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Recruiting Leaders through the Madison Plan

The Madison Plan creates a structure in committees that helps guarantee strong, shared leadership in units, especially Cub Scout packs. Each pack function (fundraising, Blue and Gold, derby day, pack campout, summertime activities, etc.) has a committee with one parent from each grade level (5 people in all). The parents stay on the same committee throughout their sons' unit experience. The theory is the experienced parents of older boys guide the less experienced parents of the younger boys in how to run the activity. Adding new people each year ensures new ideas get added to the pot.

CUB SCOUTING WITH THE "MADISON PLAN"
Cub Scouting with the "Madison Plan" is a way for you and your Pack to organize the Scouting year and a way to get maximum participation from all of the parents in the Pack. In order for the plan to work, the leadership of the pack must change their mindset. What the mindset must be is that *every parent of every Scout is willing to do something to help the program, they just do not know what!* In addition, the attitude of the Pack leadership must be that *every parent will sign up to help with an activity, or they will be assigned one.*

Here is the "Madison Plan" and how it works:

Step 1. Make sure you have a working pack committee. (Recruit, recruit, recruit!!)

Step 2. List all of the annual activities of the unit (i.e., School Night for Scouting, Pinewood Derby, Blue and Gold, Pack Campout, Summertime Activities, Scout Fair, Popcorn sales).

Step 3. Write up a job description for each of these events. Include details such as "complete by" dates, tasks to be accomplished, list of items to be brought/purchased for event and create an Event Committee.

Step 4. Assign 5 parents to each Event Committee (one parent from each grade level). Den leaders should not be on the Event committees as they have enough obligations already (Note: watch out because the the Den Leaders will try to sign up and the parents in the den will let them. Put your foot down and make the parents step up to the plate and volunteer). These are good roles for parents who do not want a full-year commitment but can do a diligent, organized job, and maintain focused enthusiasm during a limited campaign. Parents stay on the same committee for five years. If they wish to switch committees, they must make arrangements with another parent from another committee to replace them and report the change to the Pack. The Pack committee should not switch the committees around. Tiger parents observe and help the first year and the parents of Webelos should be heading up and running the committee.

Step 5. Create folders for the various committees that explain the duties of the committee and what has taken place in previous years. The folders are to be used as guidelines and can be changed and improved at the committees' discretion. We find it is easy to get parents involved when they know that some record has been kept on each activity. It also serves as some source history for the Pack.

Step 6. Have the "Chairperson" of the Activity (usually the Webelos parent, because they have several years experience in the activity) attend the Pack Committee meeting *at least* two months before the event, to get the folder and instructions? Then, one of the committee members need to attend the following months Pack Committee meetings to report on progress and/or get advice and help with resources. Consider scheduling at least one of the Event Committee's meetings during the pack annual calendar meeting before or after the Pack Committee meeting (e.g., the Blue and Gold committee can meet before or after the January Pack Committee meeting). This not only gives the parents on the committee lots of notice, but allows the Pack Committee members to easily attend the Event Committee meetings and not have to commit to another evening. The Event Committee can meet on additional nights if needed.

Step 7. Be sure that the Event committees adds their respective plans, results, and recommendations to the folder and reports to the Pack committee meeting the month after the event.

*Remember, parents always want to do something, they just do not know what.*This plan is a good way to get them involved. It is a good idea to use the Parent and Family Talent Survey Sheets to make assignments.

Some parents do not want to be assigned, so some packs pass around a form in April and May and the parents sign up for the activity they want to do.

*This plan is best if planned at the Annual Program Planning Conference and printed in a form that all parent receive a copy of at the September Pack Meeting or Join Scouting Night*

Adapted from a post from the Cub-Scout-Talk list serve (original post).....

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