Your Eagle Project Proposal

Your service project reflects who you are as a youth leader. Your result should be of significant impact in your community to be special, and should represent your very best effort. Your proposal should emphasize your intentions to give leadership to others through proper planning and development, and to provide a significant benefit to the beneficiary. Communicate with the beneficiary often to ensure the project meets the organization’s needs once it is completed, and seek guidance from your unit leader, Life-to-Eagle Mentor, and project Coach as you need help.

– Adapted from https://www.scouting.org/programs/scouts-bsa/advancement-and-awards/eagle-scout-workbook/

Create Your Proposal

Think about what project you might want to do, and talk with potential beneficiaries. Discuss with your Mentor, Advisor, and/or Coach.

  • Complete the Project Proposal section of your Workbook. Leave no blanks. If some sections is not applicable (e.g. you need no tools), enter “not applicable” or “not needed”.
  • On the “Contact Information” page of your workbook:
    • Under the “Current Unit Information” section in the ‘Name of District” space enter the name (town) of the Eagle Board with which you will work. The Eagle Board with which yhou work for youjr project proposal is the one that will hold your Board of Review.
    • The Council Service Center contact information is at https://nhscouting.org/about/contact-us/.
    • Leave the “Council or District Project Approval Representative” blank.
  • Be sure you know the right person in the beneficiary organization to approve your proposed project. Your contact with the beneficiary might not be the right one to approve the proposal: For example, at a school a teacher or even a principal might not really have the authority to approve the project you propose: It might be the superintendent or even the school board who needs to approve. Projects have been “approved” by a teacher or principal, but later canceled by the superintendent or school board – sometimes when the project was already in progress. For a project in your town, it might be the Selectboard, not the Conservation, Recreation Commission, or Town Manager or Administrator that must approve. If there is any doubt, ask to be sure!
  • If your proposed project will require fundraising, consider completing the fundraising application now, so you can get that approved at the same time as the project proposal. (This is recommended, but not required.) See the Fundraising page for more information on this. You can submit both the proposal and the fundraising application for review and approval by the Eagle Board at the same time. If you do not submit your fundraising form at this time, you will need to submit it for review and approval later, before any fundraising begins.

Get Your Proposal Reviewed and Approved

  • When your proposal is complete, use the Project Proposal Assessment Checklist to see whether your proposal will meet the basic requirements to be approved. Review it with your mentor and/or coach, and after making any final updates, sign it yourself.
  • Have your proposal reviewed and approved by:
    • yourself, of course
    • your beneficiary representative,
    • your unit leader, and
    • your unit committee.
    • When your proposal has the first four signatures, you are ready to request that your proposal be reviewed and approved by the Eagle Board.

Use the form “Contact Your Eagle Board” at https://nhscouting.org/advancement/eagle-board/ to inform your Eagle Board that your project proposal is ready to be reviewed.

When you request a review, specify in the first field of the form the Eagle Board with which you want to work.

It is up to you to specify whether

  • You request approval with a board meeting to present your proposal. (This is the preferred option.)
  • You request review and approval of your proposal without a board meeting. (This option is for cases where an in-person meeting with the board is difficult to arrange or imposes undue hardship on the Scout, Leader, and/or board members.)

Specify your choice in the “Message” section of the form.

Upload your proposal, including the Contact Information page, the proposal section of the workbook, and the page with the first four signatures for the proposal. If your project will require any fundraising, it is recommended (but not required) that you also upload the Fundraising Application with the first two signatures on it. All attachments should be in pdf format.

If You Request Approval With A Board Meeting

This is the preferred process.

  • The Eagle Board representative will contact you to offer an appointment for you to present your proposal. You should invite an escort of your choice – other than a relative – to accompany you to this meeting. This could be your unit leader, advisor, coach, another leader from your unit, or even a representative of the beneficiary. If the appointment time offered cannot work for you and your chosen escort, contact the Eagle Board representative again to find a mutually agreeable time and date. (Most Eagle Boards meet on specific days of the month, with little or no flexibility; if your chosen escort cannot meet on the board’s schedule, you might need to choose a different escort.)
  • You should bring three copies of your proposal to the meeting.
  • You should bring a pen and paper, to make note of an suggestions made by the reviewers. You might also ask your escort to help you by taking notes as well. (Since you will have already read the whole workbook, you will know that you will need your notes for the next step in your project.)
  • The proposal review meeting is usually about 30 minutes long; you should be prepared to give an overview of your project in 10 minutes or less. The board members will discuss the proposal with you, then ask you to leave the room while they deliberate and make a decision, then ask you to return to hear the decision and ask any questions you may have.
  • If your proposal is not approved at this meeting, you will be given a list of the specific issues that are preventing approval.
  • Be sure to arrive on time, preferably a few minutes early, as a matter of courtesy to the board members and as there may be other scouts with appointments after yours.
  • After your proposal is approved,

If You Request Approval Without A Board Meeting

After you submit your project proposal to the Eagle Board, it will be reviewed by a member of the selected Eagle Board. The reviewer might ask to arrange a phone call with you and a parent or an adult scout leader to discuss your project.

  • If the reviewer determines that the proposal is complete and can be approved as is,
    • they will send a response by email saying that your project proposal is approved.
    • You must save and print this message: You will need to submit it with your workbook when you request your Eagle Scout board of review, as evidence that your project proposal was approved.
  • If the reviewer determines that only one or a few minor changes are needed,
    • they will reply that the proposal is not quite ready to be approved, and provide details of what needs to be changed.
    • You will have one opportunity to make changes and submit the proposal by email again.
    • If, after the second submission, the reviewer determines that your proposal still is not quite ready for approval, you will be offered an appointment to meet with the Eagle Board to review the next draft of your proposal. (See “If You Requested Approval With a Board Meeting” above.)
  • If the reviewer determines that many and/or large changes are needed, you will be requested to meet with the board, and offered an appointment. (See “If You Requested Approval With a Board Meeting” above.)