Membership Recruitment Quick Links:
2024 Annual Membership Fees
Cub Scout Recruitment Playbook
Scouts BSA Recruitment Playbook
Venturing & Sea Scouts Recruitment Playbook
Exploring Recruitment Playbook
QR Code to Beascout.org
Top 10 List for a Successful Fall
Welcome New Family Brochure
Click Here for Official BSA Recruitment Resources(flyers, logos, digitial material)
Unit Incentives for Membership Growth
Unit Goals Baseball
Click Here for Official BSA Recruitment Resources(flyers, logos, digitial material)
Fall is the time to reach out to all of those potential Scouts and give them the opportunity to join Scouting.
“Sign-up” nights for Cub Scouts have been a keystone for recruiting for years, and for good reason: They work! Sign-up nights give parents and youth an opportunity to get to know Scouting at a personal level, face-to-face. Questions are answered, interest is built, and parents see how Scouting is for families like theirs, no matter what that family may look like.
Unit Incentives for Membership Growth
Incentives will be given to the Unit key 3 (Charter Representative, Committee Chair, Unit leader: CM, SM, Advisor, Skipper) and the unit membership/recruitment lead.
Once the unit has achieved a specific growth level all other members of the unit can purchase the incentives.
- 10% Growth and hold a Sign-Up-Night event at your school for Packs or an Open House for older programs – South Texas Council Home Run for Scouting Council Strip Patch.
- 20% Growth – South Texas Council Home run for Scouting Rally Towel.
- 30% Growth – South Texas Council Home run for Scouting Jersey Shirt.
- 40% Growth – South Texas Council Home run for Scouting Baseball hat.
- 50% Growth – South Texas Council Home run for Scouting Day Backpack.
A free collector’s edition youth recruiter patch is available for all youth who recruit a new youth* into Scouting between August 1st and November 30th. (*new youth must be registered to qualify)
SOCIAL MEDIA CALENDAR
One of the best ways to reach families today is through social media. For many of us, the hard part is determining what and when to post. Here’s a calendar of social media posts to help you get started.
Resources for Digital Recruiting “Be Prepared, Marketing, and Communication”
Be Prepared – Learn how to use the new digital resources now
1. Membership & Marketing Hub – This is a National website focused on giving volunteers the skills and resources needed to promote Scouting in a digital environment.
- Click Here for Great resources to help your unit market themselves, as well as get more members involved!
2. BSA Brand Center – This National website is full of great new videos and tools that you can use on your pack’s Facebook Page, website etc. Check out the Fall Recruiting Videos under the Cub Scouts tab for great videos to utilize on social media. https://scouting.webdamdb.com/bp/#/
3. Be A Scout
- Update your contacts – Be A Scout is a great tool, providing that your pack’s contact information is current so people can reach you. Take some time today to ensure that your www.beascout.org pin is updated and your contact information is correct.
- Make sure online applications are active for youth / adult – Making it easy to apply online is key for a successful digital recruiting campaign. Check out the Unit Guidebook for Online Registration to see how to utilize the online registration system.
4. Geofencing. What is it – Geofencing is an online marketing tool which uses cellphone-based proximity to advertise directly to a particular market group. Generally done through apps like Facebook and Twitter, Geofencing places an invisible fence around a geographic location and, when someone in the market group enters that location, sends them a message through their social media platform. To see more about how geofencing works, check out this video: https://youtu.be/KKsUhpzbTc
Marketing
Get the word out that it’s time to Sign Up for Scouting! This year’s fantastic new digital resources won’t do much for your pack’s recruiting efforts if you don’t market your pack in the community. Grassroots marketing will be your best friend here, so don’t be afraid to put out those resources and get creative! Some of the best ways to do this are to:
- See if the principal will send home a message (or better yet our digital flyer)
- Yard signs galore.
- Posters – Fun, colorful posters in community centers, coffee shops, and just around town are still an extremely effective tool.
- Social Media (Facebook, Twitter, Nextdoor) – Blast your social media pages.
Communication
Make sure each new family is welcomed with personal follow up! This whole recruiting effort will be a waste of time if packs don’t follow up quickly with the families that sign up online. Make it a point to have a Welcome Meeting as your first Zoom meeting of the fall. New parents can go through a short orientation, while the new Scouts participate in a household scavenger hunt!
Unit Recruitment Resources
The council can provide customize flyers, yard signs, and posters. Contact your district executive or the council office at 1-361-814-4300 ext. 117 to order materials.
Year Round Membership Recruitment
Recruitment efforts take place throughout the year. Scouting units conduct a coordinated effort to enroll new members in the fall. The spring campaign focuses on recruiting youth that are kindergarten through 5th grades.
The Scouts in troops, crews, ships and posts typically recruit other youth. Recruiting events are put on by packs, troops, crews and ships throughout the local community. Studies have shown that families/youth prefer to attend meetings at their school, and in their neighborhood. This will help ensure that every youth is invited to join Scouting.
Our main objective is to give multiple joining opportunities to ensure that every youth is invited to join Scouting, and to fulfill our promise to new Scouts for a great Scouting program. Adventure is Calling – Join Scouting!
Put your unit on the map
Update your unit information with your new unit leaders, and make it EASY for new Scouting families to find you.
Sign into MyScouting
Under “Unit Tools” select BeAScout
Select “Unit Pin Management”
Update your unit information
If you are the current unit leader and are unable to update your unit pin, please contact your district executive or the council registrar and ensure that you are currently registered as the Cubmaster or committee chair.
