FOS & SNS

Carl,
FOS stands for "Friends of Scouting" which is the annual pledge drive of the
BSA. Local councils solicit donations from businesses and individuals in the
community, while units are asked to get them from families associated with
the unit, or friends of the unit. FOS is one of the major sources of the
council's operating funds. As allocations from the United Way decrease, the
emphasis on FOS increases.

SNS (sometimes SNFS or SN4S) stands for "School Night for Scouting." This is
the major annual recruiting drive of the BSA. It is held shortly after
school begins in the fall and consentrates mostly on Cub Scouting. Its
effectiveness depends largely on cooperation between the local council and
the school districts within its operating area. In our area, most of the
schools will only allow a professional Scouter in to the schools to talk to
the youth.

The discussion recently concerns the fact that some councils have a warped
sence of their mission. One of the council's main focuses is to support the
BSA program as implemented by local volunteers in the units. They do this
using money from the United Way and their FOS campaign. In some councils the
pros use SN4S as a carrot to get units to support FOS since SN4S is one of
the most effective recruiting methods and can often only be done with the
support of the council. The logic of that situation is not very sound since
without a successful SN4S there would eventually be no need for FOS.

YIS
Anthony J. Mako, ajmako@nls.net ,Scoutmaster, Troop 381
http://members.aol.com/Scouts381/ "Home of the Unofficial Boy Scout Desktop
Theme!"
Great Trail Council - Akron, Ohio

"I used to be an Eagle (C-7-97), but I'll always be an Eagle (1981)"

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