Three Ways to Improve Your Relationship with the Charter Organization

While every unit has a chartered organization, we can all agree that our units should have a stronger relationship with the religious, civic, fraternal, educational, or other community-based organization that helps us deliver the Scouting program.  These chartered organizations operate Scouting units to deliver programs to their youth members, as well as to the community at large.

Responsibilities of chartered organizations include providing quality leadership and adequate meeting facilities for the Scouting unit, as well as appointing a chartered organization representative to coordinate all Scouting unit operations within the organization.

It is important to maintain a positive relationship with your unit’s chartered organization: 

1) Communicate: Invite members of the organization to unit events.  Let them know of your successes and challenges.  Give a report annually to the chartered organization.  This is a great time to also present them with their charter from the council as part of a formal ceremony.

2) Service Project: Give back to the organization through service.  For example, clean up the grounds of the service club, write letters to the VFW Post, help the church with a beautification project, etc.  Such service let’s your chartered partner know that you appreciate them.

3) Partner: Meet with the chartered organization and brainstorm on ways that you can help one another.  For example, a church may have a youth program.  It might benefit both groups to bring the church youth and Scouts together and do some shared program. 

A Scouting unit and a chartered organization share the same goal of developing youth.  A better relationship between the two will only help achieve that goal.