Share Your Stories with Us!
Your Scouting stories matter! Nothing brings out the best than to share your personal experiences and fun adventures. We would like to help you tell your tales to those in and out of the Scouting program.
Table of Contents
Resources
This site is provided and maintained by the Boy Scouts of America’s National Office. It is a hub of resources and materials to strengthen your Units. Here you can learn best practices and tips for marketing, recruiting, and retention to strengthen your Council or Unit.
Click Here to Go to the Brand Center
Access the BSA’s brand identity guidelines, customizable marketing assets, photos, videos, and more!
You will need to log in or create an account in order to access BSA Brand Center Tools
Click Here for BSA Brand Guidelines
These guidelines help us keep our promotional materials unified and reflect the same principles and standards put on by the National Council.
Click Here for Recruitment Resources
You will find everything you need to help plan a successful recruiting night which translates to a successful year of Scouting.
Click Here for a How-To Guide for Geofencing
Geofencing is a technique that sends a message to the cell phones of your intended audience when they cross a digital boundary you set. Great for recruitment nights, special events, and fundraising!
Click here for the National BSA’s social media guidelines!
It is not the goal of this document to provide a step-by-step “how to” on creating and using the specific features of social media channels. Such guides can be found in the BSA Social Media Playbook. Additionally, social media changes regularly, so this document reflects the current guidelines as determined by the BSA and is subject to modifications and amendments from time to time as required.
Click here to view the full list
This list includes local media outlets in Northern California, Southern Oregon, and Central Oregon as well as how to contact them.
The Boy Scouts of America has been licensing its marks, words, and phrases since 1921. From the early days of licensing Scouting artwork for use on calendars and other printed materials, the BSA’s licensing program grew modestly until 2004.
In 2005, the Boy Scouts of America revamped its approach to licensing and the program has grown significantly. In just over ten years, the organization has grown from 18 licensees and $6M in licensed product sales at retail in 2006, to more than 130 licensees and over $218M in licensed product sales at retail in 2017. The BSA’s Licensing Program has been recognized as one of the top global licensors by License! Global Magazine in 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018.
Tools
Downloadable Templates, Examples, and Guides
Free Tools & Design Software
- CANVA
CANVA allows users to quickly and easily design promotional materials, including flyers, brochures, and more!
- Adobe Spark
Adobe Spark is geared more towards creating social graphics, short videos, web pages, and more!
- SmartDraw
SmartDraw allows users to design high quality brochures, leaflets, flyers, and more.
- Poster My Wall
Poster My Wall offers thousands of templates and free downloads for everything from flyers to posters.
- VECTR
Vectr is a free graphics software used to create vector graphics easily and intuitively. It’s a simple yet powerful web and desktop cross-platform tool to bring your designs into reality.
- Crello
Easy-to-use design tool for creating stunning visuals. Use free templates made by professionals and customize them for your projects.
- Snappa
A program that allows users to whip up graphics for social media, ads, blogs, and more without Photoshop or graphic designers.
Training & Seminar Videos
Slide decks will be available for each training/seminar.
Social Media & Marketing
Geofencing Webinar
Best Practices
These are some of the tips & tricks that are recommended for your marketing plans.
DO
Become familiar with BSA Brand Identity and all that it encompasses. Use brand guidelines when customizing a stock piece or designing something new. The more cohesive our branding is across the country and around the world, the more recognizable our programs become.
DO
Find and use images and collateral displaying activities and people that reflect those you serve and what they do. Put these images in your collateral and show what Scouting truly looks like in your area.
DO
Budget resources for help and then use that help. The Marketing Team wants to assist you in your quest to spread the word about Scouting. They can provide design, editorial, and writing support for most anything that you can imagine. Build in some budget dollars and leave yourself plenty of time to assemble a great product.
DON’T
Recolor, distort, or otherwise change the brand to match a particular motif. Let brand elements stand proudly and do the work they were designed to do.
DON’T
Forget that Scouting is a diverse youth movement that intersects with many cultures—even and especially those in your area. Display the diversity of Scouting in the region and make sure you capture the full reflection of those in your service area.
DON’T
Forget to show the team your work and archive it for others to use. We have a big team, and that means there’s a lot of brain power fueling the operation and a lot of excellent work product coming out of that creative miasma. Show it to us. If you’ve created a flyer, built a webpage, or assembled an event that you feel is a representative of what the bar should be—or even a billion miles beyond the bar—your coworkers may want to see it and even use it, either as inspiration or as the design basis for their next project. Show you work, make sure it gets archived, and help us to preserve a bit of that genius for the benefit of others.
Frequently Asked Questions
Earned media is coverage by more traditional media outlets (local newspapers, news stations, radio, etc.). We gain this media by reaching out to these outlets with our stories or events.
The BSA’s Social Media guide requires that all social media platforms (Facebook pages, Instagram accounts, etc.) be set to public.
Talent releases are part of the medical form, however we must work to ensure that sensitive information remains private for youth.