“On no, we missed it!”Parents across the country may be having this realization right now. Others may have attended a local sign-up night but didn’t register. Others may have expressed interest through our beascout.org website. These families deserve a second chance to join our life-changing program.
Host a Second-chance Recruitment Event
Don’t be scared by the word “event.” You can create a second-chance event by simply promoting the first Pack meeting after each sign-up night as another chance to join. These Pack meetings should include a fun activity that new, existing, and prospective members can all enjoy.
Many Packs has made this a standard operating procedure. “As a Pack, we are committed to hold at least one second-chance sign-up event, which is usually during the Pack meeting,” said the Cubmaster of one of our leading units. She also made a few recommendations for Packs planning a second-chance event:
1. Designate a few volunteers to welcome every new family
2. Provide the same welcoming materials you offered at your initial sign-up night
3. Give everyone a chance to join, but especially focus on Lions and Tigers recruitment. Those programs are easy to incorporate new youth and parents.
Promote it
Send a personal email invitation to each family that attended a Pack sign-up night but didn’t join. Make sure to send the message from an email account that the recipients will recognize and use a simple subject line like this one: “It’s not too late to join Cub Scouts!”
And don’t forget about the families that didn’t attend a sign-up night. Facebook is an easy and effective tool for reaching this audience. Packs can create a free Facebook event in just a few minutes through their unit Facebook page. The Facebook page you use to create this event should be up to date, easy to understand, and appealing. Contact your District Executive for help with Facebook geofencing – free to your pack!
Take it to the Next Level
If you have a bit more time and resources, you can create a whole new event geared toward getting your new members outdoors right away and recruiting even more families.
Another creative Cub Scout Pack held one such event at a church and even offered overnight camping on the church’s grounds. This event and others like it included water bottle rockets, a portable rock wall, kickball, a monkey bridge, cooking, a mini-hike, and more.
Remember What’s Really Important
It isn’t important whether you decide to offer a brand-new experience or if you simply promote your next Pack meeting to prospective Cub Scouts. What matters is that you give families another chance to join our life-changing program. Your Pack also gets a chance to recruit more adult leaders.
