Membership census
The Census widget on the NSO Data Portal is a powerful tool for being able to visualise the membership data of your organisation, see trends over the years for membership growth and decline, see historical data submitted to WOSM, submit the latest membership census and beneficiaries, as well as export this data of your organisation for record keeping.
The NSO Data Portal profile for your NSO and the census widget, is visible only to your own NSO appointees with view or admin access, as well as World Scout Bureau staff and committee members.
Managing the membership census of your NSO
All organisations are required to submit their membership census as part of their annual reporting to WOSM.
The membership census can be managed by expanding the census widget on the NSO Data Portal. Different tabs appear to view reporting, historical data, submit census and export data.
Managing age sections
On the “submit census” tab, the age sections can be managed. If your NSO has different age sections then the standard age sections of WOSM, you are invited to customise the age section titles and age ranges through the “manage age sections” function. You can then report the census data according to your NSO’s records.
While you can customise the age sections to match your NSO, you need to select the best suited standard age section to customise to allow for data analysis across WOSM.
Missing age sections
If you customise the age sections for your NSO, all age sections need to be customised, including the fields for adult members. Additionally, all fields need to be customised including the section title and age range. If this is not done, then they will not appear on the census submission view.
Submitting membership census
The membership census data is required to be submitted on the NSO Data Portal by the deadline stated on the submit census tab. Census data can only be submitted when the collection period is open.
The data is submitted for the previous year, or for the year indicated for the census collection. For example, if you are submitting the annual reporting in the year 2023, then your census shall reflect relevant data as at 31 December 2022 (or the end of your most recent full year of operations).
NSOs are asked to report their membership census by age section and have options to report membership broken down by male, female or other. If the organisation does not report by gender, please enter the data in the “other” column.
Submitting beneficiaries data
Please see this other article for more information about beneficiaries in Scouting.
Updating historical census data
Once a WOSM census year is closed, it is standard practice to not add late submissions or make edits to ensure accurate recording keeping and alignment of data for reporting purposes. All census data is to be submitted by the deadline. If the deadline is passed, please share any up to date census data with the World Scout Bureau for keeping in its offline records by emailing reporting@scout.org.
If you identify any historical census data for your NSO which needs updating, please contact reporting@scout.org with the correct data as per your records. The World Scout Bureau will review your records against its NSO data on hand before considering making updates.