October is Bring a Friend month!

If your Pack (or den) has not distributed Bring a Friend cards (photo on the left) to your Cub Scouts, it's time!

Use the "Bring a Friend" cards (each sheet has 4 cards) provided in your JSN Materials envelopes you picked up in July. Challenge Scouts to bring at least 1 Friend to the next den or Pack meeting. Have them invite friends, classmates, neighbors, etc.

Make sure you den leaders have youth applications in hand so they can give to any new recruits as they arrive.

Also, although we may not know exactly what Halloween will look like this year, come up with ways to advertise your next Pack meeting or activity. Maybe set up a mock campsite in your front yard for neighborhood trick or treaters to see with an extra yard sign with details about your next den/pack meeting or activity.

Be creative and never stop inviting new families to join.

Many Cub Scout Packs have remaining yellow and blue yard signs. It's time to take them out of your trunk or garage and put them to use. Even if you are not specifically promoting a signup night, you can put contact information on the sign for parents who are interested.

I've seen yard signs like this recently at churches/charter organizations as well as schools for Cub Scouts as well as other organizations.

At your Join Scout Night, did you have any names listed on the sign-in sheet that you have not yet seen at a meeting nor have they registered with the Pack? Maybe you had people like me coming late from football which meets 3x per week last month that signed in, collected information, but has yet to sign up for Cub Scouts due to their busy schedule.

Review your sign-in sheets and follow-up with anyone that has not registered. There are almost always a few that expressed interest initially, but have not registered for some reason or another. Often an email is not enough, you should give them a call to invite them to an upcoming meeting or activity.

On the same lines, make sure any 'leads' from www.beascout.org have been followed up with. Dan Beard Council has hundreds of leads submitted online to individual Packs via beascout.org. Pack leaders should login to www.my.scouting.org, go to the Invitation Manager and individually follow up with each lead in the system. Make sure to include notes for each lead and to 'close' the lead once you either get them registered or if they decide not to sign up. These leads are often from people who never attended a signup night and are waiting to hear back from you. Sometimes they even ask specific questions about your Pack. For more information and video tutorial to help you navigate Invitation Manager go to https://www.scouting.org/resources/online-registration/.

Dan Beard Council is hosting a NEW and unique twist on our annual Halloween event- the Boo-Thru at Camp Friedlander. This exciting, safe and socially-distant event is one spooky mile of family-friendly, drive-thru Halloween fun and everyone is welcome to attend, so share with your friends. Reserve your time-slot now as they are limited. www.danbeard.org/boo-thru