From the Commissioner: The Best Way to Welcome New Members

It’s fall! In much of the country that means football. For Scouters, it also means recruitment.

This fall thousands of boys and girls will be joining Cub Scout packs. And, come February, thousands of youth — both boys and girls — will be joining Scouts BSA troops. It is an exciting time for them, their families and their units. Everyone is looking forward to the fun of Scouting.

It also can be a confusing time for those families. Even those families with a Scouting background might have challenges with all the new friends, new activities, new uniforms and new ways of doing things. And while it is all fun, it can be overwhelming. Too overwhelming. The truth is, a lot of those families don’t stay in Scouting without a friend in the unit who can help guide them along the way. That’s where the New Member Coordinator comes in.

If your unit doesn’t have one yet, now is the time to recruit someone. All you need is a friendly person who is excited about Scouting and is not serving in another capacity in the unit. Having someone there to say “Welcome” and able to anticipate questions goes a long way to ensuring that the family gets engaged quickly. And engaged families mean more help and more help means opportunity for a better program and a growing unit. All of that leads to more fun for everyone.

Check out the information at scouting.org/nmc and the training materials in the Learn Center at my.scouting.org. Having someone there to say “Welcome!” will make all the difference this fall.

Yours for better Scouting,

Ellie Morrison

National Commissioner