TRAINING TIP

Recruiting Success
Bill Smith, the Roundtable Guy

I know what you’re thinking:

No, Bill, we won’t be recruiting until September. That’s still four months away.

That is exactly my point. You are already late, so you had better start working on it!

Recruiting must come before anything else.  Before program planning, before pack meetings, before den meetings, service projects or outings you have to get the boys and the leaders. Good, solid recruiting is the foundation, upon which, everything else you do as a Cub Scout leader rests. If your recruiting is weak, your whole program for the coming year is built on shifting sand.

There is much that can be done, should be done and must be done if your pack is looking for lots of fun, adventure and success next year. If you haven’t started to plan your Recruiting Drive, start now!

Plan to be Visible

No one is going to show up at your Recruiting Night if they don’t know you exist. Between now and then, get out and be seen. Start your planning by considering the possibilities to be seen by the families you want to recruit.

Think parades on Memorial Day and the Fourth of July. Where do families in your neighborhood gather in the spring and summer? Be there, in uniform with flags, banners and anything else that tells people who you are and what you stand for. Don’t be shy. We have a fabulous program for them. Let them know about it.

How about holding a picnic in a local park with lots of active games, and a rain gutter regatta. Or host a bicycle rodeo and invite everyone from your neighborhood elementary school. Keep planting the seed that your pack is there, you are active and the boys have fun.

Service projects, sleep-ins at ball parks, museums and other places where you can be seen by local residents all help. A leader recently told us that their pack goes to minor league baseball games where they do the color guard (and they try to pick a night with fireworks.)

Another posted this on Yahoo’s Cub-Scout-Talk forum:We had a very successful recruiting year last year. What we did was on the open house/back to school nights we had a campsite set up that the kids and parents walked by on their way into the school. We set up a tent, some camp chairs, had some boys in their uniforms, a fake campfire, the works. It got a lot of attention. Then at the beginning of the open house we led a flag ceremony. Our school also has various vendors (PTA, school fundraiser companies, scouts) set up in the cafeteria. This is where we placed our sign up table. On our table we had literature as well as some pinewood derby cars, pictures, scrapbooks, brag rags, you name it-- things to get the attention of the boys. Last year was the first year we did the opening and camp set up and our recruiting more than doubled.

This all didn’t happen by accident. There were excellent leaders and committee members who planned it and then worked hard to make it happen.

And, of course you too will need the names of who is going to run each item and bring all those props and displays. Who will promote it and who will do the necessary paperwork? Spread the jobs around. You will need lots of help but it will all be worth it.

Plan to Inform

The Boy Scouts of America has all sort of material to tell the world about us. Your DE should be able to supply you with yard signs, pamphlets, posters and other neat gimmicks. There are good lists at the Cub Scouting Recruiting and Online Resources. There are all sorts of things on those pages that your council can get for you.

Be sure to visit Bill’s website http://www.wtsmith.com/rt to find more ideas on everything Cub Scouting.