Doing your Eagle Scout Leadership Service Project

The journey of an Eagle Project begins with the WHO, the WHAT, and the WHERE. These questions start you down the path towards completing this project. Combined together, they form the picture of your project. Until you figure out the answer to these three areas, you have no project.

The WHO... Who do you want to do this for? Who needs help?

The WHAT... What are your interests? What do you want to accomplish? What impact do you want to make?

The WHERE... Where do you want to do this project?

By now you have interacted with many community groups and activities. The rules for your project state that it must be done for a school, a church, or a community organization. That is really a lot to choose from. There are many parks, charities, schools, churches, and other places that qualify in any community. You get to choose who you want to work with and who will get the benefit of your service.

Once you've decided who you want to work with, you need to decide what you are going to do. You can go to your selected group and present an idea, or you can talk with them about a project they would like to have done. Many projects fall into these areas:

- Site cleanup/restoration
- Simple construction
- Charitable support

Think about what you are interested in. Projects related to your interests not only serve the greater good, but you end up being more motivated to see it completed and you feel better about it when you're done.

As with most things in life, you have to do the paperwork. Most important for this project is your Eagle Scout Service Project Workbook, hereafter known as the ESSPW. Updated in October 2011, this is an editable PDF document that must be completed every step of the way. You will document your project from beginning to end in this workbook. All of the rules, guidelines, and steps to follow are outlined in this workbook, and it's STRONGLY recommended that you print this document and put it in a three-ring binder at the very beginning so you can follow the process and keep track of your progress. As you document your changes, you can print the appropriate pages and swap them out in your binder.

Once you've decided on what your project is going to be, you need to start writing about it. In your ESSPW you will write up a description of your project, where it will be done, and what the benefit is for the sponsoring organization. Make sure you keep track of all meetings that you have when discussing this with the organization. This is very important, and the reasons why will be discussed in multiple places below.

You will also need to write up a very detailed plan for your project. In this plan, you will want to discuss the WHAT, the WHERE, and especially the HOW. All of this will be important as we progress further into the process, and the more information you put into this write-up, the easier it will be to get formal approval. Be sure to get photos of the project area when doing your initial discussions.

The first signature you will need is from the organization that is sponsoring/receiving your project. You should have a primary point of contact that you are working with, and they will most likely be that one that signs your document. This person should sign at both the beginning of the project and at the end. Since you will have met with them multiple times, you should have no problem knowing who should sign for the project.

After you get this signature, you will then go to your Scoutmaster. He will look over your ESSPW (this book will become your very close friend) and your write-up. Be ready to discuss your project and make a strong sales pitch for his support. Next up is a member of your unit committee. This may be the Committee Chairman, the Advancements Chair, or the Eagle Advisor.

The final signature for formal approval comes from either a District or Council Advancements representative. You will get this name from your Scoutmaster or Committee member. This is going to be your hardest sell. You will probably have no clue who this person is, and they likely won't know you. Your project description is going to be especially important. Be ready to discuss this in detail and be able to answer lots of questions.

IMPORTANT NOTE!!! Do not start working on any part of the project other than discussions before getting these four signatures. If your project is kicked back for changes at any point during the preliminaries, you may have wasted time or efforts. Working on the actual parts of the project prior to approval may be grounds for rejection.

Once you get past this point, you will still need to keep notes of all of your actions. Keep track of all meetings, all changes, and everything that you do related to this project, to include all time that you spend working on this.

TIME... Seems like this word has been everywhere in Scouting. Service time, time in rank, leadership time. Managing and tracking your time is a requirement that will follow you throughout your life, and your Eagle Project is the beginning point for documenting your time. I previously mentioned that you will want to keep track of all of your meetings. In fact, you will want to track all of your time on this project. This includes:

- Time in meetings
- Time on the phone
- Time researching materials
- Time getting donations
- Time collecting/purchasing materials
- Time writing up your project
- Time on the site

All work that you do on this project is to be accounted for at the end of your project. There is an entry in your ESSPW that asks for the amount of time YOU spent working on this project.

You will also want to track the time your parents spend driving you around to these meetings and other project-related tasks. They are essentially your "employee" or volunteer, and the time they put into supporting your project is also accountable.

Finally, you will want a sign in/out sheet at your project site on the day of your project. You must have every volunteer sign in/out on that form so you can track their time. There is a final accounting on your ESSPW that you will add all of their hours together and enter that on the form.

There are two areas in your ESSPW that asks for pictures. You will want before and after photos of your work site. This will show the overall benefit of your project, and it will help document the effort put in by your volunteers. Have two or three different people take pictures during your project day and compile their collections. These different viewpoints will provide a greater opportunity to tell the whole story of your project.

Depending on the nature of your project, you may need nothing more than a few tools, or you may need to arrange for financing and donations. You are not supposed to pay for the materials for your project. This is another aspect of project management that you will run into as an adult, and now's a great time to learn new skills.

Many projects are construction jobs where things are built and installed. Most organizations DON'T provide the materials, and it's really part of the project to determine what is needed and to get those things together. Many businesses are willing to give discounts for materials, but not many will just give the stuff away. About the only way you will get this material is to get donations. Some groups that you should consider sending requests to include:

- Friends and family
- Community organizations (VFW, American Legion, FOP, etc.)
- Community businesses

Some businesses may be willing to do a partial donation of materials, so this may be something to pursue as well. For project day, make sure to have a list of tools necessary and send that out to your potential volunteers so they have them to work with.

This is it!!! After all the planning, the meetings, the chasing down of material and funds, it's time to put people to work. Remember that... It's not your job to do all the work, you need to manage this project.

Depending on the size of your project, you should have teams with your team leads (think patrol leaders). You may want to recruit other Eagle Scouts to be those leads since they've been there and will know what you're going through. Use their experience to make your day easier.

If you have an outdoor project, you'll want to make sure your crew is taken care of while they work. Food, drinks, and periodic breaks should all be part of your plan. Restroom facilities are often overlooked, but you'll have that covered now, right??

Don't forget directions, signs, parking, and other essentials for getting your volunteers to the work site.

Okay... All the work is done. The project is in, the cleanup is done, the bruises are healed, and the tools left behind have been returned to their rightful owners. That's it, right???

WRONG!!! You still have more paperwork. Remember those sign in/out sheets? You still have to calculate the time each volunteer spent, including your parents driving you around. Those last-second changes at the site? You wrote those down someplace, right? The pictures of the final product were taken, weren't they? Did you have to buy more materials? Rent any tools? All of these changes and additions need to be documented in your ESSPW.

Finally, you have to get more signatures. The first one is yours. You did the work, you need to sign your name to it. After that, you need to get your Scoutmaster and the Organizational representative to sign. Hopefully they were both at the site on Project Day and can attest to the fact that you did all that you said you would. When the Org Rep signs on your ESSPW at the end, it's like they are accepting ownership of your project, and you are officially DONE!!!

I hope I covered everything here, but just as there are always little items that slip through the cracks in preparing for a campout, I might have missed items here. For those Eagle Scouts out there who see something I missed, please leave me a message and I'll add it in. For those Life Scouts with questions, fire away and I'll post an answer.

Good luck!!!