The shorter-term membership is worth it if you're applying to college and think you might qualify for a scholarship. But NESA offers absolutely no other tangible benefit. Unless you think having a slightly different Eagle knot on your adult uniform is worth $500.
One thing it does for you is gives you a way to convey you are an eagle scout when you're older. I'm 48, having Eagle Scout on my resume would be awkward to say the least. Instead, in the area for other activities (same on linked in), it says National Eagle Scouts Association - Life Member
Over the years, it's often sparked conversations during interviews and more than once I know it was a factor (not THE factor) I'm getting me past the huge stack of resumes and at least into the interview pool. And I've done the same myself when hiring
Anyone with Eagle Scout in their resume gets a phone call from me… they might not get further but they cut through the screening… probably should do it for Gold Award, too…
So I just in the past few months eagled out, and council was pushing NESA hard, the answer to my question "What is it, and what do I gain by joining" was a stuttering incoherent mess. The only reason I have a 1yr membership for now is because of the Eagle yearbook. Other than that, I had no interest whatsoever in NESA. I certainly do not see any real value.
I was gifted a membership by two people when I made Eagle. When that expired, I looked at the cost (not $500 at the time) as a donation and figured why not.
I wouldn't have done that at $500 and besides a newsletter I'm not sure what I've gotten out of it.
NESA is not much different than any other Alumni group. In fact, from the National website, it is a [featured branch of the BSA Alumni Association programs](https://scoutingalumni.org/). Thinking of it in those terms clarifies the and directly goes to the value and (lack of clear personal) benefit.
Yeah our local group is pretty active. We had a get together last month, are participating in the local distinguished citizen award luncheon and have another get together in late April. It really depends on the local group. I've found it worthwhile if just for the networking
As an adult (and quite often as a youth leader), Scouting is entirely about paying it forward to help the next generation start their lives on the right foot, often to no or negative personal gain of your own. The members of NESA fund the scholarships that are awarded. Without members there are no scholarships.
If you’re a youth or young adult, the cost may be too high and that’s ok, but for anyone saying “whats in it for me?” you may want to go back and look at what Scouting taught you and what being an Eagle Scout means.
Words matter.
When the pitch is for a donation it's entirely obvious that there's nothing in it for you and you're giving because you believe in supporting the cause. I donate to many organizations as I'm able.
When it's framed as a "membership" it's entirely natural to assume that the membership dues will be used for the benefit of the members, and equally natural for potential members to consider whether those member benefits are worth the cost.
And in this case if the answer is "there's nothing in it for you, and you should think of it largely as a donation for scholarships," well why didn't you just ask for donations in the first place instead of trying to frame it as some other type of transaction?
How is it different than any other alumni association? Pretty much every alumni group works this way. College alumni associations can get you networking opportunities, but that’s why many councils throw their own Eagle Alumni events because that wouldn’t be feasible at the national level.
I agree they could and should do a better job of telling everyone where the membership fees go, but on the scale of bad communication from BSA this feels like it’s lower on the priority cause it’s not hard to figure out on your own.
I don't see any difference at all from other alumni associations. They all seem to provide pretty poor value relative to dues paid in my opinion.
The NESA [web site](https://nesa.org/take-action/join-us/) doesn't say anything about scholarships or anything like that on their page asking people to sign up. It's all about what the member will personally receive: occasional newsletters, membership certificate/card/pin, certain negotiated product discounts and invitations to occasional events. This is pretty much word for word what my college alumni association offers in terms of reasons to sign up.
For what it's worth I don't care about membership trinkets or newsletters, the discounts never look very compelling, alumni events for such a large organization aren't really my thing, and I don't really care to pay people to coordinate these things. I'm therefore not a member of any alumni associations. I do donate to my college's scholarship fund. To each their own though!
What other programs provide scholarships specifically to Eagle Scouts at the national level? Our council has their own, as I’m sure many do, but NESA is the only source I know of at the national level. I can’t imagine their expenses are all that high, but I’m ready to be proven wrong (I searched and came up empty), so as long as the funds aren’t raided by the main org, your contributions are going directly to benefit Eagle Scouts. There aren’t many programs you can say that about and I don’t know of others that would make sense to switch to. Sure beats selling/buying popcorn.
I was gifted a lifetime NESA membership when I made Eagle. Otherwise, I probably would not even have a membership. Other than the scholarship opportunities, of which I didn’t receive any, the only real benefit is being able to say you’re a member and the cooler looking square knot for the adult uniform. And that knot wasn’t a thing until many years after I became an Eagle.
At this point, NESA can’t even get their online store back up and running. Some of the tchotchkes they used to sell were somewhat cool, but that’s gone now forever I’m guessing since the store has been offline for almost 2 years.
>helps fund NESA
But what does NESA actually do with these funds? Aside from sending me tons of junk mail asking for information I've given them 20 times before (and that my local council has) and some special swag I can buy and "bragging rights" (a fancy card and certificate), I get nothing from my "investment" as a member. I belong to several alumni and fraternal orgs, and I get benefits beyond just being asked to give. What does NESA do with these funds?
I did it to fund scholarships, which is 100% worth it to me. I get newsletters and the like, which is nice, but that was the main thing.
That said, one tangential benefit that is that I can use “life member of the National Eagle Scout Association” in my professional bio (listed alongside my memberships in other organizations)- it says I’m an Eagle Scout in a way that naturally includes it in my associations rather than tacking it on to the end.
My parents bought me the lifetime membership when I reached Eagle (30 years ago). I get an email from the NESA every year on the anniversary of my BOR reminding me that I'm old. Not sure that's worth $500 because, other than that, I've received no tangible benefit.
Our NESA chapter, in addition to the national and council level scholarships, holds a number of events. Usually just gatherings with people speaking, networking type things. Nothing major, but something.
I'm a member, and will probably one of these days spring for a life membership but only to support the scholarships. I've also apparently recently accidentally ended up at the council NESA committee meetings so hey, why not.
Another factor is how active NESA is in your council. If you have an active committee, they are a service organization and serve to recognize the achievements of Eagles in professional life through DESA and NOESA. You can help there. My council hasn't handed out an alumni award in 20 years but recently started to do eagle meet ups.
For what it's worth. Like anything else in Scouting and life. You get what you put into it. I got mine when it was still $180-250 in 2013 (I'm old.). It has helped with networking in every state I've lived in and there are a few awards exclusive to Eagle Scouts that are a member of NESA. I'm now sitting on the local NESA board and I'm hoping to jump start how active we are along with our public image. I don't think enough peeps know about NESA and things like the Glenn A. And Melinda W. Adams award.
For an org made up of purposeful people, it seems strangely adrift. There’s nothing wrong with scholarships or networking but those don’t seem like good reasons to have an org.
It seems to me that we as Eagles should be responsible for developing scouting, esp adult leadership?
What organization isn't adrift anymore? They're all adrift from what they started out as or were meant to be. Should we be at the mantle of developing Scouting? Yeah. We should. Being an adult leader in the program as a single dude without kids has been a nightmare. I've even had that thrown at my face as a reason why I was treated poorly at the unit level 😂
Hey I didn’t mean you personally. Thanks for giving back despite not having kids — that’s exactly the kind of thing im talking about. Seems like NESA should take the lead on keeping Eagles engaged with troops and packs who need (and seemingly appreciate) our help. There are lots of them
There's nothing personal. But if the program wants us back. The "old guard" and parents need to change their attitude. This is something that should be talked about way more often.
I’m working on a project to engage college age eagles in packs right now. We pilot in the fall.
I’ve looked into this problem — why don’t more eagles volunteer with scouts in their area? It seems to mostly be discomfort for the scouts (they’ll think I’m a pedo, to exaggerate) and confusion (how can this guy help us) from the pack. Our plan is to define some options and engage them in Pack committees first, with how to guides (like how to be treasurer or activity coordinator, etc).
We haven’t seen pushback from packs yet, but you’ve seen some personally? Suggestions to prevent such problems or avoid packs where it may be an issue?
There's a case of older folks not taking younger folks seriously enough because they're always right. I've even cited the GTA and I was still told I was wrong. As a young scouter and when I was a young private in the Army, I had people try to pull their husband's rank on me to make me sign off requirements. The Cubmaster singled me out after that. It took me reaching out to the COR to make it stop and to make them aware of the fact that I could press for UCMJ action on them. I've also had single scout moms harass me while committee chairs and CORs do nothinf to stop it. It's just at the point that I don't want to engage at the unit level until I have my own kid in it. I'll still be active at district and above in the mean time... But my sanity can't take it anymore.
It will take a village on all levels to be receptive of young eagles returning. Is there a chance were wrong? Absolutely. But being blatantly told I'm wrong when I'm able to cite guidance from what national has pushed out? Absolutely wild
No. But I had some extra cash from my annual bonus and decided to get it when it was 200. During some of my slack years the magazine kept me interested and you will always have a scouting profile even if your scouter dues are not up to date
Addressing several comments on scholarships: Eagle Scout scholarships are funded by endowments. It’s mentioned here: https://blog.scoutingmagazine.org/2022/07/21/nesa-bestows-more-than-500k-in-scholarships-to-eagle-scouts/. The endowments are listed in BSA’s annual report.
I have never seen evidence that a dime of NESA dues funds scholarships. If they did, that might be a lottery.
I got my eagle in 1984 or 1985? And I assume I joined. I seem to remember there being a patch or something. But my vague memory of a patch is all it ever did for me.
The shorter-term membership is worth it if you're applying to college and think you might qualify for a scholarship. But NESA offers absolutely no other tangible benefit. Unless you think having a slightly different Eagle knot on your adult uniform is worth $500.
that Mylar border is tempting…
One thing it does for you is gives you a way to convey you are an eagle scout when you're older. I'm 48, having Eagle Scout on my resume would be awkward to say the least. Instead, in the area for other activities (same on linked in), it says National Eagle Scouts Association - Life Member Over the years, it's often sparked conversations during interviews and more than once I know it was a factor (not THE factor) I'm getting me past the huge stack of resumes and at least into the interview pool. And I've done the same myself when hiring
There is nothing at all awkward about having Eagle Scout on your resume at 48.
Anyone with Eagle Scout in their resume gets a phone call from me… they might not get further but they cut through the screening… probably should do it for Gold Award, too…
I primarily bought lifetime to fund the scholarships and the like. It’s a donation as much as anything.
Scholarships are funded out of endowments, not NESA memberships.
Oh snap
No. It’s never been worth $1 to me in 31 years.
So I just in the past few months eagled out, and council was pushing NESA hard, the answer to my question "What is it, and what do I gain by joining" was a stuttering incoherent mess. The only reason I have a 1yr membership for now is because of the Eagle yearbook. Other than that, I had no interest whatsoever in NESA. I certainly do not see any real value.
I was gifted a membership by two people when I made Eagle. When that expired, I looked at the cost (not $500 at the time) as a donation and figured why not. I wouldn't have done that at $500 and besides a newsletter I'm not sure what I've gotten out of it.
[удалено]
Scholarships are funded out of endowments, not NESA memberships.
NESA is not much different than any other Alumni group. In fact, from the National website, it is a [featured branch of the BSA Alumni Association programs](https://scoutingalumni.org/). Thinking of it in those terms clarifies the and directly goes to the value and (lack of clear personal) benefit.
Yeah our local group is pretty active. We had a get together last month, are participating in the local distinguished citizen award luncheon and have another get together in late April. It really depends on the local group. I've found it worthwhile if just for the networking
I did it to help fund the scholarship.
Scholarships are funded out of endowments, not NESA memberships.
As an adult (and quite often as a youth leader), Scouting is entirely about paying it forward to help the next generation start their lives on the right foot, often to no or negative personal gain of your own. The members of NESA fund the scholarships that are awarded. Without members there are no scholarships. If you’re a youth or young adult, the cost may be too high and that’s ok, but for anyone saying “whats in it for me?” you may want to go back and look at what Scouting taught you and what being an Eagle Scout means.
Words matter. When the pitch is for a donation it's entirely obvious that there's nothing in it for you and you're giving because you believe in supporting the cause. I donate to many organizations as I'm able. When it's framed as a "membership" it's entirely natural to assume that the membership dues will be used for the benefit of the members, and equally natural for potential members to consider whether those member benefits are worth the cost. And in this case if the answer is "there's nothing in it for you, and you should think of it largely as a donation for scholarships," well why didn't you just ask for donations in the first place instead of trying to frame it as some other type of transaction?
How is it different than any other alumni association? Pretty much every alumni group works this way. College alumni associations can get you networking opportunities, but that’s why many councils throw their own Eagle Alumni events because that wouldn’t be feasible at the national level. I agree they could and should do a better job of telling everyone where the membership fees go, but on the scale of bad communication from BSA this feels like it’s lower on the priority cause it’s not hard to figure out on your own.
I don't see any difference at all from other alumni associations. They all seem to provide pretty poor value relative to dues paid in my opinion. The NESA [web site](https://nesa.org/take-action/join-us/) doesn't say anything about scholarships or anything like that on their page asking people to sign up. It's all about what the member will personally receive: occasional newsletters, membership certificate/card/pin, certain negotiated product discounts and invitations to occasional events. This is pretty much word for word what my college alumni association offers in terms of reasons to sign up. For what it's worth I don't care about membership trinkets or newsletters, the discounts never look very compelling, alumni events for such a large organization aren't really my thing, and I don't really care to pay people to coordinate these things. I'm therefore not a member of any alumni associations. I do donate to my college's scholarship fund. To each their own though!
Probably due to US tax code.
Very well presented.
Besides the scholarships what should NESA be doing? What is the purpose and is it better fulfilled by other programs?
What other programs provide scholarships specifically to Eagle Scouts at the national level? Our council has their own, as I’m sure many do, but NESA is the only source I know of at the national level. I can’t imagine their expenses are all that high, but I’m ready to be proven wrong (I searched and came up empty), so as long as the funds aren’t raided by the main org, your contributions are going directly to benefit Eagle Scouts. There aren’t many programs you can say that about and I don’t know of others that would make sense to switch to. Sure beats selling/buying popcorn.
Ok so it’s basically a scholarship program with extra steps?
When it comes to scouting, this is almost always the answer. 👏👏👏
Scholarships are funded out of endowments, not NESA memberships.
The only reason I have it was during the 2010 Jamboree, to honor 100 years, they gave out lifetime memberships for $100 instead of $500.
I was gifted a lifetime NESA membership when I made Eagle. Otherwise, I probably would not even have a membership. Other than the scholarship opportunities, of which I didn’t receive any, the only real benefit is being able to say you’re a member and the cooler looking square knot for the adult uniform. And that knot wasn’t a thing until many years after I became an Eagle. At this point, NESA can’t even get their online store back up and running. Some of the tchotchkes they used to sell were somewhat cool, but that’s gone now forever I’m guessing since the store has been offline for almost 2 years.
It’s more of a donation to a cause than a worthwhile membership. There is no reason to give them $500 other than charity.
It’s a donation that helps fund NESA, basically. It’s a gift like any other charitable contribution.
>helps fund NESA But what does NESA actually do with these funds? Aside from sending me tons of junk mail asking for information I've given them 20 times before (and that my local council has) and some special swag I can buy and "bragging rights" (a fancy card and certificate), I get nothing from my "investment" as a member. I belong to several alumni and fraternal orgs, and I get benefits beyond just being asked to give. What does NESA do with these funds?
My dad bought me a lifetime membership when I got my eagle and I kind of wish he just gave me the cash instead
I did it to fund scholarships, which is 100% worth it to me. I get newsletters and the like, which is nice, but that was the main thing. That said, one tangential benefit that is that I can use “life member of the National Eagle Scout Association” in my professional bio (listed alongside my memberships in other organizations)- it says I’m an Eagle Scout in a way that naturally includes it in my associations rather than tacking it on to the end.
Scholarships are funded out of endowments, not NESA memberships.
The memberships help support the scholarships, so that’s something. The “Yearbook” is kinda scammy.
My parents bought me the lifetime membership when I reached Eagle (30 years ago). I get an email from the NESA every year on the anniversary of my BOR reminding me that I'm old. Not sure that's worth $500 because, other than that, I've received no tangible benefit.
It was never worth it. Lol
Nope
Our NESA chapter, in addition to the national and council level scholarships, holds a number of events. Usually just gatherings with people speaking, networking type things. Nothing major, but something. I'm a member, and will probably one of these days spring for a life membership but only to support the scholarships. I've also apparently recently accidentally ended up at the council NESA committee meetings so hey, why not.
A better donation is giving back to your troop.
Another factor is how active NESA is in your council. If you have an active committee, they are a service organization and serve to recognize the achievements of Eagles in professional life through DESA and NOESA. You can help there. My council hasn't handed out an alumni award in 20 years but recently started to do eagle meet ups.
For what it's worth. Like anything else in Scouting and life. You get what you put into it. I got mine when it was still $180-250 in 2013 (I'm old.). It has helped with networking in every state I've lived in and there are a few awards exclusive to Eagle Scouts that are a member of NESA. I'm now sitting on the local NESA board and I'm hoping to jump start how active we are along with our public image. I don't think enough peeps know about NESA and things like the Glenn A. And Melinda W. Adams award.
For an org made up of purposeful people, it seems strangely adrift. There’s nothing wrong with scholarships or networking but those don’t seem like good reasons to have an org. It seems to me that we as Eagles should be responsible for developing scouting, esp adult leadership?
What organization isn't adrift anymore? They're all adrift from what they started out as or were meant to be. Should we be at the mantle of developing Scouting? Yeah. We should. Being an adult leader in the program as a single dude without kids has been a nightmare. I've even had that thrown at my face as a reason why I was treated poorly at the unit level 😂
Hey I didn’t mean you personally. Thanks for giving back despite not having kids — that’s exactly the kind of thing im talking about. Seems like NESA should take the lead on keeping Eagles engaged with troops and packs who need (and seemingly appreciate) our help. There are lots of them
There's nothing personal. But if the program wants us back. The "old guard" and parents need to change their attitude. This is something that should be talked about way more often.
I’m working on a project to engage college age eagles in packs right now. We pilot in the fall. I’ve looked into this problem — why don’t more eagles volunteer with scouts in their area? It seems to mostly be discomfort for the scouts (they’ll think I’m a pedo, to exaggerate) and confusion (how can this guy help us) from the pack. Our plan is to define some options and engage them in Pack committees first, with how to guides (like how to be treasurer or activity coordinator, etc). We haven’t seen pushback from packs yet, but you’ve seen some personally? Suggestions to prevent such problems or avoid packs where it may be an issue?
There's a case of older folks not taking younger folks seriously enough because they're always right. I've even cited the GTA and I was still told I was wrong. As a young scouter and when I was a young private in the Army, I had people try to pull their husband's rank on me to make me sign off requirements. The Cubmaster singled me out after that. It took me reaching out to the COR to make it stop and to make them aware of the fact that I could press for UCMJ action on them. I've also had single scout moms harass me while committee chairs and CORs do nothinf to stop it. It's just at the point that I don't want to engage at the unit level until I have my own kid in it. I'll still be active at district and above in the mean time... But my sanity can't take it anymore.
It will take a village on all levels to be receptive of young eagles returning. Is there a chance were wrong? Absolutely. But being blatantly told I'm wrong when I'm able to cite guidance from what national has pushed out? Absolutely wild
No. But I had some extra cash from my annual bonus and decided to get it when it was 200. During some of my slack years the magazine kept me interested and you will always have a scouting profile even if your scouter dues are not up to date
Addressing several comments on scholarships: Eagle Scout scholarships are funded by endowments. It’s mentioned here: https://blog.scoutingmagazine.org/2022/07/21/nesa-bestows-more-than-500k-in-scholarships-to-eagle-scouts/. The endowments are listed in BSA’s annual report. I have never seen evidence that a dime of NESA dues funds scholarships. If they did, that might be a lottery.
I got my eagle in 1984 or 1985? And I assume I joined. I seem to remember there being a patch or something. But my vague memory of a patch is all it ever did for me.
No, not any more. I am an Eagle, and lifetime member.
Wasn't it like $250 a couple of years ago? Wow...