So, right now most packs are thinking about Day Camp, or Resident Camp, or the Fourth of July Parade. They may be doing one of the things listed in our Summer Recruiting Guide. But most of them are thinking that fall recruiting is a long ways away. But the days until school’s get back in session will tick off quickly, and there are a lot of things that Packs can do right now to get ready for fall recruiting.
Now I probably love camp as much as anyone, but we need to recruit kids before they can go camping, and you can go with them. The key to fall recruiting is preparation – so here are some big things you can do right now to make sure you’re successful.
Get Fall Recruiting Dates and Locations Set ASAP
Everything sort of flows from this one. This lets you create your Facebook event. This lets you order your flyers and posters. It gives you a date to work back from.
Now, ideally, you’re holding your recruiting date at each school you recruit from. Many schools are difficult to nail down for dates until August, but the sooner you start having that conversation, the better.
Notice that I put down recruiting dates, plural. You want to schedule multiple joining nights. You don’t want your entire recruiting campaign to be one night. You’ll need follow-up events for the people who couldn’t get there to the first event. Life happens. People get sick. Calendar conflicts occur.
Then, once you’ve got your date set, let your district know about it, so they can properly support your efforts.
Check Community Calendars
There are so many reasons to do this. First, you want to make sure your recruiting night isn’t scheduled for your school’s open house night, or the big soccer nights in town. You want to make sure that as many people as possible can come to your joining night. So check the school department’s calendar, check the Chamber of Commerce’s calendar.
Not only can you pick the best date for your event, but you can also find other events that you can be present at to promote your event.
Visit Your Schools
Summertime is a good time to stop by the school(s) your pack covers and have a discussion about their flyer policy. Who needs to approve the flyer? Can they also include your flyer in their digital backpack?
How do they want the flyers packaged? Groups of 10? 15? Paper clipped? Colored-paper separated? How many flyers will you need? If you want the flyers to actually go home with the kids, then you need to know this. Will they allow you to do a classroom, or lunchroom presentation? (Informally, a “Boy Talk.)
When will the school open house be in the fall? Can you reserve a table at that event?
Of course, there are some schools who don’t allow you any access, and it’s better to know that now.
Do A Social Media Inventory
What are the Facebook Groups in your town where it would be appropriate to share your fall recruiting info? Does your town have a News and Info Group or a Community Events Group? Is there a School PTO Group? Just put your town’s name in the search bar on Facebook and see what you find. Then ask the other people in your unit to do the same. Make sure you’ve got members of your pack or troop in these groups before recruiting season.
Are there pages in your community that would and should share your recruiting info? Radio stations? TV stations? Schools? Businesses?
You want to make sure that when it’s time to do your social media blitz in advance of your recruiting night that you’re not doing so haphazardly. While you’re at it, make sure that you’ve got everyone on Facebook in your group liking your Facebook page, send out an email invitation to everyone on your unit mailing list.
The whole point of this exercise is to get as many eyes on your Recruiting posts as possible. Just posting something on Facebook and hoping for the best isn’t going to make that happen. You need a plan, and now is that time to write that plan.
Do A Bulletin Board Inventory
Where are the places you can hang flyers in town? Take a walk or a drive around your community and look for bulletin boards. Look for businesses that hang community flyers in the windows. Make notes of where these are, so that when it’s time to actually recruit put flyers up, you won’t be nearly so rushed. This will keep you far more organized, and make your life much easier. To get you started, here’s my list of 23 places to hang flyers.
Contact Your Local Churches / Religious Organizations for Bulletin Info
How many churches, synagogues, temples, mosques, etc. are there in your town? Would they be willing to share your joining night info with their members?
In my experience, most would. Can you get them either a small flyer to insert into their bulletins or at least a couple of sentences they can print in those bulletins over the summer?
But they can be tricky to get a hold of, so start now. Not all of them will have someone there during business hours. It’s also a lot easier if you figure out who in your unit belongs to each religious organization. So start scouring websites now for contact phone #s and emails, and office hours.
Contact Your Local Service Clubs
Think about your Rotary Club, Elks Club, Moose Lodge, Lions Clubs, Masons, Knights of Columbus, American Legion, etc.
These are groups with stated mission to make their communities better places to be. So they are predisposed to support you. The only trouble is, that usually nobody ever asks them to do so, and they can help you in a myriad of ways.
They can put up your fall recruiting flyers in their businesses, or work lunchrooms, and share your joining event on their Facebook pages. They can include you in their summer events. It’s also possible that they parents of Scouting-aged boys in their membership. Many of these groups will have Scouting alumni who may be willing to volunteer to do some little things to help you out in the future. You could meet school board members, business leaders, community leaders, and people who will have some great ideas for promoting your joining night.
Give them a call, and find if you can come to one of their meetings. Rotary clubs, for example, are always looking for speakers – especially in the summer. And that connection you build now will be extremely beneficial for you going forward.
Photo by woodleywonderworks 