Meet the Unit Membership Chairman, your new best friend in recruiting

Your best recruiting and retention tool is an adult volunteer already in your unit. He or she just doesn’t know it yet.

Don’t delay in filling the newly created Unit Membership Chairman position. This Scouter is a member of your unit’s committee whose sole focus is membership growth and retention. Think of it like the district or council membership chairmen who are responsible for growth at those levels of Scouting.

What do they do? And what resources are available to take the stress off whoever takes on this daunting but vital job?

All that and more after the jump.

What a Unit Membership Chairman does

• Meet with the unit leaders and committee monthly to discuss membership goals and retention.
• Conduct at least two recruitment/Scouting promotion events per year to ensure unit growth using the peer-to-peer recruitment method.
• Distribute membership fliers to schools and churches in the unit’s area.
• Conduct Scouting rallies and boy talks in schools, leveraging council support when needed.
• Attend the district’s membership chair training sessions, which will focus on best practices.
• Have your unit be involved in the required amount of Adopt-a-School service and community service projects needed for Scouting’s Journey to Excellence score.
• Ensure that new youth and adult applications along with funds are completed and turned into the council service center within a week after receipt of the applications.
• Work with the unit committee to ensure the unit reaches Scouting’s Journey to Excellence gold status in membership.
• Update the unit’s BeAScout pin and follow up with leads.
• Have your unit participate in a fall and spring recruitment plan.
• Work with the district transition chair to encourage youth to transition to the age-appropriate program as they grow older.
• Have an annual customer satisfaction survey done with current Scout families.

What resources are available?

Plenty. There are new online resources for the unit membership chair and council membership/relationship chair, at this excellent site.

You’ll find information on community projects, membership analysis, marketing, Webelos-to-Scout transition plans and more. Other resources to assist your unit in membership can also be found at www.scouting.org/membership.

Enjoy practical methods, new videos and ideas for developing and implementing successful membership campaigns. The all-new videos are hosted by a nice cross-section of members of the National Council’s professional staff. And yes, there’s even a video hosted by me, but don’t let that discourage you from watching.

Most importantly: Good luck in your recruiting efforts!