Editing Scouting America (section)

==Organization==

===National Council===
[[File:BSA National Office in Irving, Texas.jpg|thumb|Scouting America National Office in [[Irving, Texas]]]]
The National Council is the corporate membership of Scouting America and consists of volunteer Scouters who meet annually. The day-to-day operations of the National Council are administered by the [[Chief Scout Executive]] and other national professional staff. National Council members include volunteers who are elected national officers and executive board members, regional presidents, the local council representatives, members at large, and honorary members. The [[Boy Scouts of America National Headquarters|national headquarters]] has been in [[Irving, Texas]] since 1979.

Since the founding of Scouting America in 1910, the [[President of the United States]] has served as the organization's honorary chair during his term in office, former presidents serve as honorary vice chairs for their lifetimes.{{r|bsahistory}}

===Governance and the National Executive Board===
{{main|National Executive Board of Scouting America}}

The Scouting America National Executive Board governs the organization. The 2015 National Executive Board consisted of 79 members.{{r|2015Treasurer}}

The board is led by the [[national president of the Boy Scouts of America|national president]], a volunteer elected by the National Council. Board members included regular elected members, regional presidents, and up to five appointed youth members. The Chief Scout Executive is the board secretary and non-voting member. The National Executive Board has a number of standing committees that correspond to the professional staff organization of the National Council.

Present and past members of the National Executive Board include Utah Senator [[Mitt Romney]],<ref>{{Cite web |last=Viser |first=Matt |title=Romney is no Boy Scout (Eagle, that is) |url=https://www.boston.com/uncategorized/noprimarytagmatch/2011/08/31/romney-is-no-boy-scout-eagle-that-is/ |access-date=2024-04-08 |website=www.boston.com |language=en-US}}</ref> [[Ernst & Young]] CEO [[Jim Turley]] and [[AT&T]] CEO [[Randall Stephenson]].{{r|HirschfieldB}} Other members included Latter-day Saint Church President [[Thomas S. Monson]].{{r|Monson}}

===National Service Territories===
{{main|National Service Territories}}
For administrative purposes, Scouting America is divided into sixteen National Service Territories (NSTs) including international areas for scouts with parents serving outside the US. Each NST encompasses multiple states or portions of states/counties.{{r|NSTs}}

Until 2021, Scouting America was divided into [[Regions of the Boy Scouts of America|four regions]] for administrative purposes — Central, Southern, Western, Northeast.<ref name="bsaorg">{{Cite web |last=Nelson |first=Bill |title=Organization of the Boy Scouts of America |url=http://usscouts.org/aboutbsa/bsaorg.asp |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080215032728/http://usscouts.org/aboutbsa/bsaorg.asp |archive-date=2008-02-15 |access-date=2008-12-05 |website=U.S. Scouting Service Project}}</ref>

===Local councils===
{{main|Council (Scouting America)}}

[[File:Boy Scouts of America Atlanta Area Council HQ.jpg|thumb|Boy Scouts of America [[Atlanta|Atlanta, Georgia]] Area Council headquarters]]

The Scouting America program is administered through {{scoutstat BSA|councils}} local councils, with each council covering a geopolitical area that may vary from a single city to an entire state. Councils receive an annual charter from the National Council and are usually incorporated as a charitable organization.{{r|ussspbsaorg}}

The council level organization is similar to that of the National Council. The council executive board is headed by the council president and is made up of annually elected local community leaders.{{r|bsarules}} The board establishes the council program and carries out the resolutions, policies, and activities of the council. Board members serve without pay and some are volunteer Scouters working at the unit level. Youth members may be elected to the council executive board according to the council by-laws.

The Scout executive manages council operations—including finance, property management, advancement and awards, registrations, and Scout Shop sales—with a staff of other professionals and para-professionals. Volunteer [[Commissioner Service (Boy Scouts of America)|commissioners]] lead the unit service functions of the council, help maintain the standards of Scouting America, and assure a healthy unit program.{{r|bsacommissioners}}

Scouting America charters two councils for American Scouts living overseas, largely on military bases in Europe and Asia. The [[Transatlantic Council]], headquartered in Livorno, Italy, serves Scouting America units in much of Europe, and the [[Far East Council]], headquartered in Japan, serves units in the western Pacific areas. The [[Direct Service]] branch makes the Scouting movement available to US citizens and their dependents living in countries outside these jurisdictions or in isolated areas. The [[Aloha Council]] in Hawaii also serves Scouting America units in the American territories of American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and in the sovereign countries of the Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, and Palau.{{r|bsaaloha}}

The Greater New York Councils are unique in that they are divided into five [[Borough (New York City)|boroughs]] with each led by a borough Scout executive and each borough then divided into districts.

Councils are divided into districts with leadership provided by the district executive, district chairman, and the district commissioner.{{r|ussspbsaorg}} Districts are directly responsible for the operation of Scouting units and, except for the district executive, are mostly staffed with volunteers.{{r|bsarules}} The voting members of each district consist of volunteer representatives from each chartered organization having at least one Scouting America unit, plus annually elected members-at-large who in turn elect the district chairman. Boroughs and districts are subdivisions of the local council and do not have a separate corporate status.{{r|council}}
{{see also|List of defunct councils (Boy Scouts of America)}}
{{see also|List of council camps (Boy Scouts of America)}}

===Chartered organizations and units===
{{see also|Chartered organizations of Scouting America}}
[[File:Saint Mark Scouts 1910.png|thumb|right|Scouts of the first chartered troop from [[Church of Saint Mark (Saint Paul, Minnesota)|the Catholic parish church Saint Mark]] in [[Saint Paul, Minnesota]], 1910]]
Scouting America partners with community organizations, such as religious congregations, fraternal groups, service clubs, and other community associations, to provide the Scouting program for the particular neighborhood or community in which the particular organization wishes to reach out to youth and families. The connection with religious congregations stems back to at least 1910, when [[Church of Saint Mark (Saint Paul, Minnesota)|a Catholic parish church]] in [[Saint Paul, Minnesota]] chartered the first troop in the city.<ref>John L. Alexander. "Letter from the Managing Secretary of the Boy Scouts of America to Reverend W.L. Hart". 26 September 1910.</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://rchs.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/RCHS_Spring-2023_Allert.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240827195356/https://rchs.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/RCHS_Spring-2023_Allert.pdf |archive-date=27 August 2024 |url-status=live |magazine=Ramsey County History |publisher=Ramsey County Historical Society |volume=58 |number=1 |date=Spring 2023 |title=A Snapshot of Ramsey County's Welfare Workers in the Great War |first=Johannes R. |last=Allert |page=24}}</ref>

Organizations hold charters issued by Scouting America and are known then as chartered organizations. Each chartered organization provides the meeting place for Scouting America youth, oversees the volunteer leaders, and agrees to follow the basic Scouting America safety policies and values-based program, and the organization is considered the "owner" of its local program, much like a franchise.{{r|CharterOrgHandbook}}

Within each chartered organization, there may be one or more "units". A unit is a group of youth and adults who are collectively designated as a Cub Scout pack, Scouts BSA troop, Venturing crew, or Sea Scout ship. Each chartered organization may charter as many units as it wishes, but usually only 3 or 4 (one unit for each program level). Scouting America councils provide the leader training, inter-unit activities, camping programs, volunteer and professional support, and insurance coverage. Units also create their own activities (such as monthly camping trips, outings, or service projects), and most meet weekly at the place of the chartered organization for youth to learn basic skill development and practice leadership in small groups known as dens and patrols.{{r|CharterOrgHandbook}}

[[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]] was the first partner to sponsor Scouting in the United States. It adopted the program in 1913 as part of its [[Young Men (organization)|Mutual Improvement Association]] program for young men,{{r|Monson2}} and it was the largest single sponsor of Scouting until it ceased sponsoring Scouting units{{r|CharterNumbers}}{{r|OBrienB}} at the end of 2019.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Church Announces Plan for Worldwide Initiative for Children and Youth – Church News and Events |url=https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/church/news/church-announces-plan-for-worldwide-initiative-for-children-and-youth?lang=eng |access-date=2022-03-10 |website=churchofjesuschrist.org}}</ref>

===Leadership===
{{main|Leadership in Scouting America}}

In all Scouting units above the Cub Scout pack (i.e. units serving adolescent Scouts), leadership of the unit comprises both [[Scout leader|adult leaders (Scouters)]] and youth leaders ([[Scouts BSA|Scouts]]). In fact, this is a critical component of the program. In order to learn leadership, the youth must actually serve in leadership roles. Adult leaders may be either men or women in all positions.{{r|CharterOrgHandbook}}

A properly run Scouts BSA troop is run by the Senior Patrol Leader, who is elected by the troop, and their assistant, who may either be elected or appointed. These and the other youth leaders are advised and supported by the adult leaders. "Scouts are youth-led."<ref name="Green">{{cite web |last1=Green |first1=Clarke |title=What is a "Youth-Led Troop"? |url=https://scoutmastercg.com/what-is-a-boy-led-troop |website=ScoutmasterCG |date=February 3, 2016}}</ref>

===Finance===
The National Council is incorporated as a [[501(c)]](3) [[non-profit organization]] and is funded from private donations, membership dues, corporate sponsors, and special events with total revenues of $237&nbsp;million.{{r|bbb}}{{r|Form 990 2015}}

In addition to donations from individuals, Scouting America receives extensive donations from major corporations. In 2010, their top corporate donors were, in order, [[Intel]], [[Emerson Electric|Emerson]], [[Verizon]], [[3M]], [[Bank of America]], [[Wells Fargo]], [[Pfizer]], [[Valero Energy Corporation|Valero]], [[United Parcel Service|UPS]], [[U.S. Bank]], [[Eli Lilly and Company|Eli Lilly]], [[GE]], and [[Monsanto]].{{r|BirkeyA}}