Scouting America offers an online member and unit renewal process. In the past, this has been a joint process completed in December by all units. Membership Renewal and Unit renewal are now SEPARATE processes. Unit renewal and member renewal will no longer be one and the same. Membership is now a set 12-month term based on an individual’s membership anniversary – these could happen any month of the year.
Listed below are several resources to assist with smooth and improved renewal processes. All units and members currently registered with the BSA need to complete this process on a yearly basis.
Use these resources to help your unit’s renewal. You can also visit the Internet Recharter Responses to Forum-Related Questions/Discussions helpdesk for additional questions and timely assistance.
Unit Renewal (formerly known as recharter)
Separating Member Renewal from Unit Renewal has streamlined the Unit Renewal process.
Steps to Follow when Preparing for Unit Renewal:
Ensure that the currently registered unit Key 3 leaders are correct in My.Scouting so they can e-approve member and charter renewals. This is essential and must be done as soon as possible since changes at this step can delay the subsequent steps.
Remind all adults to complete Safeguarding Youth Training. This training expires after 12 months, so all adults must retake this training annually.
- Download and complete the Chartered Organization Agreement Form. This form must be signed and turned in for your charter to be finalized.
- Complete the Baltimore Area Council Unit Information 2026 Survey
- Complete the online unit renewal process as described in the Unit Procedure for Processing a Unit Renewal. Units who wish to pay by check should pay special attention to the directions on page 3.
- Turn in Chartered Organization Agreement form and any other physical documents to your district leadership.
Member Renewal
Units may decide how to process member renewals.
If you wish to have your families and volunteers pay renewal fees online, please visit the “Self-Renewal” tab below.
If your unit wishes to pay for some or all membership renewals, review the “Unit Paid Renewal” tab.
For information about fees or recommended processes, please visit those tabs.
Individual membership renewal and fees are paid by the individual or the parent. This process will only work if parents and youth are properly connected in my.scouting. Connections made in Scoutbook do not flow back to my.scouting so it is important to take action if your District Executive notifies you of a “Missing Parent Relationship”
For assistance with the process, please review the Job Aid “Individual Registration Renewal Adult/Self or Parent/Youth”
Families who are receiving financial assistance or wish to pay renewal by check should pay special attention to directions on page 4.
Units may choose to pay for any or all of their member renewals. These can be paid by Credit Card, Bank Account or paper check at the council. If you wish to pay by check, please pay special attention to the directions on page 3.
Renew Individual Members of the Unit”
Adult Fees
National Membership: $65
Council Membership: $0
Insurance: $6
Scout Life: $15
Online Credit Card Processing: 3%
Bank Draft Payment $1
Youth Fees
National Membership: $85
Council Membership: $75
Insurance: $0
Scout Life: $15
Online Credit Card Processing: 3%
Bank Draft Payment $1
Quarterly
- Visit “Organization Manager” and “Roster” in my.scouting. Export your unit roster to CSV or PDF.
- Ask each family to check the email address in the “P/G email” column. Note: a youth with nothing in the P/G Email column is an indication of a “Missing Parent Relationship”. Please get the parent’s BSA Member ID and reach out to your District Executive to resolve.
- Ask each registered adult to verify the email in the “Email” column.
Monthly
- Each month visit “Organization Manager” and “Reports”. Export the “Members due to Renew” report. This will include anyone who is expired AND those due to renew in the next 2 months.
- Communicate your renewal plan to parents – should they pay or will the unit be paying?
- Verify each parent or adult volunteer has received the automated email from National about renewal.
- Process Unit Paid Renewals
- Make note of any renewals that show as pending for more than a few days. Reach out to your District Executive for assistance.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Why is my list of expired members so big?
A: The list units receive of expired members includes both those who have expired or transferred and those who have changed position. This means that if a Den Leader becomes Cubmaster, they will show as expired for the POSITION of Den Leader.
Solution: Please use the filters in the Roster section of Organization Manager to see who is truly expired.
Q: What do I do if a parent didn’t receive the renewal notice?
A: A parent who didn’t receive a renewal notice is an indicator or a bad email address or a missing parent relationship. It is also possible the email went into the recipient’s spam folder
Solution: Ask the family to check their spam folder. Then, please reach out to your District Executive for assistance.
Q. Why do we have a council youth membership fee?
A: This question is answered in depth here Understanding the New Council Membership Fee – Baltimore Area Council (baltimorebsa.org)
Q. We have a member who will not be renewing. How do we indicate that in my.scouting?
A: A Key 3 member should go to the roster and click the symbol in the “Opt Out” column. A checkmark indicates the member has been opted out.