The council needed to update and revise its Friends of Scouting brochure to be made more appealing, but functional.
The council developed the 2006 Friends of Scouting brochure through the district FOS committees. We added the revenue and expenses graphs, plus a list of local matching gift companies.
The council will raise more than $1 million in FOS dollars, and the brochure is a key marketing tool that donors will review and then make a donation to Scouting. It is very critical to our success.
Volunteer input is very important to the success of a volunteer-driven campaign.
Our major goal in creating FOS brochures was to increase FOS donations from Scouting families. Second, we wanted to increase relationships with LDS families and church leaders by creating a FOS brochure tailored to members of the LDS church, who are approximately one-quarter of our Scouting families.
In designing the brochures, we decided that including photos of a diverse group of Scouts was a priority and that strategically writing the text to target parents of Scouts was also important. Reinforcing our council brand by incorporating the "Words to Live By" theme and including the Scout Oath and Law were also purposeful.
As a result of these brochures, our council ended the year with a 4 percent increase over our 2004 family FOS campaign, contributing to $1.9 million total FOS dollars raised. The LDS family campaign increased 5.5 percent over 2004 as well. The council family FOS total ended with $718,100. Due to our relationship building, doors are opening to involve members of the LDS church in our product sales campaign next year.
We learned that having simple, easy-to-read, inspirational FOS brochures that contain numerous photos of Scouts and text that focuses on the positive effects of Scouts' lives results in more money raised.
Our primary objective was to create a high quality Friends of Scouting brochure that would share the important mission of the program, communicate the need for families to invest in Scouting, and give them a mechanism to do so easily. Our secondary objective was to raise more money than last year.
Denver Area Council Marketing Committee spent a lot of time developing the content of the brochure to ensure that all of our basic objectives were met. The brochure defines Friends of Scouting in simple terms, gives a decent breakdown of the council operating budget, provides a way of making a contribution, and even includes a list of companies that match employer gifts. The brochure also suggests contribution categories that allow potential donors to identify an appropriate level of giving. The most powerful addition to this brochure was the list of specific, tangible expenses that most Scout families and community benefactors can identify. It is an immediate benefit statement on how their contributions are being spent, and helps validate why they give.
This brochure has proved to be extremely effective. Contributors share that it is easy to read and includes the necessary information to support their decision to invest in scouting. Families have responded generously. Our total Friends of Scouting increased 5 percent. Contributions to the Family campaign increased 12 percent. This is in the middle of an $18.5 million dollar capital campaign, and a down economy! The marketing committee is pleased with the results.
We learned that the decision to give must survive the initial sales call. In other words, it is not enough to simply convince a donor to make a pledge. To build our organization, we need those donors to honor their pledge, and we need them to renew their gift next year with an increase. The Friends of Scouting brochure can play a key role in helping to make all of this happen if it has the correct information laid out in an easily understandable manner. We also learned that it is important to listen to the donor, and find out what he or she is interested in. When you provide that information in your brochure, you raise more money. We will endeavor to continue listening closely to our donors and families, and making appropriate revisions to our Friends of Scouting brochure.
Each year, the council produces a brochure to assist the Friends of Scouting fund-raising campaign. The brochure should accomplish the following:
The 2005 Friends of Scouting campaign took place in an unsettled philanthropic environment. The tsunami in Southeast Asia at the end of 2004 made many fund-raisers throughout the nation speculate as to whether or not donors would continue to give to some charities at recent levels. The community's United Way campaign barely made its goal during the preceding months, and the Salvation Army failed to make its fund-raising goal in early 2005.
Although the economy was stagnant and unemployment was high, Roper research showed an increasing trend among Americans to be committed to a worthwhile cause. We developed our key message with this in mind. Although charitable giving was flat or very modest, we focused on how an individual's donation would be an investment in the future.
The Friends of Scouting campaign reached its goal for the 59th consecutive year by raising a total of $2.45 million—an all-time high.
Having the cards printed and delivered before December 1 is essential. This allows our professionals and clerical staffs to collate brochures, assemble packets, and distribute the materials during the campaign kickoffs in early January. This first step is crucial in establishing a firm discipline that carries over throughout the campaign.
The Middle Tennessee Council serves a 37-county area in the heart of the state. This area encompasses the large metropolitan Nashville community, several second-tier cities, and dozens of small towns and rural communities. There are 10,928 adult volunteers involved in the council's Scouting programs, which serve 42,778 youth. These youth represent an ethnically diverse population from a wide range of economic and social circumstances.
The Middle Tennessee Council's Friends of Scouting campaign, which runs from October 2005 to May 2006, provides $2,750,000, or the largest income source of the council's $5,422,326 budget. The primary objectives of the council's Friends of Scouting brochure was to provide an educated decision-making process for prospective donors by telling the story of the Scouting programs of middle Tennessee and ultimately secure Friends of Scouting gifts from donors.
The council has a staff member who is responsible for the overall planning and execution of finance and marketing efforts under the general direction of the Scout executive. This staff member works a variety of agencies that design and execute support pieces throughout the year. All of these agencies have an active involvement on the council's marketing committee.
This staff member worked closely with the other council staff on specific information to ensure that the council's overall objectives were met.
Design concepts were given by the council's finance and marketing department to the agency of choice. Initial designs were presented by the agency. After minimal design changes and edits, the FOS brochure went to a printer that delivered the final product for half of the budgeted amount.
The Middle Tennessee Council is one of less than 10 councils in America that raise more than $2 million in their Friends of Scouting campaign.
The development, design, and execution of a Friends of Scouting brochure are a lengthy process. Also, a photo shoot was not as expensive as we first thought when it was dovetailed into another photo shoot that the agency had set up for another client. Leveraging the resources of the Boy Scouts of America can accomplish many things and greatly reduce the cost of marketing pieces.
The Friends of Scouting brochure is the most widely distributed collateral piece that the council has, next to our recruitment fliers. The objective of the piece is not only to raise support, but also to communicate a key council message. In addition to the need to raise money, the brochure needed to raise awareness with our volunteers, parents, and donors of the council's commitment to Scouting traditions and mission.
The planning process started with the council's vice chair of marketing, with developing focus areas for our marketing resources. Ideas, themes and designs were discussed with the committee members and designers. It was decided that all council materials needed to carry the message "Keeping the Promise." The approach to return to a more traditional Scouting theme and more conservative design was chosen because it reflected the philosophy of the Scout executive and reinforced to our community Scouting's roots. The prior FOS brochures reflected a more casual Southern California feel. The 2006 theme refocused on what has made Scouting successful—delivering quality programming to today's youth.
The Friends of Scouting brochure is looked at as not only a return piece but also a communication device. This would be 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 is identifiable to all Scouters, and the words used are from the Scout Oath.
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.
So far, the piece has had very positive feedback from users and in terms of results. We are on pace to have another record year in FOS contributions.
We learned that the format we developed in 2003 is still an effective communication tool with our market, as it continues to produce results, thus indicating that we do not have to recreate everything, but do need to look to our customers for direction on content and message.
Though we have had success with more casual designs and copy in the past, a return to our basics was desired by customers. So far, the piece has had very positive feedback from users.
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.