NATIONAL MARKETING AWARDS
The Scouting America National Marketing Awards Program is designed to recognize outstanding efforts by councils in marketing, communicating, implementing and promoting the Scouting program. Through the awards, the Scouting America will gather and share best practices submitted by councils across the country.
2024 Honorees
The National Marketing Awards honors councils who have demonstrated marketing excellence in building and promoting the Scouting brand through: Fundraising, Membership Recruitment, Program Implementation, or Social/Digital Outreach. We celebrate the work of this year’s award-winning councils!
FUNDRAISING
Bay-Lakes Council (Appleton, WI)
Grand Canyon Council (Scottsdale, AZ)
Heart of America Council (Kansas City, MO)
Longhorn Council (Hurst, TX)
Mobile Area Council (Mobile, AL)
Montana Council (Great Falls, MT)
Nevada Area Council (Reno, NV)
Pacific Skyline Council (Foster City, CA)
JUDGES' CHOICE
Circle Ten Council (Dallas, TX)
MEMBERSHIP
Alamo Area Council (San Antonio, TX)
Cherokee Area Council (Chattanooga, TN)
Grand Canyon Council (Scottsdale, AZ)
Leatherstocking Council (Utica, NY)
Lincoln Heritage Council (Louisville, KY)
Mobile Area Council (Mobile, AL)
Nevada Area Council (Reno, NV)
Northeast Illinois Council (Vernon Hills, IL)
JUDGES' CHOICE
Greater St. Louis Area Council (St. Louis, MO)
Montana Council (Great Falls, MT)
PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION
Atlanta Area Council (Atlanta, GA)
Blue Ridge Council (Greenville, SC)
Circle Ten Council (Dallas, TX)
Coastal Carolina Council (North Charleston, SC)
Golden Empire Council (Sacramento, CA)
Heart of America Council (Kansas City, MO)
Mobile Area Council (Mobile, AL)
Montana Council (Great Falls, MT)
JUDGES' CHOICE
Alamo Area Council (San Antonio, TX)
Pacific Skyline Council (Foster City, CA)
SOCIAL MEDIA/
DIGITAL
Baltimore Area Council (Baltimore, MD)
Blue Mountain Council (Kennewick, WA)
Cherokee Area Council (Chattanooga, TN)
Daniel Webster Council (Manchester, NH)
Heart of America Council (Kansas City, MO)
Mecklenburg County Council (Charlotte, NC)
Nevada Area Council (Reno, NV)
Palmetto Council (Spartanburg, SC)
JUDGES' CHOICE
Grand Canyon Council (Scottsdale, AZ)
Longhorn Council (Hurst, TX)
FEATURED ENTRIES
Put these ideas to work in your council!
Throughout the next few months, you’ll see content featured in webinars, ScoutingWire, and on Scouting America’s social channels that highlight key learnings from this year’s recognized entries!
We’ll share tips, tricks, and best practices that you can use right now in your marketing!
JUDGING AND CRITERIA
Entries were accepted during the window of September 15, 2023 through February 15 2024 for pieces that were in-market during calendar year 2023. Entries were submitted electronically and were broken out by category (Fundraising, Membership, Program Implementation, Social/Digital Outreach) and by council size within each category (100-200 size councils, 300-400 size councils, and 500+ size councils). Similarly-sized councils were judged with their peers.
Each entry was judged by three separate judges. The scores were added together and the top three scoring entries in each category, for each council class size, were awarded a 2024 National Marketing Award. In addition, seven honorees were of particular note and were awarded the “Judges’ Choice” designation.
The scoring rubric consisted of a 25 point scale based on:
ADVANCED PLANNING
Up to 5 points – Assessment of research, needs identification, timetable, goals, measurement strategies, etc.
EXECUTION
Up to 5 points – What were the resources required? Were changes to the plan required while executing the campaign? Were adaptations identified that would improve the implementation next time or in another council?
IMPACT
Up to 5 points – Did the project have the desired or projected impact? How significant was the end result? Did it achieve a significant impact? In what ways?
CREATIVITY/ REPLICABILITY
Up to 5 points – Consideration will be given to pieces that are unique. The ability to scale the concept to adapt to differing council sizes is a plus.
LOOK & FEEL
Up to 5 points – Does the piece or campaign effectively represent the Scouting brand or visually tell the Scouting story? Does the campaign or piece follow Scouting America’s brand standards?
Note: No entries were received in the Social/Digital category for the 500+ council size.
JUDGES
The National Marketing Committee and Staff would like to thank the following volunteer judges for donating their time and expertise in evaluating the submitted entries:
BRAD VANAUKEN
STEVE ZENOFSKY
DUANE PANCOAST
STEVE NONKES
BRIAN MCAULIFF
MONIQUE WALDROP
TOM PRZYBYLAK
JEFF HALIK
JILL VANDEWOESTINE
JIM WITCOMB
PHIL JOHNSON
TOM JOLIE
KARI BJORHUS
RON CLARY
RICK SHAEFFER
CHUCK BOLGER
ERIC DAVIS
CUTCH ARMSTRONG
STEVE BUMGARNER
DAVE FOX
MITCH LEONARD
NICK HESSLER
GERARD CASE
ANDREW COLLINS
DAVID LIPPITT
STEVE HARRIS
SHERRI BRUMBAUGH
DEANNA BIROS
PAUL BIELEWICZ
THANK YOU
We salute the volunteers and staff of every council that entered this year’s Marketing Awards!
Your dedication and hard work drive the Scouting brand forward!
Thank you for all that you do!
2025 National Marketing Awards
The Scouting America National Marketing Awards Program is designed to recognize outstanding efforts by councils in marketing, communicating, implementing and promoting the Scouting program. Through the awards, Scouting America will gather and share best practices submitted by councils across the country.
Submission
Entries may be submitted in the following categories (only one category per item). Each entry must be submitted individually. The categories are:
- Membership – campaigns that are focused on generating new members, retaining current members or engaging the community (including volunteerism)
- Fundraising/Development – efforts to increase, retain or steward donors and prospects
- Social Media/Digital – campaigns exclusively designed for the digital space (Facebook, TikTok, etc.) for any type of promotion, communication, or engagement.
- Program Implementation – marketing/communication efforts related to program delivery, such as camp promotion, religious awards, etc.
Submissions must be made electronically. No physical entries will be accepted.
Submission window: December 15, 2024 – February 15, 2025
2025 submissions are closed.
Evaluation
Judging will be conducted by a panel of experienced marketing and communications volunteers. The criteria and scoring will be based on a 25 point scale allocated as follows:
- Advanced Planning – 5 points Including research, clear definition of the problem being solved, timetable, goals, measurement strategies, and expected outcomes.
- Execution – 5 points What were the resources required? Were changes to the plan required while executing the campaign? Were adaptations identified that would improve the implementation the next time or in another council?
- Impact – 5 points Did the project have the desired or projected impact? How significant was the end result? Did it achieve a significant impact? In what ways?
- Creativity/Replicability – 5 points Consideration will be given to pieces that are unique. The ability to scale the concept to adapt to differing council sizes is a plus.
- Look & Feel – 5 points Does the piece or campaign effectively represent the Scouting brand or visually tell the Scouting story? Does the campaign or piece follow Scouting America’s brand standards?
Timing
Entries may be submitted between December 15, 2024 and February 15, 2025. Entries must have been in-market during some portion of the calendar year January 1, 2024 through December 31, 2024. While entries may include partially implemented programs, they will be judged on the above evaluation criteria. Award honorees will be notified at the National Annual Meeting in 2025.
Recognition
Entries will be divided into council size levels and judged alongside similar councils as follows: 100 – 200 level councils; 300 – 400 level councils; and 500+ level councils. Honorees will be selected by council size level for each category. All submissions must meet the judges’ minimum professionalism standards before being eligible for an award. If no submission reaches those standards, the judges have the option to not select a winner. At their discretion, the Judges may also award one or more Judges’ Choice Awards in each category. Awards will be announced at Scouting America’s National Annual Meeting. Winners will be provided a printed certificate and commemorative patches.
Tips for Submitting a Winning Entry
- Be sure to outline the objectives for the marketing strategy, tactic, program or campaign that you submit. Many past entries are missing this component.
- Communicate the metrics (key performance indicators – KPIs) by which you judged the outcomes of the strategy, tactic, program or campaign entry.
- Remember to indicate what the results were against the entry’s objectives and its KPIs.
- It is ok to talk about things that didn’t work and what you learned from them. This indicates a certain level of thoughtfulness, introspection and ability to pivot as needed.
- If you are providing links to campaign elements for review (collateral materials, images, videos, etc.), make sure the links work with every major browser and don’t require passwords or permissions to access. Some past entries have been dismissed simply because judges could not access the creative.
- Ideas that are new or fresh, that haven’t been tried before, tend to score higher with judges.
- Marketing campaigns that can be easily replicated by other councils tend to score higher as well, in that they can be easily shared and used by other councils.
- Brief, well-articulated, convincing copy associated with an entry will “win the day.” If an entry is written in a confusing manner, with poor grammar and spelling errors, it will reduce that entry’s chances of winning an award.
