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.
Census Categories
WOSM collects membership census data from NSOs including youth membership and adults. Below is an explanation of these categories to align our data collection.
Youth
The word “Youth” in Scouting refers to all children and young people involved in the Educational Programme within the Movement. As the primary beneficiaries of Scouting’s Mission, they engage in activities designed to support their personal development, leadership skills, and active citizenship.
Youth members are grouped according to age sections, following the educational method of Scouting, and are at the centre of all the Movement’s efforts. The different stages of personal development determine the age sections within Scouting, which may vary according to the cultural differences and contexts in which NSOs operate (although, often, the sections fall within a range between 5 and 26 years of age).
Adults
Adult Volunteers:
Volunteer adults and adult leaders who are responsible for developing and implementing the Youth Programme, supporting other adults, and/or take part in the organisation’s governance.
Paid staff (if any):
People recruited to serve Scouting in a specific role or function in a paid, and often full-time, capacity. They may or may not have taken the Scout Promise, but they are committed to the Mission and values of Scouting, and the priorities of the Scout organisation they work for. In addition to carrying out their paid role or function, professional staff may support Scouting in volunteer roles or functions that do not conflict with their professional roles or functions.
Others:
Volunteers or helpers involved in different activities without monetary remuneration (although the reimbursement of expenses may be allowed). This involvement is undertaken entirely of the individual’s own free will. The benefit of this involvement is directed at supporting Scouting to achieve its Mission rather than at the volunteer (although the volunteer should also gain and develop from their involvement).
Managing the membership census of your NSO
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 and age ranges
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. Please note that the youth age sections cannot have overlapping ages.
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.
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.
Census collection period
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).
Federation membership census
The membership census of the NSO Federation is a consolidation of the census submissions of all of its constituent associations. The census can only be submitted through the constituent associations and cannot be submitted at the Federation level.
Submitting beneficiaries data
Beneficiaries of Scouting include those individuals who are not registered as a Scout member but are positively impacted by Scouting’s programme in their community. This is an important aspect of the annual reporting as it allows us to determine the impact our Movement has in our communities. For this purpose, as part of the submit census tab on the NSO Data Portal, we ask NSOs to share their beneficiaries in 3 categories:
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Humanitarian beneficiary: Those benefiting from humanitarian actions of Scouting (e.g., refugees, migrants, those displaced by natural disasters, or living in poverty).
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Social beneficiary: Those living in difficult circumstances and benefiting from Scouting (e.g., those in social centres, affected by chronic health conditions, living with disabilities, minorities, orphans, or street children).
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Educational beneficiary: Those participating in Scouting activities but not registered with WOSM (e.g., members of Red Cross, YMCA, YWCA, sports clubs, adventure clubs, or participants of summer camps).
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 record 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 us through the Help Chatbot or by emailing
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.