs when it needs it, it also provides a fine example for your youth members. A good unit should neither spend more than it earns nor earn more that it spends. As much harm can be done with one extreme as with the other.

Fundraising is a necessary aspect of Scouting. Units should look at the minimal amount of fundraising, so that the program is not all about fundraising. A few number of quality fundraising events can take care of a Units needs throughout the year.

For any fundraising event, except Popcorn, a Unit must submit a Unit Money Earning Application to their District Executive.

Funding your Unit Training Video

Fundraising Do’s and Don’ts

Popcorn is a Council organized fundraiser. Many Scouts and Units use this as their only fundraiser for the year. Popcorn is sold door-to-door, outside of businesses (referred to as Show-n-Sale), and online. For more information about Popcorn sales please see the Popcorn Page.

Online Tools (Unit Management Software)

As part of your charter and registration fees, National provides access to many online tools to help you manage your Unit.

My.Scouting – This provides access to your Unit Roster, recharter, individual renewal approval, BeAscout pin, Application Manager, Invitation Manager, training manager and more. For help on these tools or if there issues please click and go to our support page.

Scoutbook – This provides advancement tracking, communication, Patrol/Den setup, tracking of leadership positions, Eagle applications and more. For help on these tools or if there issues please click and go to our support page.

Scoutbook Plus – This provides advancement recording & tracking, Unit calendar with RSVP & reminder emails, tracking of camping, hiking and service hours and more. For help on these tools or if there issues please click and go to our support page.

Recruitment

Part of Unit operations is planning on growth. Growth does not just happen, but needs to be worked on by all. Scouts joining your Unit and staying creates a legacy for that Scout, their family and the Unit. Without new Scouts and families joining, it won’t be long before the traditions and history of the Unit will be gone.

Any Scout who recruits a new Scout earns a Recruiter Strip that can be worn on the uniform. All Scouts regardless of program are eligible to earn this award.

Four Easy Steps to Recruitment

1. Plan | 2. Promote | 3. Welcome | 4. Follow Up

1. Plan

- - Choose a date and time to hold your sign-up event
    - Consult with other leaders to check their availability
    - Host a picnic, campfire, ice cream social, fly rockets or foam planes, or other fun event where kids and parents would feel welcome
    - Have a table at your local school’s Open House/Welcome Back night
    - Meet at your regular time and location, but NOT on the same night as Den, Pack or Troop meetings (too hectic!)
  - Update your PIN in my.scouting.org so interested families can find you through BeAScout.org. Learn how by clicking here.

TIP – Plan 6 weeks ahead to give yourself time to organize and promote it

2. Promote

- - Request flyers (by August 15, please, or at least 2 weeks before your event) from your district professional to be distributed to local school students (include QR code)
  - Local newspaper – share a photo and caption or submit a brief article two weeks before your sign-up night (Click here for a sample email)
  - Request yard signs & posters from your district professional and ask current Scout families to put them out/up (include QR code)
  - Create event on Facebook for your sign-up night. If you have funds, pay to boost it.
  - Share to community social media pages or through the Next Door App
  - Create a public Facebook page for your unit if you don’t have one

TIP – If you’re ready to take promotion to the next step, check out the resources available to you through the BSA Brand Center!

3. Welcome

- - Smile and introduce yourself and the Scouts and leaders
  - Ask parent to write down their contact information – Sign up Sheet template
  - Set up stations with station table tents
  - Provide information about your program
  - Use QR code so they can register on their own device
  - Bring a laptop or tablet and have them register
  - Have paper applications on hand
  - Provide a copy of your program calendar & leaders’ names

TIP – Your unit’s Key 3 leaders have access to the “Invitation Manager” tools in my.scouting.org, which really helps to keep information centralized. Learn how to use it.

4. Follow Up

- - Initiate communications with families
    - Send emails or text messages with a link to your unit’s PIN so they will find you immediately
    - Use my.scouting.org’s “Invitation Manager” tool: enter parent names, contact info and send them links to sign up through my.scouting
  - Be responsive
    - Reply to messages/questions within 24 hours
    - If you don’t have the answer, ask your district professional for help
  - Remind them about meetings a few days ahead of time

What Can You/the Unit Do:

- Have a New Members Coordinator in your Unit
- Make recruitment a part of your Program Planning Conference
  - School Sign Ups
  - Bring a Friend night
  - Webeleos to Scout Transition
- Have your BeAScout pin up to date – this found in my.scouting.org under the Roster area.
  - Did you set up contact information on your pin?
  - Does it have the correct address? (default is charter organization address)
  - Did you set a welcome email?
  - Do you allow for online applications? (Youth/Adult)
- Organize, Plan and Promote a Unit Open House
- Have a Recruitment table/box that goes to different events
  - Pictures of Unit activities
  - Schedule for the year
  - Contact info
  - Something to draw the kids to you
  - Something for the kids to do while you talk to the parents
    - Coloring pages
    - Raft regatta
    - Large Jenga game
    - Real life “Angry Birds” game
- Participate in Community events (parades, carnivals, etc)
  - Have promotional items at these events
  - Have a table at these events
  - Reading at Library
- Promote whenever your Unit is seen by the Community
  - Popcorn Show and Sell’s
  - Community Clean Up
  - Participation in Scout Sunday/Sabbath
- Online Promotion – BSA Media Guidelines
  - Unit Facebook page (please keep in mind public vs private)
  - Community/School Facebook
    - Occasional posts by families
- What Else?
  - Business card/tag in with Halloween candy
  - Sticker on Popcorn
  - Sign in local community business, with contact info
  - Adopt a School
    - Positive relation with your School
    - School Clean Up
    - Assist with parking or opening doors during voting

Retention (Keeping the Scouts)

Once the Scouts and families join we need to keep them. This comes from planned program and having fun & engaging program.

What can be done:

- Planned Program (Year Round)
- Planned Meeting (with back up plans) Troop Pack
- Immediate recognition on advancement and awards
  - Advancement and awards should be presented as soon as possible. These presentations make the Scouts who earned them excited for recognition and lets others see what they can earn.
  - Additional Awards can be found on the National Awards Center
- New and fun activities – same thing from year to year gets boring. You also need to keep in mind what is fun for you might not be for the Scouts. Involve the PLC in the Planning Conference.
- Game Night – Have a night where the Scouts can come, play games and have fun. Scouting is not always about Camping. Fun, Fellowship, and Good Sportsmanship.
- Cell Phones – Cell phones are great tools. Cameras, Video, GPS, Constellation, Animal Tracks and more. We teach proper use of knives and fire, we also teach safe and proper electronics.
- Keep the parents informed and involved. Even small tasks can grow into a future leader for Unit.
- Be flexible. You are competing with other organizations for their time. Your Unit should be flexible to their schedule.
- Trained leadership. Have all of your parents take Youth Protection. You should have your leaders take Position Specific Training as soon as possible to give them the tools they need.

Renewal of Members (Youth & Adult)

Rechartering

Quick Links

Resources

FiveRiversbsa.org
Scouts BSA Program Resource Links
National Marketing page
My.Scouting.org
Scoutbook
Scoutbook Plus
BeAScout.org– National recruitment page
National Unit & Membership Renewal page
National Forms
Your Unit Commissioner and District Membership Chair

Unit Support