Council Sharing
This section has been created to help local councils benefit from each other.
If you are looking for a new marketing tool or have developed a resource that
other councils can benefit from, please click here to
submit information for this section.
- Merry Christmassissippi
- Scouts of Troop 650 are organizing a campaign to help victims
in Biloxi, Mississippi
- Media Relations Checklist
- Bob DeWitt, Director of Marketing & Communications at the Greater
Pittsburgh Council, provides advice for building successful
and productive relationships with the media.
- Crisis Communications ... First Steps
- Five tips for handling media inquiries during times of crisis.
- Web Site Content Management
- Terry Miller, Chief Information Officer and the Sam Houston Area Council,
shares the benefits of using a content management system to support
the council's Web site.
- Aggie Eagle Program
- Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas, and councils throughout
Texas have coordinated their efforts to bring Eagle Scouts to the campus
through the new Aggie Eagle Program.
- UPDATE: See the brochure [PDF]
produced by the Texas A&M Corps of Cadets
and the Spring 2006 edition [PDF]
of the Aggie Eagle program newsletter.
- Family FOS Brochure [PDF]
- View a brochure created by the Greater Pittsburgh Council in support
of their Friends of Scouting campaign.
- Public Relations Guidelines [PDF]
- Patriots' Path Council provides this extensive guide to support
public relations efforts by its districts and units.
- Executing an E-Mail Campaign PPT
- Terry Miller, Chief Information Officer and the Sam Houston Area Council,
provides a comprehensive guide for conducting e-mail campaigns.
- "Scouts at Work" Signs
- The Mid-America council provides "Scouts at Work" signs for use
when a Scout unit or Eagle Scout is engaged in a community service
project.
- 96th Anniversary Appearance on Good Morning America
- A group of 65 Scouts and 36 Scouters traveled from the Jersey Shore Council
to New York City to participate in the studio audience of Good Morning
America.
- Scouting for Stories [DOC]
- The Greater Pittsburgh Council provides this informational flier to
units, helping them recognize the value and opportunities for
publicity.
- Scoutreach in Action
- Chief Seattle Council provides this quarterly newsletter as a way to
keep Scoutreach and Scouting in general, on the radar screens of those
people with the opportunity to influence continued growth.
- Soccer and Scouting
- The Catalina Council, Boy Scouts of America, has launched its second
year of Soccer and Scouting with enormous success. Since the first
registration on September 10, a total of 445 boys have been
registered on 24 teams/dens in 12 packs.
- Indicia Exposure Offers Memorable Marketing Tactic
- For as little as $100, every letter with your postmark can highlight
a coming anniversary, a special event—or the Boy Scouts of
America or Learning for Life names.
- Mississippi Valley Council
- Last fall we put together tray liners for local restaurants. It
included the Jeff Gordon PSA photo, a Cub Scout word find game,
and dates/times/places where you could sign up for your local
school night. It also showed the FREE Pinewood Derby Car kit and
pail they would receive after they signed up. A local car
dealership that is well known in the council sponsored the
tray liners as well as the Pinewood Derby kits.
- We also contacted and arranged for our major local newspapers
to carry 6-8 page tabloid inserts (some color) promoting Scouting
and the dates/times/places where you could sign up for Scouting.
- Popcorn Salesman Video [WMV]
- Here's the Popcorn Salesman Video used by the Sam Houston Area
Council in Houston to train youth popcorn salesman in the proper
methods for selling popcorn.
- Jason Volz
Sam Houston Area Council
- On Monday, July 19th, Mary Font wrote to the council office asking
for support for her Eagle Scout Son Michael who was diagnosed with
Leukemia in June. Michael began chemotherapy immediately and was
experiencing first hand the effects of the blood shortage in Houston
as he was only given half of the blood that he was supposed to
receive.
- In the past year, the council has made collecting personal emails
for Scouts a priority with the hopes to be able to communicate with
them regularly. So far, we have collected over 18,000 personal
emails and were able to ask for support from the Houston Community.
Communicating via mass email is not perfect and the base line for
"opens" is under 10%. Within 24 hours of sending the email about
Michael Font, 8,000 emails had been opened and the calls to the
blood drive coordinators were already flooding in. The result of
a week of promotion was 283 useable units of blood and some great
media awareness of Michael's story including 2 stories in the
Houston Chronicle.
- This is only a small sample of the power of email and how local
councils can use email to communicate with Scouters.
- We Achieve What We Recognize [PPT]
- Green Mountain council explains the importance—and potential
rewards—of providing a recognition system to encourage behavior
consistent with your goals.
- Marketing Success Story
- Del-Mar-Va Council provides details about a campaign that resulted
in a 10% increase in youth members recruited.
- Media Survey [PDF]
- The Sam Houston Area Council has developed an online media survey as
a guide to indicate where advertising dollars would be best applied.
- Clear Channel Radio [DOC]
- The Stonewall Jackson Area reports that it has received "outstanding"
support from Clearn Channel Communications radio stations in its area.
They are especially thrilled with two radio PSAs developed to promote
School Night for Scouting:
PSA #1 [MP3]
PSA #2 [MP3]
- Crisis of Character [PDF]
- Chief Seattle Council has coordinated the Harris study outcomes with
the Newsweek article "Boys At Risk" to demonstrate the ways
in which Scouting provides solitions to modern issues. See the
brocure [PDF]
and list of speaking points [PDF]
- Scouting for Stories [PDF]
- The Greater Pittsburgh Council uses this tip-sheet to gather
positive PR stories.
- Public Service Announcements [MP3]
- The following three PSAs were developed by the Sam Houston Area Council:
- · Car Wreck PSA
- · Moving PSA
- · 30-Second PSA
- Building Strong Values
- The Sam Houston Area Council shares its newsletter, billboards, and Web
sites developed to promote Scouting.
- "I Believe in Scouting"
- A local attorney has underwritten the cost to develop this commercial
for the Greater Niagara Frontier Council.
- Pop in for Lunch
- A local bank hosted a press conference and media luncheon for the
Choctaw Area Council to share the Council's success stories and
kick-off their annual popcorn sale.
- cSouts CAN Wins Mutual of America Community Partnership Award Merit Finalist
- In 1996, Mutual of America Life Insurance Company created the
Community Partnership Award to highlight the important
contributions that nonprofit organizations, in partnership with
public, private and other social sector organizations, make to
society.
- Scout Service Project Banner
- An Eagle Scout in the National Capital Area Council used a banner
to draw community attention to his service project.
- Councilwide "School Night for Scouting" Conducted in One Night
- On Thursday, September 21, 2006, the Santa Clara County Council
conducted a councilwide School Night for Scouting at more than
200 elementary schools on one night.
- Year-Round Membership Plan Produces Results
- Pioneer Valley Council developed an enhanced year-round membership plan,
which has produced promising increases in membership growth.
- Flash Page' E-mail Promotion a Success
- The Twin Valley Council developed a "peer-to-peer" recruiting communications
tool that they credit for increases in Cub Scouting and Tiger Cubs.
- iRecruit Creates Buzz
- In Patriots' Path Council, Boys who recruit two or more friends to
join Scouting earn an iPod.
- Deliver the Promise Immediately
- The Pony Express Council began "Super Saturday at Camp Geiger"
to fulfill the promises within days of making them, which led
to increased retention in the council.
- Join Scouting Month Is a Storming Success
- In the past, the South Florida Council had great success with the
one-night approach to fall recruitment. However, the hurricanes of
2004 and 2005 required a new plan to prevent "putting all of
their eggs in one basket."
- Rechartering, Recruiting, and Public Relations Are Reasons for Membership Growth
- The Ozark Trails Council ended 2006 with balanced growth in all
programs. This 10.5 percent increase in membership
occurred because a lot of things were done right.
- Tips for Achieving 6 Percent Cub Scout Growth in 2006
- The Tri-State Area Council shares a ccouple of tips that have
led to positive growth in Cub Scouting in the council.
- Combination of Factors Contribute to East Carolina's Growth
- Scout executive Mike Johnson provides a list of factors that have
led to a 14% increase in Cub Scout recruitment in the East Carolina
Council.
- United We Stand!
- Quivira Council continues to grow in total youth as a result of its
combined efforts with their local Girl Scout council to conduct a
Sign Up for Scouting membership campaign.
- Scouting for Stories [WMV]
- Comcast produced a PSA for the Sam Houston Area Council's
Scout Fair. Comcast is airing about $200,000 worth of spots for
the council.
- Brad Coleman Billboard
- Brad Coleman, the youngest driver in NASCAR, has agreed to act as
spokesman for the Sam Houston Area Council.
- "I'm glad I'm a Cub Scout" PSA
- During a "go see it " esxcursion by a Tiger Cub den in the Southwest
Michigan Council, a member of the Chamber of Commerce in Kalamazoo
drafted a public service announcement to promote Cub Scouting .
Click here to submit information for this section.
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.