Boy Scouts of America says it remains the largest youth organization in the nation, but still its membership is well below its 1970s high water mark. So it is using TV, radio and online elements to go after a new source of members – the Hispanic community.
The campaign is called “Valores para toda la vida,” or “Values for life.”
The organization boasted about 5.6M members – back in 1972, and is now at 2.8M.
One of the first orders of business is to translate the venerable Boy Scout Handbook into Spanish. Beyond that, BSA hopes that it own values will resonate with the spiritual and family-oriented aspects of Hispanic culture.
There is also the matter of sheer numbers. Hispanics of scouting age are said to make up about 20% of that demographic in the US, but as a group they make up only 3% of current BSA enrollment.
BSA celebrates its 100th birthday next year, and by then it hopes to have doubled its Hispanic membership by virtue of this campaign.
