Half Price Leader

This year, my group grew by over 110%, all of that was youth. We had no new leaders. For 2011-12, I am already beginning to plan. Part of my plan is to do some limited recruiting in February of both youth and leaders so that in September we can get those new leaders involved immediately. They will already have been trained.

I chose February because in February, new youth members are half price and because I *thought* that leaders were half price too. I was just informed that I was wrong, leaders are not half price. So, why as a member of a cash strapped group would I recruit new leaders now and pay full price for them when I’ll only get 5 months for them? It makes good planning sense to do this, but no financial sense. Money being as tight as it is, rules.

What can we do to encourage Scouts Canada to reduce their leader registration costs in February?

Thanks,
Tom

My strategy is different. We recruite over the summer. Had the "prospective leaders" join us in the fall, get their feet wet, enjoy the program as helpers and now will have 3 new leaders for the balance of the year and ready for next fall. WB training first thing in the new year and were set. Another recruiting suggestion, look outside the parent base of youth. We now have 3 leaders with no youth in the program, these are community members with something great backgrounds and outdoor intrests. Extremely valueable additions to our program.

We dont charge our leaders to volunteer. Thats just not right.

Tom...iencourage you to encourage your council to take the approach that other councils do and NOT charge for leaders. Ron is in my council and we do not charge for volunteers.

Garth

Good day all,

Thanks for your responses. I agree, I wish I could have recruited earlier in the year. It was tried without any luck. Now, I am trying. Recruiting now is also to address next year. We are probably losing 3 of our 5 Beaver Scout leaders. None of them have youth in Beavers. I am the only parent leader.

We (our group) does not charge leaders to volunteer. However, SC and council charges our group for leaders. Those are the fees I want to see cut in half. My understanding is that in Feb, youth fees (SC and council) are halved. IMHO, SC and council should cut their fees too. Anyone know why they don't?

Hello Everyone,

I can say that Reducing (and eventually eliminating) the leader fee is a priority for Scouts Canada.

Nationally we are working to eliminate our portion of the Leader Fee and are encouraging Councils to follow suit. I am confident that you will see much more success in this area moving forward.

Cheers!

Hi Dylan,
Thanks for the response. While I will be happy when that is gone, that does not solve my immediate need. I need to replace leaders ASAP and bringing them in now makes the most sense if we are going to continue to grow and have a great program next year. I do not want to unwisely spend group money as we don’t have much. Full price for half time leaders is not a wise investment. Further, I don’t think these leaders will count towards the Voyageur Council bursary (and I expect to grow again next year).

What would it take to get half price leaders in February? Is that even possible?

Thanks,
Tom