Re: BSA membership levels.
John Waidner (jtwaidner@IQUEST.NET)
Mon, 27 Feb 1995 22:26:00 EST
Tom Granvold responding to Lynn Whited writes:
> There is a graph that I've seen for the Santa Clara County Council...
Do others know
>if the rest of the country has seen similar membership numbers?
>
I'm not convinced that adult participation is necessarily declining as a
result of adults specifically deciding to avoid volunteerism. My own
experience has been that for the most part they haven't been asked to help.
Very few come up to you and volunteer. When I took over as Pack CC last
August it was from a CC who seemed to want to keep the pack jobs within the
committee. The only event that was farmed out was the B&G. I was "struck"
with the Space Derby event on one week's notice. When she left town I got
volunteered for the CC job.
Early on our DR told me not to keep everything in the committee but to get
volunteers. Well, I was new and cold calling people is not something I feel
especially good about or am very good at, but I was able to get enough
volunteers for five dens and a CM, but not an ACM. After a couple of
committee meetings it was obvious that there were going to be no more
volunteers coming to us so we decided to go to the parents. We "targeted"
one Dad for Popcorn Chair and he accepted. He did a great job! Our pack's
contribution to the popcorn sale was twice what it was in 1993. We
"targeted" two more people for the B&G (held tonight). 120 people attended
the B&G and things went much better than the previous year. Two more people
were approached and are handling Scouting For Food. We have "targeted"
three additional folks for Derby Day, and I expect that event to go smoothly
also.
The bottom line is that most parents will accept assignments for specific
jobs, especially if they have sufficient time to plan and prepare. Perhaps
the San Jose area council troops and packs just need to get better at
carving out specific responsibilities and identifying specific people to
handle those jobs. It has worked for us. In each case, the "volunteers"
have volunteered to do the job next time. The key will be to get the newer
parents to assist with the "next time" so that we can build some continuity.
Sorry to go on so long. Hope this has been some help.
John Waidner
CC, Pack 132
Carmel, IN
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