If You Build It (a schedule of fun activities), They (kids and families) Will Come (and join your Pack).

Here's how it works:  consider which of these two Packs a Scout or Family might want to join:

Pack Wait and Meet -- the Pack that waits around to plan and sends a flyer home with this announcement:

"Please join our Cub Scout Pack!

Cub Scouts can go camping and biking and hiking and fishing and do a pinewood derby and things like that, but we'll have to decide when and where and then get folks to help put it on.

When school starts we'll have a Pack Sign Up night and then we'll have a meeting to decide what to do!"

Pack Power Planners -- the Pack that plans and publicizes:  they send home a flyer, with pictures of their kids, and these events listed:

"Please join our Cub Scout Pack!  Here's what our Cub Scout families can do in the next year:

A welcome back Pack Pool Party, _____, August __ at ______________, and celebrate “back to school” with a “jump in the pool”

We can attend the DragonCon Parade Saturday, September 2, 10:00 AM in downtown Atlanta (free and weird!  Wizards … Hobbits … Star Wars Characters and More!)

Let’s go to the Cub Fun Fair at Starr Park, Forest Park, GA, Saturday, Sept. 9 – games, competitions, crafts, games, fun, water rockets, games, fun and more.

What Does it Mean when We See "Sign Up Night" Calendar Entries for our Pack Number????  It means that Brandon and Zach have scheduled a Sign Up Night for the school or schools noted in the Calendar Entry.  

What is a Sign Up Night?  Ideally, a meet and greet orientation with fun added (what fun you have is up to you, but see the Sign Up Night page, including this plan and script for a Sign-Up Event -- the script works with a few engaged volunteers either as a presentation or as a "station to station" event.  

But if Brandon and Zach set up the Sign Up Night, doesn't that mean they do everything?  No, it's your Pack and so you should own the event and coordinate with the District Professionals -- let them know your fun activity calendar (easy to copy and edit flyers with activity lists are here), work with them on how you will tell the school families how your Pack operates -- you will know that better anyway.

Should we just have Leaders show up ... or other Parents and Families too?  Invite your current families to attend, and help with the "one on one" and "peer to peer" connections that will draw families into your Pack, especially to convey the concept of shared leadership, of Cub Scouting as a family program where Every Parent Leads.  So get your current Scouts and Families out there -- they can "sell" the program better than anyone! -- and let Brandon and Zach know your plans, so that they can support you.

Can Troops Help?  Absolutely.  Scouts and Parents who have crossed over can tell the story about how Cub Scout Fun Adventures help those little ones grow into Boy Scouts tackling High Adventure.

More helpful ideas and tools at our Recruiting Tools page and the sub-pages on Flyers and Media, Recruiting Leaders, and Sign Up Events.  

Don't forget about upcoming Training for parents and leaders, and if you haven't seen the Cub Adventure Plans pages, see them here, especially the new Getting Started: Plans for First Meetings + Bobcat Rank resources, and --

Yes, that's right ... Parents have the Power!  Peer to Peer recommendations lead people to try new things, whether movies, restaurants, or activities for kids like Scouting ... and School Open House events are a great opportunity to talk Parent to Parent and Kid to Kid this week about the fun activities your Unit will do this year ... so that those families will want to join you.  Thursday August 3 is the date for all Clayton County School Open Houses: Elementary Schools from 1:00 to 3:00, Middle Schools from 3:00 to 5:00 and High Schools from 5:00 to 7:00.  Fulton County schools schedule their own dates -- see the list of Fulton County Elementary Schools here, and link through to your School Website to call ... some websites are updated, some are not, but many appear to have Open House on August 3, some on the 4th.  These "Open House" events are a great time to announce your fun activities and recruit new families!  Open Houses are “open season” for all sorts of signups – don’t miss this great opportunity to have a strong Pack presence at Open House / Registration Day / or other back to school events.  Every leader, parent and Scout who can help for a few minutes can help recruit at each one of these events.  

... if you plan Den and Pack meetings like school time, in a classroom or around a table, that's too bad ... because you're missing out on the fun and adventure -- yes, adventure -- of Cub Scout adventures that are built into the new Cub Scout handbooks and adventure plans.    Seriously ... lots of these Cub Scout Adventures are better and more easily done at Weekend Events like campouts or day hikes ending with an evening campfire ... and by families! … to have more fun, and get more family participation, Dens and Packs might do more weekend activities (invite others too ... they might join you!).  For places to go and things to do, see our Month by Month Activity Guide for easy options to set up your Family Fun Program every month, including dozens and dozens of other great places to go around Atlanta. 

Highlights of the most recent District News were these (click links for information):  Six Steps for Sustainable Recruiting for your Unit  ...  Opt In, Opt Out  ...  What's in the "More Help For Leaders" page?  ...  Online Registration is Live!  Complete the Final Steps ...   and from the week before:  Go Fun Places, Do Fun Things, And Share What You Are Doing!  ...  Recruiting Step Five: Sign Up Events: Not just School Sign Up Night: do Fun Events Too!  ... Recruiting Step Six: More Fun Events ...   

Here’s six steps to a successful and sustainable plan for recruiting new families into your Cub Scout Pack … because every Pack wants more active leaders, and just about every Pack wants more youth and their families to join.  Key idea:  successful, sustainable recruiting happens by action now by leaders and parents in the Unit.  If your recruiting plan begins and ends on Sign Up Night, your recruiting will likely not be sustainable.  

The Big Idea to Recruit new kids and families:  kids and families want to know what you DO -- your activities, campouts, hikes, trips, action, fun, fishing, biking, whatever.  

Much less important is "when you meet", unless you just want to be a babysitting service.  

That's why Recruiting Step One is Make a Calendar of Fun Activities that Families Like 

To help with recruiting by leaders and parents (hey, parents want more leaders too!), follow these Six Steps to Successful and Sustainable Recruiting from our Recruiting Tools page and in the Leader’s Guide to Recruiting: 

Successful and Sustainable Recruiting Needs to be Much More than School Sign Up Nights and Buzz Ups.  Successful and Sustainable Recruiting is a Process ... the Pack Leader's Guide to Recruiting describes these six steps: 

1. Make a Calendar of Fun Activities that families like
2. Recruit More Leaders and Helpers - one by one, find folks who can help your unit out
3. Let People Know! Let Families and Organizations Know your Pack Fun Event Plan. (Families join Packs that do things ... Boys join Troops that Go Places ... let them know what you're doing ... there are many ways)
4. School and Community Events -- Show your School and Community the Fun of Cub Scouting. 
5. Once you've laid that foundation, have Sign Up Events: School Sign Up Night and Fun Events Too!
6. More Fun Events.  Keep expanding and extending your Calendar of Fun Events … that’s what makes families join!

All of this helps your success at Sign Up Nights at Schools -- see Our Ideas here about Signup Nights and Signup Events.  More below: