# Communicating with non-Troop members **URL:** \ **Category:** Using Scoutbook & Scoutbook Plus\ **Created:** [September 24, 2020, 9:14pm UTC](https://discussions.scouting.org/t/communicating-with-non-troop-members/185864 "2020-09-24T21:14:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BruceKramer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@BruceKramer](https://discussions.scouting.org/u/BruceKramer)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2020, 9:14pm UTC](https://discussions.scouting.org/t/communicating-with-non-troop-members/185864/1 "2020-09-24T21:14:35Z")
Hi all - We recently transitioned our troop from a MyTroop website to Scoutbook. The email list we had loaded up in MyTroop included some local merit badge counselors and some parents of Scouts who had aged out of the program but like attending events like our Courts of Honor. I don’t see a way to include these folks on the communications we send out. Has anyone encountered this? I’m hoping to avoid doing twice the work by sending an email out to our Troop through Scoutbook and another one through my email client. Thanks! YIS, Bruce Kramer Scoutmaster, Troop 5700 ---
**Author:** ![SteveCagigas](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/scouting/user_avatar/discussions.scouting.org/stevecagigas/32/2606_2.png) [@SteveCagigas](https://discussions.scouting.org/u/SteveCagigas)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2020, 9:18pm UTC](https://discussions.scouting.org/t/communicating-with-non-troop-members/185864/2 "2020-09-24T21:18:22Z")
Scoutbook only covers communication among actively registered members of your unit. ---
**Author:** ![CharleyHamilton](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/scouting/user_avatar/discussions.scouting.org/charleyhamilton/32/3113_2.png) [@CharleyHamilton](https://discussions.scouting.org/u/CharleyHamilton)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2020, 9:18pm UTC](https://discussions.scouting.org/t/communicating-with-non-troop-members/185864/3 "2020-09-24T21:18:33Z")
There is (kinda) a way to handle this for event invitations. When you create an event, you can add External Guests. ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/scouting/original/2X/a/aebc00788875d816e8572e1da76c5487c369dbe4.png) There is not a way (native to Scoutbook) to do this for emails other than the first announcement for an event. **ETA:** Depending on how creative you were willing to be, a “fake scout” with each person added as a parent might work as a work-around. However, this creates all sorts of other headaches (e.g. the fake scout appears in your roster but expires after a certain point requiring you to constantly update the membership, it creates a fake parent/guardian relationship for the adults, each adult would need to have a Scoutbook account and/or create one…). All told, it might be less trouble to continue to use another messaging solution. I know of several units which do exactly that, despite using Scoutbook to track advancement and awards. ---
**Author:** ![Matt.Johnson](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/scouting/user_avatar/discussions.scouting.org/matt.johnson/32/23672_2.png) [@Matt.Johnson](https://discussions.scouting.org/u/Matt.Johnson)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2020, 9:21pm UTC](https://discussions.scouting.org/t/communicating-with-non-troop-members/185864/4 "2020-09-24T21:21:37Z")
> [@CharleyHamilton](#): > > When you create an event, you can add External Guests. Some have mentioned creating a gmail account, say [friendsoftroop123@gmail.com](mailto:friendsoftroop123@gmail.com). To that gmail account, I guess you can add users that get any mail sent to it (like an old fashioned mail list). So, you would need to remember to have a manual step, but you could each time type that email in and it would bounce to the “friends of” the troop. ---
**Author:** ![CharleyHamilton](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/scouting/user_avatar/discussions.scouting.org/charleyhamilton/32/3113_2.png) [@CharleyHamilton](https://discussions.scouting.org/u/CharleyHamilton)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2020, 9:25pm UTC](https://discussions.scouting.org/t/communicating-with-non-troop-members/185864/5 "2020-09-24T21:25:15Z")
That’s true. It does require making sure that everyone on the target list accepts the Gmail forward request, with which I’ve had problems in the past. All told, I’ve never encountered a system without _some_ kind of downside, even it the downside is just cost. ---
**Author:** ![BruceKramer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@BruceKramer](https://discussions.scouting.org/u/BruceKramer)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2020, 12:19pm UTC](https://discussions.scouting.org/t/communicating-with-non-troop-members/185864/6 "2020-09-25T12:19:33Z")
Thanks for the insight, everyone. I appreciate it. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/scouting/original/1X/66e9612584db5dbf76de17f00ad877998c0ba3d6.png) [@system](https://discussions.scouting.org/u/system)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2020, 12:19pm UTC](https://discussions.scouting.org/t/communicating-with-non-troop-members/185864/7 "2020-10-02T12:19:34Z")
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