Adult Recruitment
Recruiting of Adults is probably the most important activity in Scouting, at least according to feedback from Surrey DCs. However, do you spend enough time on recruiting?
We all know that more Leaders leads to better programmes, which leads to more young people joining, which leads to more support and less stress on existing Leaders. It's the virtuous circle. We also know the flip side of this, when leaders leave and support declines. This is the vicious circle.
This page is a start at assembling information to help Groups recruit Leaders and Helpers; it will be supplemented as we find additional useful material.
Recruitment should feature on the agenda of each Executive meeting, in order for you to track status and progress.
Recruiting must be followed by induction, training and support; we will add support material on these topics in due course.
Always recruit even if the Group is full; two quick resignations and the situation can spiral out of control rapidly.
Avoid the crisis appeals either at a meeting or by a letter. People are much more likely to support a thriving than a failing venture. Response rates to mail-shots are usually very poor.
The best approach is face-to-face (F2F).
Resources
- Six Steps guide to identifying and gaining the interest of potential volunteers
- Recruitment ideas Checklist to explore recruitment ideas that you could use
- Many groups attend local events during the year; these are great opportunities to target potential adult volunteers, the following Guidelines for Shows document provides tips on how to go about this
