Individual Membership Renewal is now separate from the Unit Renewal.
- Unit renewal and member renewal are no longer one and the same.
- Membership is now a set 12-month term from the time of registering regardless of when the unit renews.
- Youth and adult leader membership fees will be separated from the unit renewal.
- Units may choose to renew/submit payments on behalf of their members or for the individual families to renew their BSA membership on their own.
Unit pays option: The unit tracks of everyone’s renewal, collects fees, renews each members, and submits payment either online or by check to the council. To renew their members units will go to their roster on my. scouting.org, selecting the member (click the square near their name), and clicking “renew” in the grey bar. The next screen will show the member(s) you are renewing, adding Scout Life in the upper right (which will need to be unchecked if not wanted). By clicking “Create Renewal Orders”, that member will be added to Unit Renewal Orders and the Unit will need to pay online or send payment to Blackhawk Area Council.
Individual Family Pays Option: Individual families will have a choice to set up their BSA membership to do auto renew each year or if they choose to manually renew their membership each year. While the individual family renews both online, the auto renewal is paid by credit card directly to National BSA while manual renewal can e paid online or paid to Blackhawk Area Council. The choice is made by the individual family at checkout. Units may still need to go to my.scouting.org to approve their renewal.
Key Steps for Membership and Unit Renewal 11-13-24
Units Selecting to pay individual renewals instructions
National Membership & Renewal Resource page
A note about Safeguarding Youth Training:
Blackhawk Area Council’s policy for Safeguarding Youth Training requires an adult’s SYT training to be valid for the entire length of a person’s charter at the time of renewal (January 1 – Dec 31).
For example: A leader who took SYT training in April of 2022 would show (in the National system) as SYT compliant until April of 2024. However, for the 2024 charter year that leader’s Safeguarding Youth Training will expire prior to January 1, 2025, thus not being Safeguard Youth trained for the duration of the charter period. That leader would need to retake SYT training before their charter renewal could be completed. Please note that the online rechartering system will not flag this leader as noncompliant as the system follows the national two-year term.
Resources:
Downloadable Forms / Resources
- CBC Authorization
- Annual Charter Agreement – For Packs, Troops, Crews, and Ships
- Annual Memorandum of Understanding – For Explorer Clubs and Posts
- Unit Account Form
- Youth Application (English and Spanish)
- Adult Application (Including Disclosures and Background Check Authorization)
- Individual Renewal Fees updated 7.29.25
- Unit Renewal Fee = $100 / annually
- New Unit Application
- Klarna payments with Online Registration
Unit Journey to Excellence Scorecards: