Program planning helps ensure units have outdoor activities throughout the year to keep youth active and engaged in the program. Encourage your packs to include overnight camping in their program through family/pack camping or Cub Scout resident camp. Cub Scouts who attended overnight camping (98.5 percent) are more likely than those who never camped (90.7 percent) or those who only attended day camp (85.7 percent) to say they will stay in Scouting next year.
Also, encourage troops to have an active camping program that includes summer resident camp. More than one-fourth (28 percent) of youth who drop out of Scouting never attended summer camp. In addition, almost half (49.1 percent) of the youth who drop out say their units went on five or fewer camping trips per year.
Unit program planning can help ensure that the promises made when recruiting youth—fun, outdoor adventure, exciting activities—are promises kept!
Source: Boys' Life Survey of Cub Scouts and Parents, 2004 and Boy Scout Retention Survey, 2003.
| Camping by the Numbers | |
|---|---|
| Type of Camping | Percentage of Youth Participating in 2005 |
| Cub Scouts | |
| Council family/pack camping | 17.5% |
| Council resident camp | 8.1% |
| Boy Scouts | |
| Long-term resident camp | 53.6% |
| High-adventure camp | 8.0% |
| Venturing | |
| Long-term resident camp | 4.3% |
| High-adventure camp | 6.1% |
| Source: 2005 Camping Report | |
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.