The planning process began in August of 2005 with a review of previous brochures. For the 2005-2006 FOS brochure, we decided to produce a single brochure to meet both family and community needs. Our 2005-2006 theme, "Open the Doors to Their Future," and the heavy focus on program outcomes reminds contributors that their investment today pays dividends tomorrow. The photographs used included national stock shots as well as ones of local youth, for which talent releases were obtained.
The council began using the 2004-2005 brochure in December 2005 for formal presentations and pacesetter campaigns and began 2005 significantly ahead of projections in terms of pledges and payments. Anecdotal evidence suggests that contributors believe that they are better informed about sources of council revenue and reasons for expenditures because of the information provided in the brochure.
Contributors seem to like the hand-in-glove approach of the brochure being integrated into a more formal presentation—a practice we will continue in the future. Integrating the automatic payment option into the card itself has led to a higher number of contributors choosing that option, which will likely result in a lower pledge write-off percentage at the end of the year. By carefully designing the brochure and the talking points that go with it, this piece has proved invaluable to the community portion of the annual campaign. Also, creating the layout of the brochure to coincide with the theme, by adding "doors" to be opened, really allowed us to get the message across that donors really are able to open doors for the youth involved in Scouting.
Our objective was to design a new, inviting FOS brochure to be used in both the family and community campaigns.
Our design team wanted to tell the council and FOS story simply and in an easy-to-read format. How donations are used was highlighted.
FOS income grew 12.5 percent over the previous year.
Donors don't need more information about Scouting. They want to know how their donation will be used by Scouting.
The Clinton Valley Council had numerous objectives for our 2006 Friends of Scouting brochure. These objectives included:
The 2006 FOS brochure was designed with the help of our volunteer FOS teams and head coaches, with input from all levels of our council staff (support staff, unit serving executives, and management) and by analyzing successful brochures from other councils. The photos were a mix of photos used in our annual report, additional newspaper story photos, and national stock photos. DMW Design provided some layout design suggestions and the color combination.
This brochure has generated excitement and enthusiasm for our family and community FOS teams. Having the brochure ready by November allowed the districts to begin their "kickoff" early and reach the goal more quickly. This tool has also aided in the recruiting of the 2006 community FOS head coaches and teams.
This brochure serves three vital purposes for the Clinton Valley Council.
We have also learned that by having the brochure ready in November, our campaign will be hitting the ground running on January 3, 2006, with all the tools needed for success.
The council wanted to update their Friends of Scouting brochure, making the graphics more compelling while reflecting on the rich and timeless values of Scouting.
The council started by simply updating the information from their old Friends of Scouting brochure, including information about programs, where money comes from, and how money is spent. Through the BSA graphics Web site, the council was able to find a variety of historic graphics as well as a more current image. The graphics were then blended together. Merit badges were used in place of pie charts and local patches as background to relate back to the original theme: the Scouting program.
This brochure has been a major tool when approaching individuals and companies to gain their support for our program. The back of the brochure lets donors find their community, so that they know the youth in their area will benefit from scouting. Additionally, the brochure breaks the various program elements down so that those donors who are not familiar with Scouting can understand and relate to the timeless values of the Scouting program.
The council learned that it is important to create a marketing piece that creates an emotional response from the donor. The historic photos remind older donors of their time in Scouting, while the newer photos and patches/badges remind everyone that Scouting is alive and well and still needs community support.
The objective was to revamp our Friends of Scouting brochure that we had been using for about three years and produce a piece that would easily get the message to parents and volunteers in a quick and simple way.
Planning began by working with the Council Friends of Scouting Committee to determine exactly what message we wanted to get out regarding the Friends of Scouting campaign. One of the comments that consistently comes up at FOS presentations is, "We never see the council or the services you provide." An iceberg proved to be the perfect way to graphically show our message to the families. We also changed some of the graphics, including charts reflecting the council's funding sources and expenses in the form of a fleur de lis.
Specific impact on the council's fund-raising efforts will be measured through the results of the 2006 Friends of Scouting campaign.
In our planning and preparation, we learned that simplicity was the key word. By demonstrating the needs of the council in a graphical manner with fewer words, it will help families understand and hopefully give more.
To create a Friends of Scouting brochure that highlights Scouting's impact on young people and that can be used as a companion to the Family FOS script.
The FOS brochure was planned to coordinate with the FOS presentation script, to illustrate the impact of Scouting, and to explain the council's budget.
Response to the FOS brochure has been overwhelmingly positive. The layout is simple, easy to read, and easy to understand.
We learned the importance of simple, clean, and visually clear Friends of Scouting brochures.
We, as a council, needed to do something a little different with Friends of Scouting giving—tell a story, convey a message, educate that we needed people to up their support for Scouting. We decided to do that with a Friends of Scouting card that would be put in all the packets going out to the campaign workers. The objective then was to target the worker in the family campaign (those doing the asking).
"75" became a theme for the campaign—or $75 to support one boy for one year. Guidelines for the "worker" or solicitor are listed on the back of the card:
We can tell the Scouting story of "How much is Scouting worth in the life of a Scout that you know, or to you as a Scout leader, parent, or grandparent of a youth" through the use of the two pieces—the worker card, and the iceberg sheet that is used to tell where the funds go.
The planning process has evolved over the last couple years. Friends of Scouting campaigning follows the plan that has worked traditionally over the past couple of years—that of going by the National BSA guidelines for raising money in a sustaining membership drive and by following the "One Night One Week" campaign with our all chartered organizations (their leadership and parents).
Prospect updating, training, and report meetings are some of the key aspects of the campaign. A major kickoff was held for the council and each of the 18 districts, and status report meetings helped us keep track of our progress. Following up with each district and unit to make sure there is sufficient leadership at these levels is also key. We used the worker card and the iceberg information sheet as a "I-C-5" method, making sure that we had enough cards and iceberg sheets for 22,000 FOS prospects divided by five, equaling the ideal number of workers throughout the whole council—or about 4,500 "75" worker cards printed. We also printed enough cards for a few additional people to have in the leadership, and for current and potential donors to have—about 10,000 total.
The process of design came from one of the new district executives; formerly a graphic artist, with the help of Mike Marchese (director of field service) to put the details together in scanning and pasting the items needed to put the point across to workers and to past and potential donors.
The impact on the council has not been felt at all levels yet. This "75" worker card will be used for the 2006 FOS campaign. It has already been used with success in those districts and pieces of districts (zones) that kick their campaign off in the fall. In fact, we are now leading in the number of pledges received from those districts and from the success of the council FOS kickoff raising over 1.5 percent of the total $1 million-plus FOS goal for 2006.
We have seen already that using the cards per the FOS workers is making a difference in the campaign. We will see more of an impact as the campaign progresses this spring. We hope that this specific amount of ask—$75—will move people out of the less-than-$20 bracket up to the $75 bracket of giving. Currently, 80 percent of our givers give $20 or less. That comes up to over 17,000 people giving what they find in their pocket at the time of the "ask." It will be a significant increase to the council if even a fraction of those people give $75. They can, but they've not been asked.
The Grand Teton Council has used a lot of methods to raise funds more effectively (methods that work for this area and with our prominent sponsor of units). It is more of refining and perfecting the "best methods" for an FOS campaign subscribed from National BSA. This tool is one of many that will help the council grow to the next level in our approach to raising more money than any other year. The yellow information sheet seemed to get the point across to top volunteers and workers that there is a need for the money, there is a story to tell, and there are hidden costs associated that people do not normally see.
This "75" worker card will hopefully get people to give more than what they have in their pocket. It will move them to giving a specific amount of money (as learned previously). People will give to people, then to causes. We are first getting the workers to give and be committed, and then be able to ask for the gift, a specific amount.
To creatively communicate the benefits of becoming a "Friend of Scouting" through photography, easy-to-understand graphs and targeted copy.
The Flint River Council recruited an Atlanta-based advertising agency to undertake the creation of the FOS brochure on a pro bono basis. The printing was also executed at no cost. Prior to beginning work on the brochure, the agency executed a creative brief that was used to:
The financial giving of $100-and-over supporters increased by 7.7 percent in 2005 over 2004. In 2005, we increased our collections by more than 10 percent, or $50,000. The brochure was also used exclusively in the family campaign this year, and our family giving increased 15 percent over 2004. The brochure also gives volunteers a clear picture of the areas we serve outside the Metro Atlanta area. "It Takes the Right Tools" received recognition at the PR News Non-Profit PR Awards 2005 in the External Publication category.
It is important to recruit creative professionals who know how to convert our thoughts in terms of reaching our target audience in a creative and easy-to-understand format. The Boy Scouts of America is an internationally respected organization, and the creative execution of our FOS brochure needed to reflect the overall success of the organization.
Develop a simple tool that can be given out to our Family members that would enable our "Council's Story" to be told as it relates to funding.
Our council staff looked at a number of brochures from past years, from councils across the country, and reviewed suggestions from our volunteers in developing this brochure.
This brochure has been well received by volunteers and is helping them to make an educated decision in regards to their gift to our campaign.
In developing this brochure, our council learned that our Family members wanted photos; graphs; and pie charts to help explain the funding story.
The objective in developing the Friends of Scouting brochure was to provide a quality, sharp-looking, and descriptive promotional piece that made it easy for people to make a donation.
Each year, after the FOS campaign is complete, we sit down with the professional staff and volunteers to discuss the brochure. We talk about what it was like and what recommendations there were for changes. The theme for the campaign is discussed and how it will tie in to the brochure. The brochure is designed and is again critiqued. The final brochure is then complete. This year the theme is "Good Turn" and a commitment to service. All of the photos are of local youth.
This is a very important tool for our council. We use the FOS brochure for family FOS presentations, IC5 campaigns, community mailings, and all other types of fund-raising methods within our council. It is a great information piece as well as a vehicle for people to make a donation. It has become a case in which people look forward to seeing what the new brochure will look like. It is a big success.
Each year we learn something different from this process. The feedback that we get most often is that the brochure needs to be easy to read and contain more photos and less text, and the pledge panel needs to be self-explanatory. We make sure that we incorporate these three aspects.
The 2005 FOS brochure promoted our annual theme of "Scouting ... Today's Scouts, Tomorrow's Leaders." The brochures were used in conjunction with pledge cards, presentation boards, and fund-raising scripts.
The theme was central in the creation of this brochure. The text speaks of the traditional values that Scouting promotes and the importance of these values in the leaders of tomorrow. Pictures show our local Scouts, as well as some prominent and successful Scouts from the past.
The brochure proved a valuable too during the FOS campaign, a campaign that raised $850,000 (a nice increase over 2004). Scouts and volunteers really enjoyed the picture of San Diego Chargers linebacker and council board member Donnie Edwards, helping in our Scouting for Food drive!
Like all fund-raising materials, the brochure doesn't raise a dime on its own. We combined great tools, a well-trained and equipped district executive staff, and enthusiastic volunteers to reach our goals.
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.