Spring Recruitment Is Here!

Hope everyone is gearing up for Spring Recruitment! Now is the time to go and talk to the Kindergarten kids to join Scouting. Their first Scouting experience should be an awesome summer camp so they can go back to school in the fall and tell their friends. This will help drive your fall recruitment and give you more opportunity for adult leadership engagement and better programming. More Scouts in the pack means your kid will have more fun and stay in Scouting longer. Good recruitment creates sustainability and solidifies the legacy of the Pack, which will keep it around for a long time. Imagine, you can have a positive impact on Scouts that haven't even been born yet.

Need some tips on creating a successful spring campaign? Here are some good tid-bits that can get you started:

Set up a meeting with the school principal. Talk about Scouting and what it does for the kids involved. Ask him or her to help you identify someone in the kindergarten class that would really enjoy Scouting and whose parents would make an excellent leader. Bringing the school directory helps a lot. Do you have a list of adults that aren't registered leaders? Bring that too, and see if the principal can identify them as good potential leaders. Remember you're looking for people that are involved with the school personal and take an invested interest in the development of youth. Other people you can have this conversation with are teachers, coaches, school counselors, pastors, secretaries, librarians, and other parents.

Set up a specialized recruitment event and invite only prospective families. We have a bounce house you can rent, it's always a huge hit. The DE will be more than happy to come out and talk to the parents. Have something for the kids to do; a craft they can make and take home, or a quick belt loop they can earn if they sign up that night. Don't forget about the Cub Scout Bug Sucker!

The Scout Office will print you flyers and mailers for absolutely no charge. Take those flyers and mailers and get them in the hands of the kids. Friday folders, personal mailing, door hangers, dressing in uniform and going door to door. Remember basic sales techniques, a person usually has to receive the message around seven times before they "buy."

Want more ideas? Set up a meeting with your District Executive today! Or contact the District Membership Chair, William Pingel. His experience as a Council Membership Chair will be a great asset to you and your Pack's membership goals.

So what do you say? Can you help the District achieve the goal of two new Tiger Dens per Pack this year?

*Are your signs out yet? Thomas Elementary Pack 244 has theirs out and ready to attract families to their Pack activites

*John Lowe of Pack 244 is enjoying the bounce house with his friends and some interested Cub Scouts