Reconnecting Scouts, Rekindling Memories with the BSA Alumni Connection

Alumni Connection Reconnecting Scouts, Rekindling Memories with the BSA Alumni Connection The BSA Alumni Connection is our call to find Scouting alumni and invite them to be involved with the Boy Scouts of America once again. Scouting alumni aren t just former Scouts. Our alumni include everyone impacted by the Boy Scouts of America family members of Scouts (both past and present), volunteers, Scouters, community leaders, and the tens of millions of Americans who benefit from Scouting in their communities every day. Program Overview The program focuses around the three R s no, not reading, riting, rithmatic. Our R s are: Reconnect alumni with Scouting friends and mentors and local councils Rekindle enthusiasm for Scouting and the values it represents Re-engage alumni to become active in Scouting again. Why Participate The BSA Alumni Connection s benefits have great value to local councils. When a person reconnects, data is collected. That data is both owned and managed at the local council level. So, the more people who reconnect from your council, the more relationships you can build for fundraising, volunteer recruitment, and more. But what s in it for the alum? With all of the junk mail and spam people already get, why would they want to add their name to yet another list? The BSA is not just any organization. Our alumni have deep personal ties. Many spent their formative years with the BSA, or their children did, or both. They likely would be involved, but don t know how without giving a major time commitment. The BSA Alumni Connection invites them to get involved with an organization they believe in giving as much or as little as they like. The program also features new incentives to draw in Scouting alumni. They will be able to search for their old friends and mentors, make donations directly to their local councils, and learn about programs and events. Plus, alumni will be invited to celebrate our once-in-a-lifetime, milestone event the 1OOth Anniversary of Scouting in America. There is a role for alumni in all of the 1OOth Anniversary national engagements. Through the Year of Celebration program, they can even earn a series of commemorative patches! www.bsaalumni.org 1

Program Components Because Scouting alumni can vary greatly in age, geography, affiliations, and technological savvy, we are taking a multifaceted approach to structure the program. For example, the Internet will be our best resource for finding and engaging many of our alumni, but for others, it isn t relevant to their lives at all. So, we are using a variety of methods to reach our goals: Promotion Alumni database Strategic relationships Online scrapbook Web site 1OOth Anniversary national engagements Each will be explained in detail with the program element it supports. Finding BSA Alumni Before we can reconnect, rekindle, or re-engage Scouting alumni, we have to find them. The idea of doing a full-scale alumni search can be intimidating especially if you ve never done this kind of outreach before. However, many of the tactics you ll need to find alumni are things you already do every day. Minor modifications to your current community outreach and fundraising campaigns can bring significant added value to your council. Promotion The BSA National Council will support local efforts by promoting the Alumni Connection program alongside all of 1OOth Anniversary national engagement opportunities and other outreach programs. We will drive traffic to the Alumni Connection Web site through the use of social media, advertising, and traditional media outreach. Local councils can build on national efforts with some basic promotions of their own. Samples of the materials below e-mails, articles, and advertisements can be found in the local council toolkit. To access the toolkit, go to www.scouting.org/100years and click on YourSource, then the Planning Materials page. Print and distribute Alumni Connection business cards and/or postcards at every opportunity. E-mail and send letters to possible alumni from your council, inviting them to reconnect. To find prospects you may want to enlist the services of a list broker. Yes, I want to reconnect with friends, rekindle memories, and reengage with Scouting through BSA Alumni Connection. I would like more information about how to get involved and be part of the Boy Scouts of America s 1OOth Anniversary Celebration. Name: Organization (optional): Address: City: State: Zip Code: Phone: E-mail: Visit www.bsaalumni.org to register online. Privacy Note: BSA Alumni Connection respects the privacy of all Scouting alumni. The Boy Scouts of America will not release any information to outside or third party entities. Feature articles about BSA Alumni Connection in your council newsletter and/or on your council s Web site. Write a letter to the editor or guest editorial about the BSA s 1OOth Anniversary and the Alumni Connection program for your local newspaper. Purchase advertisements in local papers and/or place banner ads on local online media. Place the Alumni Connection Web icon on your local council s Web site to link to www.bsaalumni.org Share your message and BSA Alumni Connection business cards at community meetings, with civic organizations, and anywhere else you have an audience! www.bsaalumni.org 2

Promote the Alumni Connection program at special events and expos held in your community. Have a booth at the outdoor expos, car shows, and wherever you think you might run across Scouting alumni. Add an Alumni Connection tag line to all of your council s press releases and other communications. Keep your eyes open. Scouting alumni can be found everywhere in the grocery store, at the park, on an airplane. Encourage Scouters to start a conversation and share BSA Alumni Connection business cards. Give away alumni window clings so BSA alumni can display Scouting pride and affiliation on their vehicle as they drive a round town! Strategic Relationships It is no surprise that many of our Scouting alumni have become highly successful leaders in business, nonprofit organizations, government, and even sports and entertainment. Recognizable alumni could serve as valuable spokespersons and allies for the BSA. Many are also members of civic clubs and professional associations. By working with groups that likely have Scouting alumni as members, we not only find them but also strengthen relationships with influential organizations throughout the country. The BSA National Council will begin outreach with nationally targeted organizations to open doors for local councils to work with their local chapters. The National Council will also work with key, strategically selected individual alums for additional outreach and promotion. Reach out to organizations that likely have BSA alumni as members. Use the customizable partner flyer or partner solicitation letter/e-mail in the local council toolkit. Once partners are secured, ask them to promote the BSA Alumni Connection by: Scheduling a BSA representative to speak at one of their meetings. (PowerPoint slides are available in the local council toolkit.) Linking to the BSA Alumni Connection Web site. E-mailing their membership about the program. Writing an article for their newsletter or Web site. Working to support your local council with activities or events. Gathering volunteers. Referring you to other possible partner organizations. Participating in one of the 1OOth Anniversary engagements. Hosting a BSA Alumni gathering. Work with notable BSA alumni in your area to see if they re willing to support the program as spokespersons, donors, or through their influence in your community. www.bsaalumni.org 3

Talk with local government officials to see how they can participate. Get cities in your council to name a proclamation for BSA s 1OOth Anniversary. Collaborate with other councils to see if alumni in state government could help get a Boy Scouts of America license plate or other visible state designation. Reconnect Once people have been found and are aware of the program, the next step is getting them to reconnect. They can do that in one of two ways. People without internet access can send a postcard to their local council with their information (sample available in the toolkit). However, most people will probably opt for the second way, which is registering online at www.bsaalumni.org. Even with national online registration, the relationship remains local. Alumni will be required to choose a local council to reconnect with whether it s where they were Scouts or where they live now. Web Site The Web site is an incredibly valuable tool, but remember that it is only one tool. A Web site alone cannot build and maintain relationships with alumni. That being said, the site does come with some bells and whistles that we think you ll find really exciting! First things first, the Alumni Connection Web site is not entirely new. It is an extension of Scoutingfriends.org. So, all of the benefits local councils had with Scoutingfriends.org the ability to build templates and send newsletters, getting donations sent directly to the council, maintaining a local council news section, and more are all still there. We re just giving the site a new look and a much more visible role. However, if you type in www.scoutingfriends.org, it will take you to a different landing page than if you type in www.bsaalumni.org. It s the same Web site, but with two faces. We did that so alumni can easily find the things most important to them. We also did it to avoid being confused with the Friends of Scouting annual fundraising campaign. Though we certainly hope and expect that BSA Alumni Connection will result in increased donations to local councils, we do not want to leave the impression that its primary function is to raise money. The landing page of BSAalumni.org links to all of the national engagement opportunities, has an area where people can buy alumni Scout Stuff, and navigates visitors through the three R s. By clicking on any one of the three, they are taken to a page that addresses that category. Please note that some links are not yet active. The reconnect will link to: The Alumni Connection online registration form. Scouting e-cards, so people can spread the word about BSA Alumni Connection. The National Hall of Leadership program page, to reconnect and recognize Scouts and Scouters whose leadership made a meaningful difference in the lives of others. The National Eagle Scout Association (NESA) search. Eagle ScoutParents, a new resource to connect with this much honored, and very active, group. www.bsaalumni.org 4

ScoutParents, the national parent initiative to engage more parents with their child in the program. The Order of the Arrow, our national honor camper organization centering on providing support for the Scouting program and community. Training on how to use the features of the Web site such as building newsletter templates, managing the database, updating the local council news section is available in the local council toolkit. Learn how to build an e-newsletter template. Start sending news to your council s database quickly and easily. Keep the local council news section up-to-date tell alumni what is going on in your council. Drive traffic to the Alumni Connection Web site from your local council site (Web icon in the toolkit). Encourage donors to give online. It is easy for them, reduces paperwork for you, and captures the data you ll need for follow-up. Invite council Scouters and staff to spread the word about the BSA Alumni Connection by using the fun e-cards available on the site. Alumni Database The database will probably be the most used output of this program. When people reconnect, they will be asked to enter in personal data. There will be both required and optional data fields. Alumni will be required to enter in contact information like e-mail and mailing addresses and a phone number. They will also be required to reconnect with a specific BSA local council. Optional fields, on the other hand, ask more about the Scouting experience. They include Order of the Arrow membership, highest rank attained, volunteer experience, and total tenure in Scouting. Instructions on how to retrieve information, manage the database, import information for mailings, and send e-mail communications directly to your alumni list are included in the Web site training guide. To find the guide, go to YourSource: National, click on planning materials, and scroll down to the BSA Alumni Connection section. Again, this data is for local council use. People will receive an automated response when they register for the site. Other than that, The National Council will not send any communications unless people elect to learn more about specific programs like the 1OOth Anniversary Celebration. In those cases, National Council may send out infrequent e-mails to people that opt into that service. We are highly sensitive to the dangers of information overload and will not infringe on the council s right to manage these relationships. Once the NESA search concludes, we plan on merging that data with the Alumni Connection database. So, local councils will be able to access everything in one place. And because it s housed online, it will remain the most current information available. Add your council s current alumni list to the database so you have a central resource for all of your information. Appoint staff and/or volunteers to keep the database as up-to-date as possible. Read the Web site training guide. Go to YourSource: National, click on planning materials, and scroll down to the BSA Alumni Connection section to download the guide. www.bsaalumni.org 5

Rekindle After they reconnect, alumni are invited to rekindle their Scouting memories. Through creative new technologies, we will share campfire stories like never before! The rekindle page of the Web site will link to three main components: An online scrapbook where alumni can submit photos and share stories. The Generations Connection national engagement opportunity. Through one element of this program, alumni will be invited to events where they can rekindle Scouting memories (more detail available under the re-engage section). The Year of Celebration national engagement opportunity in which alumni can bring back the excitement and sense of achievement behind the merit badge program by actually earning a series of new patches. In addition to being a fun, nostalgic view of our first 100 years, rekindling memories serves key strategic purposes. First, we have the potential of getting millions of new stories and photos to add to the BSA s archives. Second, it builds the database. Third, it provides an incentive for people to stay engaged. Online Scrapbook The online scrapbook will be accessible from both the 1OOth Anniversary and Alumni Connection Web sites. It is designed to look like an online book, flipping though pages and taking readers through time. Fonts, colors, and styles change as you scroll through the decades. Best of all, it is easy to use. People will be able to share photos and Scouting stories by simply browsing for a file and clicking upload, much like attaching a file to an e-mail. In addition to building our archives and giving us tremendous assets for promotion and recruitment, the scrapbook will be inspirational. We will hear the story of our first 100 years from the people who lived it and see just how influential the BSA has been in their lives. We believe that people will come to share their own memories, and come back repeatedly to read what others have written. To submit to the online scrapbook, people will be required to fill out the Alumni Connection form so it has the additional value of helping to build the database. Submit your own photo and story to the scrapbook and encourage others in your council to do so. Feature the online scrapbook in your council s newsletter or other communication. Keep your eyes open for entries from your council. Reach out to people who have posted and start to build more personal relationships. Make it fun! Think of creative ways to drive traffic to the site. As an idea, you could have a councilwide contest for people to submit the best, oldest, silliest, or most compelling photo or story. www.bsaalumni.org 6

Re-engage Making the connection is fundamental, and evoking memories is important for building goodwill toward the BSA. However, engaging our alumni is the ultimate goal of this program. Through this element Scouting alumni are provided the opportunity to again share their expertise with and for Scouts, volunteer their time, contribute financially, and enjoy the fun and fellowship of Scouting. Keeping people interested and involved is critical to successful re-engagement. If people don t feel like they re getting something of value, they ll disappear. They ll ask to be removed from mailing lists or simply delete or discard whatever we send them. The re-engage page on the Web site will link to: Information about volunteering with the BSA Support Scouting! an easy way for alumni to donate to local councils or participate in planned giving. All of the 1OOth Anniversary national engagement opportunities. Integrating the National Engagement Opportunities There are some exciting opportunities planned around the 1OOth Anniversary Celebration to bring us together as a Scouting family, including our alumni. Scouting alumni will be invited to join in our centennial celebration. Our goal is, through that participation, to give alumni a newfound appreciation for Scouting that will continue beyond the 1OOth Anniversary. Below are a few examples about how alumni will be involved in these exciting opportunities: A Year of Celebration, A Century of Making a Difference Scouting memories will be rekindled with the opportunity to earn a series of 1OOth Anniversary commemorative patches. The program requirements are designed so that alumni work with, and provide service to, their local councils in order to earn a patch. Generations Connection The heritage of Scouting in families is one of the central themes of Generations Connection a natural fit for Scouting alumni. This program will work very closely with the BSA Alumni Connection to reconnect, rekindle, and re-engage Scouting alumni. Hall of Leadership Alumni will be invited to submit nominations to recognize their Scouting mentors. And, of course, many of the nominees will be Scouting alumni. Be creative. Think of ways to integrate Alumni Connection promotion into all of your council events. Invite alumni to volunteer with council events and service projects. Most people are willing to give a few hours, and it might lead to a larger volunteer commitment down the line. Encourage participation in the Year of Celebration program a great way to rekindle memories and provide ways for them to reengage in Scouting. Form an alumni association or a friends group for your council. Host regular meetings and social gatherings. Ask them to help the council reach its goals. www.bsaalumni.org 7

Provide units with suggestions on how to hold a Family and Class Reunion Generations Connection event. Have Alumni Connection business cards or postcards available at Generations Connection events. Encourage people to sign up if they haven t already. Encourage alumni from your council to nominate their Scouting mentors to the National Hall of Leadership. Identify prominent alumni in the community and, if appropriate, arrange for someone who benefitted from their leadership to nominate them to the National Hall of Leadership. Feature the national engagement opportunities in your council s newsletter or separate e-mail communications. Next Steps The Alumni Connection program will continue to grow and evolve. Inviting people to reconnect with Scouting will be part of every promotion and activity through 2010 and beyond. The BSA Alumni Connection toolkit has everything you need to get started. So, now is the time to start soliciting Alumni Connection partners, sending e-mails, handing out business cards, and inviting alumni to reconnect, rekindle, and re-engage with the Boy Scouts of America! www.bsaalumni.org 8