This makes me think of "same store sales" that retail has to report. It would be better for them to report each one of the programs with chipmunks broken out. They obviously won't do that.
That is what the Chipmunk rank expansion is for -- to boost the numbers up before the end of 2026. Allowing everyone to recharter in February also means that membership numbers from year end 2026 now through to whatever the new recharter grace period is (May?) will be inflated. That means that in 2027, unless Chipmunk completely fails or numbers really continue to trend down and tank, we will likely be seeing and hearing of claims of membership growth.
My bet is that the number includes multiples. So, a Cub Scout that crosses over this year counts as two memberships.
A Scout in a Troop who is also a Venturer counts as two memberships.
I suspect it also includes all those who were on the rolls until recently. That is, if a youth had a renewal due in early 2026, but did not renew, they still count as a youth served in the program for the year.
It would be telling to see a breakdown of the criteria for inclusion into the 887K number.
I'd bet that net is as wide as possible