The anniversary of the Boy Scouts of America is an excellent opportunity to talk to communities about the contributions the Boy Scouts of America has made to our nation throughout its 98-year history. When used as a component of a comprehensive marketing campaign, promotions like Scouting Anniversary Week can provide a foundation on which councils and districts can build awareness, launch financial campaigns, and support membership growth, volunteer recruiting, and fund-raising.
Planning for an anniversary celebration should be the responsibility of the council's marketing committee. This may be best executed by forming an anniversary subcommittee to plan and schedule events for the council. This group will also work with other council committees and various community organizations and groups that support Scouting to execute the plan. These groups may include local government, businesses, civic clubs, churches, and schools.
Many of the best opportunities for Scouting Anniversary Week publicity can be found at the district and unit levels. This is best accomplished by working through existing district public relations and marketing committees. District public relations committees will have relationships with local media and use those relationships to promote anniversary celebrations, including uniform days, Scout Sabbath or Sunday activities, exhibits, contests, birthday parties, etc.
The district public relations committee or anniversary week subcommittee should consult the council's anniversary celebration plan when implementing plans for the district or unit. The district committee should communicate any positive public relations opportunities to the council's anniversary committee.
The following resources are available on this Web site:
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.