Online Application

Has anyone had real success in using the new online application for new cub scouts? We are headed to our JSN next week and would like to reduce paperwork. However, there doesn’t seem to be a good (and not confusing way to parents) about collecting Pack dues in addition to the national fees with the online app.

I believe any fees beyond the national fees must be collected separately from the online application.

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I have used it with my troop (new Scouts only - not transfers). It really reduces the turnaround time for getting new Scouts on the roster, and no need to have someone drive to the council office to turn applications in.

You do have to carefully explain to parents that the BSA has a yearly registration fee, but your pack also has dues. They are separate, and the pack dues cannot be paid online.

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A duplicate topic in the “Cub Scout Program” forum was moved here and merged.

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Thanks, I noticed the other section after I posted first and made two.

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I have used the online application process twice on a laptop and paid fees online. It worked well.

However, I understand there is a way to do an online application and make the payment offline. This may allow a unit to collect from the parent unit dues with the national registration fee included and then forward the national registration fee to the council.

@DougWright do you have any more details on that?

If I recall - you can set it up to collect unit dues - BUT the unit has to eat the processing fee - is what I think

Unless they have changed things, the online system can only collect the national BSA registration fee and the Boys’ Life subscription fee (if the council and unit have it configured to do so). Units can set up a message to explain about unit dues.

I’ve used the online system. Started using it as soon as it was an option. Man, did the paperwork go down to ~0…

I always follow-up with a mass e-mail out to all new families with some details. You can also configure the “leads” section of be-a-scout with a welcome e-mail. How I like to run it:

  1. You hold your recruitment night
  2. At the recruitment night, you provide a link (or even have laptops there for parents) to sign-up online
  3. Once the parent is done registering online, then the welcome e-mail gets automatically sent
  4. Follow-up a week later with an e-mail to all the new scouts.

Also, be sure to manually collect e-mails or contact info at recruitment night. You always have that one or two parents that didn’t go and sign-up online, and you want to make sure that they just didn’t forget about it :slight_smile:

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The Online Application process was a breeze last week:

We have recruited a Tiger mid-year. I sent the link to the parents, they filled out the forms, paid the BSA/Magazine fees, and the form made it over to the Key 3.

I was in fact on an airplane in PHL, checked the information, clicked approve, and within minutes I saw the scout on my.scouting.org and the next day in Scoutbook.

In September the pack fees have to be collected separately.

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The FAQ for Online Registration, page 6 bottom, explains the option for units that pay the national fee for their scouts. The person registering chooses “pay by check” at checkout. The unit then makes a payment to the council.

https://filestore.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/OnlineRegistrationFAQs.pdf

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Our Pack uses the online application telling prospects to “pay by check” so we can adjust the amount due to include our Council fees. My issue is that when you print the application, it does not give you the date of birth which is required when inputting the information into Scoutbook.

We love online applications - WAY less paperwork & much faster addition to roster. Our pack has no dues though, the Cubs raise all their own funds.

Shouldn’t it auto-sync to scoutbook once council has confirmed membership?

yes it should auto appear in SB 24 hours later once leader approves the application

Reading the comments it seems for joining night in September I should have some laptops and just have parents signup. How long does it take to fill out on line app, we usually get 8-10 new scouts that night. So trying to see if two laptops would be enough. Thanks!

It only takes a few minutes honestly. Filling out basic info of the scout and parent. As others mentioned be sure to snag the parents email/contact info so you can make sure to follow up and determine if there’s any issues with SB sync.

Michael,

The other thing to watch for is that each adult has a unique email address when they submit the applications. Otherwise, there will be issues later in Scoutbook.

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Of course, make sure you have a reliable internet connection. The other thing is explaining the cost charged online is only the piece that goes to national.