Great Lakes Council, BSA

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1910 Society

1910 SocietyA special national recognition program known as the 1910 Society was created in 1995 to encourage significant gifts to the council endowment fund.  This support is vital to the financial stability of the Detroit Area Council, and will ensure our Scouting legacy for future generations of young Americans.

To qualify as a member of the 1910 Society, an individual donor, company, or organization must contribute $25,000 or more to the local council endowment fund.  Recognition will be given for gifts of cash, stock, bonds, lead trusts, or other assets that could be readily converted to cash. The gift to endowment may be in the form of a pledge, but the pledge must be paid within five years of the pledge date.

The 1910 Society was named for the year in which the early, visionary leaders of Scouting founded the Boy Scouts of America.  Those who have made endowment gifts to further the Scouting movement are, themselves, modern-day visionaries.

There are four levels of recognition in the 1910 Society:

  • Ernest Thompson Seton, nationally known artist and naturalist, author of the first official American Scout handbook and many other books important to Scouting; Seton level membership: $25,000 minimum gift.
  • Daniel Carter Beard, first chairman of the National Court of Honor, National Scout Commissioner, and author of many well- known books and stories for youth; Beard level membership: $100,000 minimum gift.
  • Theodore Roosevelt, first Chief Scout Citizen, first vice president of the BSA, and President of the United States; Roosevelt level membership: $500,000 minimum gift.
  • Waite Phillips, one of the BSA's first benefactors, and donor to the BSA of almost 130,000 acres of land in New Mexico and what is now Philmont Scout Ranch; Phillips level membership: $1,000,000 and up.

Members receive a leather-bound edition of the Boy Scout Handbook with their name embossed in gold on the cover, an attractive personalized parchment certificate and a distinctive lapel pin or charm. They also receive invitations to special members-only events and receptions at National Meetings, Jamborees, and other major Scouting events.