Recruitment Resources (Boy Scouts of America)

Resources to Assist Volunteers of the Boy Scouts of America with their unit recruitment:

Unit Recruiter

• Recruitment Team
• Annual Recruitment Plan
• Important Recruitment Supplies -
  • Prepare Unit One-Sheet - one-page flyer about the unit, important contacts, annual calendar of events and unit goals (Ie "have fun").
  • Stack of Scout Interest Cards -
  • Stack of Adult Applications -
  • Stack of Youth Applications -
  • Stack of Boys Life Samples -
• Recruitment Training

Get Scout Leader Basic Training - Having a rich understanding of the program will greatly enhance your success as a unit recruiter. 7. Attend Wood Badge - This advance scouting leadership training course will give you some awesome skills to greatly enhance your success as a unit recruiter. 8. Frequently attend unit activities - Look for new faces of youth, adults, and siblings that are participating or could be potential participants. 9. Presentation to Unit Committee - advise your unit on how they can assist the recruitment effort. 10. Participate in District Membership Committee - get update info on recruitment events and opportunities in your area. 11. >Attend District Roundtable Monthly - get update info on recruitment events and opportunities in your area. Several times a year they have recruitment refresher sessions and updated recruitment collateral. 12. Study BSA Year-Round Guide to Boy Scout Recruiting - 6-page pdf. 13. BSA Recruiting Hub - More online resources. 14. Prepare Recruitment Station - table, tablecloth, large posters, easles, handouts, etc. (My best posters were photos of the youth doing super fun outdoor activities. I also had old boys life magazines ready to handout too.)

General Recruiting Tips

3) Invite A Friend: By far the single most effective recruitment tool is a word of month referral youth-to-youth or parent-to-parent. Scouting holds weekly, monthly annual activities that are fun. All activity announcements sent to families by phone, mail, flyer, text, etc should always carry a note to Invite a Friend.
3.1) Visitor Attendance Log: Each unit should keep a visitor attendance log. Some units may award a year end prize or family membership discount to the top 1-3 recruiters of the year.
3.2) Pass-A-Long Card: A simple 3x5 type invite card. Front side is a colorful invite and the backside has contact information for the troop, troop website, BeAScout.org, etc. (See example to the right.)
4) BeAScout.org: Every Scout unit should check their listing here periodically.