Scoutreach Strategies and Tactics For Short-Term
and Long-Term Council Needs
Strategy 1: Financial Focus
Identify untapped sources of funding in order to ensure long-term
survivability of Scoutreach programs through strong endowment growth.
Tactics
Short-Term Needs
- Identify local corporate and philanthropic foundations that support
innovative programs for at-risk youth and have a history of awarding
seed grants, and submit quality proposals.
- Identify and recruit a philanthropy-minded volunteer who will champion
Scouting among his/her foundation peers.
- Identify and recruit the Scoutreach vice-chairman of finance (ideally
someone who is already a member of the council finance committee) who
will provide leadership to solidify council objectives for financial
support.
Long-Term Needs
- Promote the James E. West Fellowship program at all BSA district and
council events, always working toward the goal of endowing a local
council's Scoutreach program.
- Identify state- and national-level corporate and philanthropic
foundations that award multiple-year grants to help support innovative
programs for at-risk youth.
- Implement a plan to honor highly visible African American,
Hispanic/Latino, and Asian American community leaders each year, and
present them with the Whitney M. Young Jr., Scouting ... Vale la Pena,
and Asian American Spirit of Scouting service awards. Use each award
event as a natural follow-up opportunity to raise significant dollars
to endow a local council's Scoutreach program.
Strategy 2: Membership Growth Focus
Improve under-served urban and rural communities by consistently using "best
methods" and resources that promote long-term membership retention and unit
growth.
Tactics
Short-Term Needs
- The DFS and ASE conduct focus group meetings with Scoutreach staff
and volunteers to review the Scoutreach Membership Resources—a
Survival Kit for Youth-Serving Executives notebook and to determine
whether additional resources are needed.
- Identify the presidents/CEOs of local affiliates of national minority
organizations that have endorsed Scouting (or similar minority
organizations). The Scout executive makes arrangements to personally
visit with these organization leaders to gain their commitment to be
chartered to operate at least one new unit.
- Identify and recruit the Scoutreach vice-chairman of membership,
focusing on a leader who will solidify council objectives for
membership growth.
Long-Term Needs
- Implement the OA Scoutreach Mentoring program to strengthen weak urban
and rural units and ensure active youth involvement in Scouting.
- Collaborate with the council Scoutreach committee and implement yearly
"Together, Let's Organize" meetings with local affiliates of national
minority organizations to gain commitments for developing new
units.
- With council board approval, identify and recruit an assistant council
commissioner who will be responsible for serving urban and rural
communities.
Strategy 3: Human Resources Focus
Identify and recruit qualified minority candidates for professional Scouting,
emphasizing the long-term objective of retaining and promoting the top
producers.
Tactics
Short-Term Needs
- Share resumes of candidates (usually attained at national conventions)
with SEs and DFSs interested in hiring minority staff.
- Identify the presidents/CEOs of local affiliates of national minority
organizations that have endorsed Scouting (or similar minority
organizations). The Scout executive makes arrangements to personally
visit each organization leader, creating awareness of career Scouting,
and asking for help in identifying prospective candidates.
- Create awareness of career Scouting at the college level. Sponsor
exhibit booths at career fairs, and contact minority sororities and
fraternities to share information on Scouting career
opportunities.
Long-Term Needs
- The council's senior management should implement a plan to cultivate
diversity and promote minority professional Scouters to senior
management levels.
- Through collaboration with regional human resources management,
councils should consider the current pool of Scoutreach National
President's honorees as potential candidates for middle/senior
management.
- In communities where minorities make up at least 50 percent of
the population, the council nominating committee must implement
a plan to ensure that they include and interview minority
candidates as prospective SEs.
Strategy 4: Marketing Focus
For immediate effect, use target-marketing practices to create awareness of
Scouting's benefits to under-served communities. Long-range strategic plans
should incorporate marketing that is specifically geared to building membership
retention and unit growth.
Tactics
Short-Term Needs
- Identify and recruit a Scoutreach vice-chairman of marketing who will
provide leadership and solidify council objectives for increased
marketing efforts in under-served communities.
- Identify the presidents/CEOs of local affiliates of national minority
organizations that have endorsed Scouting (or similar minority
organizations). The Scout executive makes arrangements to personally
visit with each organization leader to share the council's vision for
marketing Scouting in minority communities.
- Promote local Scoutreach programs by regularly contacting community
newspapers and minority-owned radio and TV stations. Provide them with
timely updates about Scouting activities and opportunities.
Long-Term Needs
- Use the Marketing to Hispanic Americans implementation kit as a model
for developing a strategy local councils can use to effectively market
Scouting to African American, Asian, and other emerging minority
communities.
- Develop target-marketing promotional resources for specific "emerging"
minority communities; e.g., Russian, Indian, Bosnian, Middle Eastern,
etc.
- Adapt target-marketing strategies as part of the council's long-range
strategic plan for marketing to under-served urban and rural
communities.
Strategy 5: Hispanic American/Latino Focus
Provide better service to the growing Hispanic American/Latino community,
focusing on the long-term objective of cultivating board-level Hispanic
volunteer leadership and senior management staff.
Tactics
Short-Term Needs
- Identify and recruit a Scoutreach vice-chairman of Hispanic Scouting
who will provide leadership and solidify council objectives for
increased membership growth in the Latino community.
- Identify the presidents/CEOs of local affiliates of national Hispanic
organizations that have endorsed Scouting (or similar Hispanic
organizations). The Scout executive makes arrangements to personally
visit with each organization leader to share the council's vision for
Hispanic Scouting in the local council.
- Hire at least one qualified Latino professional Scouter—preferably
someone who is fluent in both Spanish and English—to carry out the
council objectives for promoting Hispanic Scouting.
Long-Term Needs
- Obtain regional approval and get financial support in place to
implement the Soccer and Scouting program in the
local council.
- Encourage diversity at all levels and promote qualified unit- and
district-level Hispanic volunteers to the council's executive
board.
- Councils with significant Latino populations must implement a plan
to promote cabinet-level Hispanic professional Scouters.
Strategy 6: Leadership Development Focus
Strengthen and develop long-term objectives by recruiting and training
district-level minority volunteers, and then cultivating them for board-level
minority leadership.
Tactics
Short-Term Needs
- Identify and recruit a Scoutreach vice-chairman of training who will
provide leadership and solidify council objectives, resulting in more
trained minority district volunteers.
- Identify the presidents/CEOs of local affiliates of national minority
organizations that have endorsed Scouting (or
other similar minority
organizations. The Scout executive makes arrangements to personally
visit with each organization leader to identify and plan recruitment
of prospective district level volunteers.
- Youth-serving executives hold regular unit visitations to better
identify the dedicated minority unit leaders who should be considered
as prospective district volunteers.
Long-Term Needs
- Encourage diversity by promoting qualified district-level minority
volunteers to the council's executive board.
- Councils serving a community with a significant minority population
should implement a plan to recruit minority board members to serve
on the council executive committee.
- Strengthen the council and the volunteers by sending district-level
minority volunteers to a regional Scoutreach workshop.
Download
Download a printer-friendly version of this
brochure[PDF, 1.3 MB]
