EDGE · Explain, Demonstrate, Guide, Enable
Resource Hub
Every tool you need already exists — this page tells you exactly what each one is for and where to click. Most membership problems are adoption problems.
The lead pipeline (highest priority)
These three national tools are how families actually find and join your unit. If you master nothing else, master these.
The public map where families search for a unit. A stale pin silently sends them elsewhere.
Every BeAScout inquiry lands here. Also generates your unit's unique join URL and QR code.
Where online applications wait for approval. The standard: act within 24 hours.
National's one-page checklists for what each leader must set up and check: Cubmaster, Scoutmaster, Committee Chair, and more. Print one for every unit leader at your join night.
Marketing materials
Professional, on-brand materials without a designer.
Customizable flyers, posters, yard signs, door hangers, social graphics, email templates, and brand-approved photos — Dynamic Templates you edit in the browser, organized by program and activity.
National's official guide for generating your unit's BeAScout QR code — the code that goes on every Brand Center template and our Toolkit signs.
National recruiting playbooks, webinars, geofencing guides, and campaign kits.
National's program-specific recruiting playbooks: proven event formats, promotion timelines, and follow-up scripts written for the unit level. The Cub Scouting edition is the fall workhorse; Scouts BSA and Venturing have their own.
Our own generator: QR posters, car signs, social posts, email flows, and call scripts personalized to your unit in seconds.
Cost, fee waivers, and council supplies
From the August 12 roundtable with Hannah Bouslough and SJ Molale. Cost is the quiet reason families don't ask twice — none of these should ever be a surprise to a parent.
A short DocuSign form. No bills, no proof of income, no invasive questionnaire — it simply tells the council a family needs help, and routes to the unit's committee chair to confirm the family is connected to the unit.
The $85 national fee is removed for youth from active-duty, Guard, or Reserve families — dropping the youth fee from $150 to $65. It does not cover adults or retirees.
Scouts recruit better than adults do, and they'll do it for swag. National Recruiter Strip for the first recruit, the Aloha Council Round One patch at two, and a council recruiter shoulder patch at three or more.
Welcome kits, Alakai the Eagle, Ethan & Ellie boards, wristbands, lanyards, and Scout Life magazines — bookable for your event. Two large ply-board recruitment yard signs are ready for Oahu packs to collect: QR-printed front, blank back for your unit info.
Payments sometimes pend for days at national and then flip to declined — often a military family whose card billing address differs from their address. Leaders find out they lapsed by surprise.
Scouts BSA troop recruiting — the Membership Corner
National's Scouts BSA Membership Corner publishes ready-to-use troop recruiting materials and monthly webinars. These are the pieces worth printing — all 58 troops can use them this fall.
The living page: monthly recruiting webinars (with recordings), hot topics, and every resource below as it's updated. Check it at the start of each month.
A printable pick-your-tactics menu for troops: choose the recruiting activities that fit your troop, with the Troop Builder checklist to plan them and a script that lets your Scouts do the telling.
A complete ZIP of middle-school recruiting materials, timed for the back-to-school window — the exact audience Scouts BSA troops need (ages 11–13).
The highest-converting channel is a Scout inviting a friend. This is national's guide for coaching Scouts to do it — plus the community-visibility playbook for being seen where families already are.
Recruiting ends when the family stays. National's new-parent flyer and orientation guide turn a signed application into a family that shows up in month two — the retention benchmark starts here.
National's Arrow of Light transition playbook — den visits, joint campouts, and handoff timelines. Crossover is the pipeline behind our 65% retention benchmark; every pack-troop pair should have a plan.
2026 national campaign — align, don't duplicate
The 2026 National Recruitment Activation Playbook (May 2026) sets the wave we ride: national paid media runs July–October, the national announcement lands in August, and every council material ends with the same call to action — "Visit BeAScout.org to start your Scouting adventure."
Target audiences (parents of kids 5–10, Hispanic and multicultural families), master messaging, the Jul–Oct media timeline, earned-media pitch scripts, and event playbooks. National sends customizable news releases for the Aug/Sep/Oct media moments.
National buys search, social, video, and streaming Jul–Oct. Councils should NOT bid on branded keywords (cub scouts, scouting near me…) — it raises costs for everyone.
The approved answers on safety, the name change, ages, and starting new units — use these verbatim when reporters or parents ask.
Council resources
Aloha Council–specific support.
Council recruitment materials, event listings, and district executive contacts.
Simplified online application, revamped in 2024. Cost should never keep a family out.