Site provides options to donate to local council programs, support development of the Summit Bechtel Family National Scout Reserve
Irving, TEXAS (Jan. 24, 2012) —Supporting the Boy Scouts of America, one of the nation’s largest and most prominent youth character development organizations, is now just a mouse click away. A new website, http://aplacetogive.scouting.org/, provides the ability to support Scouting programs in local communities, provide funding to send a youth to camp, and to support the development of the Summit Bechtel Family National Scout Reserve, the BSA’s newest national high-adventure base and the future home of the national Scout jamboree, with online donations.
As a nonprofit organization, the Boy Scouts of America relies on the generosity of charitable donations to support its ongoing operations and future capital expenses at the local and national levels. Each gift, regardless of size, provides invaluable funding for BSA programs that benefit Scouts all across the country. The introduction of this new website offers supporters of Scouting the ability to help nurture youth development in a convenient, meaningful way.
“The e-Funding website represents a quantum leap forward—both in the way it enables people to donate to Scouting and in the way it enables councils to customize their page to provide donors with a number of options,” said Assistant Chief Scout Executive Brad Farmer. “Despite tough economic times, supporters continue to graciously invest their time and resources to help the BSA develop young people into the leaders of tomorrow.”
Most youth members’ day-to-day experiences with Scouting come through their individual packs, troops, teams, crews, and ships. These units are overseen by local councils, which receive an annual charter from the National Council. The new e-Funding website offers multiple options for each council page. Initially, when an individual navigates to the website, the site will identify where that individual is located and will automatically populate the information for the nearest BSA local council. Donors can also enter a different zip code or council to which they wish to donate.
In addition to supporting local council programs, visitors to http://aplacetogive.scouting.org/ will be able to select the “Send a Kid to Camp” option, provide funding for the James E. West Endowment, and/or support the development of the Summit by purchasing new trees and sponsoring walkway paving stones, wooden sustainability benches, and stone benches. Other options will be introduced in the future, providing donors with a variety of ways to personalize and individualize their gifts to the Scouting program.
“Our supporters and members want to see the amazing Scouting program continue to grow and thrive in meeting the needs of today’s youth,” Farmer said. “One of the ways we are doing that is by expanding our reach in the digital realm and giving supporters and members more ways to connect with Scouting.”
About the Boy Scouts of America
The Boy Scouts of America provides the nation’s foremost youth program of character development and values-based leadership training, which helps young people be “Prepared. For Life.™” The Scouting organization is composed of 2.7 million youth members between the ages of 7 and 21 and more than a million volunteers in local councils throughout the United States and its territories. For more information on the Boy Scouts of America, please visit www.scouting.org.