ADDRESS: "A Comparison of the Boy Scouts of America and Drum Corps International" Mr. Larry Girard, Jr. Overture. "Drum corps is going to die"; "If you don't make top 12, then why are you doing this?"; "YEA is taking over the whole activity"; "Things were different back when the American Legion and VFW ruled"; "DCA is a weekend activity, DCI is drum corps". Look and sound familiar? It should, because this is what we've come to. An activity with little vision for the future, and little understanding of the past. Drum and bugle corps needs to do better in terms of organization and how it presents the product to the masses. This presentation will attempt to assess the current state of the drum and bugle corps activity with an emphasis on those corps which have a maximum age for participation - Drum Corps International (DCI). We will compare DCI with another youth activity which also has a maximum age for participation - Boy Scouts of America (BSA). Through a study of the two organizations' programs and membership, management structure and organization, and financial structure, we should be able to draw some conclusions as to why DCI is constantly under fire and some would say doomed, while BSA has weathered the storms of change for 87 years and is still as viable an organization as it was in 1910. "The Way We Were." Before we can begin to look at the organization of DCI and BSA, we should examine some historical background of the two groups. The Boy Scouts of America were incorporated in 1910 and chartered by Congress in 1916, to provide an educational program for boys and young adults to build character, to train in the responsibilities of participating citizenship, and to develop personal fitness. In 1911, the first year for which membership records are available, there were 61,495 registered members. This total grew every year surpassing 500,000 by 1921, 1 million by 1935, 2 million by 1946, and 3 million by 1952. The first year membership declined was in 1973, when membership dipped slightly from 6,524,640 in the previous year, to 6,405,225. Membership continued to decline through the late 70's reaching a low of 4,284,469 in 1979. The trend then reversed and as of December 31, 1994, total membership was 5,378,546. BSA has built a reputation for service to the community and the President of the United States is the Honorary President of the organization. Young women were allowed to enter the Exploring program starting in 1969. Throughout the history of BSA there have been changes to programs in order to keep them contemporary, however there has never been a deviation from the original mission of education, good citizenship and personal fitness. Drum and bugle corps competition has been around for nearly as long as BSA. Prior to 1972, the two main bodies governing junior drum and bugle corps competition in the United States were the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars. Those two organizations had established formalized rules for drum corps competition. The rules were different and sometimes in direct conflict between the two groups. Both groups' rule making bodies were sparsely populated by representatives of competing corps. In order to compete in the National Championship for either organization, the competing corps had to have the sponsorship of a local post. A separate issue, while not associated with the veterans groups, was the amount of compensation to be distributed to competitors. This had been handled at the local competition level for years, but with escalating costs, the larger corps could not be satisfied with the small amounts traditionally offered. Drum Corps International was formed in 1971 by a group of top flight drum and bugle corps who were disgruntled over the restrictions and conflicting rules of the veterans organizations in addition to the need to establish a uniform compensation scale for the member corps. Over the years DCI has struggled with its' identity and mission. There have been financial problems, management disputes, and many changes in competition rules. At each change of direction, the organization has met with much criticism and declining participation in the activity. Because of the organizational structure of DCI, accurate individual membership figures are not maintained. Suffice to note that the number of competitive junior drum and bugle corps has been on the decline since the late 1970's. "There's A Place or Us." First, let's take a quick look at the membership and programs of BSA and DCI: Membership in the Boy Scouts of America is open to all males age 7 or older and females age 14 and up. Youth members participate in age appropriate programs, while adult members participate as leaders of and advisors to the various youth programs. The annual cost of registration is $7.00 (US) per year. There is no test, audition or other ability requirement in order to become a member. The programs of BSA are designed by a national committee of volunteers and professionals. The content of the programs is constantly reviewed and periodically updated to include advances in technology and education. The most popular of those programs by far is Cub Scouting, with over 2 million boys age 7 through 10 participating in over 52,000 units, called "packs", nationwide. The next most popular program is Boy Scouting, for boys age 11 to 17. There are over 44,000 Boy Scout troops in operation. Exploring, BSA, a program for young men and women age 14 through 20, is the most well known within the drum and bugle corps community, as a number of corps are among the 21,000 operating Explorer Posts. Since all of the programs are expected to follow basic guidelines provided by the National office of BSA, the content is similar regardless of where the pack, troop or post is located. Youth members may transfer from one unit to another without loss of rank or tenure. All of the programs are designed to be long term, meaning that once someone becomes a member, there is a predetermined path of goals and objectives available for that member to strive for. These goals remain constant from year to year and are based on individual growth, not unit growth. Membership in Drum Corps International is not on an individual basis. Rather it is on a unit basis. Currently only junior drum and bugle corps meeting a high level of quality in performance are granted membership in the organization. Individual membership in a specific corps is typically by audition and interview, as the selection of the best available talent provides the highest probability of competitive success and therefore membership in DCI. It should be noted that a group within DCI is currently studying a plan to grant membership to more corps, however membership will still be on a unit basis. Individual corps members may not easily transfer from one corps to another. However, they may choose to audition with any corps during the "off-season" winter months. DCI has no widely published programs to provide guidance to the local units (corps). In this regard, DCI only sets forth the rules for field competition. The corps are divided into three competitive classes, but beyond that there is no other program guidance. Each corps is responsible for developing its own program, determining the level of member participation and allegiance, and setting its own standards for discipline, morality, social and ethical values, educational objectives and personal growth. Most of these programs are based on a 12 month calendar and do not address more than one competitive season. All of the goals and objectives are for the unit. Individuals may set personal goals and objectives, but these are not usually under the umbrella of the corps program. Recently some corps have attempted to establish unified program philosophies under the auspices of Youth Education in the Arts (YEA) and the Madison Drum and Bugle Corps Association. Several new startup corps have had success with a 5 year operation plan. These new approaches to address program issues may result in positive benefits to the units, however I believe it is still too soon to make an accurate assessment of long term results. "Nice Work If You Can Get It." Let's turn our attention to the management and operation of these two organizations: The national office of the Boy Scouts of America provides many of the program standards, provides professional and volunteer leader training and training materials for local use, prints hundreds of publications addressing the various aspects of the programs, provides many nationwide public relations functions and solicits financial support from large corporate and philanthropic sources. The national office also maintains four regional offices. Each of the approximately 350 local councils is chartered by the national office to provide support and resources to the local units. Typically, a council maintains a service center from which information and resources are disseminated to the local units. The local councils are usually divided into districts so that the work load can be distributed and programs for groups of neighboring units, such as camporees, can be coordinated easily. Each local unit operates under a charter issued by the local council and the national office. The charter is granted to a community-based organization, such as a religious, educational, fraternal, business, labor, government, or citizens' group, giving them permission to use the Scouting program as part of their own youth work. We will revisit this very important element during the financial discussion. Staffing in BSA is a mixture of volunteer and professional personnel. Virtually all local unit leaders are volunteers, who are adult members of BSA. At the district level, the staff is predominantly volunteer with the addition of one or two paid professionals. Even at the council level, much of the staff is comprised of volunteers. However, there are more paid professionals and support staff. In one council, for example, there is a payroll of 70 people along with 10,000 volunteer leaders (including local unit leaders) serving a approximately 34,000 youth members. It is easy to see that Scouting would not work without the volunteer component. It is also important to note that the adult volunteers make many of the operating decisions and the paid personnel act in a support function and as a corporate fundraising mechanism. All leadership personnel, at every level, are divided between two functions, administrative and program. Administrative volunteers serve on committees for membership, special events, rank advancement, fundraising, etc. Program volunteers are responsible for delivering a quality program to the youth members and are the most visible to the general public in the form of Den Leaders, Scoutmasters, Post Advisors, etc. Each local unit, regardless of size or status, has one vote at the annual district and council meeting. Each council has one vote at the national level. The voting representatives are virtually all volunteer members. Drum Corps International's national office provides member corps with some program guidance and serves as a booking agent for the corps. They also provide some assistance to local and regional organizations in coordinating clinics and other public relations activities. DCI solicits corporate and philanthropic funds and aids in the negotiation of corporate sponsorships for member corps. Regional associations, usually referred to as "circuits", provide a more local forum for the exchange of ideas and program development. However, these circuits have no formal association with the DCI national office, nor do they necessarily maintain a full time service center to support local corps activities. The local corps operate as independent entities and have total responsibility for recruiting and training their own local staff. The corps may have a sponsor or may be self-sponsored. They do not need any sort of permission from DCI or a circuit to operate. Operational personnel at the DCI national office are paid professionals and support staff. The organization is operated by an executive committee which presently consists of selected representatives from member corps. Many of these representatives are salaried employees of the corps they represent. Beyond this, the member corps, with one vote each, are the only other voting body within the management structure. As with the membership issue discussed previously, DCI has recently announced possible changes to this arrangement which will be considered in the near future. "Money Makes The World Go 'Round." Finally, we'll take a moment to examine the issue of finances: The national office of the Boy Scouts operates with annual budgets and must generate revenues to meet budgetary needs. This funding comes from a variety of sources including individual membership dues; sale of publications, equipment and uniforms; corporate grants; endowments and bequests. The national office does have an IRS determination as a non-profit organization (i.e. 501(c)(3)). Local council finances are very similar to the national structure, except that they do not have membership dues as a revenue source. It is replaced with a local appeal to the members' families; joint council/unit fundraisers; and some United Way funding. Since they are separate corporations, local councils also must have an IRS determination letter. Local units (packs, troops and posts) must raise all their own funds and do not usually receive funding from their council or the national office. Exceptions are sometimes made units operating in economically disadvantaged communities. Of particular note on the local unit level is that they are not covered by the council's IRS determination. Since each unit is chartered by an interested community agency, the unit is actually an extension of that agency and therefore is afforded non-profit status only if the chartering agency has an IRS determination letter. If the local unit should dissolve, all equipment and treasury revert to the chartering agency which legally "owns" the unit. Drum Corps International's national office operates in a very similar fashion to BSA in terms of finances. However, the revenue sources are much different. To the best of my knowledge they do not have membership dues. They obtain a substantial portion of their revenue from the Summer Music Games programs, regional "focus" competitions and local show coordination fees. DCI does have an IRS determination as a non-profit organization. Regional circuits have widely varying financial structures, from the virtually non-existent to structures very similar to DCI. Local corps must determine their own budget needs and generate their own revenues without the direct aid of DCI. Revenue sources include membership fees, fundraisers, local corporate and business contributions, alumni, performance fees and in some cases equipment sponsorships. As for non-profit status, each corps must obtain their own IRS determination or, if operated by a sponsor, may elect the same treatment afforded to their sponsor. "Put It Together And What Have You Got?" Now that we have some information, let's analyze it to see what we can find: From a historical perspective, both BSA and drum and bugle corps have a rich past and have adapted to changing times. Operationally, these adaptations seem to have pulled drum corps away from its roots, while changes in BSA have not severed ties with the past. It is possible that the effect of those very changes which were made in the interest of improving different aspects of drum corps have at the same time resulted in a participatory decline in the activity as a whole. For example, the impact of BSA opening up Exploring to young women did not have a significant impact on the overall program, but the expenses associated with making DCI member status have destroyed some corps. Membership in BSA can be termed as inclusive. Anyone who meets simple eligibility requirements is welcome to join at any time. One need not be gifted in academics, the arts or in athletics to join. Conversely, membership in DCI, its member corps and many non-member corps, can only be defined as exclusive. One must audition to be a member of a corps, and the corps must currently meet certain competitive requirements in order be a voting member of DCI. At the present time there is a proposal under study to open DCI voting membership to all corps who compete in the Summer Music Games finals week competitions provided they meet certain other criteria. While this is a step in the right direction, making DCI less exclusive, I believe it is not a sufficient final solution to this problem. The reason it is not sufficient has to do primarily with the fact that corps must still undertake a substantial financial commitment to participate in the Summer Music Games. Possible next steps might involve the recognition of regional circuits as voting members, formation of a non-competitive parade corps division which would have some say in DCI's operations, and perhaps even a formal relationship with Drum Corps Associates (DCA) - the no age limit association of "senior" corps. If DCI truly desires to represent all drum and bugle corps, it cannot be an exclusive organization and must strive for full inclusion. DCI might wish to consider some basic program standards, however the corps themselves have done much in this area. DCI, and drum corps overall, would benefit from an effort to compile and disseminate information on how to start and/or operate a drum and bugle corps. Conferences have been held, but for volunteers just starting out travel to a conference and the expense of attendance is generally prohibitive. If part of DCI's mission is to promote drum corps as an activity, they need to do a better job. The efforts of YEA and others have proven that corps can benefit from experienced consultants. The only problem with these "private" consulting arrangements is the possible financial burden. Surely there are enough former drum corps members that could be trained by DCI to act as volunteer consultants to those corps who cannot afford other arrangements. Overall DCI needs to have more grass roots leadership and training involvement. Management and operation of DCI seems to be sufficient for the present needs of member corps. However, with the possibility of increased membership looming, one must question the ability of such a limited staff to keep the organization operating on a day-to- day basis. The impact of allowing all competing corps to have voting membership will force DCI's professionals to pay closer attention to the needs of the smaller corps. According to reports, DCI cannot afford to create more paid positions. A possible solution to this is the creation of a new management structure with a salaried Executive Director and partially salaried subordinate positions. These subordinate positions could be created and eliminated based on the needs of the organization. Formal affiliation with regional circuits is imperative as a means of communicating with all corps - even non- members. DCI must provide its paid professionals the latitude and resources to operate in the best interest of all the members. Financially, DCI needs to be more interested in the long term. Based on the information available, there seems to be no long term financial plan. For example, BSA's national office derives substantial revenues from individual membership fees (5 million members at $7.00 per year is a tidy sum). This revenue is an annual item and will not deviate substantially from year to year. In contrast, consider what would happen if DCI were to experience terrible weather during the Summer Music Games finals week and all the programs had to be canceled. Sure tickets stipulate that there are no refunds, but at what future cost? From my perspective, member corps may have a better grasp of their finances than DCI has of its own. Consistent with opening the membership in DCI to all corps would be a financial restructuring and the institution of some form of membership fee. The ideal would be a scaled fee system whereby corps that do not compete would pay the least and corps in the top echelon would pay the most. DCI provides services to its member corps and should be compensated for providing those services. A long term financial plan that relies on controllable revenue streams is imperative. Finale. Drum Corps International has had a profound impact on competitive drum corps activity. However, it has not always done so with an eye to the future. Key to its survival are all inclusive membership, more grassroots involvement, affording the paid professional staff the latitude necessary to operate the organization, and revenue sources that are stable and predictable. By implementing these measures DCI can and will survive well into the next millennium. Wouldn't it be nice to hear someone say "DCI used to be an elitist facade, but now they're the best thing that ever happen to drum corps." at the 2010 All-World finals?