The Buckeye Council will fully support any in-person recruitment events in every way possible with flyer distribution, school talks, providing parent orientation packets, geofencing the school, providing free model rockets, etc.

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SETTING UP JOIN SCOUT NIGHT AND SCHOOL WITH SCHOOL

After deciding on a date for your Join Scout Night, the Buckeye Council staff will contact the school to schedule the Join Scout Night and school talk. 

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SCHOOL TALKS

Buckeye Council staff will schedule in-person school talks with each elementary school. In-person school talks with flyer and sticker distribution are the most successful recruitment method because kids can get excited about recruitment and take home information directly to their parent.

 

Ideally, school talks occur on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays to allow

for Join Scout Nights to occur later that week at the school. Packs are

encouraged to have 1 or 2 adult leaders come to the school talk to help pass

out flyers and stickers. For any schools that will not allow in-person school

talks, the Buckeye Council has created a video school talk that we will provide

to all schools with the request that they show to kids through whatever means

they have available.

 

SUPPORTING JOIN SCOUT NIGHTS WITH A JOIN SCOUT NIGHT COORDINATOR

To help the unit be successful in recruiting new members, each district is committed to recruiting district volunteers to assist the unit leaders and parents. The volunteer Join Scout Night Campaign Coordinators will help the unit by:

 

• Contacting the unit leaders prior to the recruiting meeting to review the plan.

• Participate in the unit recruiting meeting, the parent orientation meeting, and the second chance opportunity, as needed.

• Assist new families in completing application forms.

• Collecting applications, fees, and sign-in sheets from the unit leadership to turn in to the Buckeye Council.

• Delivering incentive items to the pack leadership.

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PROVIDING RECRUITMENT MATERIALS

The Buckeye Council has a number of marketing materials to maximize your Pack's recruitment efforts. These will be available at the Buckeye Council Service Centers and at the Join Scout Night Kickoff in July. 

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It will be more important than ever before that units and parents promote their own program through their networks. In-person school talks with flyer and sticker distribution are the most successful recruitment method, but it is extremely important for the individual unit to self-promote as much as possible.

 

Use ALL the recruitment tactics below to promote your own unit.

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• YARD SIGNS: Yard signs will be provided to all units to promote in person sign ups and
  Scouting in general! Put these in high traffic areas in town, at the school, and at your
  chartered organization.
   

• FLYERS: Recruitment flyers will be distributed through all schools connected to units having in person recruiting where allowed. We will provide these as hard copies as allowed, but electronic everywhere. Where allowed, schools will receive three rounds of flyers – a flyer during the first week of school, a flyer during the school talk, and a flyer a few weeks later to invite Scouts to a 2nd chance sign up.
   

• POSTERS: Place posters around town in common locations like gas stations, community bulletin boards, and even at school!
   

• BUDDY CARDS: Peer to peer recruitment will be as important as ever. Buddy Cards will be provided to units for friends and families to join in the Scouting adventure. We will custom print buddy cards for your unit with Join Scout Night details. While physically distributing buddy cards might be difficult, consider an email “Parent-to-Parent Campaign."
   

• SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING & GEOFENCING: The Buckeye Council is investing in digital marketing through Facebook ads, geofencing. Through this technology, when a parent enters a radius around the Join Scout Night event they will receive a notification on their Facebook page inviting them to attend the event. Promote your pack and sign up information in network groups like NextDoor, community Facebook groups, school newsletters, etc.
   

• SCHOOL OPEN HOUSES: Work with your elementary school to have a table and a few members from the pack at the open house! The Buckeye Council can equip you with promotional materials for your school's open house. This is a great opportunity to provide a fun activity for kids, mingle with parents, and share the word about Scouting.
   

• CHARTERED ORGANIZATION INVOLVEMENT: We will better engage our chartered partners to educate them on their ownership of their Scouting programs and gain their support for recruitment. Put information in the church bulletin, put yard signs up, make an announcement Sunday morning, etc!