How Can We Help?
Support Center FAQs
What will be posted in the Support Center? Who and what is this for?
- We will be posting all of the things that a council site would have for existing Scouts, their families, and volunteers.
- Examples: the steps for training for an adult leader, Order of the Arrow resources, and also scouting unit support resources won recruitment, fundraising, and more.
- The Support Center will be the place for all of our content that is updated when changes come in – usually quarterly, biannually, or annually. An example would be updated Recharter information for Unit Leaders, new Training requirements, or even award nominations.
- If there is something new and noteworthy – we will publish a post on the Hub and link to the appropriate Support Center Article.
Why is there a new Support Center?
- We received feedback that our official website is overwhelming for new Scouting families to navigate what is important.
- On our official website, we want folks to be able to find information quickly on what Scouting is, what Scouts do, and how folks can support Scouting.
- We wanted to simplify our content for Scouts, parents, and volunteers to be a little easier to read – especially on their phones.
- We are in a world of self-service. We need to adapt to some modern methods to help support our Scouting families, volunteers, and alumni.
- We want to put all of our formatting and graphic resources into promoting Scouting – so this site is less resource intensive and easier to update for our staff.
What are some of the future possibilities for the Support Center?
We want this resource to grow and become just more than regular Scouting content. Here are some ideas that we had when creating this new tool:
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- An event archive so folks know what our events are and how to prepare to attend next year’s event. We know that there isn’t a Yelp for Scouting. We also know that going to something new for the first time can be overwhelming.
- A great example would be a first-time parent taking their Cub Scout to the Braves Pow Wow for the first time. What should they expect and what do they need to know how to have a great time?
- With this being the Internet, we can add photos, a video, a summary, and other information.
- Local resources for experts and places to go and do things. This would be a great help to new Scouting leaders so that they don’t have to reinvent the wheel.
- We will likely do some posting in the future to solicit event recaps for folks and other resources. We appreciate your help and interest already!
Are there any new features in the Support Center?
Yes – each article will have a rating option, the date of the last update, and a table of contents. The table of contents allows you to jump down to that one section that wanted to see.
Here is an example:
Do we still use the Hub? What is the Hub for?
- The Hub is really great at timely updates and news. We want all Parents, Volunteers, and Scouts over the age of 15 to register for an account.
- Once you have your account, you can register to specific channels of interest for your Scouting journey.
- Here are some examples:
- If you are a Cub Scout leader, you probably want to follow the Cub Scout program things.
- A parent of an older Scout and their Scout may want to learn more about the steps of the Eagle Scout process and available Eagle Scout honors and scholarship opportunities.
- An experienced adult leader may way want to go and find out more about Wood Badge and other training.
- Once you have an account and subscribe to channels, you will get email updates or notifications if you install the Android web app.
- Feedback from the users using this has been great! This fall we had updates on our Popcorn fundraisers, training, and more!
- Click the image or text below to head to the Hub and register.
All we need to make the Hub more effective – is for more folks to register.
What do the messages from the Hub look like?
Here is a sample of an email message. Each item is clickable and goes to more information and details on the Hub post.
Where is this information on (a specific topic)?
There are two options for this:
- That topic no longer applies to Scouting in 2022.
- More likely: we are still moving it over, editing it, and formatting it specifically for the Support Center.
How can we get in touch to let you know that what we are looking for is not available here in the Support Center?
- Please let our program team know. We know that not having what you are looking for can be frustrating and we appreciate you participating in the process.
- Contact our Program Team at gcc.program@scouting.org.
- We genuinely appreciate everyone’s patience as we make significant changes to our regular Scouting content (Support Center), our timely news and announcements (the Hub), and our new official website which will be coming in 2023 to better attract new Scouting families and new supporters of the Grand Canyon Council.
