Tag: #wickedawesomescouts

You Are Golden! (AND Platinum!)

Units (packs, troops, crews, ships and posts) are delivering a wicked awesome program to Scouts! In fact, we are doing so well that the Narragansett Council is recognized by the BSA as a “Gold Council” in the BSA’s Journey to Excellence (JTE) quality standards for 2018.

JTE consists of 18 criteria that measures our work (at the unit, district and council levels) in program, membership, leadership, and financial stewardship. Depending on performance, councils can be rated as “not rated–falling below minimum standards”, Bronze, Silver, or Gold. 2018 is our second year in a row to be rated as Gold.

The areas that Scouting in Narragansett Council are excelling include:

State Representative Carlos Tobon talks about his Scouting experience with one of our Webelos Scouts.
  • youth retention,
  • % of Scouts BSA going to summer camp,
  • unit retention,
  • commissioner service to our units, and
  • % of our unit leaders that are fully trained for their position.

Of course, there are areas that we could improve at. Those include:

  • % of Scouts advancing,
  • growing our endowment fund, and
  • community service hours (Are units reporting all of the community service provided by their Scouts? I suspect a lot of the good work being done by Scouts and leaders is not being reported!)

“I believe Scouting is one of the most beneficial programs available for youths today. It has provided great opportunities for our son and he enjoys participating and learning from Scouting. Thank you.”

Scouts BSA Parent, Voice of the Scout, Narragansett Council, 2018
Narragansett Council was awarded GuideStar’s highest rating of transparency!

In addition, the Narragansett Council was recently given GuideStar’s highest rating of transparency, Platinum. GuideStar is the world’s largest source of information on nonprofit organizations and we maintain a full profile there so that people interested in donating to us have the information they need. Learn more at www.GuideStar.org.

Key goals in 2019

Narragansett Council offers Cub Scout Day Camps, Family Camp, Webelos Adventure Camp, Scout Camp, National Youth Leadership Training, the Yawgoog Leadership Experience, and Fun Friends Adventure for your Scouts. Learn more at www.ncbsa.org/camp.
  • Getting ALL Scouts to summer camp programs because that’s where the adventure of Scouting is delivered: Day Camp, Family Camp, Camp Yawgoog, National Youth Leadership Training and more
  • Webelos to Scout Transition: getting every Arrow of Light Webelos to cross over and join a Scout troop because that’s where Scouts take a deep dive into leadership, citizenship, community service and more
  • Helping troops successfully recruit new Scouts this spring through a coordinated peer-to-peer or “bring a friend” campaign
  • Improving our communication with you through increased focus on our emails, social media, roundtables, website, and new monthly “Scouting Thrives” webcast.
  • Successfully launch the new Scouts BSA program in February with new Scout troops for girls–11 new girl troops are off the ground and running already!
  • Implement a successful Family Friends of Scouting campaign this spring to invite Scouting families to financially support Scouting in the Narragansett Council

See our council’s 2019-2020 Game Plan here.

I’m super excited about Family Scouting! For the first time in American history, brothers and sisters can share the Scouting adventure! This will be great way for the Boy Scouts of America to serve more youth, boys and girls, through the nation’s foremost character and leadership development program!

How can we help your unit THRIVE? Let me know in the comments below.

A Thriving Scouting Program in 2019

The Narragansett Council’s 79% retention rate is among the highest in the country.

 Council Executive Board members took an oath to do their best to help units thrive in 2019 through program support, unit service, leadership, marketing & communication, financial support and excellent administration and financial stewardship.  See the “Council Commitment” here.

In December, we held our first ever Thrive Drive Kickoff to focus on how the council can help units (packs, troops, crews, and ships) thrive in 2019. Areas of focus were

  • Getting ALL Scouts to summer camp programs because that’s where the adventure of Scouting is delivered: Day Camp, Family Camp, Camp Yawgoog, National Youth Leadership Training and more
  • Webelos to Scout Transition: getting every Arrow of Light Webelos to cross over and join a Scout troop because that’s where Scouts take a deep dive into leadership, citizenship, community service and more
  • Improving our communication with you through increased focus on our emails, social media, roundtables, website, and new monthly “Scouting Thrives Webcast”
  • Successfully launch the new Scouts BSA program in February with new Scout troops for girls.
  • Implement a successful Family Friends of Scouting campaign this spring to invite Scouting families to financially support Scouting in the Narragansett Council

More than 13,000 boys and girls participate in Scouting in the Narragansett Council.  Membership grew in 2017 by 4.6% and we grew again in 2018 with 2,753 new members joining during the year.  Scouting in the Narragansett Council is as strong financially and programmatically today as it’s been in many years.  

“Thanks to donors and leaders, the Narragansett Council is in solid financial health and membership continues to grow!”

Ed Broderick, Council President

Scouting is the finest and most effective youth development program in America instilling character, leadership and service.   The Narragansett Council’s 79% retention rate is among the highest in the country and is further evidence of our success here, and the benefits of Scouting.

To our dedicated volunteers and supporters, we implore you to commit to make Scouting THRIVE in 2019! See the Unit Thrive Drive Commitment here.

  1. Work with your unit leaders to ensure that all are fully trained for their position
  2. Select a session of camp for your unit to attend this summer and hold a camp promotion presentation–urge all Scouts to attend camp!
  3. Schedule and hold a Family Friends of Scouting presentation between now and April. Your service area will provide a trained presenter and it only takes 10 minutes
  4. Commit to getting all of your Webelos Scouts to join a troop. If you are a troop, recruit Scouts to serve as Den Chiefs for local packs

We are committed to helping parents give their children an advantage in life.   Together, we will make Scouting THRIVE in Southeastern New England!  

THANK YOU to the 130 volunteers who attended the Thrive Drive 2019!  Your participation and feedback is helping us to better focus our resources to help YOUR units!

What you told us about the Thrive Drive

We issued a special invitation to unit committee chairs to attend because an effective and functioning unit committee can make the different between a unit that is struggling and one that is THRIVING!

Question
(Scale of 1=”Not at All” to 5 = “Absolutely”)		Score
Was Thrive Drive a worthwhile use of time4.1
Gained useful ideas and information4.2
Well planned and executed4.4
Was general session useful4.0
Was breakout session useful4.1
How likely to encourage others to attend in future4.3

Your feedback on communication

From our survey of volunteer leaders at the Thrive Drive Kickoff

RankBest Methods to Communicate with YouScore*
1Email Newsletter 93
2Facebook48
3Monthly Roundtable Leader Meetings40
4Council Website Updates (www.ncbsa.org)35
5Individual emails for individual activities32
*Score is weighted based on the ranking

Based on your feedback, we will continue to focus and invest in building the effectiveness of our communication programs in these areas.

We are grateful for each of our volunteers and donors that contribute their time and resources to benefit children across Southeastern New England.