Six things to consider as you prepare to ramp up your fall recruiting efforts

Though there are still technically a few weeks left of summer, now’s the time to start seriously considering your fall recruiting strategy.

Fall recruiting nights — also known as “joining nights” or “join Scouting nights” — are one of the most effective ways to add members to your Scouting America unit. They usually consist of a group of prospective Scouting families gathered in a room, ready to listen to a (brief!) pitch on why they should join our organization.

Whether this is your first fall recruiting season or your 15^th, here are six things to consider as we head into the fall.

1. Make sure the information in your BeAScout pin is up to date, and follow up on all the leads you get through the BeAScout system.

BeAScout is Scouting America’s primary tool to help families find a unit near them. It only works, though, if your unit’s BeAScout pin is active and the information within it is up to date.
A unit’s BeAScout pin is managed through My.Scouting.org, through which your unit’s Key 3 volunteers have access to your unit’s settings. The Key 3 leaders are the unit leader (Cubmaster, Scoutmaster, Crew Advisor, etc.), committee chair and chartered organization representative.
Log in to your unit’s BeAScout dashboard through the My Scouting portal and make sure your contact information is up to date. Then, as we enter fall, continue to check back and respond to any inquiries as soon as you can.

2. Maintain honest and open communication with the school or host facility of your choice.

If you already have a strong relationship with the principal of the school or schools in the community your unit serves, that’s great! Still, triple-check that you’re doing everything you’re supposed to do when reserving the facility for a Scouting recruitment event. Don’t assume anything! And, as you would do for any Scouting event, make sure you leave the room in better shape than it was when you got there.

If you don’t already have a relationship with your school, contact your council for guidance. It could be that a local council employee or volunteer has already reached out on your behalf.

3. Speaking of your local council, reach out to them for information or resources they have for recruiting new families in your community. Your council could provide signs, flyers and a calendar of events you can use to promote Scouting.

Another good source for recruiting materials? The Scouting America Brand Center. The Brand Center is your source for authorized logos, photos and other Scouting America-related materials. You can create your own flyers, videos and images for sharing on social media.

Click here to go directly to a folder full of fall 2025 recruiting resources.

4. Have youth present at your recruiting night.

When it comes to Cub Scout recruiting, the heavy lifting tends to fall on the adults. But that doesn’t mean current Cub Scouts don’t have a role to play. It’s generally considered a good practice to have a handful of current youth at the recruiting event, wearing their uniforms and prepared to answer questions such as, “What do you like the most about Scouting?”

5. Be aware that most prospective families don’t know a thing about Scouting.

For a family that’s never had any connection to Scouting before, it can be intimidating to sit in front of a panel of grown-ups in Scout uniforms using terms such as “jamboree,” “high adventure,” “camporee,” “rank advancement,” “Philmont Scout Ranch,” etc.

Instead, keep it simple: “In our unit, we do things like camping and fishing; we play games; we serve the community; and we learn how to be good citizens. Here’s a copy of our calendar of events for the fall.”

There! Done!

6. Which leads to our final bit of advice: Keep it short and sweet.

Recruiting events don’t need to last an hour. If we’re being honest, most don’t need to last longer than 30 minutes. The main purpose of a recruiting event is to introduce yourself as a volunteer, a parent and a fellow member of the community who’s interested in getting some families together so the kids can become friends and learn some life skills.

Having that calendar ready to go is important — it tells them a lot about not only what your unit does but also how organized the leadership is.

Though you should address issues such as the financial and time commitments of Scouting, and you should definitely make yourself available for questions afterward, your fall recruiting event does not have to be a full-on parent meeting where you get into details about the specifics of the program, the rules and mechanics of advancement, uniform requirements, and everything that goes along with that. Save that for the parent meeting a couple of weeks later.

I will argue that you might be best served by a simple, fun and easy — and energetic! — recruiting pitch. Something along the lines of:

“Do you like camping?”

Kids answer: “Yes!”

“Do you like fishing?”

Kids answer: “Yes!”

“Do you like playing games and making new friends?”

Kids answer: “Yes!”

“Well, that’s what Scouting is all about! Here’s our fall calendar. Here’s our first parent meeting. Here’s our first unit meeting. We can’t wait to see you all there!”

Photos from the Scouting America Brand Center