Membership Growth in 2018!

The New Birth of Freedom Council, BSA is happy to share that we served more Scouts and Scouting families in 2018 than we did in 2017.  Through our Scouting volunteers, our council strives daily to fulfill the mission of the Boy Scouts of America, which is to “prepare young people to make ethical and moral choices over their lifetimes by instilling in them the values of the Scout Oath and Law.”  Having more young people participate in our program, we know, not only has a positive impact on their lives, but on our communities.  

Recruiting new Scouts and families is a year-long process that is driven by a desire to make these positive impacts.  Everyone involved in Scouting whether directly running a recruitment event or sharing the benefits of Scouting with a prospective Scout or family is responsible for this year’s membership success.  Thank you for your involvement!  Units know firsthand the challenges and successes of our annual membership recruitment cycle, but we wanted to share this year’s many successes across the council.

Total Membership Growth

• The Council finished 2018 with 90 more registered Scouts than in 2017 which is a 1% total increase (includes Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, Venturing, Exploring, and STEM Scouts)
• The Council finished 2018 with 41 more registered traditional Scouts than in 2017 which is a 0.5% increase (includes Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, Venturing)
• The Council ranked 14th out of 57 Councils in the Northeast Region
• 4 out of our 7 District also posted growth
  • Urban Scouting District – +271 youth, a 65% growth over 2017
  • STEM/Exploring District- +49 youth, a 158% growth over 2017
  • Keystone Capital District- +7 youth, a 0.3% growth over 2017
  • Pioneer District- +2 youth, a 0.1% growth over 2017

Cub Scout Growth

• The Council posted a 3.8% increase in Cub Scouts over 2017, which is a growth of 199 youth
• In fall 2018, we recruited 120.75% of what we recruited in 2017, finishing at recruiting 1,763 Cub Scout age youth versus 1,460 last year
• 4 out of 6 Districts (STEM/Exploring does not have Cub Scouting) also posted growth
  • Urban finished +254 and a 61% growth over 2017
  • Pioneer finished +67 and a 6.3% growth over 2017
  • Keystone Capital finished +44 and a 3.4% growth over 2017
  • Conococheague finished +1 and a 0.1% growth over 2017
• Every Cub Scout age program showed growth
  • 33% increase in Lions
  • 3% increase in Tigers
  • 2% increase in Cub Scouts
  • 1.8% increase in Webelos/Arrow of Light

Other Growth

• The Council posted a positive gain in Cub Scout Packs in 2018, finishing with 2 more units than in 2017. The Urban Program started or restarted 6 Cub Scout packs in 2018.
• 3 out of 7 Districts posted growth in other categories
  • Urban finished +17 in the Boy Scout Program
  • Keystone Capital finished +1 and a 5% growth over 2017 in Venturing
  • STEM/Exploring finished +49 and a 158% increase over 2017

Lions

• 2018 was the first year that Lions were a full part of Cub Scouting. Council-wide we saw a 33% increase in Lions over 2017 with 385 youth participating at the end of the year. 
• Battlefield, Conococheague, Heritage Trails, Pioneer, and Urban all saw increases in this metric over 2017

Family Scouting

• 2018 was the first year that we welcomed girls into the Cub Scout program.  378 girls joined a local pack and began the Scouting journey.  Looking at the age groups, the following shows what ages those 378 girls and their families joined.
  • 43 Lions
  • 71 Tigers
  • 157 Cub Scouts
  • 107 Webelos

Hooked on Scouting

• 913 Scouts qualified for the Hooked on Scouting Initiative
• Approximately 500 Scouts and family members participated in events at:
  • Hopewell Fish and Game
  • Colonel Denning State Park
  • Gifford Pinchot State Park
  • Lake Marburg – Codorus State Park
  • Memorial Lake
  • Harrisburg Hunters and Anglers
  • Opossum Lake
• Poles were made possible through donations from:
  • Victory Athletic Association
  • Enola Sportsman’s Club
  • Middletown Hunters and Anglers
  • Sam’s Club, Mechanicsburg
  • Izaak Walton League
  • New Birth of Freedom Council through support from council product sales and Friends of Scouting
  • Dick’s Sporting Goods

Thank you for all that you have done to help our Council grow in 2018!