SIGN-UP EVENTS
Turn Interest Into New Scouting Families.
Topics on This Page:
RECRUITING RESOURCES
Family Focus: Sign-Up Events Should Target Families
For Cub Scout packs, the goal is not simply to sign up new youth. The goal is to welcome new families. Cub Scouting is a family program designed to strengthen connections between children and adults, and successful packs need active parent involvement to deliver a strong program.
- Recruit families, not just youth. Adult participation is essential to a healthy pack.
- Show families the program. A fun, active pack is easier for families to understand and want to join.
- Recruit year-round. Any fun den or pack activity can become a welcoming event for prospective families.
- Use spring and summer. Casual activities give new families a low-pressure way to experience Cub Scouting before the fall program year begins.
- Know your capacity. If your pack needs more adult leadership, recruit additional helpers as you welcome new youth.
Back-to-school recruiting remains important, but families who join during spring and summer arrive in the fall already familiar with your pack, its activities, and other families.
Two Types of Sign-Up Events
Fun Pack Joining Events
Any fun den or pack activity can become a welcoming and joining event when prospective families are invited to participate, meet current families, experience the program, and learn how to join.
Keep it simple. Make it fun. Make new friends. The extra time at a fun event should go toward activities and relationship-building, not longer presentations.
School Sign-Up Nights
School Sign-Up Nights remain an effective recruiting tool, especially when paired with fun pack joining events. These events should be brief and efficient, giving families enough information to understand the pack and complete registration.
Local pack volunteers lead School Sign-Up Nights with coaching, training, and support from district professionals and district membership volunteers. Coordinate with your district professional to schedule events with schools in your pack's area.
Use a clear plan and script that reflects your pack's calendar, activities, costs, fundraising, meeting information, and local procedures.
Build a Welcome Team
Use current parents and Scouts as a welcome team. Returning families can greet prospective families, answer questions, make introductions, and share what they enjoy about the pack. This allows den and pack leaders to focus on program delivery and longer conversations where needed.
Consider providing a simple welcome packet with your calendar, leader contacts, meeting information, and other essentials. Scouts can also help recruit friends and may be recognized with a Recruiter patch.
Fun Den & Pack Events as Welcoming Sign-Up Events
Families understand Cub Scouting best when they can experience it. Instead of relying only on presentations, invite prospective families to "test drive" your pack at a fun event.
- Make sure current families attend. A welcoming event works best when prospective families can meet and interact with current families.
- Let new families participate. Hands-on experiences help children and parents decide whether Cub Scouting is a good fit.
- Choose activities your pack already enjoys. Bike rides, fishing, games, field sports, rockets, Pinewood Derby activities, cookouts, hikes, pool parties, picnics, service projects, and similar events can all work.
- Keep the program simple. A joining event does not need advancement requirements, uniforms, or complicated agendas.
- Avoid high-pressure recruiting. Give families time to have fun, meet people, and ask questions, while still providing a clear and brief invitation to join.
- Repeat throughout the year. More than one event gives families additional opportunities to discover your pack.
Individual dens can also host joining events when they need additional families. Recruiting does not have to be limited to pack-wide activities.
School Sign-Up Night
A School Sign-Up Night is primarily a joining event. Share enough information to help families understand Cub Scouting and your pack, then make registration quick and easy. A more complete parent orientation can follow at a later pack event.
Always collect contact information for every interested family, including parent name, child name, phone number, and email address, so your pack can follow up even if they do not register that evening.
Two Common Formats
- Group Presentation: Useful when only a few leaders are available. Rotate speakers when possible and group families by grade so they can begin meeting one another.
- Station-to-Station: Useful when enough volunteers are available to staff stations for welcome/sign-in, calendar and activities, dens and advancement, leadership, uniforms, costs and fundraising, registration, and checkout.
Keep presentations concise. If space and time allow, add simple activities for children such as outdoor games, a Pinewood Derby track, tent display, s'mores, airplanes, stomp rockets, water rockets, or another activity your pack enjoys.
Invite returning families and Scouts to participate. Peer-to-peer conversations help new parents and youth understand what your pack is really like.
The Power of Spring & Summer Recruiting
Spring and summer recruiting can help packs become year-round communities rather than programs that only operate during the school year. Simple, casual activities such as cookouts, swim parties, picnics, game days, hikes, field trips, bike rides, miniature golf, kite flying, and other outings give current and prospective families time to connect.
- Build stronger relationships among current families. Casual events make it easier for parents to get to know each other and begin helping with the program.
- Give new families a low-pressure introduction. Invite them to participate first, then help them join if they want more.
- Do not overcomplicate advancement. Families joining in spring or summer do not need immediate pressure to complete a full rank program.
- Promote summer opportunities. Day Camp, Twilight Camp, and Cub Scout Summer Camp can become memorable first experiences for new families.
- Prepare for fall. Families who connect with your pack before school starts are better prepared to participate when the new program year begins.
Pack Audiovisuals & PowerPoints
A simple PowerPoint can be useful at larger Sign-Up Events, but avoid overwhelming families with too much information. Focus on the activities your pack does, when and where you meet, costs, and the next steps for joining.
Photos and videos of your own Scouts and families can be even more effective. A rotating display of real pack experiences helps prospective families see what Cub Scouting looks like in your community.
A more detailed presentation may be saved for a later Parent Orientation session after families have registered.
Sign-Up Plans, Scripts & Downloads
Pack Family Sign-Up Event Plan & Script - Download and edit to fit your pack, then share your plan with your district professional.
Sign-In Sheet - Customize as needed and print enough copies for your event.
Parent Skill Survey - Share with families to identify interests, skills, and potential ways parents can help.
