Starters
Entrées
Signature Sides
Set the table. Great recruitment starts by making people aware of your pack
This is the main course. The cornerstone of any recruitment campaign is a great sign-up event. It’s served with flyers, yard signs, and your choice of at lease 2 sides..Make sure you’ve got a crowd ready to join your pack!
Often the important part of making your meal successful, sides are a personal invitation to joining events.
Click on the menu items below to see more details
Print Media
Promote your pack in local publications. Local news will often run stories provided by community groups. be sure to provide a good photo, contact info/website, and promote any upcoming joining opportunities.
Poster Campaign*
Coordinate with local businesses to display a poster promoting your pack. Think about places where parents of Scout aged boys and girls are likely to go.
Pizza Box Presence
Ask your favorite pizza delivery place if they would be willing to tape a flyer to their pizza boxes. As we all know, busy parents buy pizza.
School Publications
Great for schools that don’t allow direct access. Obtain a spot in school calendar, lunch menu or school event program.
Social Media*
In addition to being a great communication tool with parents, having a strong presence on Facebook, Nextdoor and other social media to promote your pack within your community. Shares and likes boost visibility.
Town Marquee
Ask a fire department, school, place of worship or a movie theatre to feature your pack on their signage.
Uniform Day
Nothing creates more awareness of your pack than coordinating your Cubs to wear their uniform on the same day.
Primary Joining Night*
A single event to satisfy even the hungriest pack! This should be held at the local elementary school whenever possible. Get attendance at this sign-up night by making it the focus of all of your marketing efforts. We are asking all packs to select a date between the 13th and 29th of September. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights generally will yield the best turnout. When new parents show up to a joining night, they are there to sign-up, so don’t spend time trying to sell them on joining. Provide them the information they need and most importantly COLLECT THE APPLICATION AND REGISTRATION FEES
Second Chance Joining Night
Sometimes even the best of plans can fall prey to things outside of your control. Follow the Scout Motto and Be Prepared! Having a follow-up sign-up date on the schedule from the get go will help.
In School Cub Talks*
Whenever possible, talking directly to a group of students about joining Cub Scouts in conjunction with a great flyer is the best means of inviting new boys and girls to join. There are many ways this can be done, so think outside the box if necessary.
Non-School Cub Talks*
Social Media*
This is where you can use your packs best resources (the parents of your cubs) to help promote your upcoming joining event to families they know. This is a hgihly personal inviation that can be interactive and very effective.
Personal Invitations*
Send a personalized and formal invitation to your Pack’s Entrée Event. Letters of invitation are more likely to result in attendance if sent from a parent of a cub in the same grade or even better from the same class. Plan in advance to get your list of invitees built in time for this to be most effective. Use your parents to help.
Bring a Friend Cards
From the kid’s menu, this allows your scouts to take an active part of recruitment. Make up some business cards for your cubs to pass out to all of their friends.
Parent Advocate Cards*
Similar to the Bring a Buddy cards, arming your parents with these can turn your whole pack into recruitment ambassadors. the best news here is that they are already made up for you.
Dessert
Everybody’s favorite part of the meal! These activities can help your pack focus on year-round recruitment.
Halloween Candy
Make labels with pack information and distribute to your families. Ask them to put them on the candy they are going to distribute to neighborhood kids.
Parades
Having a float or marching in a parade is a great way to boost your visibility in your community. If allowed, you can even take it a step further and toss out candy with pack information attached.
Library Story Time*
Getting your scouts to read to younger children at the library in uniform sets a great example and will be fun for your scouts. While there, give out Scout Life mini-mags with pack information labels.
Public Market/Carnivals
Having a presence at appropriate community events lets people know Scouting is alive and well and can be a great experience for your scouts. Make sure everyone is in uniform and remind them that we are representing Scouting.
Visible Community Service
This is a huge part of who we are and what we teach in Scouting. While the service itself is its own reward, let’s not hade all the good work we do in our community. Have scouts wear uniforms when possible and take good photos. Our local papers gladly run stories of scouts helping others!
Social Media*
So important it’s in your menu three times. We cannot stress enough the value of having a good presence online. It doesn’t have to be difficult of take up too much time. Just remember that like when we are in public, our social-media presence should be appropriate and highlight who we are.
Most Importantly…
Remember that every Eagle Scout started their path somewhere. For most of them it was when someone took the time to share with them or a family member what a great experience they would have as a member of their Cub Scout Pack.
Taking our time to prepare a great recruitment campaign passes the torch for the next generation and helps keep the light of Scouting burning bright into our future!
*Denotes council provided resources available thanks to your generous support to Friends of Scouting.