"New for 2016, the Cradle of Liberty Council will be offering the opportunity for units to apply for membership grants to support unit recruitment and retention efforts."

• Cub Scout packs, Boy Scout troops, Varsity Scout teams, Venturing crews, and Sea Scout ships are eligible to apply through their unit leader (Cubmaster, Scoutmaster, coach, advisor, or skipper) and unit committee chair.
• Grants are to assist with expenses related to membership that might not otherwise qualify for financial assistance.
• Projects must have measurable outcomes.
• Units that have their grant applications approved by the council membership committee will be awarded a maximum of $500 per year.

More conditions here.

https://www.colbsa.org/rocket-into-scouting/membership/membership-grants.html

 

Are other councils offering this financial help?

Nope. Nothing here.

 

Wonder where the money is coming from.

Here is what our council offers our units:

 

$10.00 for Boosting Your Recruiting Event on Facebook!

Get a $10.00 credit to your Scout Unit's Council Account when you spend $10.00 Promoting your recruiting event on Facebook!

Steps to earning your $10.00 credit:

 

1. Create Your Event
Learn How Here
https://www.facebook.com/help/210413455658361/?ref=u2u

2. Promote Your Event
Learn How Here
https://www.facebook.com/business/help/380628382074604

2A - Use the Tips Below on Audience, Budget and Scheduling to maximize your reach!
 
3. After your Event, send screenshots or page prints of your ad campaign showing expenses of $10.00 or more along with your unit type and number to [email protected]

4. Receive credit to your Unit's Council Account in 7 to 10 days!

Choosing Your Ad Audience

Choosing your target audience can be complicated. Marketing experts have determined the ideal audience for recruiting Scouts.

Locations: Choose your unit's zip code.
(Be sure to limit the radius to 10 miles or less)
Age: Choose 25 to 49
Gender: Choose Women
More Demographics: Find Parents in the drop-down list and choose Moms

Choosing Your Ad Budget

Choose a Lifetime Budget of $10.00 or more.
Schedule your ad to run for several days prior to the event (Ten days is a good choice).
Use the Estimated Daily Reach on the right side to help you determine budget and schedule.

Free Ways to Boost

While your ad is running, share the event on your page about every other day. Post it with a comment such as "Please Like and Share" or "Please spread the word"

Share the event on friends pages (only once!), and in yard sale groups or other community groups that would permit such a post.

Event Images
If you're struggling for images, try these http://www.scouting.org/Home/Marketing/Recruiting_Build/Cub_English/social.aspx





 

Have fun recruiting all those new Scouts!

The only thing I got from my council was from a DE requesting money to buy banners (2' x 3') for recruiting.

The DE wanted to buy one banner for each division (Cubs, Boy Scouts, Venturing, Sea Scouts, Explorers) and enough sets for every district.

 

FYI - They got enough money donated to buy the banners (~$600)

I wonder what the grants would be used for? Printing banners or posters? Defraying dues? (But that last one might not qualify under the second bullet-point in RS's post.)

 

I do not know of anything like this but I am not directly involved in recruiting.

All I did was ask my DE for some recruiting materials I could use and voila, a bin showed up with all kinds of things from banners to application forms.  Didn't cost me a dime.

All I did was ask my DE for some recruiting materials I could use and voila, a bin showed up with all kinds of things from banners to application forms.  Didn't cost me a dime.

We ask for fliers. Got them two days late, wrong address and misspellings all over.

 

We don't trust them to do what we can do faster, cheaper and more accurately.