Best Methods Collateral Material

Four Lakes Council

2004 "7 Points of Contact"—Traditional Membership Strategic Plan and Resources
Council Classification: 700
Contact: Glen Steenberger

Summary

The enclosed CD-ROM resource packet is a follow-up to its 2003 Marketing Award-wining predecessor. This tool was distributed to all units, commissioners, training participants, and district volunteers in early 2004. The aim of the project is to educate our front-line volunteers on ways to improve the success of their local Scouting program and effectively market the difference they make in the lives of their participants. This tool has served as the vehicle that has helped our council recover from devastating Cub Scout membership losses of recent years and helped build a foundation of balanced growth for 2004.

This CD was created to help the Four Lakes Council continue its focus on helping units recruit and serve more young people. This tool builds upon the 2003 version by providing several new resources and perspectives from successful Scouters right here in the Four Lakes Council.

Key Elements of This Tool

  1. Education and Plan Communication—Our council has struggled in past years communicating growth plans effectively to our units, and this CD, along with the accompanying trainings, has helped expand our team of committed volunteers.
    1. Join Scouts Recruitment Training and the Ideal Year of Scouting Training coincide with the mission of this tool. The CD would not be nearly as effective as a stand-alone resource; rather, we have instituted these two trainings that units must attend each year. The trainings help us give life to the philosophies outlined on the CD and promote the use of the tool.
    2. Promotion of the tool at roundtables and through the council Web site and the council newsletter has helped generate excitement and enthusiasm for its use.
    3. The bottom line is that our font-line volunteers are better trained and have the resources on hand to provide better programming and to invite new members to join.
  2. Special Features on the 2.0 Edition—We aimed to build upon the success of our first resource CD by showing units how their local peers took the knowledge and were successful because of it and to address our problem of Webelos-to-Scout transition.
    1. When opening the CD-ROM, the home page contains a link: "View the 7 Points of Contact Membership Expansion Plan." This takes the viewer into a detailed discussion of the concept and what they can do to make a difference. Then local volunteers express how they used the resource the previous year to increase their members and community visibility.
    2. A great addition to the tool was the Webelos-to-Scout transition segment that can be found in both the Cub Scout and Boy Scout sections. This feature brought national and local resources together to help units focus on this opportunity. Special roundtable sessions also accompanied this feature to promote the concepts contained on the CD.
  3. Features—Finally, the CD has more than a ream of printed resources contained to help unit leaders be successful in planning, marketing, fund-raising, and program development. If we could get our hands on it and felt that unit leaders could benefit from it, it is on the CD-ROM. The resources are cataloged in such a way that they are not overwhelming to the user. For an overview of the contained resources, one can look at the CD Index link. Here are a few of the components found upon the CD-ROM:
    1. Forms
    2. Recruitment Guides and Tools
    3. Program Ideas
    4. Fact Sheets
    5. Marketing Instructions
    6. Council Information
    7. Clip Art

The CD Is Just a Piece of the Puzzle

A recognition piece was developed to help units buy into the use of the tool, and this component is outlined on the enclosed Fleur-de-lis Honor Unit explanation page. Current standings of every unit in the council are posted in the Scout service center and at roundtables to allow units to gauge their progress and to generate healthy competition. Continuous promotion of the use of the CD-ROM has raised our volunteers' awareness of it and made it more than just another CD that you get in the mail.

This tool is a unique in the sense that it has brought national and local resources to the unit level and has generated effective usage of these items.

In Conclusion, Results

In 2004, the Four Lakes Council achieved balanced membership growth, had a 17 percent increase in popcorn sales, and each district earned Quality District. In addition, the council achieved Quality Council for the first time since 1997, and this is in large part because of the link that we have established with our units. We were able to bring volunteers on board for each of our campaigns, and they went out and marketed themselves at the neighborhood level. The council's marketing efforts were in many cases secondary to the results generated in each community by the local units. This was the aim of the CD-ROM! Our foot soldiers are armed with knowledge and are successfully using the tools and training provided. We are a valued partner to our units, and they understand that the council is a resource to them in the effort to serve more young people.

Community awareness of Scouting has grown, and we are proud to submit this nomination that showcases our success.


The Merits of Marketing (marketing.scouting.org) is a resource for local councils, developed by the Marketing & Communications Division of the National Council, Boy Scouts of America.