A large-scale service project is one of the final obstacles that you’ll need to overcome to reach Scouting’s highest rank: Eagle Scout. If you’re a Life Scout in the process of planning your own Eagle Project, you’re in the right place! In this article, I’ll be guiding you through how to plan and lead your own successful Eagle Project! Plus, I’ll even let you in on a few crucial mistakes to avoid. (If you’ve already finished planning and are ready to lead your Eagle project, check out my next article on Eagle Project Execution and Leadership) By the way, I’m Cole; it’s great to meet you! For my Eagle Scout project, I helped to restore the grounds of an elementary school I attended. This involved pouring concrete, building a permanent shed, setting up worm composting bins, and clearing land to plant a native garden that the students could learn from! (It was a tad ambitious, but I love sustainability and helping educate others 😀 )
Hopefully, I can give you some tips here so that you can make your Eagle Scout project even more awesome! Before we begin though, take a second to thoroughly read requirement 5 for the Eagle rank, which outlines the official guidelines for your Eagle Scout Service Project:
While a Life Scout, plan, develop, and give leadership to others in a service project helpful to any religious institution, any school, or your community. (The project must benefit an organization other than the Boy Scouts of America.) A project proposal must be approved by the organization benefiting from the effort, your unit leader and unit committee, and the council or district before you start. You must use the Eagle Scout Service Project Workbook, BSA publication No. 512-927, in meeting this requirement. —Eagle Scout requirement 5
Pop quiz: Can you begin before getting your district or council’s approval? The answer: Heck no! Another thing to keep in mind is that you must act as the project leader. If you need a few ideas as inspiration for your own project, I’ve got your back with 99 Awesome, Creative, and Acceptable Eagle Project Ideas! Remember, there’s much more to setting up an Eagle Scout project than just choosing an idea— in fact, in my experience, there are 10 different steps that you must keep in mind in order to organize a successful Eagle Project:
This article will mainly focus on ‘Planning’ of your project, phases 1-5, to help you get your idea off the ground. Once you’re ready to hold your actual project, click here to head over to my guide to Eagle Project ‘Execution’ where I’ll be walking you through phases 6-10!
Before you get started on your Eagle Scout project, both you and your Scoutmaster should go over the Eagle Scout Service Project Workbook. This handbook is jam-packed with valuable information about how to organize an Eagle Scout project and will give you a good idea of what kinds of projects are eligible.
Remember, there are two major factors that you should take into consideration when choosing your own Eagle Scout Project:
Below are a few quick examples of successful Eagle projects that I either attended in my own troop or found online. Hopefully, these 10 awesome ideas can get your creative juices bubbling:
You can check out almost 100 other Eagle Project ideas here. Your only limits are your creativity when it comes to choosing an Eagle Project! Hopefully, at this point, you have a project and organization in mind that you’re really passionate about. All that’s left to do now is get your idea approved by your Scoutmaster, beneficiary, and council.
According to the official Guide to Advancement section 9.0.2.7 your “proposal must be approved before you start.” Before bringing your idea to your Scoutmaster, make sure you can address the following points:
These questions are known as the Five Tests of an Acceptable Eagle Scout Service Project. Know that your proposal is just an overview, but also represents the beginning of your planning process. Show your unit leaders that you’re prepared by discussing each of these points when introducing your Eagle Project proposal (Section 1 of the workbook)!
Once you’ve run your completed Eagle project proposal by your Scoutmaster and gotten their approval, you’re ready to move onto the next step: Connecting with your Eagle Project coach! These individuals are often volunteers with your Scouting district or council, who specialize in helping Eagle Scouts complete their projects, successfully.
An Eagle service project coach is an expert when it comes to planning Eagle Scout projects. The best way to connect with your project coach is simply to ask your unit leader to put the two of you in touch.
While it isn’t required to work with an Eagle project coach, I’d highly recommend it. Most Eagle Project coaches know the Eagle Scout project workbook like the back of their hands and can help you to avoid making big mistakes in your planning process.
Since your project coach is a Scouting representative, remember to follow the official BSA Youth Protection procedures. For more information, check out my complete guide on the role of Eagle Scout Coaches, plus how to work effectively with yours.
You should only reach out to the organization you’d like to help after first meeting with your unit leader and Eagle Scout service project coach. Ideally, if you already have a contact within the organization, you should speak with them to request they put you in touch with someone who’s role closely aligns with your project.
However, if you don’t know anyone within the organization, no need to worry! I’d recommend first calling in (Or even better — showing up with a parent, in person) and saying something along these lines:
Hi, my name is Cole and I’m a Life Scout with Troop 135. When I was younger, your program had a huge impact on me. I’d like to give back by using my Eagle Scout Service project to support your organization.
My plan is to (promote sustainability, help restore your grounds, etc). If you have any team members who are in charge of that area, I’d really appreciate it if you could put me in touch with them. (Give them your name and email address/phone number)
Personally, since my Eagle Scout service project took place at my old elementary school, all I needed to do was speak with one of the teachers who then introduced me to the person in charge of outdoor projects. Finding my beneficiary representative was easy-peasy! 🙂
After you connect with your project beneficiary representative, be sure to keep them in the loop. In addition to reviewing your completed Eagle Project proposal with them, you’ll also want to give your beneficiary representative a project timeline and check-in with them after reaching every milestone.
The average Eagle Scout Service Project costs anywhere between $500-$800. However, there are a ton of projects that have been more and less expensive. Before you can start on your Eagle Project, you’ll need to create a budget of your own to assess the costs of getting your idea done!
For someone who doesn’t have a background in accounting (almost all of us) drafting up a Eagle project budget is tough! For help with planning your project expenses, check out my article on How Much Eagle Scout Projects Cost (With Example Budgets). There, you’ll also get a better idea of how to write up a budget of your own!
In many cases, prospective Eagle Scouts must fundraise in order to have enough money to make their ideas a reality. While the BSA recommends that Eagle Scout service projects be organized to require as little money as possible, it’s common to fundraise within your troop and family to help cover project expenses.
It’s important to remember that a fundraiser in itself can’t be your full project—in other words, an Eagle Scout can’t just donate a bunch of money to a worthy cause and call it good. Instead, funds that are raised must be utilized towards the completion of the Eagle Scout service project.
All public fundraising efforts must also be pre-approved through the BSA before they can be legitimately applied to an Eagle Scout service project. A fundraising request form can be filled out and submitted to the BSA for approval on upcoming fundraising activities before the fundraisers are run.
If you’re planning to raise money for your own Eagle Project, you should know that there are a few loopholes that require no council pre-approval! I’d highly suggest checking out my article on Eagle Scout Project Fundraising: Tips, Methods, And Guidelines.
Briefly, here are the main BSA guidelines on how to conduct fundraising for an Eagle Scout service project:
Completing the required forms and documenting your plan’s development is a very important part of the Eagle project process. If you fail to properly complete your Eagle Project Workbook, even if you’ve completed your Eagle project, it might not be approved by the BSA! That’s why it’s crucial to work with your Scoutmaster and Eagle Project Coach to ensure everything is done correctly.
It’s also very important to keep your paperwork organized and well-protected throughout your entire Eagle Scout service project. You’ll later be submitting them in your Eagle rank application, so keep all these files handy!
As I mentioned in my Ultimate Guide For Preparing An Eagle Scout Binder, the ideal binder for holding Eagle Scout Application paperwork is undoubtedly the 1.5″ Avery Binder. In fact, it’s the current industry leader due to its interior pockets and ring durability! If you don’t already have a binder to use for your Eagle Project and rank application, I’d recommend this one (I use it too).
So at this point, what needs to be done? Using the Eagle Scout Service Project Workbook, complete the first 3 sections to the best of your abilities. If you’ve already outlined your project proposal, met with your project coach, and figured out funding, this shouldn’t be too tricky! The following sections must be completed before proceeding:
All that should remain at this point is your Project Report (Pages 19–20), which you’ll be writing after your project has been completed. And with that, you’re ready to go through your Eagle Project paperwork in an organized manner!
Tip: One crucial thing to consider is whether your project will require permits. When planning any construction-based Eagle projects, I’d highly suggest talking to your beneficiary beforehand to determine if a permit for development will be required.
Although this suggestion isn’t for everyone, I’d highly suggest writing two drafts of your Eagle Project workbook: The first in pencil, and the second, later on, in pen. You’ll likely make a ton of changes as time goes on, and creating that second, neater copy will be more suitable for your Eagle Scout binder (and your memories, later on). 🙂
Allowing yourself a messy rough draft and then rewriting your workbook was my #1 tip. However, here are some other useful tips I learned through my own experience while working on my Eagle project paperwork:
Practically no one likes filling out paperwork, but making sure that everything is completed correctly is a valuable life skill that all Eagle Scouts should master. Remember that submitting documentation can be tough, even for adults, so don’t hesitate to ask for help from your parents, Eagle Project Coach, or Scoutmaster, if needed!
Often, a Scout’s friends, family, and troop will all volunteer to help make an Eagle project successful. Isn’t the Scouting community great! If you need more manpower, I’d recommend asking your volunteers if they’d be willing to ask their friends to help out too.
As the organizer of your Eagle project, it’s your job to make sure that all your volunteers are engaged and kept in the loop. I’d highly recommend collecting volunteer RSVP’s beforehand using a Google Form, Facebook event page, or by using email and a spreadsheet.
After getting your volunteers’ RSVPs, be sure to provide updates on your project. Ideally, you should send 1 email to every prospective volunteer asking for them to RSVP at least 2 weeks before your project date. If they confirm their attendance, send them a project FAQ sheet with the following info:
After sending your initial email, I’d suggest following up with people who didn’t reply one more time a week before the project. Then, you should provide a reminder to everyone about 1 or 2 days before the actual project. This will help the most people show up! 🙂
Remember to keeping a clear and organized volunteer list, as this will be useful when writing your final project report (as well as for an Eagle Scout College Essay). Additionally, knowing your volunteer count will be helpful when judging how much food will be necessary to feed everyone after your project is finished (which you should do).
Aside from keeping everyone in the loop, another key to successfully coordinate your Eagle project volunteers is to make their work fun! Happy volunteers work harder, enjoy themselves more, and produce better-quality results.
Along with that first tip, here are some other key things to remember when coordinating your Eagle Scout Project volunteers:
Managing lots of volunteers will help your project to be completed more quickly. Plus, It’ll make it a more enjoyable experience for everyone involved. (Having tons of volunteers will also be super impressive if you put Scouting on your Resume)!
As long as your volunteers are kept organized and are given positive reasons to join in, there should be no shortage of people willing to help you complete your Eagle Scout Project! With that step done, you’re now fully prepared to run an awesome Eagle Project!
Great job reading this far! You’ve just completed the Eagle Project preparation phase and are now ready to move onto the fun part: Actually making your project happen! This is your opportunity to turn your helpful idea into a reality. You only get one shot at your Eagle project, so try your best to make it count!
Soon it’ll be time for you to learn about Eagle Project Execution! To do that, check out my article on How to Run a Successful Eagle Scout Service Project. In it, we’ll be covering each of the points below, in detail:
Thanks for your contributions to our world through Scouting and congrats on your upcoming Eagle achievement! If you want more helpful Scouting (and life) info sent straight to your inbox each week, sign up for my newsletter, the ScoutSmarts scribe. Hope to see you here again soon and, until next time, best of luck on your Scouting journey!
I'm constantly writing new content because I believe in Scouts like you! Thanks so much for reading, and for making our world a better place. Until next time, I'm wishing you all the best on your journey to Eagle and beyond!
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Hey there, reader! I'm Cole, the guy behind ScoutSmarts. I earned my Eagle back in 2014, and along the way, learned how to be a dependable leader. Although I didn't realize it at the time, Scouting helped shape my life! While I can't tell my past self what I know now, I can teach you all the smart Scouting knowledge that I wish I'd known when just starting out. Start reading! Hopefully, you'll learn a few things along the way and make the best of your time in Scouting. :)
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