Unit Renewal

Renewing Your Unit Charter

If you are reading this, you probably have just been asked to renew your unit charter and are full of questions. You also may be a little anxious, wondering “what in the world have I gotten myself into?” because everyone else was so relieved when you agreed to do it.

RELAX. Unit charter renewal has earned a reputation as being difficult… but it doesn’t have to be.

You can find a helpful breakdown of Unit Renewal on the Unit and Membership Renewal page at Scouting.Org .

For an individual renewal tutorial, watch this video .

Don’t Forget Safeguarding Youth training

You can’t renew an adult member of your Scout unit unless they are current in Safeguarding Youth training. The training is done online at my.scouting.org and must be renewed every year.

To complete Safeguarding Youth training, simply:

  1. Go to My.Scouting.org (note the “dot” between “my” and “scouting”) and create an account.
  2. From My.Scouting.org, click on the Safeguarding Youth training logo on the right corner of the screen (or select “My Training” from the “Home” navigation in the upper left corner).
  3. Upon completion, print a certificate of completion and keep with your records.
  4. A copy of your certificate of completion is required any time you submit a new membership application.

Visit My.Scouting.Org

Unit Renewal F.A.Q.

That’s the pack, troop, crew, or ship to which you belong. You’re a part of a district, and each district is a part of our council. A unit always has a unit leader who is responsible for seeing that a program is delivered to the youth members. The unit leader has a title like Advisor, Cubmaster, Scoutmaster, or Skipper. A unit has at least three adults who serve as the unit committee that supports the unit leader.

Scouting America issues a charter through a local council to a Chartered Organization (the church or other organization that owns your unit). The charter is a formal agreement allowing that organization to use the Scouting program to serve youth in its community. Scouting America requires that the charter be renewed annually to continue using the program. We call that annual renewal “recharter."

The name of your Executive Officer should be listed on the upper-left hand corner of the first page of your charter renewal. The Executive Officer is the head of the community-based organization and is sometimes referred to as the Institutional Head. Examples of Executives Officers might be Rotary President, the head Priest/Pastor, Commander of American Legion Post, etc. The Executive Officer is also in charge of selecting the Chartered Organization Representative (COR). The COR acts as a liaison between the charter organization and the Scout Unit. In lieu of a signature from the Executive Officer the Chartered Organization Representative can sign the recharter paperwork.

What happens during charter renewal? Basically, you’re telling Scouting America:

  • Who is “in” for next year? (existing youth and adults, plus new members)
  • Who is “out” for next year? (existing members who are dropping out of the program)

To accomplish this, the annual charter renewal process is essentially four steps:

  1. Gather necessary information on youth and adult members
  2. Gather membership applications (youth and adults) and verification of Safeguarding Youth training (adults only)
  3. Enter the information online (accessible through Scouting America’s Internet Advancement site)
  4. Print your charter renewal documents from Internet Charter Renewal, review those documents with your Unit Commissioner, and then submit the “Unit Charter Renewal Report Package” to our council office

Your unit’s expiration date is the deadline to renew your unit charter. The process to being unit renewal will open for all units two months before their expiration date; this can be accessed from my.scouting.org‘s Organization Manager.

Yes! The following forms of digital signatures are acceptable:

  • Faxed, email, or scanned copies of applications are acceptable. An email indicating approval of an application is sufficient when an actual signature or written approval is not available.
  • Criminal Background Check authorizations should be original signatures but they may be transmitted via fax, email, or scan.
  • Charter agreements may be signed via email approval by the Institutional Head (IH) and the Chartering Organization Representative (CR) with the IH meeting held at a future date and the council representative signature secured at a future date.
  • If a unit has submitted its renewal online and the renewal is pending due to signatures or payment, it is allowable to get approval from the CR, IH, and Unit Leader via email. If the unit has sufficient funds in their custodial account at the council, the authorized signer on the unit account may give approval via email to withdraw the necessary funds for the recharter.
  • Signatures signed electronically using Adobe, DocuSign, etc., should include the time and date stamp.

Your Unit Commissioner or District Commissioner can help.

Renewal Resources

Unit Renewal

Unit Renewal Information