Table of Contents
Publications
Venturing Handbook
The Venturing Handbook is structured to help Venturers find information and inspiration at every level of participation within the crew.
Updated May 27, 2026
Venturing Advisor Guidebook
The Venturing Advisor Guidebook contains key information to help adults understand how Venturing operates and how to support youth Venturers as they plan and run their program.
Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)
The National Venturing SOPs contain the minimum standards of recommendation for VOA operations at the national, region, area, council, and district tiers.
VOA Administration Guide
The VOA Administration Guide includes best practices, suggestions, and organizational concepts to help get a new council VOA off the ground.
Building Council VOAs (for Territory VOAs)
This guide contains information and resources to help territory VOAs support local councils in their efforts to start and maintain active and effective VOAs.
Branding & Marketing
Marketing Toolbox
The Venturing Marketing Toolbox contains helpful resources council and crews may need to recruit new members. They are intended for an individual crew member to hand flyers or brochures to prospective members.
Venturing PowerPoint Template
This template may be used for presentations, trainings, reports, and anywhere else a Venturing-branded PowerPoint template would be appropriate.
Venturing Terminology
The Venturing Terminology page details some of the specific terms and classifications used when discussing Venturing. In order to be a good advocate for the Venturing program, it’s important to know and use these terms correctly.
Crew Operations
Program Planning Resources
The Annual Program Planning page contains resources to help crews plan their calendars for the upcoming year, including the Program Capability Inventory form, Activity Interest Surveys, and tools for crew budgeting.
Suggested Crew Operating Procedures
These suggested operating procedures provide crews with a template for creating their own bylaws.
Crew Transition Guide
As a youth-led program, peer mentorship plays a large role in ensuring the longevity of strong youth leadership. The templates provided here outline some key components in peer mentoring and offer guidance for the transition between outgoing and incoming officers at any level of leadership.
It is recommended that crew officers meet to discuss the transition of office between terms to exchange important information, materials, and advice. The tools and resources on this page are intended to aid this process as they outline important responsibilities, processes, and details particular to Crews.
The Crew Transition Guide, as described in the Best Practices document, is meant to be used as a tool in addition to active collaboration between the outgoing and incoming youth officers. It is also meant to be a living document, meaning, it should be used consistently throughout an officer’s term and can be modified by each officer to add additional information that could prove to be helpful in a particular Crew.
Training
ALPS Trainings
This page contains links to the facilitator guides for Personal Safety Awareness, Introduction to Leadership Skills for Crews, Goal Setting and Time Management, Project Management, and Mentoring for Venturing Crews.
Powder Horn
The Powder Horn syllabus is currently undergoing a review to ensure it aligns with the current NCAP and Health and Safety standards. If your council has plans to conduct a Powder Horn course in 2024 and you have not already communicated this information to Scouting U, please contact Kathy Craig at kathy.craig@scouting.org.
Additionally, Scouting U is not accepting Powder Horn applications for 2025.
Venturing Advisor Position-Specific Training
The course will provide an introduction to the responsibilities, opportunities, and resources that will ensure a successful Venturing crew leadership experience. This course is also available online at my.scouting.org.
Crew Committee Position-Specific Training
This course will provide an introduction to the responsibilities, opportunities, and resources that will ensure a successful Venturing crew leadership experience. This course is also available online at my.scouting.org.
Training Toolbox
The Venturing Training Toolbox contains supplementary trainings on a variety of topics. They are not required; rather, they are used to enhance the program and as a resource for developing knowledgeable, trained youth and adults.
Advancement & Awards
Rank Tracking Sheet
This spreadsheet provides a useful resource to help Venturers and crews track progress towards rank advancement.
Personal Growth Goals Worksheet
This document helps Venturers to work through the structured personal reflections required for the Discovery, Pathfinder, and Summit ranks.
Ethical Controversies Vignettes
These activities can be used to discuss ethical standards and dilemmas that apply to the interest area of your Venturing crew. They can help Venturers working through the ethical controversy discussions in the Pathfinder and Summit ranks.
Council VOA
Council VOA Transition Guide
As a youth-led program, peer mentorship plays a large role in ensuring the longevity of strong youth leadership. The templates provided here outline some key components in peer mentoring and offer guidance for the transition between outgoing and incoming officers at any level of leadership.
It is recommended that said officers meet to discuss the transition of office between terms to exchange important information, materials, and advice. The tools and resources on this page are intended to aid this process as they outline important responsibilities, processes, and details particular to some of the more prominent VOA positions.
The CVOA Transition Guides, as described in the Best Practices document, are meant to be used as a tool in addition to active collaboration between the outgoing and incoming youth officers. They are also meant to be living documents, meaning, they should be used consistently throughout an officer’s term and can be modified by each officer to add additional information that could prove to be helpful in a particular Council.”
National VOA
NVOA Officer Application
Youth seeking to apply for office on the National VOA or a Territory VOA must complete and submit this application in accordance with the instructions on the application form.
NVOA Position Descriptions
This document provides a detailed explanation of the responsibilities and duties of youth officers serving on the NVOA.
