Tools for Growing Your Scouting Unit
Welcome to Garden State Council’s Hub for Membership Tools. We hope you find the resources included here useful as you reach out into your communities to bring Scouting to more youth and adult volunteers. We see this page as a place for new ideas and tools, so let the Membership Committee know if you have an idea or tool to share!
Membership Accelerator
The 2023 Membership Accelerator was a great opportunity for unit volunteers to expand their toolset of membership growth ideas. We are pleased to share the presentations and handouts from this year’s event. The following links lead to PDFs of slides or handouts from the 2023 Membership Accelerator.
Fall Sign Up Nights
Make a big push as the new school year begins to grow your Scouting unit by holding Sign Up Nights and other recruitment events through elementary schools throughout our region and bring the message of Cub Scouting to all kids in grades K through 5. Cub Packs can coordinate with their District Executives and their local schools to help plan, promote, and implement a successful Sign Up Night in September or October. Paper Rockets, info packets, social media ads, Council team members — and Pack family involvement — are all components of a successful Sign Up Night. Help us help you grow your Scouting unit this fall! Contact your District Executive to find out more!
Useful Videos from 2021
1. Sign Up Night:
Pack Responsibilities
2. Sign Up Night:
Tools for the Event
3. Sign Up Night:
Sample Presentation
Resource Hub from BSA
The BSA has a resource hub where units can find a range of ideas and tools for fueling your recruitment activities. Visit Scouting.org/recruitment to learn more.
Marketing Tools
Are you looking for advertising tools to brighten up your unit? Look no further! All of your marketing needs are here at your fingertips. Anything you could think of from pre-made templates, professional scout photos and digital logos are here for all units to access. Click below to access our BSA Brand Center.
New Member Coordinators
Is your unit rolling out the welcome wagon to new families?
Sustaining strong membership in a unit depends partly on reaching new audiences to invite them to join and partly on engaging new members and their families so that they feel welcomed and want to stay.
The role of the New Member Coordinator is to ensure that both keys to success take place.
Scout Talk Videos
The BSA created “Scout Talk” videos, and we have selected a few for easy sharing and posting by units. Use these videos of Cub Scouts or Scouts BSA members on your social media pages and unit websites.
Before your virtual or in-person Join Night, review these “Scout Talk Questions Answered” videos as a way to prepare. If you need additional resources, including pre-formatted social media posts and additional videos, visit the BSA’s Brand Center!
Boy- Maddox
Boy- Carlos
Boy- Dax
Girl- Eden
Girl- Jada
Girl-Kathleen
Boys & Girls
Boy- Deagan
Boy- Kingston
Girl- Anya
Girl- Marlee
Spanish
Man & Woman
Woman- Zebretta
Woman- Celina
2 Women- Celina and Zebretta
Man- Justin
Man- Orlando
Resources for Answering Questions
Scouting instills values, gives youth a competitive edge and helps them become resilient adults, adults who lead. Scouting brings families together and gives them the platform for true, quality time together, where memories can be made that last a lifetime.
We also recognize that in your social circles, some may wonder about Scouting. They may ask questions about things they’ve heard or seen. They may be confused about who we are and what we do.
To help you answer those questions, we’ve put together a few tools for you.
We need to remind our communities why Scouting has thrived for more than 110-years. While we’ve evolved over the decades, along with our country, our values remain grounded in the same Scout Oath and Law.
Every family in our country should be invited and welcomed into Scouting.
If parents want their children to:
- Be of good character
- To experience the outdoors
- To make friends
- To have fun
- To learn things that will help them navigate life
- To be inspired to find careers and lifelong hobbies
- To work cooperatively with peers and adults
- And so much more
Then, they should try Scouting.
Please use the following tips and tools to help facilitate conversation as needed. You may have already received that question: “What’s going on with Scouting? What am I hearing about?”
Tell Your Story
Lead with your story. Share why you choose Scouting for your family. If you’re a volunteer, explain why. Share the impact you’re making. If they know you, they will connect with your genuine assessment.
Share How Scouting Continues
Share with them what Scouting is doing. While you can reference some national results, Scouting by the Numbers, focus on what your unit is doing locally. Share that in our local council, units have been meeting through the pandemic, either online, or in-person following all the safety guidelines of the State. Remember that the local Council has offered significant virtual programming since the start of COVID-19 including service projects, virtual campouts, activities, and advancements. The Council also has a robust plan to support units with virtual and in-person programming this fall.
Ask What They Heard
Ask them what they’ve heard. If it’s related to the national bankruptcy case or the advertising they may be seeing connected to past cases of abuse, please be prepared to address those questions. Please review the following tools to help you better understand these complex issues and help you better answer questions:
If you encounter a question you can’t answer or need some help, do not hesitate to reach out to your District-serving Executive or feel free to reach out directly to our Council’s Chief Scout Executive, Patrick Linfors.
Before any conversation about Scouting ends, don’t forget to invite them to join. The easiest way to do that is to invite them to join your unit and they can register online at www.BeAScout.org.