Scouting, Volume 63, Number 1, January-February 1975 Page: 6
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SME-IT REALLY WORKS!
Every passing headlight illuminated
the sturdy, red truck parked in front
of the building. Fancy gold lettering
that read "Wells Fargo Armored Serv-
ice" reflected each beam. As people
parked their cars and walked past the
truck into the building, they smiled as
they read the posters on each side of
the truck, "Northern District — We will
fill it!" the posters boasted.
And that Valentine's Day boast last
February was met. The district's
Scouters did fill that truck, figurative-
ly, at least, with dollars for boys. How
and why they did it in 1974 is a story
being repeated right now in 433 other
Scout councils throughout America.
Northern District is in the General
Greene Council, headquartered in
Greensboro, N.C., and the money-
raising effort was part of the council's
Sustaining Membership Enrollment.
Funds collected went into the council
budget for such regular council serv-
ices as training, camping, advance-
ment, professional field help, special
events and direct service to Scouting
units.
The General Greene Council
budget, like most council budgets
elsewhere, can be well described in
one word — growing. It has to grow
each year to keep pace with the in-
creasing number of boys who want
Scouting and with the rising costs of
BY MAC GARDNER
services necessary to serve those
boys.
During 1974, about 65 percent of
the council's $223,000 annual budget
came from federated giving like
United Way. (Nationally, United Way
financing provides almost 50 percent
of all council funds.) About 10 percent
came from trust funds and special
projects, leaving a hefty $64,000 to
come from Sustaining Membership En-
rollment (often referred to simply as
SME).
That $64,000 SME goal represented
lots of planning and work, but the goal
was reached with room to spare. In
fact, 1974 was the third year in a row
that General Greene Council Scouters
had reached their goal. They had
raised $35,000 in 1 972 and jumped to
$55,000 in 1973.
Such continued success requires
plenty of capable volunteer leader-
ship. Scout Executive Ben Ussery
says the key to that success came in
1971 when Dr. Edgar T. Sikes, then
council president, recruited J. C. Co-
wan, Jr., vice chairman of the board of
Burlington Industries, to head up the
SME steering committees. "Mr. Cowan
is widely known and respected in the
Greensboro area," Ben explains, "and
was able to get many other top men to
help out. Through efficient manage-
ment techniques and his great enthusi-
asm, Mr. Cowan established an SME
pattern that we've continued ever
since."
Nathaniel P. Hayes, chairman of the
board of Carolina Steel Corporation,
North Carolina's largest steel fabricat-
ing company, is now chairman of the
SME steering committee, and he
points out another essential ingredi-
ent. "The men and women who work in
Sustaining Membership Enrollment
must be firmly sold on the worth of
both SME and the Scouting program,"
he says. "A man may be a dandy
salesman or worker, but he won't truly
carry out his job unless he has a
strong interest in his product."
Then he smiles. "Of course, we
aren't bashful about using a little
friendly persuasion once in a while to
convince a person that he should get
involved in SME. Most of the time,
however, people are already sold on
Scouting before we contact them."
Mr. Hayes, by the way, is typical of
the many busy leaders working for
SME in the General Greene Council,
from the steering committee level to
volunteers at the unit level. In addition
to his Scout money-earning efforts, he
is chairman of a national campaign to
raise $6 million for the School of Bus-
iness at the University of North Caro-
lina. He is likewise involved in various
civic and church (continued on page 58)
With Zone Chairman Rex Anderson at his left, pro-Scouter Bob Lopp points
with chalk at progress toward SME goal
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Boy Scouts of America. Scouting, Volume 63, Number 1, January-February 1975, periodical, January 1975; New Brunswick, New Jersey. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth353656/m1/6/?q=%221777%22&rotate=0: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Boy Scouts of America National Scouting Museum.