Have a few questions on designing an Eagle Project proposal

[eaglequestions2018]

Hello everyone, I have read this forum for a while but this is my first time signing up and posting! I have been having conversations with my adviser discussing Eagle Scout project ideas, and there were a couple questions that we could not come up with an answer to. The first: how specific would an Eagle Project have to be in its scope? This seems like a basic question but ended up getting more complex. For example, would a project to "boost community engagement and connections to the community" through a variety of specific methods be good enough, or does there have to be a single specific goal? I really have no idea, but based on how various beautification projects with multiple components get approved, I have been assuming taking a general approach is fine. The other question: how many beneficiaries can an Eagle Project have? One of my proposals has the town government as the main beneficiary, but one part of the project involves recruiting volunteers for local nonprofits in need of help. Would all the possible benefiting organizations need to sign off on the project, or is a signature from the main beneficiary enough?

Edited March 3, 2018 by eaglequestions2018

[ItsBrian]

I’m assuming you are a youth?

So am I!

I just completed my project in September 2017. The proposal you want to be detailed, but not to detailed since you still have to explain all your plans to the council person. 

I wouldn’t say in my opinion recruiting volunteers isn’t really a “project that will benefit the community”, I would personally remove that aspect and just do it as a troop activity. 

There should only one beneficiary (as far as I know), since the project is meant to benefit usually one organization. 

May I ask what your complete project would be?

 

[eaglequestions2018]

Hey, thanks for the response.

So, The goal is to boost civic engagement in general, to increase the connection that people in my town feel to their community, and volunteering with groups in the area would be one way of doing that in addition to increasing the voter participation rate and their general knowledge of town issues. The main part of the project was a plan to create a nonpartisan voter guide for the upcoming town election, similar to what the League of Women Voters does in various towns. It would include candidate positions on some generic questions like "What is the number one issue facing the town?" plus general voting information. I also decided to try and boost participation in various non-profits in town as a way to expand the scope of the project and make it fit better with what I am trying to do. There's a few more things I can do such as hosting a debate and voter registration drive, but that would have the same beneficiary - the town government, through the town clerk's office. Is this sort of multifaceted approach OK, and would I need every organization's signature if I did it this way?

[ItsBrian]

1 minute ago, eaglequestions2018 said:

Hey, thanks for the response.

So, The goal is to boost civic engagement in general, to increase the connection that people in my town feel to their community, and volunteering with groups in the area would be one way of doing that in addition to increasing the voter participation rate and their general knowledge of town issues. The main part of the project was a plan to create a nonpartisan voter guide for the upcoming town election, similar to what the League of Women Voters does in various towns. It would include candidate positions on some generic questions like "What is the number one issue facing the town?" plus general voting information. I also decided to try and boost participation in various non-profits in town as a way to expand the scope of the project and make it fit better with what I am trying to do. There's a few more things I can do such as hosting a debate and voter registration drive, but that would have the same beneficiary - the town government, through the town clerk's office. Is this sort of multifaceted approach OK, and would I need every organization's signature if I did it this way?

This is just my opinion, but I don’t know if this would be approved due to it not benefiting a organization. It’s more political than helping. 

If it somehow does get approved, you’ll need everyone’s signature probably. You can always ask your council or district eagle chair.

 

I would make sure to always have a backup plan.

 

Edited March 3, 2018 by ItsBrian

[eaglequestions2018]

For what it's worth, I have seen other councils approve projects like this. Read about a number of people whose Eagle Project was to organize and conduct a voter registration drive, as well as a few towns that specifically encouraged Eagle Scout candidates when they came forward with a plan to make a voter information guide. My scoutmaster does seem to like the project and thinks it would be acceptable as long as enough leadership is shown, heard something similar from a different adult leader too. But those questions about the beneficiaries and general nature of the project still remain.

 

Edited March 3, 2018 by eaglequestions2018

[ItsBrian]

2 minutes ago, eaglequestions2018 said:

For what it's worth, I have seen other councils approve projects like this. Read about a number of people whose Eagle Project was to organize and conduct a voter registration drive, as well as a few towns that specifically encouraged Eagle Scout candidates when they came forward with a plan to make a voter information guide. 

Gotcha. How is the city government the main beneficiary when you are helping organizations promote voting?

[eaglequestions2018]

It's not the organizations that are promoting voting; they're just food banks, groups spreading awareness about various conditions, the town TV station, etc and my goal was to get them volunteers in order to give people a better "sense of connection" with the community.

In those other towns I mentioned it was often the Town Clerk's office or a designated Town Council contact that was in charge of approving projects like this.

[ItsBrian]

4 minutes ago, eaglequestions2018 said:

It's not the organizations that are promoting voting; they're just food banks, groups spreading awareness about various conditions, the town TV station, etc and my goal was to get them volunteers in order to give people a better "sense of connection" with the community.

In those other towns I mentioned it was often the Town Clerk's office or a designated Town Council contact that was in charge of approving projects like this.

It sounds like a case-by-case thing. Your district has a Eagle Scout chair or something along those lines (I forget the exact name), and he can answer definite questions. Some councils may have their own guidelines.

[qwazse]

Welcome to the forums @eaglequestions2018! I love listening to youth pow-wow!

Sounds to me that the sole beneficiary is the Town Council. Son #1s community park improvement project had the same situation. Lots of stakeholders needed him to pull everyone together. A councilman was his sign off.Likewise, for you, all of those other organizations are volunteers who you will mobilize to complete the project.

This is one of those hidden leadership development lessons: set up an efficient, yet appropriate, accountability structure.

[SSScout]

Volunteer coordinator office....   Project/community service coordinator....   media/publicity advancement guy....   

How does one Scout organize and "lead"  more than himself in this effort?  

Posters,  social media connections,   newsletters,  public libraries,  referrals of willing John and Jane Q. Public to the various possible service organizations,  connecting the Town Council into all of this and making something  "Permanent"  left behind (!) when you (the Scout) have moved on with your life (and your Eagle?).  Volunteer Possibilities Catalog  

Cross reference of all the public service agencies and who to contact and what they need....  

A lot of possibilities.  A lot of nice possibilities.  Useful, appropriate, complex...   Might make building a bridge on a washed out park trail sound easy and straight forward.  

[ItsBrian]

2 minutes ago, SSScout said:

Volunteer coordinator office....   Project/community service coordinator....   media/publicity advancement guy....   

How does one Scout organize and "lead"  more than himself in this effort?  

Posters,  social media connections,   newsletters,  public libraries,  referrals of willing John and Jane Q. Public to the various possible service organizations,  connecting the Town Council into all of this and making something  "Permanent"  left behind (!) when you (the Scout) have moved on with your life (and your Eagle?).  Volunteer Possibilities Catalog  

Cross reference of all the public service agencies and who to contact and what they need....  

A lot of possibilities.  A lot of nice possibilities.  Useful, appropriate, complex...   Might make building a bridge on a washed out park trail sound easy and straight forward.  

It will be a great project. I misunderstood until he explained his project in detail.

Edited March 3, 2018 by ItsBrian

[eaglequestions2018]

13 minutes ago, SSScout said:

Volunteer coordinator office....   Project/community service coordinator....   media/publicity advancement guy....   

How does one Scout organize and "lead"  more than himself in this effort?  

Posters,  social media connections,   newsletters,  public libraries,  referrals of willing John and Jane Q. Public to the various possible service organizations,  connecting the Town Council into all of this and making something  "Permanent"  left behind (!) when you (the Scout) have moved on with your life (and your Eagle?).  Volunteer Possibilities Catalog  

Cross reference of all the public service agencies and who to contact and what they need....  

A lot of possibilities.  A lot of nice possibilities.  Useful, appropriate, complex...   Might make building a bridge on a washed out park trail sound easy and straight forward.  

Thank you for the suggestions, it sure does seem like I can really bring together a lot of people here if I do it right. 

I guess I have to get better at describing it though if it was confusing @ItsBrian. I heard another scout in my troop was delayed a month in starting his Eagle Project because he couldn't explain to the district what his project actually was! That would definitely be problematic since I will only have just over a month to get this done with a little built-in buffer time, due to the date of the election itself.

Edited March 3, 2018 by eaglequestions2018

[ItsBrian]

1 hour ago, eaglequestions2018 said:

Thank you for the suggestions, it sure does seem like I can really bring together a lot of people here if I do it right. 

I guess I have to get better at describing it though if it was confusing @ItsBrian. I heard another scout in my troop was delayed a month in starting his Eagle Project because he couldn't explain to the district what his project actually was! That would definitely be problematic since I will only have just over a month to get this done with a little built-in buffer time, due to the date of the election itself.

How are going to raise funds for printing materials, etc? A month isn’t a lot of time, I thought I could raise all my money within a month (I needed around $600) so I ended up pushing it.

I would provide you online grants that aren’t easy to find but you need to apply 4-6 weeks in advance.

Edited March 4, 2018 by ItsBrian

[eaglequestions2018]

11 minutes ago, ItsBrian said:

How are going to raise funds for printing materials, etc? A month isn’t a lot of time, I thought I could raise all my money within a month (I needed around $600) so I ended up pushing it.

I would provide you online grants that aren’t easy to find but you need to apply 4-6 weeks in advance.

At the moment, it seems like the entire thing will only cost somewhere around $100-150, or perhaps less depending on how many paper versions of these pamphlets are actually spread around compared to a digital version I plan to make. If they're lower, I can probably self-fund the project; otherwise, I know my district has approved a project that didn't fund-raise until after it was compete, and considering how busy I'll be in the month I'm working on it, I would need something like that. If it got desperate, I could probably get about half the total cost raised through an online fundraiser.

[ItsBrian]

2 minutes ago, eaglequestions2018 said:

At the moment, it seems like the entire thing will only cost somewhere around $100-150, or perhaps less depending on how many paper versions of these pamphlets are actually spread around compared to a digital version I plan to make. If they're lower, I can probably self-fund the project; otherwise, I know my district has approved a project that didn't fund-raise until after it was compete, and considering how busy I'll be in the month I'm working on it, I would need something like that. If it got desperate, I could probably get about half the total cost raised through an online fundraiser.

I wouldn’t suggest funding it yourself, it’ll teach you a lot by going out and asking for donations from everyone. Sure helped me.

I know a Eagle in my troop that paid for most of it but paid himself back once he received funding.

Ask a local printing store (Do they even have those still?), Staples, UPS, FedEx, and I’m sure one of them will at least offer discounts.

Edited March 4, 2018 by ItsBrian