Blog

Boy Scouts of America Names Rick Bragga National Alumnus of the Year

Award celebrates the Scouting spirit and outstanding community service

 

DSC_0355-WebThe Scouting Alumni Association of the Boy Scouts of America selected Rick Bragga, JD, CFRE, FAHP, of Richmond, Va, as the 2014 National Alumnus of the Year Award recipient.

The award was presented May 23 by Ed Pease, national alumni committee chair, at the National Eagle Scout Association’s Americanism breakfast, which took place during the BSA’s National Annual Meeting in Nashville, Tenn.

This prestigious award is given to an adult alumnus who exemplifies the Scout Oath and Scout Law and who has significantly contributed through community service, achieved distinction in his or her career or avocation, and contributed significantly to the advancement of Scouting through alumni activities.

“The Alumnus of the Year Award is an affirmation of the positive impact that Scouting has had on generations of Americans and the communities where they live, by acknowledging the extraordinary contributions made by alumni whose lives it has shaped,” said Pease.  “This year’s honoree, Rick Bragga, is such a man, still making the world a better place decades after becoming an Eagle Scout.”

Bragga is a Distinguished Eagle Scout and a member of the executive board of the Heart of Virginia Council, and has been a national-level Scouting volunteer for more than a decade. He has served on the national Cub Scout Committee, was the chairman of the Development and Corporate Alliance Committee, is a vice president of the National Eagle Scout Association, and is the chairman of the National Scouting Museum Committee.

Bragga was cited as “being deeply involved in the creation of the BSA’s alumni program since its birth four years ago. He is the author of the alumni program syllabus used at the Philmont Training Center, presented training across the country, and is the brains behind and writer of many of the Scouting Alumni Association materials.”

“Receiving this award is a great honor and I am grateful. I hope it draws attention to one of the most critical issues facing the Boy Scouts—re-engaging our 50–100 million alumni,” said Bragga. “Second only to youth membership, alumni is the most important priority to ensure our successful future. With more members, volunteers, money, and marketing, we can serve the youth of today at higher levels and in more numbers than we ever have.”

Currently, Bragga is a senior consultant at Corporate DevelopMint, a strategic planning and fundraising consulting firm, and the president of Philanthropy1. He has written numerous fundraising articles including “Funding the Function: What Do You Do to Pay the Price of Generating Contributions?” and “The Up-side of a Down Economy,” served on the Certified Fund Raising Executives International and the Association for Healthcare Philanthropy International boards, and has helped various charities raise more than $170 million. In 2012, the Association of Healthcare Philanthropy presented Bragga with the AHP Award of Excellence for exemplary service and extraordinary leadership in the field of health care development.

Previous National Alumnus of the Year recipients include Dr. David Briscoe, Jr., of Little Rock, Ark. (2013); Glenn Adams, of Fort Worth, Texas (2012); and Jack Coughlin, of Larchmont, N.Y. (2011).

Avatar photo

Newsroom Blog

This blog is managed and written by staff of the Communications Department of the Boy Scouts of America. 

/www.scoutingnewsroom.org/blog