A steady flow of youth into a Scout troop is essential to maintaining the troop’s health. New Scouts bring energy and enthusiasm to the troop program.
When it comes to attracting and retaining new members, the prerequisite focus for all troops is to ensure their program is delivering the promise of Scouting—the Scouts enjoy fun monthly outings, awesome long-term opportunities, and dynamic weekly meetings.
Having an effective year-round growth plan in place will help attract new Scouts. A helpful step for any recruitment effort is to appoint a troop committee member to serve as the troop membership chair. This person will develop and implement a year-round growth plan that incorporates all methods of recruitment, working closely with Cub Scout packs in the community, the district membership committee, and the unit commissioner.
Generally, there are three methods of recruiting new Scouts into troops. A good year-round recruiting plan addresses all three:
- Graduate Webelos Scouts into a Scout Troop – (year-round sequence from August through July)
- Host a Troop Open House – (sequential activity list from February through May)
- Youth and Recruitment — Encourage Scout-to-Recruit Others – (sequential list of activities from September through December)