Narragansett Council – Scouting America
Answer the family while they’re still interested.
Movo replies to every inquiry in minutes — but only with what your unit has told it. This is how you tell it.
During the pilot, Movo carried more than 36,000 two-way conversations with interested families. The units that got the most out of it were the ones whose knowledge base actually answered the question.
Your first hour
Five things, in this order. Your progress is saved on this device.
Stuck on any of these? Jump to Getting help.
On this page
What Movo does, and what it doesn’t
Movo is an AI-powered family engagement platform. When a family fills out an interest form, calls, or texts, Movo responds within minutes — by text, email, or phone, whichever that family prefers — day or night, weekends included. It keeps the conversation going until a real person picks it up, and it works on your behalf and under your name.
What it does well
- Starts the conversation minutes after a family raises their hand, not when someone gets around to it
- Answers questions from your knowledge base, over and over, without getting tired
- Helps a family find the right unit — including a different one, if yours isn’t a fit
- Sends registration links and next steps
- Keeps following up with families who go quiet
- Brings a person in when it needs one, and goes silent while you handle it
What it can’t do
- Know anything you haven’t told it
- Decide a refund, a fee exception, or anything else needing judgment
- Handle a safety or wellbeing concern — those go straight to people
- Fix a BeAScout pin that says the wrong thing, or one you never turned on
- Replace the leader who shakes a parent’s hand at the door
That last column is the whole reason this page exists. Movo answers from your unit’s knowledge base — a set of short written articles you upload. Give it seven good ones and it will sound like your best-informed volunteer. Give it nothing and it will hand families a generic answer, or hand them to you at 11pm.
It isn’t only for recruiting
Movo works three stages of a family’s life in your unit, not one. It nurtures new leads until they register, checks in during onboarding to see whether the program is meeting expectations, and follows up before renewals at recharter time. At every stage it raises anything it can’t handle to a person. So the knowledge you write for recruiting gets used long after a family joins — another reason to write it properly once.
One lesson worth repeating from the pilot
When families ask about cost, most are not saying they can’t afford Scouting. They’re asking what’s included, and whether help exists. Units that answered that plainly converted far better than units that deflected it. There’s a whole section on this below.
Getting into Movo
Five minutes of account housekeeping that decides whether anything else on this page reaches you. Most units that go quiet on Movo aren’t ignoring it — they never finished this part.
- Accept the invitation. It arrives from [email protected]. If you can’t find it, search that address before you ask for a resend — it lands in spam and promotions more often than it should. Add it to your contacts while you’re there.
- Invite the rest of your team. Under Settings > Team. One person with access is a single point of failure; your Key 3 and New Member Coordinator should all be in, and you can invite volunteers too. Make sure each person is attached to the right unit.
- Turn on notifications. Under Settings > Notifications, switch on email, SMS, or both. SMS needs a phone number added to your profile. Skip this and items will sit in your queue unseen — which is the single most common way a fast AI response turns into a slow human one.
- Book your onboarding session. The Movo team runs a guided walkthrough. Coordinate it through your district professional.
What your login can see
Access runs downward, never up or sideways. A unit login sees that unit’s families, conversations, and queue — and nothing above it. A district login sees the district and all its units. A council login sees everything beneath it. If you’ve been given more than one unit, you can switch between them. Nobody sees the level above their own.
Your BeAScout pin and unit settings come first
The pin is what a family sees before they ever type a question, and it feeds Movo. Fix it before you write a single knowledge article — otherwise you’ll be writing good answers that contradict your own listing. Several fields are new this year, including three that answer the exact questions families ask most.
Where it lives, and who can get in
Log in at my.scouting.org, open the Menu, select your unit under Organization, and choose Organization Manager. Two places matter: Settings and Unit Pin. Access belongs to your Key 3 — Cubmaster or Scoutmaster, committee chair, and chartered organization representative — plus anyone they’ve made a Key 3 Delegate. If nobody in your unit can get in, your district professional can sort out the access.
Your pin is not just a listing — Movo reads it
Movo re-reads every BeAScout pin through ScoutConnect, the service behind the pin pages, and pulls your meeting place, meeting time, and unit description directly into what it knows about you. The rest of the pin, website included, is stored alongside but left alone. When Scouting America’s national feed reports that a pin changed, Movo re-reads it from OrgSearch and updates again.
Two consequences. A wrong meeting time on your pin becomes a wrong meeting time in Movo’s answers, automatically. And the Additional Unit Information box isn’t just pin copy — it’s training data. Write it with the same care as a knowledge article.
Three new pin fields, three questions you were going to get anyway
Unit Fee, Fundraising Helps Cover Costs, and Trial Visit Encouraged are now shown right on the pin. Between them they answer “how much does it cost” and “can we visit first” before a family types anything. Filling them in is ten seconds of work against the second and third most common questions in Scouting.
Step one: Settings
- Membership Application Approval. Choose whether adult applications need only your chartered organization representative’s approval, or a committee chair recommendation first. Either is fine — what matters is that the person you name actually checks. A pending adult application nobody opens is a volunteer you’ve lost.
- Automatically Accept Youth Applications to this Unit. Turn this on. It’s strongly encouraged, and it’s the highest-value switch on the page: a family who applies at 9pm on a Sunday is in your unit that night instead of waiting for someone to log in on Wednesday.
- Automatically Accept Renewal Applications. Your call. Turning it on removes a step at recharter; leaving it off gives you a look at each renewal.
- Types of Youth Applicants This Unit Accepts. Boys only, girls only, or both. This has to match what you actually run, because it decides who finds you.
- Allow Adult Applications. Usually set by the council and not editable at the unit. If it looks wrong, ask your district professional.
Don’t skip the welcome email
Still in Settings, under Email Settings, you can add your own text to the generic welcome email that goes out when an application is processed — and you can choose whether fees and fee explanations are included. That custom text is free real estate with a brand-new family who is paying attention. Keep it to a short paragraph: when and where you meet, what to wear to the first meeting, and who to reply to. You’ve already written most of it in articles 1 and 7.
Step two: Unit Pin
Select Unit Pin in the left-hand menu. Every field needs a deliberate yes or no — work through all of them, not just the new ones.
| Field | What to do with it |
|---|---|
| Pin Mode | Set to “Allow Units to Update Pin Information.” If it’s on council-only, you can’t edit anything below. |
| Appear on BeAScout | On. The only reasons not to are a ScoutReach unit or a chartered organization with specific restrictions. |
| Allow People to Apply Online | On. Same exceptions. A family ready to join at 10pm should be able to. |
| Fundraising Helps Cover Costs | New. Turn it on if your popcorn, wreath, or other fundraiser genuinely offsets family cost — then say how in your cost article. |
| Trial Visit Encouraged | New. Turn it on. It answers “can we come watch first” on the map, before they even click. |
| Contact Information | A named person, a phone that gets answered, an email someone reads. Not a role address nobody owns. |
| Special Interest Type | Usually set when the unit was chartered. Change it here if it’s wrong. |
| Unit Fee | New. Put your real annual figure in. A blank fee field reads worse than a number. |
| Unit Website | Only if it’s current. An abandoned page costs you more than no page. |
| Additional Unit Information | Your FAQ space. See below — this one deserves real thought. |
Then choose what actually displays
Below those fields is a list headed Fields to Display on Unit Pin — meeting address, contact person’s name, phone number, contact email, website, additional information. Only the ones you check appear on BeAScout. Filling a field in is not the same as showing it, and this is where most units quietly lose their own information. At minimum, display your contact person and your meeting address. Watch the Unit Pin Preview on the right as you toggle: what you see there is what a family sees. Then press Save.
Write Additional Unit Information for someone who has never heard of Scouting
This is the one free-text field on the pin, and the same rule applies here as in your knowledge base: no unexplained jargon. “Tigers meet on Monday” means nothing to a new parent. “First graders meet Monday” tells them what they need. For a Pack, list your den nights by grade. For a Troop, Crew, or Ship, say what you’re known for — a troop that backpacks, a crew that dives, a ship that sails — so a family can tell whether you’re the right fit.
Step three: Unit Meeting Information
- Check the address. It defaults to your chartered organization’s address. If you meet in the school gym down the street, edit it — this is the most common wrong fact on any pin.
- Set the meeting schedule: frequency, day, start time, and end time.
- Press “Save Meeting Schedule.” It’s a separate button from the Save above it. Changes are lost without it.
If your pin shows the wrong thing after you’ve fixed it
Change any single piece of data, save, change it back, and save again. The pin refreshes overnight and will be right the next day.
Check your work — and check your district’s
Organization Manager has a Unit Pin report under Reports that lists exactly the pin data BeAScout will display. Run it after you save and read it as a stranger would. The same report runs at the district and council level, so your district professional can see at a glance which units still have blanks — which means nobody has to guess whether this got done.
The four that quietly cost units families
A meeting time that changed two years ago. A contact email belonging to a leader who left the unit. A field filled in but never checked in “Fields to Display.” A meeting address still pointing at the chartered organization instead of the building families should walk into. All four are ten-minute fixes.
The seven starter articles
Start here rather than with a blank page. Three of these answer the questions families ask most; the other four answer what they ask next. Write these seven, upload each one separately, and your unit is in better shape than most.
| Article | Why it’s on the list | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Where and when you meet | The most asked question, every time |
| 2 | What it costs, and help available | Second most asked, and the one most often answered badly |
| 3 | Visiting before joining | Third most asked; the yes is what converts |
| 4 | Who can join | Grade, age, and gender questions stall families for weeks |
| 5 | What you actually do | Parents can’t picture it; specifics sell |
| 6 | What’s expected of families | The unspoken fear: am I signing myself up too? |
| 7 | How to join | Every warm lead needs one clear next step |
Open your program below. Replace everything highlighted, delete the options that don’t apply, and read it out loud once before you paste it in — if it sounds like a form, rewrite it in your own voice.
Cub Scout Pack seven templates
Where and when does Pack [number] meet?
Families also ask: Where are you located? What night is it? How often do you meet? Do you meet in the summer?
What to gather first
- Meeting location name and full street address
- Parking and which entrance to use
- Den meeting day, start time, end time, and how often
- Pack meeting day and frequency
- First and last month of your program year, and summer plans
- A name, email, and phone for confirming a visit
Pack [NUMBER] meets at [LOCATION NAME], [FULL STREET ADDRESS, CITY]. Dens — small groups of Scouts in the same grade — meet [DAY] from [START TIME] to [END TIME], [WEEKLY / TWICE A MONTH]. Once a month the whole Pack meets together on [DAY AND WEEK OF MONTH] at the same place. Our program year runs [MONTH] through [MONTH]. Over the summer we [RUN DAY CAMP AND A FAMILY CAMPOUT / TAKE A BREAK AND START BACK UP IN SEPTEMBER]. Park [WHERE TO PARK] and come in through [WHICH DOOR]. If you’d like to come see a meeting, email [NAME], our [ROLE], at [EMAIL] or call [PHONE] first so we can confirm we’re meeting that night.
How much does it cost to join Pack [number]?
Families also ask: What are the dues? Is there a registration fee? Do we have to buy a uniform? Is there help if we can’t afford it?
What to gather first
- National and council registration fees, current year
- Your Pack dues and exactly what they cover
- What a new family must buy versus what you provide or lend
- Typical cost of your two or three biggest optional activities
- How your fundraiser offsets family cost, if it does
- The one person who handles assistance requests, discreetly
The first year in Pack [NUMBER] runs about [TOTAL OR RANGE]. That covers [NATIONAL REGISTRATION, COUNCIL FEE, PACK DUES, HANDBOOK, NECKERCHIEF AND SLIDE — LIST WHAT YOURS INCLUDES]. Most families spend another [AMOUNT] on a uniform shirt; we also keep [A USED UNIFORM BIN / A HAND-ME-DOWN LIST] so nobody has to buy new. Optional things during the year include [PINEWOOD DERBY CAR, FAMILY CAMPOUT, DAY CAMP — WITH TYPICAL COST OF EACH]. Our [FUNDRAISER NAME] in [MONTH] lets families offset some of this. We don’t want cost to be why a child misses Scouting. [DESCRIBE WHAT YOU OFFER: reduced dues, a payment plan, camperships, a Pack assistance fund] — just ask [NAME] at [EMAIL], and that conversation stays between you and [HIM / HER / THEM].
Leader note: Give a range and list what’s inside it. A single number with no breakdown reads as a hidden cost, and a family that senses a hidden cost stops replying.
Can our family visit a meeting before we join?
Families also ask: Can we try it first? Do we have to register to come? Can my child just watch?
What to gather first
- Which meeting is the best one for a first-time visitor
- Whether a visiting child joins in or observes
- Whether a parent stays, and for how long
- What to wear or bring, if anything
- How to let you know they’re coming
Yes — come see us first, then decide. The best meeting for a first visit is [TYPE OF MEETING], and your child can [JUMP RIGHT INTO THE ACTIVITY WITH THEIR DEN / WATCH AND JOIN IN AS THEY GET COMFORTABLE]. A parent or guardian should plan to stay for the visit. There’s no cost, nothing to sign up for, and nothing to bring except [SHOES THEY CAN RUN IN / A WATER BOTTLE / NOTHING AT ALL]. Most families visit [ONE OR TWO] meetings before they register, and that’s completely normal. Tell us you’re coming by [EMAILING NAME AT EMAIL / TEXTING PHONE / FILLING OUT THE FORM AT LINK] so the den leader can watch for you and we can tell you where to park.
Who can join Pack [number]?
Families also ask: What grades do you take? Can girls join? Is my kindergartner too young? Do we need to have done this before? We’re not in your town.
What to gather first
- Grades you currently serve and which dens have room
- Whether you’re a family Pack, or a Pack for boys or girls
- Schools and towns your families come from
- Whether younger siblings can tag along
- Who a family should talk to about an accommodation
Pack [NUMBER] is open to children in [GRADES — e.g. kindergarten through fifth grade]. We’re [A FAMILY PACK WITH DENS FOR BOYS AND GIRLS / A PACK FOR GIRLS / A PACK FOR BOYS], and right now we have room in [LIST DENS OR GRADES WITH OPENINGS]. Our Scouts come mostly from [SCHOOLS OR TOWNS], but you don’t have to live in [TOWN] or attend a particular school to join us. No experience needed — most children start knowing nothing about Scouting, and that’s the point. Children can join any time of year, not just in the fall. [IF TRUE: Younger brothers and sisters are welcome to come along to meetings and family events.] If your child learns differently or needs an accommodation to take part, tell [NAME] at [EMAIL] and we’ll work it out together.
What do Cub Scouts actually do?
Families also ask: What happens at a meeting? Do you go camping? Is it mostly crafts? Is it just for outdoorsy kids?
What to gather first
- Two or three real things your dens did last month
- What a Pack meeting looks and sounds like
- Your signature annual events, by name
- How often you get outdoors
- Your public calendar link
Cub Scouts learn by doing. A den meeting runs about [DURATION] and might mean [TWO OR THREE REAL EXAMPLES — building a catapult, learning to use a pocketknife safely, a first aid relay, a hike behind the school]. When the whole Pack gets together we [HAND OUT BADGES, RUN GAMES, WATCH THE DENS PUT ON SKITS]. Across the year Pack [NUMBER] runs [YOUR SIGNATURE EVENTS — pinewood derby, Blue and Gold banquet, fall family campout, day camp, a service project], and we’re outdoors about [HOW OFTEN]. Everything is planned to match what each age group can handle, under Scouting America’s safety and youth protection rules. You can see what’s coming up at [CALENDAR LINK].
Leader note: Name real things you did. “Age-appropriate enrichment activities” tells a parent nothing; “last month the third-grade den cooked over a fire for the first time” tells them everything.
What’s expected of parents in Pack [number]?
Families also ask: Do I have to stay? Do I have to volunteer? How much time is this really? Both of us work.
What to gather first
- Which dens need an adult partner present, and which don’t
- The one thing every family is asked to do in a year
- An honest hours-per-year estimate
- Two or three roles you’re actually short on
- Who talks to parents about volunteering
Cub Scouting is built for families to do together, so you’ll be more involved here than at a drop-off activity. In Pack [NUMBER], Scouts in [KINDERGARTEN AND FIRST GRADE / LION AND TIGER DENS] come with an adult partner who stays for the meeting. In [OLDER DENS], parents [CAN DROP OFF / ARE ASKED TO STAY]. Beyond that, we ask each family to pitch in on [ONE EVENT A YEAR / A ROTATING SETUP OR SNACK TASK / THE FALL FUNDRAISER] — realistically about [HOURS] across the year. Some parents take on a registered role like den leader or treasurer. Training is free and online, and nobody gets handed a den without help; we’re currently looking for [ROLES YOU NEED]. Registered leaders complete an application, a background check, and youth protection training. If you want to help but your schedule is tight, say so to [NAME] at [EMAIL] — there’s almost always a job that fits.
How do we join Pack [number]?
Families also ask: What’s the next step? Where do I sign up? Who do I talk to? What happens after I register?
What to gather first
- The first step you’d rather a family take
- Your registration link and how payment works
- An honest response time — then beat it
- What a family hears in the first week after registering
- Your next new-family event, with a date
Here’s the whole process. Start by [COMING TO A MEETING / FILLING OUT THE FORM AT LINK / EMAILING NAME AT EMAIL]. When you’re ready to register, apply online at [REGISTRATION LINK] and pay [ONLINE AT THE SAME TIME / BY CHECK MADE OUT TO PACK NUMBER]. Within [RESPONSE TIME — e.g. two business days] you’ll hear from [NAME], our [ROLE], with your child’s den, the meeting schedule, and what to wear to the first meeting. Our next event for new families is [EVENT AND DATE]. Questions before then: [NAME] at [EMAIL] or [PHONE], or have a look at [UNIT WEBSITE OR PAGE].
Scouts BSA Troop seven templates
Where and when does Troop [number] meet?
Families also ask: What night do you meet? Where exactly? How often do you camp? Do you meet over school vacation?
What to gather first
- Meeting location name and full street address
- Parking, entrance, and where in the building you meet
- Meeting day, start and end time, and the weeks you skip
- How often you go out, and the typical shape of a weekend
- Public calendar link and visitor contact
Troop [NUMBER] meets at [LOCATION NAME], [FULL STREET ADDRESS, CITY], every [DAY] from [START TIME] to [END TIME], [SEPTEMBER THROUGH JUNE / ALL YEAR]. We don’t meet [ON HOLIDAYS / DURING SCHOOL VACATION WEEKS / IN JULY AND AUGUST, EXCEPT FOR SUMMER CAMP]. Most months we also head out for a campout or activity, usually [FRIDAY EVENING TO SUNDAY MORNING / SATURDAY ONLY], about [HOW OFTEN]. Park [WHERE] and come in through [WHICH DOOR]; we meet in [ROOM OR AREA]. Our calendar is at [LINK]. Before a first visit, contact [NAME], our [ROLE], at [EMAIL] or [PHONE] so we can confirm we’re meeting that night.
How much does Troop [number] cost?
Families also ask: What are dues? What does camp cost? How much gear do we have to buy? Is there help available?
What to gather first
- National and council registration, current year
- Troop dues and what they cover
- Typical cost of a weekend outing, and this year’s summer camp fee
- What the Troop lends versus what a Scout must own
- How Scout accounts or fundraising offset cost
- The one person who handles assistance requests, discreetly
The first year in Troop [NUMBER] runs about [TOTAL OR RANGE], covering [NATIONAL AND COUNCIL REGISTRATION, TROOP DUES, HANDBOOK, TROOP NECKERCHIEF — LIST YOURS]. Beyond that, a weekend campout is usually [RANGE] and a week at summer camp is [AMOUNT]. Scouts do need some personal gear — [BOOTS, SLEEPING BAG, MESS KIT, RAIN GEAR] — but talk to us before you buy anything. The Troop [LENDS / HELPS FAMILIES FIND] [TENTS, PACKS, COOKING GEAR, UNIFORM PARTS], and a new Scout can borrow most of what they need for the first few trips. [DESCRIBE WHAT YOU OFFER: Scout accounts funded by our fundraiser, payment plans, camperships, a Troop assistance fund]. To ask about help with any of it, contact [NAME] at [EMAIL] — it stays confidential, and it comes up more often than you’d think.
Leader note: Separate required from optional, and say plainly that gear can be borrowed. Outfitting a new Scout is where families quietly decide it’s too expensive.
Can a prospective Scout visit first?
Families also ask: Can we come watch? Can my kid try a campout? Do we have to register before visiting?
What to gather first
- How a visiting youth spends the meeting
- Whether parents stay, and who they’ll talk to
- Whether you offer a try-it outing, and what it requires
- What to wear and bring
- Who to notify before the visit
Yes, and we’d rather you did. Come to a Troop meeting and see what a youth-led troop actually looks like — no registration, no cost. Your Scout will [JOIN A PATROL FOR THE NIGHT / SIT IN WITH OUR NEW SCOUT PATROL] and take part in the activity; parents are welcome to stay and talk with our leaders and committee. Most families come [ONCE OR TWICE] before deciding. [IF YOU OFFER IT: A prospective Scout can also come along to NAME OF OUTING OR OPEN HOUSE, which needs REQUIREMENTS — a permission form, a health form, a small fee.] Wear [WHAT TO WEAR] and bring [ITEMS / NOTHING]. Let [NAME], our [ROLE], know you’re coming at [EMAIL] or [PHONE], so the youth leaders are expecting you.
Who can join Troop [number]?
Families also ask: What age can they start? Do you take girls? Is Cub Scouts required first? My kid is 15 — is it too late?
What to gather first
- Whether you’re a troop for boys or for girls
- Current joining requirements and the ages you actually serve
- How you bring along a Scout with no Cub Scout background
- Your linked troop, if you have one, and when it meets
- Towns and schools your Scouts come from
Troop [NUMBER] is a troop for [BOYS / GIRLS]. Youth join once they’ve [FINISHED FIFTH GRADE, EARNED THE ARROW OF LIGHT, OR TURNED 11] and can stay until they turn 18; most of our Scouts are [AGE RANGE]. Cub Scouting first is not required and neither is the Arrow of Light — plenty of our Scouts show up with no experience at all and learn the basics through [OUR NEW SCOUT PATROL / OLDER SCOUTS WHO ACT AS GUIDES]. Starting at 14 or 15 is fine too; there’s still time to go a long way, including Eagle. Scouts can join any time of year. [IF APPLICABLE: We work closely with Troop NUMBER for GIRLS/BOYS, who meet DAY at the same place, so siblings can be in Scouting together.] Our families come from [TOWNS OR SCHOOLS], and there’s no residency requirement. For questions about fit or accommodations, contact [NAME] at [EMAIL].
What do Scouts in Troop [number] do?
Families also ask: What happens at a meeting? How much camping? What does “youth-led” mean? What about Eagle?
What to gather first
- What patrols did at your last two or three meetings
- Your camping rhythm and the range of trips you run
- Where you go to summer camp, and any high adventure
- How advancement works in practice in your troop
- Your public calendar link
Troop [NUMBER] is youth-led, which means the Scouts plan the meetings and the trips and the adults coach from a step behind. At a weekly meeting, patrols [PLAN THEIR NEXT OUTING, PRACTICE SKILLS LIKE COOKING OR FIRST AID, WORK ON RANK REQUIREMENTS, AND USUALLY FIT IN A GAME]. We camp or run an outdoor activity [HOW OFTEN] — things like [YOUR REAL TRIPS: backpacking, canoeing, winter cabin camping, a climbing weekend, a service project]. Every summer we spend a week at [CAMP NAME], and older Scouts can go on [HIGH ADVENTURE: Philmont, Sea Base, Northern Tier, or a trek we plan ourselves]. Scouts advance at their own pace toward Eagle; we [DESCRIBE HOW: hold boards of review monthly, run merit badge nights, pair new Scouts with a guide]. See what’s coming up at [CALENDAR LINK].
What’s expected of Scouts and parents?
Families also ask: Do parents stay? Do we have to camp? How much participation is required? What if my kid plays a sport?
What to gather first
- Your honest attendance expectation for Scouts
- Whether parents stay at meetings, and how you keep them informed
- What families are asked to do — driving, committee, fundraiser
- Whether adults are ever required to camp
- How you handle a Scout with a heavy sports or activity season
We ask Scouts in Troop [NUMBER] to come to meetings when they can, get out on [ROUGH NUMBER] outings a year, and take on more responsibility over time — their own gear, their own advancement, and eventually a leadership job in the troop. Sports and other activities are normal here; tell us what your season looks like and we’ll work around it. Weekly meetings are [DROP-OFF / PARENTS WELCOME TO STAY], and either way we [HOLD PARENT MEETINGS / SEND AN EMAIL UPDATE] [HOW OFTEN]. Families help by [DRIVING TO OUTINGS, JOINING THE COMMITTEE, HELPING AT THE FUNDRAISER, COMING ALONG AS AN ADULT LEADER]. Nobody is required to camp. Adults who register as leaders complete an application, a background check, and youth protection training — free, online, about [TIME]. To find something that fits your schedule, contact [NAME] at [EMAIL].
How do we join Troop [number]?
Families also ask: What’s the next step? Where do we sign up? What paperwork is there? What happens first?
What to gather first
- The first step you’d rather a family take
- Registration link and how payment works
- Which health form parts are needed, and when
- How a new Scout gets placed and welcomed
- Your next open house or new-family event, with a date
Start by [COMING TO A MEETING / EMAILING NAME AT EMAIL / FILLING OUT THE FORM AT LINK]. After a visit or two, register online at [REGISTRATION LINK] and pay [HOW]. You’ll also need [HEALTH FORM PARTS A AND B] before the first outing — we’ll walk you through it, and it’s less work than it sounds. Within [RESPONSE TIME] of registering, [NAME OR ROLE] will place your Scout in [A PATROL / WITH A TROOP GUIDE] and send you the calendar and a gear list so you know what to bring on the first trip. Our next open house is [EVENT AND DATE]. Questions: [NAME], [ROLE], [EMAIL], [PHONE]. More at [WEBSITE].
Eight rules for writing knowledge articles
Movo isn’t reading your article the way a person does. It’s matching a parent’s question to the closest thing you’ve written, then answering from it. These eight rules are the difference between an answer that lands and an answer that frustrates.
One question per article
A single article covering meeting times, costs, and how to join will get retrieved for all three and answer none of them well. Split it. Seven short articles beat one long one every time.
Title it the way a parent would ask it
Not a topic. A question, in a parent’s words.
Say the answer, don’t point at it
“See the attached calendar” or “details at our website” is a dead end. If a fact matters, write it in the article. Link in addition, never instead.
Translate your own jargon on first use
A new parent doesn’t know what a den is, what the Key 3 does, what Arrow of Light means, or what recharter is. Use the word, then explain it in the same breath.
Write dates that don’t expire
“Next month” and “this fall” go stale the moment you save them. Use named months, days of the week, and phrases like “our program year runs September through June.” Save specific dates for things that really are one-time.
Answer the question behind the question
“Can we visit?” means will we be welcome and will it be awkward. “Do parents have to volunteer?” means am I signing myself up for a second job. Answer the words and the worry.
Give ranges and inclusions for anything involving money
A bare number invites suspicion. “About $175, which covers registration, dues, handbook, and neckerchief” invites a reply.
Write nothing you wouldn’t want screenshotted
Assume every word could be forwarded to a stranger, because it can be. That rules out names of youth, complaints about another unit, internal debates, and anything you’d phrase differently in front of the family.
Before you upload, read it out loud
If it sounds like a form, a parent will read it as a form. The best knowledge articles sound like a friendly volunteer answering a question at the door — short sentences, real specifics, no institutional throat-clearing.
Where your knowledge actually lives
Everything goes on the Knowledge page in Movo. Alongside the articles you write, Movo learns from your connected websites, FAQs, and any files you upload. Knowledge is scoped by level, so national answers national questions and your unit answers unit questions — what you write here will never turn up in another council’s answers, and a document promoting your event won’t leak into a neighbouring unit’s conversations.
Watch it done first
Movo’s own walkthrough of building out a knowledge base. Two minutes, and it will save you more than that. Open the video in a new tab if it doesn’t play here.
Three ways to add knowledge
You’ll use all three. They do different jobs, and the order matters less than covering all of them.
Answer a question from “Needs an answer”
At the top of the Knowledge page is a list of questions Movo could not answer. Supply the answer and it gets used the next time anyone asks. This is the highest-value thing on the page — it’s real families asking real questions you haven’t covered, so you stop guessing what to write. Check it after every recruiting push, and again a week later.
Write an article directly
This is where your seven templates go. One question per entry, titled the way a parent would ask it, with the whole answer written out. Paste one, save, move to the next — don’t try to load all seven as a single block of text, because you’ll lose the one-question-per-article benefit that makes retrieval work.
Upload files
Movo reads PDFs, Word documents, spreadsheets, and images. Good candidates: your program-year calendar, a one-page fee sheet, a gear list, your new-family welcome letter. Do this after the written articles, not instead of them — a document supports an answer, it doesn’t replace one, and a family’s question gets answered best from a short written article.
Name files so a human would know what’s inside. “Pack 10 2026-27 calendar” beats “calendar_final_v3.”
Then check your work
- Look at “What we know.” This is the list of facts Movo has worked out for itself or been given by someone on your team. Read it as a stranger would. Edit anything that’s off, delete anything wrong — an inferred fact nobody checked is the likeliest source of a confidently wrong answer.
- Confirm your new articles landed at your unit’s level rather than somewhere broader, especially if your login covers more than one unit.
- Ask it something. Put one of the seven questions to Movo the way a parent would phrase it and read what comes back. If the answer is vague, the article is vague — go fix the article, not the question.
One thing you don’t have to maintain: if your unit website changes, there’s nothing to do. Movo keeps reading the pages it’s connected to and stays in sync on its own.
The cost question deserves its own answer
This is the question units get wrong most often, and the pilot data is clear about why. A family asking what it costs is usually asking what’s included — not signaling they can’t pay. Vague answers read as hidden fees. Over-explained answers read as a sales pitch. What works is a plain number, a list of what’s inside it, and a door left open.
Four things a good cost article does
- Names a figure or a range for the first year, up front, in the first sentence
- Lists what’s inside that figure, so it stops reading like a deposit
- Separates required from optional, and says outright that gear can be borrowed
- Names one person to ask about help, and promises discretion in the same sentence
What to avoid
- “Costs vary — contact us for details.” The family reads: it’s expensive and they won’t say.
- Leading with financial assistance. It answers a question they didn’t ask and can feel presumptuous.
- Burying assistance at the very bottom, or leaving it out entirely.
- A total that silently excludes camp, uniform, and the derby car.
Say it in one sentence
Somewhere in your cost article, in your own words: we don’t want money to be the reason a child misses Scouting, and here’s one person to ask. That sentence does more work than any other line in your knowledge base.
What never goes in your knowledge base
Everything you upload can be quoted back to anyone who asks a question — including a stranger. Treat the knowledge base as a public document, because functionally it is one.
Keep out
- Any youth’s name, photo, age, school, or home address
- Any family’s circumstances — financial, medical, custody, or otherwise
- Personal cell numbers or home addresses of leaders who didn’t agree to publish them
- Rosters, sign-up sheets, health forms, and anything pulled from a registration system
- Chartered organization building codes, alarm codes, or key locations
- Internal disagreements, or comparisons to another unit
Safe to publish
- Adult leaders’ roles, names, and a unit-purpose email address
- Meeting location, day, and time
- Fees, what they include, and how to ask for help
- Calendars, event descriptions, and gear lists
- Your unit’s own practices and expectations
Never put youth contact information into Movo
This is a hard rule from the platform itself, not a suggestion. Everything you load in — contacts, sign-up sheets, audience lists — must be adults who have consented to be contacted. A school-night sign-up sheet usually has a child’s name on it; what Movo needs is the parent or guardian’s name, phone, and email. Never a youth’s phone number or email address.
Youth protection still applies to every conversation
Movo talks to the adult who reached out. When a conversation moves to you, it stays adult-to-adult: communication with a prospective family goes through the parent or guardian, never one-on-one with a youth. Two-deep leadership applies to the visit, the tour, and the first meeting, exactly as it does to everything else. Nothing about a new tool changes the Barriers to Abuse.
If you wouldn’t tape it to the door
…it doesn’t belong in the knowledge base. That test catches nearly everything.
Needs you: when Movo brings in a person
Movo handles most conversations alone. When it needs a human decision, or can’t answer something with confidence, it creates an escalation and puts it in the Needs you queue. From that moment Movo goes quiet on that conversation and stays quiet until you hand it back. Every message, call, and note stays in the family’s record, so whoever picks up next has the whole history.
What gets escalated
Every escalation has a type, and each type follows a route your council configures under Settings > Escalations. A unit question can go to the unit leader, a membership question to the district, and a sensitive matter straight to the council.
| Type | Typically means |
|---|---|
| General | Something that needs a person but doesn’t fit elsewhere |
| Knowledge gaps | A question your knowledge base doesn’t answer — fix the gap, not just the reply |
| Human requested | The family asked to talk to a person |
| Technical issues | Something wrong with the platform itself |
| Refund requests | Money back or a fee exception |
| Financial aid | A family asking for help with cost |
| Transfer request | Moving between units |
| Churn risk | A family signalling they may leave |
| Bullying & wellbeing | Concerns about how a youth is being treated |
| Welfare / safeguarding | Routed straight to the national team, always |
Safeguarding does not sit in a unit queue
Welfare and safeguarding escalations go directly to Scouting America’s national team, and only they can change the type. Routing for welfare and for technical issues is set for the whole organization and is not something a council, district, or unit can alter. That’s by design. If you see one, do not try to reclassify it — and handle the real-world side through your existing youth protection reporting obligations, exactly as you would without Movo.
What you can do with an item
- Claim it, or assign it to a teammate so the rest of the team can see it’s covered
- Push it up a level if it needs someone more senior — it moves one level at a time and never skips, and you can still follow along
- Send it to the family’s unit if you’re at district or council and that’s where it belongs
- Change the type to restart it on the right route — anything except welfare
- Answer the question, which saves your answer and has Movo reply to every family who asked it
- Hand it back to Movo, which closes it and lets Movo resume the conversation
- Mark it complete when it’s done — same effect, Movo picks the conversation back up
Moving an item to another level unassigns whoever had it and notifies the new level. Levels below can still see it; only the level holding it, or one above, can move it again. And while your unit holds something, you can always push it back up when you need help.
Your reply goes out through your Movo agent
When you respond from inside Movo, the message is sent by your agent — the same voice the family has been hearing, on whichever channel they prefer. It isn’t a separate email from your personal account. So if you want the family to know a person has stepped in, say so in the words: “This is Dan, the Cubmaster — I’m picking this up from here.”
Four things to decide now, while it’s quiet
- Who is on the routing path for your unit, and who backs them up. Ask your district professional what your unit’s escalation routing currently says — most units have never looked.
- How fast you’ll reply. Pick a promise you can keep, then put that same number in your “how do we join” article so it isn’t a surprise. Movo runs 24/7 including weekends; your queue fills on a Sunday whether or not you’re watching.
- What the first human reply says. Not a form letter. Use the family’s name, answer the specific thing they asked, name the next meeting with a date, and ask one question back.
- What happens if they go quiet. Hand it back to Movo — following up with families who stop responding is exactly what it’s good at.
A first reply that works
“Hi Maria — this is Dan, the Cubmaster at Pack 10, picking this up from here. Yes, come see us. We meet Tuesdays at 6:30 at the Westside School gym, and the next meeting is October 7. Ellie can jump right in with the second-grade den; you’re welcome to stay and watch. Does a Tuesday work for you, or is another night easier?”
Names the family, says a person is here, answers the question, gives a date, asks something back. That’s the whole job.
If items are reaching the wrong person
That’s a roles and access problem, not a Movo problem — check Settings > Teams. And if a district or unit has a vacancy, the escalation path can be pointed at whoever is covering, or at the council, so nothing sits unseen while the seat is empty.
Turning a paper sign-up sheet into follow-up
The clipboard from your school night is a list of families who raised their hand and then waited. Movo can take that list directly — including a photo or scan of the paper sheet — and start the conversation the same evening.
How it works
- Formats: CSV, Excel, and PDF, including scanned paper sign-up sheets. Families can also be added one at a time.
- Minimum per family: first name, last name, and either a phone number or an email address. Anything else you captured is useful but optional.
- Movo matches the columns to the right fields and tries to match each family to a unit. Check both and correct anything wrong. If a family is interested in more than one unit, or you don’t know, leave the unit blank — Movo will help them find it.
- Starting status tells Movo where the family already is: added, contacted, first visit booked, or tried a session. Get this right and the first message won’t sound like it ignored a conversation you already had.
Adults only, with consent
Every contact you upload must be an adult who has consented to be contacted, and no youth contact information goes in, ever. Read your sheet before it’s imported: if a phone number belongs to a Scout rather than a parent, it doesn’t go.
In most cases your district professional will run the import for you — hand them the sheet, or a clear photo of it, the night you collect it. Speed is the whole point: a family added on Thursday hears from Movo on Thursday, not after next month’s committee meeting.
After the first seven
Finish the seven before you do anything here. Once they’re in, these are the articles that come up next — write them in the order your families actually ask.
| Add next | Because families ask |
|---|---|
| Your year at a glance | “What are we committing to?” A month-by-month sketch beats a calendar link. |
| What to buy, and what not to yet | “Do we need the whole uniform?” Say what’s needed week one and what can wait. |
| Summer camp | “Is camp required? How much? Do parents go?” Biggest single cost and biggest single draw. |
| Sports, dance, and other conflicts | “We have travel soccer.” The answer that keeps families is the flexible one. |
| Accommodations and different needs | Families with a child who learns differently often don’t ask twice. Answer before they do. |
| Getting to outings | “Do I have to drive?” Carpools, meeting points, and who’s responsible. |
| Our chartered organization | “Who are you connected to? Do we have to be members?” Usually no — say so. |
| Language and translation | If any leader speaks another language, say which. Movo can carry the conversation from there. |
Upload documents too, once the written articles are done: your program-year calendar, a gear list, a one-page fee sheet, your new-family welcome letter. Documents support the articles — they don’t replace them, because Movo answers best from short written answers.
Keeping it current
A knowledge base that was accurate in October and wrong in March is worse than none at all, because a family acts on it. This part takes fifteen minutes, twice a year, from one assigned person.
Twice a year, on purpose
- August, before fall recruiting — the version families will see most
- January, after recharter — new fees, new leaders, new calendar
And immediately, any time one of these happens
- Your meeting place, day, or time changes
- Fees or dues change
- The contact person in any article steps down or changes email
- You publish next year’s calendar
- A den or patrol fills up, or a new one opens
- Movo gives a family an answer that turns out to be wrong
Where each kind of change gets made
| What changed | Where you fix it |
|---|---|
| Fees, policies, local detail, anything in an article | The Knowledge page in Movo. Used from the next conversation onward. |
| Meeting place, meeting time, unit description | Your BeAScout pin in my.Scouting. Movo re-reads the pin and updates itself. |
| Your unit moved, or a new unit started | The Units settings page in Movo. |
| Someone joined or left your team | Settings > Team — and update your escalation paths if they handled escalations. |
| Who gets told about escalations | Settings > Escalations. |
| Your unit website | Nothing. Movo keeps reading the pages it’s connected to. |
Name the owner in writing
“Someone will do it” means nobody will. Put the knowledge base in one person’s job — New Member Coordinator is the natural fit — and note it in your committee minutes so it survives a leadership change. Add the two review dates to the unit calendar today, while you’re thinking about it.
Questions leaders keep asking
Nobody in our unit got a Movo invitation.
Check spam and promotions folders first, and check the email address on file in my.scouting for your Key 3. If it still hasn’t arrived, contact your district executive or the council office — we can get an invitation sent to a specific person.
Will Movo text the families who are already in our unit?
At certain moments, yes. Movo works three stages: nurturing new leads, checking in with families during onboarding to see whether the program is meeting expectations, and following up before renewals. It is not your general unit communication channel — keep using whatever already works for newsletters, permission slips, and reminders — but it does talk to families after they’ve joined, at those specific points.
Movo gave a family an answer that was wrong. What now?
Work through three places, in order. First, What we know on the Knowledge page — if Movo inferred a fact that’s wrong, edit or delete it there. Second, your BeAScout pin, since meeting place, time, and description come straight from it. Third, Needs an answer at the top of the Knowledge page, where you can supply the answer to the question that was actually asked so it’s right from the next conversation on. If none of that explains it, tell your district professional — a wrong answer that doesn’t trace to your own content is worth escalating for the whole council.
Can we see the conversations?
Yes. Under the Conversations tab you’ll see the full history with a family across every channel — texts, emails, calls, and notes — and you can reply from there. A unit login sees the families in that unit and nothing above it. Treat what you read the way you’d treat anything else a family tells you in confidence: it’s private, and it isn’t material for a committee meeting anecdote.
We’re small and don’t have a New Member Coordinator.
Then one of your Key 3 owns it, or you recruit a parent whose whole job is this — it’s a genuinely good first volunteer role: low hours, no camping, real impact. Ask a parent who’s been with you a year and already answers other parents’ questions.
Does this replace talking to people?
No, and it can’t. Movo makes sure an interested family gets an answer while they’re still interested. A person still has to meet them at the door, learn their child’s name, and make them feel like they belong. Movo just makes sure you get the chance.
Movo isn’t reaching out to a family we added. Why?
Three usual causes. Movo needs at least a first name before it will start texting a cell number. The family needs a valid phone number or email address. And they need a status or workflow that should trigger outreach in the first place — a family imported as “contacted” is treated differently from one imported as “added.”
What if our unit is full, or isn’t the right fit for a family?
Say so plainly in your knowledge base — that your dens are full, or which grades you serve. Movo will keep helping in the same conversation and guide the family toward another suitable unit, without making them start over or repeat everything they’ve already said. A family redirected to the troop across town is a family Scouting keeps. Your unit’s records will show the conversation and any unit change.
Who in our unit should have a Movo login?
More than one person. Your Key 3 and New Member Coordinator at minimum, and you can invite volunteers as well under Settings > Team. A single login is a single point of failure, and the person holding it will eventually be on vacation during your best recruiting week.
Can I reuse another unit’s articles?
Use their structure, not their content. Every fact in your articles — times, addresses, fees, names — has to be yours, and the specifics are what make a family trust you. Borrowed answers read as borrowed.
How long does this really take?
The seven articles take about thirty minutes with these templates, if you have your fees and calendar handy. The pin and unit settings take about twenty. That’s the whole ask — and it’s the highest-return hour of volunteer time in your recruiting year.
Getting help
If your invitation hasn’t arrived, you can’t get into your BeAScout pin, or you’d rather work through your seven articles with someone on the phone — call or email your district professional. This is a twenty-minute conversation, not a project.
Your district professional
Every district has a professional whose job includes exactly this. They can resend a Movo invitation, get you into a BeAScout pin you’re locked out of, tell you how your unit’s escalations are currently routed, or sit with you for twenty minutes while you write your seven articles.
Phone numbers and email addresses for the whole field staff are at NCScouts.org/Staff. If you’re not sure which district you’re in, call anyone on that page and they’ll point you to the right person.
Tell us what’s missing
This page is council guidance, not a finished product. If a template doesn’t fit your unit, if a step has changed in Movo, or if a family asked you something none of this covers — say so. The next unit to read this page benefits from it.
Narragansett Council – Scouting America. This toolkit is council guidance for unit volunteers. Movo platform features and council fees change from time to time, so check with your district professional if something here doesn’t match what you’re seeing. Send corrections and suggestions — this page gets better when units tell us what’s missing.