The national annual membership fee is increasing by $6, about 50 cents per month effective August 1st, because the costs associated with Scouting, including the cost of liability insurance, continue to increase and the organization is not able to subsidize the increased costs as it had in the past.
Learn how to grow your unit in the day of virtual Scouting, expand your program and fund your adventures for free. Since our event is being held virtually we won’t do breakouts, so you won’t miss anything!
A new Position Manager tool, found on the Organization Manager page of My.Scouting, will be rolled out in the next few days. This new tool updates and replaces the current Organization Security Manager and gives any currently chartered unit the ability to change leader registrations without having to fill out applications and take them to the council service center.
Position Manager will allow Chartered Organization Representatives and their designees to change any leader positions, except the Chartered Organization Representative, with the drag of the mouse. It will require an overnight sync, and then the new leadership position will be updated in the unit.
The assignment of functional assignments like key 3 delegates and membership chair can be done in Position Manager, too. The below job aid will illustrate the new tool and its features.
Friday, May 21 from 9pm-10:30pm EDT
Saturday, May 22 from 10:30-2pm EDT
Virtual Little Philmont 2021 provides a unique opportunity to hear from leading Scouters who continue to deliver high-quality programs for our youth. Several topics will be addressed with a variety of focused break-out sessions on subjects like recruiting, involving parents, leading a troop, helping Scouts stay engaged “after Eagle,” utilizing digital tools to reach your Scouting audience, and more. This exciting event can be a catalyst for increased knowledge and energy within the Latter-day Saint Scouting community.
We’ll open the event on Friday evening (May 21st) with a fireside chat with Rex Tillerson, former BSA National President, former U.S. Secretary of State and former Chairman/CEO of ExxonMobil.
We’ll continue the event on Saturday morning (May 22nd), addressing various topics necessary to continue Scouting with energy, increased knowledge, and enthusiasm. Come join us!
In efforts to provide a more stable and secure MyBSA environment, the BSA will be migrating an internal database server to new hardware. During the maintenance window of Saturday, February 6, 9AM EST to 2PM EST, MyBSA and applications accessed via MyBSA will be unavailable.
The following services will have disruptions during this maintenance window: Web applications hosted at the National Office, MyBSA, MyTools (Legacy), Internet Rechartering, Internet Advancement and applications that are accessed via MyBSA.
The BSA National Service Center has just released a new Charter Organization Agreement that must be signed by either the Institutional Head and/or Chartered Organization Representative.
We understand that a number of units have already submitted their charters to their unit commissioner or district recharter representative. If a unit has submitted their packet with the old form, your district executive or a member of the council staff will be reaching out to let you know that the unit must submit the new form. We understand this is an inconvenience, the importance of this updated agreement is critical to Chartered Organizations. The new form includes language directly addressing insurance and indemnification of the Chartered Organization.
We apologize for any inconvenience this may bring, the number one priority is always the safety and protection of our members and partners.
On the “My Application” tab you can transfer yourself as an adult volunteer or your youth member from
unit to unit.
Unit leaders will be able to transfer youth by going to the new “Roster” feature in “Member Manager” and “Organization Manager” and select the youth who
need to be transferred, then click the “Transfer” icon.
This will create a transfer application which will be sent to the new unit with the ability to be approved in “Application Manager”.
Transfers will take 48 hours to sync with the new unit.
The “Roster” tool also allows unit leaders to email other leaders in the unit directly from the tool.
Editing youth and adult profiles, and printing rosters and membership cards is also available in the updated tool.
With the pandemic limiting some in-person activities, these videos offer an easy-to-deliver virtual alternative for leaders.Your Content Goes Here
Dear Scouting Families,
Families today have many options, but Scouting continues to stand out as a safe and fun atmosphere where a kid can be a kid all while preparing them to become an even better adult.
As we look toward the future of Scouting, the Mayflower Council is committed to providing a wholesome and cost-effective Scouting experience.
Our activity fee is being increased out of necessity to support critical safety components of our organization like youth protection resources, criminal background checks, technology upgrades and insurance coverage rates which have risen substantially over the past few years.
The Mayflower Council staff and board volunteers have worked tirelessly to keep the cost of Scouting as low as possible for our families. Our council is fiscally sound; however, it is crucial that we continuously review our financial structure in order to guarantee the longevity of our local programs.
Over the past three years, our council has maintained the activity fee and subsidized rising core costs – the greatest being insurance coverage – to keep fees as low as possible. Unfortunately, it is no longer possible to subsidize these costs at past levels.
Additionally, COVID-19 coupled with the challenges created by a National BSA bankruptcy, has required our council to consider how these external factors will impact Scouting in the MetroWest and South Shore.
As a result, the Mayflower Council has been forced to make dramatic changes to expenses because of the decreases in our traditional revenue sources.
ACTIONS & TRENDS
The decision to increase our activity fee was not made lightly, but it is necessary to fulfill our promise and continue to offer the level of Scouting our families are accustomed to without any decline in service. Many factors went into increasing the council activity fee and it was imperative that the information was conveyed in a timely manner to our units and families.
The activity fee will allow the Mayflower Council to provide:
For a comprehensive list of how the Mayflower Council supports units and Scouting families click here.
After careful consideration, and approval by the Mayflower Council Executive Board, beginning on August 1, 2020, the activity fee will be increased from $30 to $36 per youth member (50 cents per month) in Cub Scouting, Scouts BSA, Venturing and Exploring. (the previous activity fee excluded Lions, 18 – 21 year old Venturers and Explorers.) The fee will not apply to adult members and will be prorated on a monthly basis. The new fee will not apply to existing members until their unit recharters for 2021.
One hundred percent of the recently increased annual National registration fee goes to the National Boy Scouts of America Council to support Scouting for you. Including: Scoutbook; Youth Protection Training; liability insurance; program development and much more.
If you have questions on the council activity fee or the National BSA membership fee, please do not hesitate to reach out to your district executive or email us at communication@mayflowerbsa.org.
We thank you for your commitment to Scouting in the Mayflower Council and urge you to continue to be an advocate for Scouting as our programs are preparing thousands of youth across the MetroWest and the South Shore of Massachusetts, for life.
Yours in Scouting,
Mike Rotar
Council President
Josh Paulin
Council Commissioner
Bryan Feather
Scout Executive / CEO
Dear Scouting Family,
Today the National Council of the Boy Scouts of America announced an increase to the annual membership fees. These increases are a result of rising operational costs and COVID-19, which has created a substantial unplanned loss of revenue due to mandated Scout Shop closures and shortened high adventure base seasons.
Locally, our council is also facing financial challenges and we are doing our best to address the impact of three months of office closure, activity cancellations, diminished fundraising campaigns, and the loss of some of our summer camp season. We know, however, that our staff and volunteers will continue to do their best to offer high-quality Scouting experiences during these challenging times.
We understand many of our Scouting families are also dealing with similar financial issues. We do not want finances to be a barrier to participation in Scouting, and will do our best to assist families who need it, to the fullest extent possible.
We are aware some of our members may have heard about these fee changes this weekend via social media. The Mayflower Council did not share this information previously because the National Council requested that all councils wait until June 1st before distributing this news. Some councils, unfortunately, chose to share the information prematurely, which may have spawned some confusion. The Mayflower Council apologizes for any inconvenience this action may have caused.
Please review the infographic below. Click here to view the frequently asked questions about the fee increase. As more information is released, we will share the most up to date information here.
Thank you for your continued dedication to our Scouts. As Scouting navigates these turbulent times, we stand together to achieve our shared mission: helping young people in our community learn, grow, and thrive.
If you have specific questions regarding these changes, please contact your district executive or email us.
Yours in Scouting,
Mike Rotar
Council President
Josh Paulin
Council Commissioner
Bryan Feather
Scout Executive / CEO
