Every Unit is Chartered for 1 Year (12 Months). A charter is a formal agreement between the Council and Organization about having and supporting a BSA Unit. This agreement is renewed each year. Most Units in our Council agreements expire on 12/31 of each year.
Units will recharter inside my.scouting.org. This function/tool will only be available to Key 3 or Key 3 delegates.
More information can be found at: National Unit & Membership Renewal page
Timeline:
- Oct 15th: option becomes available on my.scouting.org (Roster – Unit Renewal)
- Nov 16th: Charters in – avoid holiday delays
- Dec 1st: Must have charter renewal done
- Dec 31st: Charters not in and processed (this means paid as well) will be dropped!
Dropped means
- No insurance coverage for any meeting, event or activity
- No advancement (or time served in rank)
- No participation in Council and District Events
- NO UNIT
Units are expected to follow this schedule which will enable them to turn in recharters by the due date of December 1st. Units are encouraged to have their recharters done by November 16th.
POINTS OF NOTE:
- Explorer Posts may need to process their renewal by hand. You will need to go to the Learning for Life website for all training.
- Any renewal not processed by December 31 will drop. This means no advancement, no attendance at Council and District activities and no liability insurance. Any accident/injury occurring for a unit not chartered is the sole responsibility of the adults and organization.
- All renewals due no later than 12/1
- All charters are now processed online. More Councils are using this feature which can create slow down on the system near the end of December, due to heavy traffic. DO NOT WAIT.
The Annual Charter Agreement Form is required at this time.
- Annual Charter Agreement Among the Organization, Local Council, Scouting Unit
- United Methodist Church Units
- Catholic Church Units
- BSA General Facilities Use Agreement
- New Unit Application
Unit Renewal Job Aids
Why is it important to renew on time?
All units must submit their renewal in the month they are scheduled for. Units that do not renew on time can no longer complete advancement, participate in Scouting activities, and are no longer covered under Scouting America insurance.
Payment Options:
- Pay at Council by check (no additional fee). Payments can be mailed to: Greater Falls Council, 2860 Genesee St. Buffalo, NY 14225.
- E-Check ($1 administrative fee). Be sure to follow instructions above for Unit ACH Renewals.
- Credit Card (3% administrative fee)
How to Access Membership Renewal Reports has instructions for accessing the following reports to help you keep an eye on renewals:
- Members Due to Renew
- Members Who Have Renewed
- Member Opted Out Report
- Non-Renewed Membership Report
You will also receive emails from National regarding members who are due to renew. Keep in mind that those who do not renew should not be attending activities as they are not covered by insurance.
- For anyone who will not be renewing, you can also mark them as Opted Out of renewal in the Organization Manager Roster.
- There is a Sample Renewal Email from National attached to give you and your members an idea as to what they will receive. If anyone does not receive it starting 60 days before expiration, they should check spam/junk folders and verify the email address in their my.scouting.org account is correct.
- Individuals can complete renewals through the link in the email or find the link in their Notifications in either Scoutbook or my.Scouting.org. It should also be available from the Menu —> under My application then —> My Renewals in my.Scouting.org. Individual online renewals are payable by CC only.
- As always, if anyone is having any issues or needs assistance with renewing, please contact your DE or Unit Commissioner.
F.A.Q
- Do all leaders have to be current in Youth Protection to renew our Unit? Yes! Youth Protection must be current at the time of renewal. They can go to my.scouting.org and click on the Youth Protection button to take it. If they take an in-person class it must be recorded in Training Manager before you can renew.
- Do leaders need to be trained in their position to renew? No. The Great Falls Council encourages all leaders to be trained in their position. Training can be completed in my.scouting.org.
- How do I remove a leader/Scout who is no longer involved? You cannot do this in the renewal system. They will drop off your roster when they expire. If the leader is not current in Youth Protection Training, which will hold up your renewal, the Chartered Organization Representative can email the Service Center and tell us to remove the leader from your Unit. scouting@gfcscouting.org
- How do I change leader roles (example: Committee Member is now the Asst. Scoutmaster)? This can be done by your Chartered Organization Representative, and in some cases Committee Chair, either before you start the renewal process or after the Charter has been fully processed.
- Log into my.scouting.org
- Near bottom of sidebar on left, select Organization Dashboard (make sure the correct Unit is selected)
- On sidebar select Position Manager
- Drag and drop people to the correct positions.
- Is this renewing my members as well? No. This is just renewing you Unit for another year. Each person is registered for 12 months, from when they joined. The individual can renew themselves (Click here for directions).
- What is a unit? That’s the Pack, Troop, Team, Crew, or Ship that asked you to do this. Units in our area operate under the Great Falls Council (GFC), the local operating arm of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). The Council assigns each unit to a District, a geographic part of GFC’s area of operations. A unit always has a Unit Leader who is responsible for seeing that a program is delivered to the youth members. The Unit Leader has a title like Advisor, Cubmaster, Scoutmaster, Coach, or Skipper. A unit has at least three adults who serve as the Unit Committee that supports the Unit Leader.
- What is recharter? BSA issues a charter through the local Council to a Chartered Organization, like the Church or other organization that owns your unit, which allows it to use a BSA program to serve youth in its community. For example, a Cub Scout Pack uses Cub Scouting to serve boys in the first through fifth grades. BSA requires that the charter be renewed annually to continue using the program. We call that annual renewal “recharter”.
- What else happens during recharter? This also verifies that you have the required number of individuals for a Unit:
- Pack – 6 Adults (Committee Chair, 2 Committee Members, Cubmaster, Asst. Cubmaster, Den Leader)
- Troop/Crew – 5 Adults (Committee Chair, 2 Committee Members, Scoutmaster, Asst. Scoutmaster)
- Pack/Troop/Crew – 5 Youth (3 need to have a primary registration in the Unit)
