Ojoman

For the last 30 years there have been elements that objected to various 'values' expressed by the BSA and their Chartered Partners which resulted in activists dragging the BSA into court at great expense. At the same time the BSA was slow to respond to social changes. This resulted in declines in membership and losses from certain funding sources including many United Way agencies. More recently the BSA went through a major court case that awarded over 2.4 Billion in damages of which Lawyers will get about 1 Billion. It was easier and more profitable to sue the BSA instead of going after indiv

35 years ago, nor really so long ago... we rebuilt a pack that had limped along with a dozen or so kids. We started with half a dozen families but we set the bar high. We built a GREAT program and had the expectation that the parents JOINED with their kids. We had family involved events, field trips and activities. We included the sisters in many things back before they could be members. Today with blended program it is easier to do. Eventually it was apparent to families that joined that parents were part of the pack. The family that plays together in Cubbing stays together in Cubbing.

IMHO There have been too many mergers of councils and districts. Over my years as a member of the BSA profession I learned that of all my goals and 'critical achievements' the easiest ones to manage were my finance goals. Frankly, there is a lot of $$$ out there but some professionals are either too incompetent or to untrained to go out and get it. Here they merged 3 councils into one in recent years and went from 11 districts down to 3. The geography is daunting and in my district we now have around 19 school districts with over 50 elementary and middle schools not counting parochial, charter

My personal opinion on Tigers and Lions is that the BSA was in a membership decline and they needed to pump up the numbers and the registration dollars going to National. Yes, some people complained that the GSA started in kindergarten but honestly, we did not have membership growth in our core programs since the 70's when you compare apples to apples. Total growth was achieved by increasing the market by lowering the ages/grades to enter the program. Leaders now need to keep a families interest for 5 1/2 years instead of 3 or 4. A well run pack with strong, creative leadership can be successf

My kids were/are the nintendo/atari generation and that was just as exciting to them as the games and internet is to todays kids. My grandson doesn't have to invite his friends over, they play on the internet. That said, he is often bored as the games are no longer so novel even though the graphics are far superior to what my kids had. Our neighborhood/school district offered all the present distractions of multiple sports programs and the local cub pack had folded (twice in 2 years). My kids were coming of cub age and I contacted the Scout office and we held a sign up at the school in January

I suppose that sometimes stress can cause tempers to flare but it doesn't matter if it is a professional or a volunteer doing the screaming/cursing, there is really no place in the program for that type of behavior. An out of character outburst might be excused once but if that behavior is the norm it needs to be called out and corrected. You are correct that volunteers being subjected to that will leave and understandably so.

Years ago, as a council professional, I ran the entire cub summer program from a dozen day camps/firefly camps to 3 webelos and 3 cub parent weekends. One of my key volunteers (yes, every camp was run by volunteers) asked me, 'do you know why we all give up so much to do this?' and I said, 'Because you believe in the program'. And she said, 'No, it's because you thank us'. I think all of my volunteers knew that I both needed and treasured them. I learned the value of THANKS my first year in great part due to an outstanding council exec. But that is a longer story...

Some (and perhaps much) of what you pointed out can be found in many districts/councils. We need to remember that 90% or more of program happens in the troop or pack. Enjoyable meetings and activities where the kids grow in the program with their friends should be the primary focus of unit leaders. The district and council can supply some experiences such as camporees and long term camp or family camp but the kids and their parents join and stay when their needs and interests are being met monthly. The council needs the units and should be supporting the volunteers and always in a positive way

Sadly, most troops and packs today have the minimum number of volunteers to keep a charter. Often the unit leader and assistants wear multiple hats at the unit level as committee members. We end up 'burning them out' by over working them and when they leave there is no one to replace them. The best folks for district leadership are often those whose kids have graduated from the program. They too often just figure their kid is out and so they 'drop our' too. Many, if asked, would serve. My dad became a unit commissioner after I 'graduated' from the troop and went off to college. We need to sal

The UK has launched a massive campaign to recruit adults. I looked up my councils 990 forms on line and found that we have lost around 70+% of our registered adult leaders in the 4 years running up to 2022. It's pretty simple, no leaders, no program. I also read a copy of my councils 2022 membership plan issued in January of that year which called for each district to have a functioning membership committee. To date I don't think any of the 3 districts even have a chairman let alone a committee. The report was impressive (see attached) with a lot of good, even great information but unless impl

With a roughly 50 year history of membership declines behind us, the losses of donors and United Way/corporate support from the leadership standards issues of the 80's to early 2000's and more recently the huge negative campaign of the past several years by law firms that resulted in the bankruptcy and loss of trust on the part of many of our chartered partners not to mention the withdrawal of the LDS church and the impact that COVID had, I have to question the ability of BSA to recover. With the dramatically increased costs of registration, uniforms and supplies and activities, it would

Back 20 +/- years ago funding agencies such as the United Way were lobbied to terminate support and many did. In Philadelphia the council lost their office that the Scouts built on city property with a promise of perpetual use when the city pulled the rug out from under them. Here in Syracuse we lost over 100k and that forced cutbacks in the LFL and Scoutreach programs. Scoutreach hurt the most. Some folks felt that our stance was political in nature and dropped us while others left after we changed our policy feeling we 'sold out'. It was a 'can't win' scenario. The BSA was caught between a r

My understanding is that the National registration fee has been increasing as part of the settlement agreement. Local councils in years past were not permitted to add to the registration fees but as councils lost donors and income due to the National controversies with LGBTQ as they went after our donors and then the costs of the bankruptcy councils were allowed modest additions for things like accident/liability surcharges. In more recent years those restrictions have been loosened and councils that do a good job raising funds have added little or no increases to the National fee while counc

Sounds good... our pack tended to gain at the higher grades as friends of our Cubs would join so it wasn't unusual to have as many or more Webelos and AOL's than Tigers or Wolves. At one point we split off a 30+ pack at a neighboring church. The pack still grew to over 100 cubs when we had to move on. Strong program that grew with the Cubs and keeping in the habit of program over the summer were two great keys. There were others like 100% Boy's (now Scout) Life and a mini 'High Adventure' for the AOL's in the spring.

My question would be how well do you retain cubs? My son's pack had basically 100% retention from Tigers (pre lions) to crossover. We only dropped families that physically moved from the area. Most packs membership is pyramid shaped with a lot of k and 1's a bit fewer grade 2 & 3 and fewer still at 4 & 5. I would consider 80% retention a decent job and 90%+ excellent. Maintaining size by recruiting a number each year to replace drops is like trying to fill up a bucket full of holes. Unless the new recruits are offsetting the crossovers there may be a quality issue which would include n

Monthly activities are a start but maintaining the 'habit' of regular participation is very valuable. My sons pack ran a full program 12 months of the year. Yes, some families missed a den/pack meeting/activity now and then but families don't generally go away for 12 weeks or more. As a result, we didn't drop members and in fact we gained members by being active. Regarding program planning, we had the key leaders put together a 12 month program and present it to all the families for approval. Because we had multiple den/pack events each month every cub earned the pack summertime award. I

Check this out: https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=563464852479447&set=a.547497750742824 EFFECTIVE SEPT 1 ALL ADULTS ATTENDING OVERNIGHT EVENTS/ACTIVITIES OF OVER 72 HOURS MUST BE IN A FEE PAID ADULT LEADER POSITION. Many units do activities that span over 72 hours such as the Gettysburg Historic Trails program that may take a long holiday weekend. This will mean that parents that wish to accompany the group must now cough up a fee paid registration. My sons unit had a dad n lad Gettysburg trip from Friday to Monday on the Memorial Day weekend or once the school term end

I suppose that a pack and or new families could opt for the red vest as a uniform, at least initially. If a pack has someone that sews, just make a pattern and buy red felt with a 50j% or 60% off coupon and bang out a bunch. Simple enough. Since most kids join in the Sept/Oct timeframe Christmas is right around the corner and you might suggest that parents opt to get uniform parts a Christmas gifts instead of a lot of the 'junk' that ends up played with once and then gathers dust.

It's great to see the families attend a Scout Sunday service. Our pack promoted the religious awards program and had the awards presented at a service... not all the kids were the same faith so it was quite ecumenical. Adding a religious awards program (most faiths offer two awards for cubs, one for younger and one for Webelos) is a fairly inexpensive way to expand program and provide both fun and recognition.

Every unit has a Chartered Partner Rep and they are voting members of the council. If the problem is big en;ough, get the CR's together and go rock the boat. You have nothing to lose.

Today it is not unusual for a Council Scout Exec to be compensated (benefits & salary) at a quarter of a million or more. A really great SE is worth that and more. A board that invests that much in a council exec should expect performance. I have worked for both great council execs and for really bad ones. Councils that consistently lose membership, merge districts, cut staff and run in the red or constantly raise less money year after year probably have a leadership problem. Councils that hold their own in difficult times and grow and rise to the challenges probably have solid leadership.

BSA fees effective August 2022 and they will be going up $75 for Cub Scouts, Scouts BSA, Venturing and Sea Scouts participants ($3 increase) $45 for Exploring participants (no change in cost) $30 for council-paid memberships (no change in cost) $45 for all adult volunteers (no change in cost, includes cost of background check) $100 for a unit charter/affiliation fee ($25 increase) CUB SCOUT UNIFORM Hat 22.99 Shirt

Sounds good... my sons den and pack met through the summer. The dens did work on advancement (those items best done outdoors and in the summer) and the dens did field trips to places that a whole pack couldn't go. Our den toured the ground radar control at the airport and got to sit in a passenger plane including visiting the cockpit, they made their own pan pizzas at a local pizza shop and did a lot of other 'stuff'. The pack had a graduation ceremony in June and everyone moved up to the next level. Monthly pack meetings were at parks and one at the council camp. We did nature hikes (creek wa

As volunteers, we can't do much to control registration costs but we can impact program costs. In the Longhouse Council we have some unique things which frankly any council can have. We have a 'museum' committee and they started a 'hole in the wall' museum years ago. It attracted some good scouter followers and they ended up raising funds to build the modern 2,500 sf William Hillcourt Museum. Recently that group of volunteers agreed to create a new local Erie Canal Historic Award program that is low cost and we are having a free event in May to encourage youths to earn the award and other reco

I never thought that the BSA did a good job in dealing with the lawsuits. 90 % of the claims were over 30 years old. The BSA executives generally were dealing with 2nd and 3rd hand information and there were no mandatory reporting laws, national background checks and/or protections for those that reported from defamation suits. It was a different time and those claims should have been made against the perps or their estates, not the BSA. I know the lengths that the BSA went to with their ineligible volunteer files (prior to national background checks) to protect kids and the BSA. We did more t