The FOS Campaign
Elements of a Successful FOS Campaign
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
FOLLOW THE PLAN
Steering Committee
Volunteer Recruitment
Prospect Education
Kick off Meeting
Conducting a Report meeting
Victory Celebration
Follow-up
What Is the Plan?
Councils can use the annual enrollment
program to build a funding constituency on a
continuing basis. The largest source of
income for most local councils is Friends of
Scouting (“FOS”).
Councils with a well-developed FOS program
reap many benefits beyond the income.
• An awareness and understanding of the council and its
program
• A broad base for support of program resources
• New prospects as well as current donors
• A measure of independence in program and operation
• An annual opportunity to tell the council’s story
• An opportunity for a donor to gain personal satisfaction
• A vehicle for growth, providing strength in working
together for a common cause
• A source of human resources for programs as volunteers
become more involved in the council’s needs.
• An opportunity for personal commitment
To be successful, the annual enrollment
must have three elements:
1. Determining prospective donors’ interest in
Scouting
2. Analyzing prospect’s financial ability to
contribute
3. Determining who is the right person to make the
solicitation
Key Elements for Success
* Adequate preparation. Fund-raising is about 90 percent research and
preparation.
* Recruit the best chairperson, someone who is influential and has a
financial commitment to Scouting.
* Secure an active steering committee to direct the campaign.
* Recruit and use an effective prospect and evaluation committee.
* Develop and adhere to a sound plan.
* Select quality leadership.
* Determine and cultivate potential prospects for major gifts.
* Have precise campaign controls and discipline.
* Make a commitment to achieve goals on time.
* Analyze leadership and giving levels in preparation for next year’s
enrollment.
* Establish a victory celebration date prior to the campaign.
* Follow the plan.
Timing of Campaigns
•
•
•
•
Council enrollment
District enrollment
Community enrollment
Family enrollment
– September/October –Troops
– February/March – Packs
December–January
January
February
Levels of Membership
• The following levels of recognition have been
established:
• Founder member:
$50,000
• Pacesetter member:
$25,000
• Distinguished member:
$10,000
• Benefactor member:
$5,000
• Sponsor member:
$2,500
• Guardian member:
$1,000
• Honor member:
$750
• Patron member:
$500
• Leadership member:
$250
• Century member:
$100
Trends in successful fund-raising
include:
* Active steering committee
* Increased upper-level giving
* Involvement of top community leadership
* Trying to increase the potential giving (not
just business as usual)
* Shorter campaign time
* On-time goal achievement and victory
celebrations
The Steering Committee
* Key council leaders/top business leaders
* Committed to Scouting
* Positive attitudes
Purposes of the committee
meetings include:
* Review status of the campaign
* Determine action items for the next
meeting to ensure successful on-time
completion
* Make assignments
The degree of any campaign’s
success depends upon:
* Top leadership
* Prospecting and evaluation—determining
who has the ability and an interest to give
* The right person making personal solicitation
* Campaign controls/executive direction
The Job of the Steering Committee
• Principal Responsibilities
* Select key leadership
* Enroll personally in the upper level of
membership
* Actively participate in the prospect and
evaluation process
* Accept responsibility in enrolling other
upper-level memberships
First Steering Committee Meeting
(Should be held in September)
Presiding:_________________________,
Enrollment chairman
Attending: Council president, vice president—
finance, council finance committee chairman,
council divisions enrollment chairman, district
campaigns chairman, key council finance
leaders, Scout executive, and director of finance
Recruiting the District or
Venturing Membership Chairman
• The first and most important item is
recruiting the district or Venturing division
FOS chairman. The district chairman
should personally participate in recruiting
others as well.
Prospecting for Donors
• Good FOS campaign prospects must have
an interest in Scouting. They must also
have the financial ability to give if the right
person makes the solicitation.
Sources of good prospects
include:
* Members of the executive board
* Council employees
* Council, district, and unit volunteers
* Families of youth members
* Former members
* People with a strong interest in Scouting
* Past givers
Sample Gift Range Table
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Gift Range
$50,000 Founder
$25,000 Pacesetter
$10,000 Distinguished
$5,000
Benefactor
$2,500
Sponsor
$1,000
Guardian
$750
Honor
$500
Patron
# of Gifts Needed
1
1
2
3
6
10
21
40
Other key elements for Success
• Kick off Meeting
• Report Meeting
• Victory Celebration
• Follow-up
Running a Campaign
The FOS plan used by the Boy Scouts of America is based
on years of experience in council funding. Its design
includes principles that ensure success if followed carefully,
such as:
* Although people give to organizations, they give more if
the right person asks. This is called linkage.
* People can give only what they have, so search for
people with the ability to give.
* People give most when they are involved. Look for people
with an interest in Scouting.
Types of Campaigns
• Board Campaign
• Division and District Campaign
• Community Campaign
• Family Enrollment
• Vendors Campaign
Division and District Campaign
It is very important for the council divisions
campaign chairman to understand that
membership division chairmen should agree
to enroll at their membership level or higher
Division Membership Chairman
must:
* Attend planning meetings.
* Understand the importance of a successful enrollment as a source of
council income.
* Understand the relationship of the annual enrollment to the United
Way.
* Know the organization plan of council memberships, district
memberships, community memberships, and family enrollment
memberships.
* Understand the levels of membership (council and district).
* Enroll at membership level of his or her division or higher.
* Know the division goal and the number of prospects needed, and
select prospects with the help of the steering committee and others.
* Know the number of enrollment leaders and enrollers needed in
division to enroll prospects.
* Know time involvement needed for success.
* Agree to follow calendar and the plan.
Fundamentals to success are:
1. Listing where luncheon or dinner will be held.
2. Recruiting hosts who will invite friends to attend a
fund-raising event.
3. The host pre-enrolls on the level of those invited.
4. The council story is presented by a volunteer who can
impress the guests with knowledge and dedication to
Scouting and/or by an outstanding Eagle Scout who can
tell what Scouting means to him.
5. Securing pledges at the meeting.
6. Securing sponsors for expenses.
COMMUNITY CAMPAIGN
Leadership Dinners
The leadership dinner is a quick, effective
method of securing membership at all
levels of enrollment, including upper-level
members.
Family Enrollment
Family enrollment is organized to
encourage all parents or guardians of
Tiger Cubs, Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts,
Venturers, and unit volunteers to enroll.
This is a voluntary enrollment and must
not be a condition of membership in
Scouting.
There are basically three presentation
methods used to enroll family members:
* Person-to-person contact
* Directly ask for gifts
* Allow for a donor upgrade
Involve people in the process
What the Council Does for the Unit
1. Handle registrations, Boys' Life subscriptions, and special requests to the national
office and other organizations.
2. Maintain a supply of literature, insignia, forms, certificates, etc., needed by the leader
to carry out the units program.
3. Keep records of advancement, membership, training, etc., necessary for unit
operation.
4. Produce frequent newsletters to keep leaders informed of latest local and national
Scouting events.
5. Produce notices, minutes, agendas, etc., for district and council committees that
develop programs for leader and unit support.
6. Handle phone calls and visitors for information related to unit operation and Scouting
procedures.
7. Provide forms, applications, scoreboards, certificates, and literature helpful in unit
program.
8. Produce district and council calendars and schedules, programs, kits, and special
aids to assist leaders and their committees.
9. Make reservations for films, equipment, long-term camping, short-term camps,
camporees, jamborees, high-adventure bases, training courses, meetings, Cub Scout
leader pow wows, Venturing activities, annual council and district meetings, and unit
leader events.
Matching Gifts—An Excellent Potential
Corporate matching gift programs are a great,
untapped resource. More than 1,000 national
corporations match their employees' gifts to
nonprofit organizations. Many of them match
employees' gifts to higher education, but recent
trends show corporate philanthropy includes
numerous community-serving organizations.
www.fsd.org research portal and click gift matching
Vendors Campaign
• Invitation to Solicitors
– (Print letter on council president’s
business stationery)
– Vendors Campaign Breakfast
Campaign Tools
•
•
•
•
•
•
FOS brochures
Job descriptions
Council finance committee
Steering committee
Calendar of events
FOS organizational charts: Council,
Divisions, and Districts
• Agendas
FOS Brochures
• Sample brochures from councils around
the country are avialable to view and
discover ideals for your FOS campaign.
• The National office provide an collection of
brochure templates to assist your efforts to
develop brochures to help your campaign.
Steering Committee
This committee should have five to eight
members, and be composed of the district
chairman, key board members, key
Scouters, and wealthy influential/power
structure community leaders.
Steering Committee Purpose
The steering committee's purpose is to
give guidance and assistance to the
council campaign and service area
chairman in recruiting a district campaign
chairman. When the district campaign
chairman is recruited, the steering
committee will assist him in recruiting the
community and division chairmen.
The Council FOS Chairman Job Description
• The prospective chairman must:
* Believe that a successful campaign is essential for the
council to reach its objectives
* Be able to devote time needed for meetings, planning,
and leadership
* Possess outstanding ability as a leader
* Have proven organizing ability
* Be willing to follow a plan
* Be representative of top leadership
* Have ability to recruit and stimulate leaders
* Have financial ability to enroll in top-level membership
division
Community Enrollment Chairman
• Job Description
Build an organization and see that a prospect list is built that meets the
community objectives.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Attend the meetings called by the district FOS membership chairman as needed.
Build prospects list with help of community leaders and district executive.
Recruit and inform majors, captains, or enrollers.
Appoint an audit chairman for the community.
Give help and suggestions to the majors and captains in recruiting their
assigned personnel.
6. Schedule the specific date of the community kick off meetings during week of
enrollment and conduct the meetings. See that report meetings are held as
scheduled in community enrollment.
7. Follow up with each major or captain to see that the enrollment is completed on
time and the goal is reached.
8. Complete the community enrollment by___________________.
9. Organize cleanup.
10. Complete final audit.
Master Calendar
The master calendar is the guide to a
smooth-functioning enrollment. It is:
* The basis for a work schedule by executive staff
* A guide for recruiting deadlines
* A timetable for meetings
* A schedule for office work
* A schedule for preparation of promotion and enrollment
material
* A calendar of records management
* A calendar of kick off dates, report meetings, and
cleanup
Friends of Scouting Council
Organizational Chart
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Council Steering Committee
Council FOS Chairman
Scout Executive
Council Divisions Campaign Chairman
Audit Control
District Campaigns Chairman
Field Director
District Steering Committee
District FOS Chairman
District Executive
District Enrollment Chairman
Community Enrollment Chairman
Family Enrollment Chairman
Steering Committee Meeting Agenda
I. Welcome — Introductions
II. Scouting Program — Purpose, Aims, Structure, and Record (use local
facts)
III. Scouting Needs — Fair Share and Friends of Scouting Goal
IV. Job of the Steering Committee:
A. Aid service area chairman in the recruitment of district campaign
chairmen
B. Aid district campaign chairmen in the recruitment of divisional
chairmen
V. Review the type of person to recruit for campaign chairman
VI. Campaign Leadership
A. Type of person to look for as chairman
B. Discuss potential persons for leadership of district campaign
C. Decide on number of 1, 2, and 3 choices for campaign chairman
D. Determine who will compose the recruiting team (three members)
E. Set date and time to recruit chairman
VII. Other Business
Friends of Scouting
District Prospects and Evaluation Meeting
I. Welcome
Express thanks for those willing to help evaluate the prospects
for the FOS campaign
II. Why the Campaign?
A. Council Finance Needs
B. District Fair Share
C. Community Share
III. Purpose of Meeting
Importance of a good prospect list
IV. Types of Campaign Gifts*
(Use only those used in your district)
A. Large Gifts—$1,000+
B. Patron — $500 to $999
C. Leadership — $250 to $499
D. Century — $100 to $249
Prospect and Evaluation Procedure
A. Evaluate the prospects according to their
financial ability to give if they were properly sold
on Scouting.
B. Upgrade from the General and Leadership
Division into one of the larger gifts divisions.
Examine Large Gifts Division closely, and
determine if any prospects need to be moved
down.
C. Add new prospects from the list below:
Add new prospects from the list
below:
1. "New People List"
2. Associates of P & E Committee
3. Telephone book (a must for non-United Way
communities)
4. Civic club rosters
5. Banks — board of directors
6. Industrial plants management list
7. Country club rosters
8. New businesses
9. Chamber of commerce lists
10. College and university alumni
11. Any other source list
Support Materials
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Staff planning conference
Checklist for District FOS Training Seminar
FOS Yellow Flag Penalties
The Laws of Fund-raising
Council Enrollment Manual
How Scouting Dollars Serve
Who Pays for Scouting?
MyBSA Reports
Key Prospect Cultivation
Cultivation Control Chart
Staff planning conference
Purpose
The purpose for scheduling and conducting an annual FOS
campaign conference is threefold.
1. All professionals, whether we have been through 1 or 25 campaigns,
should be refreshed and reminded of the essential components that cause a
successful Friends of Scouting campaign to happen.
2. To have time to focus on this one subject that is paramount in a Scouting
career. To learn from fellow pros, to team building, to discuss and leave no
questions unanswered on the council budget and your role in doing your
part.
3. Analyze last year's campaign from top to bottom while taking time to
identify the best possible volunteer campaigners. To schedule all key FOS
dates, and mentally prepare ourselves for a disciplined successful
campaign.
Staff planning conference
• Objectives
1. All professionals, as they leave the conference, have a renewed basic
knowledge of Friends of Scouting's principles and basic steps in conducting
the campaign. They should also understand the council budget and be able
to fully explain their service area's fair share of that budget.
2. Realize the importance of maintaining discipline throughout the entire
campaign.
3. Realize the total volunteer work force needed to conduct the Friends of
Scouting campaign, and have in mind at least two prospects for each key
leadership position needed.
4. Schedule each and every date and step in the campaign (from training
seminars through report meetings), with each professional leaving the
conference with a dedication to keep this schedule.
5. Know the necessity of Friends of Scouting, and realize that the way to
achieve 100 percent on time is to FOLLOW THE PLAN.
6. Utilize trained dedicated volunteers and give them the professional
support needed to make them successful.
Bring the Following Items to the Conference
1. List of potential division chairpersons (have two or three prospects per division
with their businesses, addresses, and phone numbers).
2. Prospect and evaluation plans by community. Bring resources for new
prospect. (newspapers, civic club rosters, unit rosters, country club lists).
Note dates, times, and places in your calendar.
3. Be prepared to ask questions and discuss past FOS campaigns in your
district.
4. Bring last year's posted master lists of all divisions in your last year's
campaign.
5. List of prospective majors and captains for each division including name,
name of business, and unit affiliation, and phone number for the following
positions:
A. 10 prospective majors (if general or special division)
B. 15 prospective captains
6. List of 30 prospective workers for each division. That means if you have five
divisions, you need 150 prospective workers' names, names of businesses,
and phone numbers. (Remember, you cannot have too many workers.)
7. List of potential steering committee members from your district and date of
steering committee meeting.
8. Names, addresses, and phone numbers of your top three districts' FOS
chairmen prospects.
The Laws of Fund-Raising
1. People give to people, not organizations.
2. Recruiting the people for the campaign structure is imperative; the
money raised is directly proportional to the people recruited.
3. The higher the level in the campaign structure that we fail to fill a
position, the greater is the loss of contributions.
4. Few people make a gift without being asked and . . . no one makes
an increase without being encouraged.
5. No one has ever been asked for too much money--many have been
asked for too little.
6. Quite often, too much material and information about the
organization clouds the decision to give . . . remember, they give to
people, not to organizations. Therefore, the more complicated you
make the campaign the less the results.
7. Recognition of the gift is best at the time the gift is made; without a
thanks, the good feeling of giving decreases at an accelerated pace.
8. Paper only informs, people inspire . . . only people raise money.
Why People Give
• First:
• Second:
They are asked
•
•
•
•
Prestige and recognition
Third:
Fourth:
Fifth:
Sixth:
They believe in the ideals of the
organization and care
Seek power and influence
Peer pressure
Tax consideration
Council Enrollment Manual
• Annually, the council should prepare its own FOS
manual for use by the executive staff. The manual
should be reviewed in depth at the annual staff training
and planning conference.
• The clearly written manual should include:
* Analysis of previous campaign giving by amount of gifts and levels
* Next year’s budget
* Campaign plan and calendar
* Job descriptions for key campaign positions
* Suggested meeting agendas
* Specific guidelines for effective executive direction and campaign
controls
Purpose of Friends of Scouting
Friends of Scouting enrollment provides a
means for enlisting the support of adults
who have a specific interest in and
relationship to Scouting so that they can
help provide a quality program of Scouting
for youth.
Recognition
• Recognition is essential to building a
constituency of Friends of Scouting who
will both continue to enroll annually and
increase their enrollment. It is important
that the recognition plan provides for
immediate recognition
Recognition for levels of giving:
1. Plaques should be engraved with the member's name and date.
Presentation should be made within 30 days after enrollment, and
can be presented at the council executive board meeting, a service
club meeting, other public meeting, place of business, or at the
individual’s home. Try to involve youth members in the presentation.
2. Use framed certificates or small plaques for Leadership and Century
members.
3. Printed membership card in thank-you folder or with thank-you letter.
4. Recognition of dinner hosts and hostesses when event is held in their
home.
5. Recognition of all campaign leaders.
6. Family enrollment banners, streamers, or plaques for units.
a. Participation
b. Honor unit for all who achieve goal