The one thing you should include in every public piece of Scouting communication

Every positive story about your pack, troop, team, post, ship or crew is an opportunity.

It’s a chance to tell your community that Scouts live, serve and play here.

But to hear unit commissioner Dave Mountney tell it, too many units are missing their shot to turn that positive story into a recruiting message.

That’s why the Washington Crossing Council volunteer wants every unit to include a link to BeAScout.org in every piece of unit communication that might be seen by the public.

“Units are encouraged to get their story in the news — either in print or digital form,” he writes. “Some units are good about it, but even most that do miss an opportunity that may serve even one more family.”

Sure, he sees email addresses, phone numbers and unit website info on stories and fliers. That’s great, but what happens when that message goes beyond the unit’s geographic area? In the age of Facebook, that’s bound to happen.

“If the story is good, a parent, uncle, grandparent or even a youth may want to look into Scouting,” Mountney writes. But that person may “live too far from the unit they just read about.”

That’s where BeAScout.org comes in. With just their ZIP code, parents can use that site to locate and contact packs, troops and crews near them.

Add this URL to news articles about Eagle Scout projects, fliers about money-earning projects, tickets to unit breakfasts and even Scouting for Food handouts. Basically, include BeAScout.org on anything a member of the public might see.

Let’s use the power of BeAScout.org to spread Scouting, one new Scout at a time.


About Bryan Wendell 3281 Articles
Bryan Wendell, an Eagle Scout, is the founder of Bryan on Scouting and a contributing writer.