THE CHARTERED ORGANIZATION REPRESENTATIVE GUIDEBOOK For Serving Your Chartered Organization's Whole Scouting Family (Cub Scout Packs, Boy Scout Troops, Varsity Scout Teams, Venturing Crews, Sea Scout Ships) 511-421 ISBN 978-0-8395-3118-0 ©2015 Boy Scouts of America 2015 Printing THE ROLE OF THE CHARTERED ORGANIZATION REPRESENTATIVE The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) issues annual ❑ Promote well-planned unit programs. charters to religious, community, and education- ❑ based organizations whose objectives, mission, and Organize units to serve the youth needs of your methodologies are compatible with those of the organization and the community. BSA. Scouting is a great youth movement dedicated ❑ Promote the recruitment of new members. to the character development, citizenship training, and personal fitness of American youth. This charter ❑ See that youth participants and adult volunteers allows those organizations to operate the Scouting advance from one program phase to the next. program and provides them needed literature, training, ❑ support materials, and direct professional service. Assist with annual unit charter renewal. ❑ Each chartered organization appoints a volunteer, Suggest unit Good Turns for your organization. other than the unit leader or assistant unit leader, ❑ Encourage unit committee meetings. as its chartered organization representative to represent it as a member of the district committee ❑ Encourage the pursuit of Journey to and as a voting member of the local council. The Excellence performance. primary responsibilities of the chartered organization ❑ representative are to help units be successful and inform and engage organization leaders to provide coordination between the chartered and members. organization and the BSA. Every chartered ❑ Encourage active outdoor unit programs. organization representative is encouraged to become an active, participating member of one ❑ Emphasize advancement and recognition. of the district’s committees. ❑ Secure district help when needed. The summary below can serve as a checklist of tasks rather than as specific duties to be performed ❑ Use approved unit finance policies. by any one person. Many of these tasks are shared ❑ by members of the unit committee and the unit Encourage recognition of leaders. commissioner. When a function is not being performed ❑ Cultivate resources to support your or has been overlooked, the chartered organization organization’s units. representative serves as a counselor, motivator, and resource to ensure that the Scouting program continues ❑ Represent your organization on the council and to thrive. These leadership tasks include: district levels. ❑ Serve as a member of the unit Key 3 team and meet ❑ Serve on your council’s relationship committees together several times a year. when asked. ❑ Serve as a liaison between your units, your organization, and the council structure. ❑ Encourage unit leaders and committee members to take advantage of training opportunities and to regularly attend district roundtables. 1 BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA CHARTERED ORGANIZATION REPRESENTATIVE The following official description of a chartered 1. The chartered organization representative’s organization representative is found in the Rules and primary responsibilities are to help units to be Regulations of the Boy Scouts of America. Article VI., successful and to provide coordination between Local Councils, Section 3, Chartered Organization the chartered organization and Scouting. Representative, Clause 7. It reads: “In territory supervised by local councils, each chartered 2. The chartered organization representative is organization shall appoint a volunteer, other than the automatically a voting member of the council and unit leader or assistant unit leader, as its chartered the district upon selection or appointment by the organization representative to represent it as a chartered organization. The individual must be member of the district committee and as a voting an adult, a U.S. citizen, and a registered member member of the local council.” of the BSA during the period of time that the chartered organization designates this person as Following are additional requirements for service as chartered organization representative. a chartered organization representative: 3. The chartered organization representative is encouraged to become an active, participating member of one of the district’s committees. 2 HOW SCOUTING WORKS • The Boy Scouts of America serves duly • Packs, troops, teams, ships, and crews are constituted, community-based organizations. owned, operated, and administered by duly constituted, community-based organizations • Beneficiaries are children, youth, adults, families, whose objectives, mission, and methodologies are and communities. compatible with those of the BSA. • The BSA offers an educational resource program • Volunteers and professionals work together in based on duty to God and duty to country. a team effort. Scouting is led by more than a • The BSA issues annual charters to community- million volunteers and nearly 3,800 professionals. based organizations and their local councils, • Charters are granted to local councils and to which provide program, literature, training, community-based organizations to operate support materials, and direct professional service. the Scouting program for one year, and are • The chartered organization provides leadership, renewable annually. meeting facilities, encouragement, and other support as needed. 3 YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES ARE IMPORTANT Scouting is a great youth movement dedicated to 4. You are a voting member of the district the character development, citizenship training, and committee where your chartered organization personal fitness of American youth. is located, and you are encouraged to serve as needed, and as may be agreed upon, as a member As a chartered organization representative, you of one of the district’s committees. Chartered hold a key position in Scouting. While this is a organization representatives are invited to report position of honor, it is not only honorary. Important regularly to the district on the “state of the work must be done. Whatever time and talent program” within their units at a district meeting. you invest will come back to you a hundredfold This meeting also provides an opportunity for the in satisfaction. chartered organization representative to request Your responsibilities fall into the following four areas: any needed support. 1. You head the “Scouting department” in your The purpose of this manual is to help you understand organization and are responsible for the success your responsibilities and fulfill them. of its Scouting units. As such, you are one of each unit’s Key 3 leaders guiding its operation. 2. If you are not the head of the organization, you are charged with maintaining a positive relationship and communication with the organizational head. 3. You represent your organization as a voting member of the BSA local council, the overall governing body of the local Scouting organization. 4 HOW SCOUTING OPERATES Local organizations with aims and purposes that are 2. To extend the use of Scouting to other in harmony with Scouting’s may make use of the Boy organizations and help them create a sufficient Scouts of America’s educational resource program. number of Scouting units so that the program is Such an organization may be a religious institution, available to every youth who wants it club, lodge, civic group, urban agency, industry, labor group, or other duly constituted group that assembles There are some services your organization needs for the purpose of providing the Scouting program. that it cannot supply itself. One of these is training The Boy Scouts of America makes its program in Scouting, especially for the unit leaders, giving available by issuing a charter for each unit (Cub Scout them the information and program resources they pack, Boy Scout troop, Varsity Scout team, Venturing need to run successful units. From time to time, your crew, Sea Scout ship) your organization operates. leaders will need expert, on-the-scene help, advice, and guidance on problems that may develop or on Thus, your organization may have one or more projects that may be undertaken, and the BSA can charters from the Boy Scouts of America for one or provide this support. more Scouting units. This charter authorizes your organization to make use of the Scouting program Units need help with advancement opportunities as a part of its total program, under leadership your and activities, and Cub Scout packs, Boy Scout organization has selected, for all youth who want to troops, Varsity Scout teams, Venturing crews, and join and who satisfy joining criteria. The charter for Sea Scout ships need camping facilities. The council each unit must be renewed annually. plans a program and sets up a structure to carry out these opportunities and activities. However, since THE UNITS BELONG TO most councils cover large geographic territory or YOUR ORGANIZATION population or both, the council creates districts which in turn carry out the council program in a segment Your organization conducts the Scouting program of the council’s geographic area. The people who through its charter from the Boy Scouts of America, make up the district committee are members at and the Scouting units and their leaders belong to large from the community and chartered your organization and are part of its “family.” It is organization representatives. most important that this relationship be understood.