Pack Annual Program Planning Conference Guide (PowerPoint)

Your Pack’s Annual Program Plan = Satisfied Cub Scouts and Families = A Lifelong Love of Scouting!

Dear Committee Chair and Cubmaster: Let’s talk about one of the key elements of all successful packs and an indicator of a potentially successful year. Of course that would be the pack’s annual program plan and planning conference.

A common element of strong packs is they all have a good annual pack program planned a year in advance that is then shared with all families in the form of a calendar. The important result of a shared annual program calendar is that your pack will attract more families, and Cub Scouts will stay for a long time.

Two other key elements of successful packs are training and just having the right leader to start with.

Here is how a pack program planning conference works. A month or two before the scheduled face-to-face conference, the committee chair and Cubmaster gather the following information:

1. Key school dates
2. Community event dates
3. Your chartered organization’s dates
4. Personal dates that may affect your pack’s activities such as the Cubmaster’s anniversary cruise
5. District and council dates
6. Collected Family Talent Survey sheets from all parents
7. Last year’s pack annual plan if you have one

To maximize the efficiency of your planning, the following people should attend the conference:

1. All pack committee members
2. All den leaders
3. All pack/den aids and den chiefs (optional)
4. Chartered organization representative
5. Your unit commissioner (optional)
6. Anyone else you think might be helpful, such as other parents

If you choose, you can use a new electronic program planning conference guide for a pack to add some color to the process. This narrated PowerPoint presentation, which takes the pack step-by-step through the planning process, can be found in the link above.

The result is an annual calendar and plan that all parties agree upon.

Here’s a quick rundown of the steps.

Before you start the planning process: Explain to the group the importance of annual program planning, why you are doing it, and the rules for the process during this meeting.

Step 1: This part is easy. Just take the dates you collected and put them into your pack’s master calendar—including den meeting dates—either on a hard copy or by plugging the information into an electronic calendar on a computer.

Step 2: Before you begin rounding out the master calendar with things you want to do, review what the pack did last year. You might even want to write what you come up with on a flip chart or dry erase board. Ask yourself questions like, what events went well, what events didn’t go so well? Did we earn the National Summertime Pack Award? The Journey to Excellence Award? How did we do with den and pack attendance? Did we participate in Cub Scout day camp or family camp? Did we sell popcorn?

Feel free to ask as many questions as you want, but don’t spend too much time on this, as the key issue is planning the upcoming year. Just use this research to help guide what you might want to keep, replace, or improve.

Step 3: Do some brainstorming on activities your pack might want to do in addition to den and pack meetings. This could be things such as a blue and gold banquet, pinewood derby, family picnic, first-aid training, pet show, and so on. Remember the brainstorming rule, which is anybody can suggest anything without critique or criticism. Feedback and analysis come later, after all the ideas have been captured. Once you have a list of things your dens and pack might want to do, start prioritizing the list. Is a particular activity something for dens or the pack as a whole? Could the activity be incorporated into a den or pack meeting? And so on.

Take a vote on which activities to include on the den and pack meeting schedule, then add the activities to your calendar.

Step 4: By now, the calendar should be taking shape. It should include school and community dates, holidays, some personal conflict dates, den and pack meetings, additional den and pack activities, and district and council dates. The next step is to assign the person who will be responsible for each event, as well as den responsibilities at pack meetings. This would include names, like “Bob Smith” will be the chair for the blue and gold banquet.

If you are really ambitious, you can even put in event details such as, “Bob will send invitation and assignments to each family by January 1,” and, “By November 1, we will get confirmation from the school we can use the cafeteria.” Remember that good planning and preparation will lead to family satisfaction. Some of this might have to come after your program planning conference, if you choose activities now and have to recruit chairs later. However, if you know you will be doing some activities again such as your blue and gold banquet, you might already have a commitment from “Bob” by the time the program planning conference happens.

Step 5: You’re almost finished. The final step is to review your annual plan to ensure you have captured everything you and your families want to do in the upcoming year. Once you feel comfortable, publish or email your annual plan to each family. A reminder that not everyone has an email account, so be sure your distribution reaches all families. They will feel much more a part of your pack and be able to plan their own family calendar with the pack’s calendar in hand. Sharing the annual plan with your families could be the most important step in retaining your Scouts and building tenure, so don’t shortcut this one.

Step 6: Annual program planning is an ongoing process. Review the plan each month at your pack leaders’ meeting to make sure you are still on track, to recruit chairs and other help, you participate in important meetings, or to make assignments or changes as needed.

A great pack program plan leads to a great pack and den program, which leads to Cub Scouts and their families staying and growing in Scouting.

Good luck! You are taking a big step toward being a great pack!

Resources

• Family Talent Survey
• Den Leader Resources
• Cubmaster Resources
• Scout Outing Resources for the Quad Cities
• Pack Committee Resources
• Cub Scout Pack Organizational Chart
• Uniforms Guide
• Guide to Unit Money-Earning Projects

Troop Annual Program Planning Conference Guide

One of the key elements of all successful troops and an indicator of a potentially successful year would be the troop’s annual program plan and planning conference.Research has shown that a common element of a strong troop is a good annual program planned a year in advance that is then shared with all families in the form of a calendar. The important result of a shared annual program calendar is that a troop will attract more families and Scouts will stay involved longer.

The Troop Annual Program Planning Conference

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out what keeps Scouts in the program. They like to have fun, do really cool, challenging stuff, go places, and learn things, even though they might not want to admit it. That is what we call program, and it doesn’t just happen by chance. It takes planning and preparations, starting with your patrol leaders’ conference.Use these ground rules while discussing ideas at your conference, and you can add your own rules, too:

• It is important to respect the views of each other. Listen and don’t interrupt.
• Keep focused on your task to plan your annual program. Don’t get sidetracked.
• Write out your ideas so everyone can see them.
• Be in agreement.

Your plan will be a living, breathing document. For it to have real value, you must follow it, share it with everyone, and review it regularly to see if modifications have to be made. Good luck on another great year, and don’t forget to share your plan and calendar with every Scout family!

Resources

• Resources for Troop Leaders
• Troop Program Resources
• Merit Badge Resources
• Uniform Guide
• Troop Calendar Template
• Troop Operating Budget Worksheet (PDF) (Excel)
• Guides to Unit Money-Earning Projects

One of the key elements of all successful cress and an indicator of a potentially successful year would be the crew’s annual program plan and planning conference. Research has shown that a common element of a strong crew is a good annual program planned a year in advance that is then shared with all Venturers and families in the form of a calendar. The important result of a shared annual program calendar is that a crew will attract more families and Ventureres will stay involved longer.

Before Making Your Plan

1. Make sure your plan is following your crew operating procedures or bylaws. Once the crew holds their officer elections, the new officers should gather together and hold a Crew Officer Orientation. During the orientation, each officer will learn their role and collectively start planning for the upcoming year.
2. Gather information that will be useful when planning for crew events, such as:
   
   • Dates of key school and community events (holidays, exams, proms, homecomings, graduations, field trips, etc.)
   • Dates of any events by your chartered organization
   • Dates of any district or council events
   • Data from completed Program Capability Inventory Information sheets (PCI) from parents and others who might offer resources
   • Data from Activity Interest Surveys from each member
   • Information about events your crew has hosted in the past (prior annual program calendars)
   • An idea of the crew’s goals
   • Presence of interest in working towards Venturing awards
3. Once all of the information is gathered, plan to hold a crew officers’ seminar, where officers plan the coming year’s program. This can be done in a variety of fashions; some larger crews choose to just involve their officers, while others have their whole crew participate in the planning process. Some crews even hold weekend retreats, so they have plenty of uninterrupted time to plan!

The Crew Annual Program Planning Conference

When planning your crew’s program calendar, there are a few things that may help lead to a more productive meeting. It may help to meet in a setting where you can write down ideas, and allow everyone to see what is going on. You want to ensure that everyone has a say, so that there are events that represent everyone’s interests.

1. The Crew President should lead a discussion on your crew’s goals for the coming year. Write the goals on a flip chart or eraser board and narrow them down to a final list of goals for the year.
2. Brainstorm ideas of what the crew might do based on your Activity Interest Surveys. Write them on a flip chart. Remember, don’t critique the ideas while brainstorming.
3. Evaluate the ideas you have developed to see if they match your Program Capability Inventory. Do you have the resources needed for each idea?
4. Vote to select which programs to participate in.
5. Expand your basic program by adding support programs and activities leading toward your big activities or activity.
6. Once you know what events you want to hold, figure out when they will occur. Draft your plan and calendar, including big activities, meetings, support activities, and key dates that apply.
7. Officers will then approve the final calendar.
8. Assign activity chairs for larger events.
9. Distribute the annual plan and calendar to the Venturers, their families, and the chartered organization representative.
10. Throughout the year, reevaluate your plan, and make modifications to the calendar as needed.
11. After you hold each activity, conduct a reflection to identify what went well, what didn’t go well, and what you can do differently next time. Make sure to put these notes in your crew history file; these updates will help during your next planning cycle, even if you have a new group of youth involved.

Resources

These tools will help to ease the process of creating newsletters, revising calendars, keeping members and families informed, and helping Venturers manage the crew more effectively and efficiently.

• Activity Interest Survey – Use this survey to help develop the crew’s annual program plan of activities.
• Activity Planner Sheet – This tool comes in handy for planning a well-organized activity.
• Planning Your Crew’s Annual Program Budget – These help make crew budgeting straightforward.
• Crew Operating Budget Worksheet – Excel version.
• Guides to Unit Money-Earning Projects
• Program Capability Inventory – Use this resource to help get more adut volunteers involved with your unit, and to get those who are already involved even more engaged.
• Canva or Adobe Spark – Online graphic design platform for creating beautiful newsletters, social media posts, flyers, etc. Just a few of many non-BSA options.
• National Crew Resources
• Uniform Guide
• Venturing Officer’s Association