Three Harbors Council, BSA
330 South 84th Street
Milwaukee, WI 53214-1468
414-774-1776
www.ThreeHarborsScouting.org
Three Harbors Council - ContentResourcesCub Scout Recruitment Resources OLD

Cub Scout School Night Resources

School Night for Scouting is your Pack's best chance to engage new Cub Scouts and families in your program. This page is your one-stop location for all the council and national resources you need to set your Pack up for a great School Night program this fall! We're here to support you in your effort to bring new Cub Scouts and families into your Pack.


2020 FALL MEMBERSHIP PLAN: Retain, Recruit, Reach Out

We know this fall's recruitment campaign is probably going to look different that it has in the past.  With that in mind, we've modified our membership plan this fall to focus on retaining our current Cub Scouts, recruiting at the unit level wherever possible and providing district recruitment events to support those units that may need some extra help, and reaching out in new ways and utilizing more resources available to use that we may not be vary familiar with at this time.  Download the one-page 2020 Fall Membership Plan here and take the action steps outlined to support growth in Scouting in your unit!


National Webinars

In the summer of 2020, National BSA is conducting a series of webinars to help every Pack plan to successfully recruit new Cub Scouts.  Sign-up for upcoming webinars or view past webinars and slide decks by clicking here.
  • July 9, 2020 - Tech Edition: BeAScout.org, Invitation Manager
  • July 23, 2020 - Geofencing, Search, Social Media, Peer-to-Peer Recruiting
  • October 14, 2020 - Restarting Cub Scouting Safely & Recruiting Ideas that Work

Council Resources

Text to Join - New recruitment tool

Text "Join BSA" to 31996 to send your new Cub Scout families to register online quickly!  An auto reply text message appears and drives interested families to BeAScout.org.  Families can search for your pack by zip code and start the sign-up process right away.  Make sure your new families can find your pack on BeAScout.org.

Recruit at an upcoming Den Meeting

School Night Promotion Material

You can order flyers, posters, yard signs, and buddy cards from the council at no cost to your unit to support your School Night efforts.  Please allow five (5) business days to complete your production request.

If your School Night material order is received at least four (4) weeks prior to your School Night event, the council will use your School Night information to establish a Facebook event on the council Facebook page that will be geofenced to advertise your recruitment event digitally.

Recruitment Material Request Form


BeAScout.org

Manage your unit pin on BeAScout.org to make sure someone looking for information on your unit find the most accurate information available.  Your unit pin is managed by select adult members (the unit Key 3) of your unit through their personal My.Scouting.org account.

Instructional videos and guides for all aspects of updating your BeAScout pin, configuring online registration, and utilizing Invitation Manager and Application Manager are available at the BSA's Online Registration page.

Any unit that updates their BeAScout pin between June 1, 2020 and September 30, 2020 will be entered into a drawing for a chance to win a $500 Scout Shop Gift card, or one of five $100 Scout Shop Gift cards!


Peer-to-Peer Recruiting

The best recruiters we have are every one of our current Scouts.  If a current Scout invites one of his or her friends to join Scouts, the friend is more likely to join Cub Scouts as compared to every other marketing effort we put into recruitment.

This fall, any Scout that recruits a friend to join Scouting between September 1, 2020 and November 30, 2020 will get a special, one-of-a-kind recruiting patch.  Scouts that recruit a new friend to Cub Scouts will fill out a Google Form, with the help of their parents, to tell us who they are, where they live, and who they recruited.

All newly recruited youth must be registered with the council by November 30, 2020 for the recruiter to be eligible to receive his/her patch.  Patches will be mailed to Scouts in early December upon verification of new Scout registrations and total patch quantity needed.  Scouts that recruit multiple people will be eligible to receive one patch per Scout recruited.

Order your Peer-to-Peer Recruiting cards from the council here:
 

Go to Google Forms to tell us who you've recruited to join Scouting!



Additional Recruiting Tools

Kids and parents everywhere are looking for a program that offers fun, adventure, and character-building opportunities.  Cub Scouts is that program!

There are so many resources available at your fingertips to support your efforts to grow your Cub Scout Pack.  Take a look at what you have access to from the BSA:

  • Online Registration - The Boy Scouts of America offers on online application process for youth and adults that can be completed from start to finish without a single piece of paper changing hands.
  • Program Planning Resources - Calendars, notebooks and program planning charts to assist you in planning unit programs for this Scouting year!
  • Fall Cub Scout Family Fun Days - Join us on September 26 or October 3 to experience some of the fun things Cub Scouts can do!  Current Cub Scouts and their families AND NEW Cub Scouts and their families are invited to come to camp!
  • Haunted Woods - A special Halloween attraction at Camp Oh-Da-Ko-Ta. A 40-minute walking tour of the camp.

Recruitment Idea Books

         Cub Scouts                     Scouts BSA                         Venturing                        Sea Scouts                        Exploring

                                    


Contingency Plans for Recruitment Efforts in Fall 2020

As we look ahead to the fall of 2020, we must be committed to enrolling new members in every one of our Cub Scout Packs as well as re-engaging our current members.  At the same time, we have to understand that the way we do that will probably be different than we're used to and that we cannot simply not recruit because we can't do some of the things that we're accustomed to being able to do!

Our staff is committed to helping share some different ideas about using alternative promotion methods and recruitment events.  We also want to hear from you about some of the different and unique ideas you want to try to bring new members into your Pack.  There are going to be things that you try that haven't yet been thought of that we will want to share with others to help them recruit new Cub Scouts!

Below is a flow chart for various scenarios that our staff is following to plan for best case and contingencies if we can't use our best case scenarios (click here to download the contingency plan flowchart):

INTERACTION OPPORTUNITY BEST CASE IF NOT, WHAT NEXT? FIRST CONTINGENCY IF NOT, WHAT NEXT? SECOND CONTINGENCY
School Open House / Meet the Teacher Information Table attended by Unit Representative (in-person) in building or outdoors Information Table attended by School Representative (Teacher / Parent / PTA, etc.) Information Table set-up with Unit flyers unattended
School Night for Scouting Location Conducted in-person at school either inside building of outdoors (playground, ball field, courtyard, etc.) Conducted in-person at alternate site near school (church, community center, city park, etc.) Conducted virtually (Zoom, Google Hangout, etc.)
Scout Talks (Classroom style) At school, field staff member or unit volunteer promotes Scouting with 2-3 minute talk (in-person) Live Scout Talk by field staff member or unit volunteer to promote Scouting (Zoom, Google Classroom, etc.) Pre-recorded Scout Talk video played by school staff / teachers and/or virtually (Zoom, Google Classroom, etc.)
Scout Talks (Lunchroom style) At school, field staff member or unit volunteer promotes Scouting with 2-3 minute talk (in-person) Live Scout Talk by field staff member or unit volunteer to promote Scouting (Zoom, Google Classroom, etc.) Pre-recorded Scout Talk video played by school staff / teachers and/or virtually (Zoom, Google Classroom, etc.)
Scout Talks (Assembly style) At school, field staff member or unit volunteer promotes Scouting with 3-5 minute talk (in-person) Live Scout Talk by field staff member or unit volunteer to promote Scouting (Zoom, Google Classroom, etc.) Pre-recorded Scout Talk video played by school staff / teachers and/or virtually (Zoom, Google Classroom, etc.)
Promotion Materials - Flyers Distribute hard copy (paper) flyers directly to students in school Ask school to distribute hard copy (paper) flyers to students Ask school to distribute soft copy (electronic file) to students
Promotion Material - Buddy Cards Distribute directly to students at school by current Cub Scouts to potential Cub Scouts Email & text invitations from current parents / Cub Scouts to potential Cub Scouts    
Promotion Material - Yard Signs Place on school property Place on Scout family yards near school    
Promotion Material - Posters Display at school Place in city parks    
Promotion Material - Council Facebook Geofencing Your Pack's School Night as an event on council Facebook page to promote to potential Cub Scouts        
Promotion Material - Unit Social Media Your Pack's School Night as an event on unit's Facebook page to promote to potential Cub Scouts        
Promotion Material - Direct Mail Parent request for school directory to mail School Night information directly to families        
School Announcements Part of daily announcements via loud speaker system (audio only) and/or closed circuit TV (video)        
School Marquee / Sign School Night Date message running on marquee or on sign        
School Newsletter Provide Pack School Night information to school for inclusion        
School Social Media Provide Pack School Night information to school for inclusion        
School Phone / Text Service Provide Pack School Night information to school for inclusion        
PTA Newsletter Provide Pack School Night information to PTA for inclusion        
PTA Social Media Provide Pack School Night information to PTA for inclusion        

Three Harbors Council, Boy Scouts of America  I  330 South 84th Street, Milwaukee, WI 53214-1468

414.774.1776