Longhorn Council Summer Recruitment Series: Week 10
Your welcome materials and tracking systems are ready. Your fall dates are locked and your team is trained. Now the focus shifts to getting real people talking about Scouting and placing the first visible signs that fall recruitment is coming.
Welcome to Week 10 of our 2026 Longhorn Council Summer Recruitment Planning Series. This week centers on empowering current Scouts and families to invite friends while beginning light, high-impact promotions throughout the community.
What to Do This Week (August 3–9)
1. Train Current Scouts and Parents on Simple, Authentic Invitations
Provide short invitation scripts, buddy cards, and easy talking points so Scouts and their families feel confident inviting classmates, neighbors, teammates, and friends to your upcoming recruitment events.
2. Begin Early Promotions Across Social Media, Email Lists, and High-Traffic Locations
Share teaser posts highlighting the excitement of Scouting, send updates to current families, and begin placing yard signs or flyers in approved, high-visibility locations throughout your community.
3. Promote at Remaining Summer Events or Day Camps
Take advantage of any remaining summer programs to introduce families to your unit, answer questions, and collect contact information for follow-up before your fall recruitment events begin.
Tips for Success
- Personal invitations from Scouts to their friends are often more effective than flyers alone. A simple "Come check out our Join Night with me!" can make all the difference.
- Offer small incentives such as meeting recognition or a "Bring a Friend" patch to encourage youth participation.
- Keep social media posts short, photo-rich, and forward-looking by highlighting summer adventures while inviting families to join the fun this fall.
- Place yard signs and posters only in approved, high-visibility locations, and keep a list of where each one is displayed so they can be retrieved after recruitment season.
By the End of August 9, You Should Have:
✅ Current Scouts and families confidently inviting friends to join
✅ Early social media posts and email promotions underway
✅ Yard signs, flyers, and other promotional materials displayed in approved locations
✅ New contacts collected from summer events for future follow-up
Successful recruitment grows through personal relationships. When current Scouts enthusiastically invite their friends and your unit becomes more visible throughout the community, families begin seeing Scouting as an exciting opportunity they don't want to miss. These early efforts help build momentum before your major fall recruitment events.
Stay tuned for Week 11 (August 10 – August 16): We will intensify promotions and lock in final details for Back-to-School Nights and school partnerships.
Happy Scouting!
Building stronger units together in Longhorn Council.
