Let's get real - New Units

The fall is about here. In Scouting Land that means school nights, training parents to be leaders, popcorn and new units opening their doors to Cubs, Scouts and Ventures. So let’s cover some of these starting with “how do we start units in the Boy Scouts?”

Here is the official 12 step process form the National Council of the Boy Scouts of America:

The Steps

1. Identify the Prospect

2. Approach the Prospect.

3. Make the Sales Call (Presentation)

4. Organization Adopts the Program

5. Organizing Committee Meets

6. Select and Recruit Key Leaders

7. Train the Leaders

8. Plan and Organize the Program

9. Recruit Youth Members

10. Complete the Paperwork

11. First Unit Meeting

12. Charter Presentation/Follow Up


Now if you have ever started a unit the first thing you might notice is the process rarely goes this simply. Starting a real Scouting unit, and getting it to function in the first three months, is one of the most difficult tasks a district Scouter will have. Like most of the hard work that a council does, starting units is the work of the district. Of course most of us really don’t like doing it, so it is the work of the District Executive (DE). Hey, these guys get paid to do this right?

So after re-chartering each year the DE will look at the results and start thinking about how to replace or re-start units that did not re-charter, factor in the growth needed by the council (normally 2%) and start to think of leads, often with the help of the district committee. Let’s look at this more closely:

Start with 10 units – 2 dropped units equals 8 units + 2% growth based on the 10 units the district had last year = 2 for a grand total of 4 new units. As a matter of interest most DE’s start four Scouting units a year on average nationally.

How long does it take to start a Scouting unit? Let’s break that down:

Identify a prospect: Normally with the District Membership Committee (how many of those do we have in BAC?) or the District Committee. Two hours of drive time and two hours of meeting time sound fair?
The DE will type up the prospect list and review with a Field Director (normally). The rule of thumb in sales is to have 3 prospects for every needed sale or 12 prospects for the four needed units in this example. Two hours for this step?

Approach the prospect: This can be simple or really difficult. Finding someone that knows Father Doe, is willing to talk to Father Doe about starting a unit, is available on a given date and time… What would appear to be the case is the DE makes the call to Father Doe and sets up an appointment to visit. This step can take anywhere from three hours to ten or more. We are using three for this example.

Father Doe is excited by the idea of starting a new Scouting unit and makes a call right then to an influential member of the parish who is an Eagle Scout and would love to help organize a new Boy Scout Troop. It does happen this way - once every leap year. The story line more likely would be Father Doe telling the DE that he needs to talk with his Parish Council and he will call back in a couple of weeks with the answer. Add two hours of phone tag to the man-hours needed to start a new unit.

Father Doe calls back and in fact does have someone to help organize a new unit. The next step is to set up a meeting between the interested parties. Add five hours for this step (driving time, meeting time, and follow up).

Selecting leadership can be a real challenge. Father Doe is not about to recommend anyone that he needs to run all the committees and missions of the church. But somehow after hours of phone calls and meetings a Scoutmaster is found. Other interested parents step forwarded to help on the committee and before the DE knows it a new unit is on the way. Add eight hours for this step.

As luck would have it a training session is planned in the district for outdoor leader’s skills, so the DE tells the selected leaders to go on-line and complete Fast Start training and any sessions needed for their positions, signs the Scoutmaster and Asst. Scoutmaster up for the outdoor skills training and starts to talk program with the selected leaders. Add five hours for this step.

A Join Scout Night is planned on a Tuesday and Father Doe promotes it on Sunday. Everyone is excited! The new Scoutmaster has even spent $120 on a new uniform and patches. DE Dan gets to the church hall at 7:00PM on Tuesday and sitting there are three boys and their parents. The new Scoutmaster talks about the program planned for the next year with the families as everyone waits for two more boys to show up. They don’t. A second Join Scout Night is planned, the three families there are asked to register their sons and DE Dan collects the membership fees for joining the Boy Scouts of America. Not for this new unit, not for the council; but the Boy Scouts of America. It is always about this point in the process that the new Scoutmaster asks when she will be getting the camping equipment from the council for the new troop. DE Dan then explains the benefits of selling popcorn. Add six hours for this step.

Finally at the second Join Scout Night three other families attend with the three that were there last night and the new unit has enough leaders and Scouts to begin. All the paper work and fees are collected and DE Dan is off to the council service center to complete the paper work and register the new unit, dreaming along the way of a happy Field Director. Add four hours for this step.

DE Dan calls the District Commissioner and asks about having a Unit Commissioner assigned. Remember, this is one of four new units he will need this year. The District Commissioner talks about how there is no one available to cover this new unit right now, so she will drop by at the first meeting. Add one hour for this step.

DE Dan calls Father Doe to set up a charter presentation for the Sunday after the first meeting. Father Doe is happy to add this to the service. The District Commissioner and DE Dan show up and present the charter from the National Council to Father Doe. Add three hours for this step.

We have counted 44 man-hours to start a new unit. As always here at TruScouting we have been conservative. It is our collected experience that a new unit can take anywhere from 40 to 75 man-hours to start. Often after all this effort the new unit does not “take”. For most districts across the country the first sign that something is wrong is at re-chartering time.

Why have we written the above story? Most Scouters have no idea about the time needed in starting a new unit. We do not teach the new unit process in Wood Badge or Sea Badge. If you never serve outside of your unit, or you find yourself on the Council Executive Board without moving through a district you just won’t have cause to understand this process.

Now you do. If you don’t trust us on this then please go to the National Council’s web site or buy a copy of the Membership Committee Function Guide at a Scout Shop. Understanding this process is critical to preventing membership game playing. It will help you to understand where the numbers that are used to measure a council come from. If a council has a fantastic summer camp program and the majority of Boy Scout troops attend a long term camping experience yet the council advancement numbers continue to be low – it might be because the above steps were not followed. The same can be said about training, unit attendance at programs, and units selling popcorn. If your district looks good and neighboring districts look good, then perhaps the special program districts of the council are pulling down the council numbers.

Here is the major piece of knowledge you will now have, especially for members of the Council Executive Board. In all the many documents that are pasted out at the scripted board meeting pull out the “Council Totals Report” or the progress report on the goals of the council. Look for the number of units the council is at right now and subtract that number from where the council ended the year in 2009. Add 2% to this number and that is the number of new units needed to reach Centennial Quality Council. Multiply that number by 40. Of course now you know that 40 is the low end of the range; but let’s keep this simple. Are there enough man-hours left in 2010 to realistically reach the new unit goal?

Keep in mind that September is half over; November and December are filled with holidays. On top of starting new units, DE’s are also managing (often covering) the recruiting efforts of every Cub Scout Pack in their district while making attempts to save units before they drop in the new year.

Would this be the time to take District Executives away from their districts to cover staff functions for the Ethan Draddy Show? What about all the district and council level Scouters who are not covering Join Scout Nights across the council due to committments to make the Big Show go on? Is there a plan to recruit new boys to Scouting and reach our new unit goals? Will we follow the standard operating procedures of the National Council of the BSA in reaching our membership goals?