Volunteer Management & Burnout
Recruiting and retaining adult volunteers, managing your own energy, and avoiding burnout.
Scouters are Extra-Ordinary
Anyone who answers the call to service in Scouting is extraordinary.
Retirement
You gotta have a cake!
I am more interested in the bigger ideas of Scouting rather than writing about my own Troop or my individual experiences.
Committee Chair Conflict with Scoutmaster
Our Troop Committee Chairman has stepped down and another parent has volunteered.
Run to the Scouting Resource
No volunteer is expected to be an expert with an encyclopedic knowledge of Scouting (see the links to Scouting resources below).
The Most Important Volunteers in Scouting
Who are the most important volunteers in Scouting? They have more power and influence than Council Presidents, Commissioners, Scoutmasters and Cubmasters all put together.
Resolving Conflicts Among Scout Leaders
Anyone who spends several years as a Scoutmaster will probably experience a disheartening conflict with a fellow leader, committee member or parent.
A New Scoutmaster - Chapter Six
This is the sixth of twelve installments in a story that follows a new Scoutmaster, Chuck Grant, attempting to use the patrol method in a troop that has forgotten how.
Term Limits for Scout Leaders?
This post is a bit of a bait and switch.
Can a Volunteer be Too Involved?
Can a volunteer be too involved in their work? Yes.
Scoutmaster Longevity
Behold, there went out a sower to sow: And it came to pass, as he sowed, some fell by the way side, and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up.
Scouter Training Do's and Don'ts
I’ve headed up a number of Scouter training events, and been trained in several different volunteer positions.
Preventing Abuse
Working in Scouting has its rewards, challenges, and responsibilities.
Reluctant Scouts
A question from a Facebook fan: My son just bridged over into Boy Scouts from Webelos.
Volunteer Boundaries
Have you ever been described as “generous to a fault’?
Volunteering is a wonderful, generous way to spend our time but we all have a breaking point.
Why Do We Volunteer?
How many volunteers are involved in Scouting and what do we do? A 2011 U.
Three Keys to Scoutmaster Survival
Scoutmaster survival can hinge on these three P’s – proportion, perspective and preparation, every Scoutmaster should know: Proportion You can only do so much, you have limitations and you have a breaking point.
Lack of Volunteers?
I’ve often heard about the difficulty of recruiting adult help from other Scouters and I wonder, sometimes, if it has to do with the way we ask? When the coffee is flowing and the discussions range wide we volunteers commiserate with each other.
Scout Parent Problems
Most Scout parents are supportive, encouraging and make a positive contribution to their son’s experience in Scouting.
Don't be a 'Dog in the Manger'
A dog in the manger guards the manger (where hay is put for animals to eat) not because he wanted to eat the hay but to prevent the other animals from doing so.
Volunteer 25-60-15 Rule
No matter what community volunteer effort or organization, whether local, national or worldwide in scope, there’s a fairly immutable rule of the way people will perceive your efforts: 25% of people will actively support the effort by volunteering, contributing financially and talking positively with their friends, coworkers and family about the work.
What Don't People Get About Being A Scout Leader?
This article at the Atlantic got me to thinking about what people don’t understand about the work of being a Scout leader.
Ask Andy
“Ask Andy” is an on line column by a commissioner who answers Scouting questions with a good deal of humor and common sense.
Recruiting Scouts
We recruit Scouts from two general populations
Webelos Everybody else Webelos recruitment is simple to understand although it requires a fair amount of effort.
Looking Ahead - Leadership Transitions
Third in a series of thoughts about looking ahead: Who are our key unit leaders for the next five years?
Typical Scout units change key leaders every three to five years.
Looking Ahead - Recruiting and Membership.
Second in a series of thoughts about looking ahead.
Getting Parents Excited About Scouting
Scouting Magazine’s Front Line Stuff asks the question: Some parents aren’t as eager to participate in Scouting as others.
Scoutmaster's Reward
Even the happiest man in the world still has difficulties to contend with.
Podcast Clips
Episode 371 — LISTENERS EMAIL
Anonymous experienced leader frustrated that a survey and subcommittee on older scout disengagement changed nothing; Clarke explains the structural and cultural roots of the problem — Cub Scout volunteer cycles, inadequate training, and adults crowding out scout-led activity — plus a candid rant on BSA's separate-unit model for integrating girls.
Episode 273 — SCOUTMASTERSHIP in 7 MINUTES
Clarke argues that the BSA's separate-unit organizational structure creates a perpetual volunteer crisis in Cub Packs by placing the least experienced adults with the youngest scouts, complicating age-division transitions, and stratifying volunteer focus. He proposes adopting the 'group concept' used by most world scouting organizations, which places all age divisions under a shared committee to share experience and ease transitions.
Episode 241 — LISTENERS EMAIL
Mike Bailey (Shoreview, MN, Webelos pack 9626) asks how to re-engage burned-out second-year Webelos and their parents before the crossover to Boy Scouts. Clarke responds with advice on youth-driven activities and a soapbox discussion on the organizational divide between cub packs and scout troops. Additional emails cover OA lodge vs. troop scheduling conflicts and managing disruptive older scouts.
Episode 221 — LISTENERS EMAIL
Two questions answered: (1) how to get reluctant Cub Scout parents to volunteer using an index-card task assignment method; (2) advice to a brand-new Scoutmaster being criticized by a committee member in his first week, including guidance on establishing clear leadership authority and earning committee support.
Episode 206 — LISTENERS EMAIL
Todd White asks about supporting Trail Life and other scouting programs; Tim Jakes (Troop 93, West Chester, PA) asks what changes the new BSA scout accounts policy will require.
Episode 171 — LISTENERS EMAIL
Jeff Zook, Troop 228, Oxnard CA: managing too many adults on camping trips, setting adult-to-Scout ratios, and keeping parents in a spectator role rather than directing Scouts.
Episode 155 — SCOUTMASTERSHIP in 7 MINUTES
Hosting a Webelos den visit using scouts of varying tenure as spokespersons to parents, then ten strategies for retaining older scouts including giving them real independent responsibility, accepting mistakes, allowing individuality, and not mandating uniform wear.
Episode 143 — LISTENERS EMAIL
Anonymous new Scoutmaster asks how to handle an adult volunteer who yells at and belittles Scouts. Clarke explains that removing volunteers is the authority of the committee chair and chartered organization representative — not the Scoutmaster — and calls the behavior bullying that must stop immediately. A follow-up email reports the volunteer apologized and the committee chair addressed the issue.
Episode 119 — SCOUTMASTERSHIP in 7 MINUTES
Recruiting and retaining troop volunteers — covering the 'guilt-free troop' model, matching volunteers to roles they enjoy, and maintaining stability to attract more help.
Episode 71 — SCOUTMASTERSHIP in 7 MINUTES
Volunteering with boundaries — avoiding burnout by recognizing emotional investment, delegating, saying no, and keeping the ultimate goal in sight.
Episode 69 — LISTENERS EMAIL
Anonymous listener asks for advice on serving as a new district commissioner; Clarke offers six recommendations.
Episode 22 — LISTENERS EMAIL
Alan on recruiting challenges — why the retail (one-on-one) method beats wholesale outreach
Episode 19 — SCOUTMASTERSHIP in 7 MINUTES
Setting boundaries as a volunteer: avoiding burnout, delegating, saying no, and keeping perspective on goals.