Crossroads of America Council, headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, is fortunate to benefit from dedicated volunteers, successful partnerships with community organizations, and generous donors. Continuing the successful "Race into Scouting" membership theme in the council's annual report allowed the council to successfully show its "brand" to the Central Indiana community.
Based on feedback from volunteers of all levels, Crossroads of America Council decided to create a more polished and comprehensive annual report. In the past, the annual report was mass-produced and placed inside a spring council newsletter, thereby being sent to more than 9,000 Scout leaders. After two years of having a more-professional piece created, the council was challenged to continue this tradition of successfully telling Scouting's story in Central Indiana.
One of the challenges of creating an annual report (easily the most vibrant and most expensive piece of printing that the council publishes each year) is finding someone qualified to design it, and determining what the "focus" of the report needs to be.
The council was looking for a new key volunteer to create the report. Indeed, the council's public relations committee felt it would be helpful to have an "outsider" (not an active Scout leader) play a critical role in the development of the piece, as they may see potential selling points of Scouting that those around us do not.
With no solid prospects of who to contact to take on this task, the council's vice president of public relations decided to send a letter to adult Eagle Scouts who, in the council's Eagle Scout directory, appeared to have a career that mirrored graphic design and public relations. Not really expecting anything to come out of a request from a letter, imagine the surprise of the council when an Eagle Scout stepped up to the plate. Unknown to any of the council professional staff or key leadership, an Eagle Scout from California who happens to own a small advertising firm, volunteered his company to develop all aspects of the report.
He quickly put one of his staff members in charge of the annual report. The staff member was able to relive his Cub Scout involvement as a youth as he adeptly determined how crucial the "Race into Scouting" membership campaign was to our council in 2004. With the council's public relations committee's assistance, stories that related to the campaign were developed and created.
An Indianapolis photographer and father of an Eagle Scout was once again recruited to create photos that evoked the jubilant feelings our council had with the success of our membership growth and "Race into Scouting" campaign. The photo he shot of our council's leadership team was so well received that a copy of it now sits in our council president's office.
A key desire for the council was to have a completed annual report by May 1 of the next year. Since reverting to a more specialized and stylized annual report, the amount of time it has taken to be created has dramatically increased. Working with on-site locations such as the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and local race car shops, the council was charged with having all tasks related to the annual report take place in a timely fashion.
In the end, the report was completed in a timely manner, and the board of directors and other council volunteers, as well as the professional staff, were pleased with the image of the council that it presented.
Perhaps the most important result of this annual report was the realization that with proper planning and the recruitment, engagement, and training of the "right" volunteers, daunting tasks can easily be accomplished. This annual report was able to happen only because of the successful recruitment of Scout leaders and parents whose technical skills helped create the piece. The council's Marketing/PR committee felt ownership of the project, and wanted it to succeed as they recruited colleagues and friends to help create it.
Even more important, our "lost" Eagle Scout is a current member of the council's public relations committee. A new volunteer has been recruited for the long term from a short-term project.
In addition, the council received a product that visually captured the jubilation that staff and volunteers had during the "Race to Scouting" membership campaign. This campaign recruited more adults and youth members through a concentrated membership drive that included more volunteers than ever before.
We are thrilled to have you "Race into Scouting" as you read our annual report—enjoy!
Our primary objective was to develop a top-rate marketing piece for the Denver Area Council to communicate its accomplishments and achievements. 2004 was an extraordinary year. We needed to develop a written document that was equally fantastic!
Planning for our 2004 Annual Report began back in February 2003. The Council Marketing Committee encouraged the staff to examine best methods from around the country to collect examples of first-class annual reports. We began by collecting annual reports from every council that had won a President's Award for marketing excellence, as well as those from a few other councils, not-for-profits, and for-profits that have historically published excellent annual reports. We listed all of the features that we liked in each report, evaluated what we could afford, and put together a design plan based on those criteria. We then found a graphic artist who was able to translate our plan into an actual draft document. This draft was reviewed by the Council Leadership Team, the marketing committee, and key board members. Each group made additional design and content suggestions that were incorporated into the final document. It was great process that we will use again.
The report was well received, with great feedback. The 2004 Annual Report was presented February 18, 2005, at the council's annual business meeting. Everyone who has had an opportunity to review one of the drafts has been impressed with the general feel and readability of the document. The most common comment has been that readers feel inclined to keep reading. We are confident that his trend will continue.
There are many councils around the country doing a lot of really great things. Some of the annual reports we looked at were stellar. They were informative, creative, and easy to read. We learned that it is worth our time to continuously review best methods, if we want to always do our best and publish top-quality marketing materials. We learned that it doesn't always require a huge budget to have a first-class communication piece. However, it does require taking the time to really think through what you want to say, how you want to say it, and how to best present it graphically. This annual report validated that.
The Orange County Council's annual report is primarily a communication piece, aimed at community leaders, that offers a broad overview of Scouting and a financial overview, and is the most widely distributed collateral piece that the council has, next to our recruitment fliers. The objective of the piece is to raise support and also to communicate a key council message. It is a requirement in the rules and bylaws of the council to report financial and director information on an annual basis. It also allows area business leaders to position the council's success against other nonprofits.
Being that this piece is primarily used in business settings with community leaders; it needs to be compelling, interesting, and informative. We started the process with several creative meetings with the council's vice chair of marketing, the director of marketing, and the creative firm. Annually, the FOS brochure and the annual report share the same theme. "Keeping the Promise" was chosen for both pieces. The approach to return to a more traditional Scouting theme and more conservative design was decided on because it reflected the philosophy of the Scout executive and reinforced to our community Scouting's roots. Prior themes had reflected a more casual Southern California feel. The 2006 theme refocused on what has made Scouting successful—delivering quality programming to today's youth.
"Keeping the Promise" is the theme for the council for 2006 and would be reflected in all Scout executive speeches to volunteers and the community, in district executive FOS presentations, and in the annual report.
Creatively, the color schemes chosen—browns and reds—gave the piece a more rustic, traditional, retro feel. The cover graphic of the fleur de lis is identifiable to all Scouters, and the words used represent the cities in Orange County.
Copy was written to reiterate the importance of Scouting, the council's commitment to our local youth, and the need for consistent quality programming.
The design was approved immediately, with copy going through many edits prior to approval and last-minute membership figures added.
So far the piece has had very positive feedback from users, and in terms of results. This is a piece that makes our board of directors proud. As one of the most successful and largest nonprofits in Orange County, the council's board expects us to be positioned as a leader in the community. They feel the quality of this piece does that.
Returning to an organization's foundation can refocus volunteers and donors. Although the desire to be fresh and modern is something we strive for, especially with an organization that is 100 years old, a return to tradition can be a successful change.
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.