Would You Talk to Your Family Only Once a Year?

For most people, the answer is, "No, I talk to my family daily, weekly, or monthly." What about your Scouting family? How often do you talk with them?

Many councils don't regularly talk to one segment of our Scouting family: our chartered organizations. Nationally, only 86 percent of councils say they require all youth-serving executives to annually visit every chartered organization. And for many of you, this is the only time you communicate directly with the institutional head (IH). If you don't make this yearly visit, how do you know if you are meeting the needs of your chartered organizations? How do you know they fully understand the relationship between their organization and the Boy Scouts of America?

In Year-Round Service to Chartered Organizations, No. 14-628B, you are encouraged to make the following contacts with the head of the chartered organization and chartered organization representative (COR):

• Personal visits at least once a year, usually at charter renewal time
• Phone contact at least three times a year to ensure that the units are getting the support they need and to answer any questions they might have
• Mailings at least every other month to keep the IH and COR updated on council and district activities

Sometimes making the contact is difficult because you don't feel you have anything new to say—but you do. Here are some new and interesting topics to talk about:

• Read the chartered organization's strategic plan. How can Scouting help them meet their objectives and mission? Call the IH or COR and talk about it.
• Use the Values of Americans study to show how Scouting builds ethics and character in youth. A customizable letter for chartered organizations is inside the research kit sent to your council last June. Just fill in the blanks and send it with a copy of the research report, No. 02-849 or 02-882, to your IH and COR.
• Talk about how many youth in the units they sponsor attended summer camp. Use the Summer Camp Outcomes Study, No. 02-448, to explain the importance of camp.
• If they are not currently sponsoring the whole Scouting family, send them the Be Prepared booklet, No. 02-835, and explain the importance of sponsoring each program. Be sure to emphasize how sponsoring additional units can help them meet their mission.
• Talk with them about increasing their community outreach by encouraging more adults in their organizations to volunteer. Use the Volunteer Outcomes Study, No. 02-658, to explain the benefits received by BSA adult volunteers.

Have a specific focus when talking with the IH or COR. Don't try to use all these ideas in one meeting; each idea should be a separate contact over the course of a year. Also, remember to focus on the chartered organization's needs and how you can work with them to meet some of those needs through Scouting.

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.