The Importance of Charter Registration

August 25, 2021

The Importance of Charter Registration

Many years ago, my son signed up to play football on the community sports league. If he wanted to play football, he had to register. They called it a program fee, but basically, it was the same as our Royal Rangers charter registration. For him to participate, we contributed to a fund that ensured the football program could pay for the field, lights, referees and other costs involved to have a league. In Royal Rangers, one of the most misunderstood areas is charter registration. We are often asked these questions: Is chartering necessary? Are we required to charter? Why do we need to charter?

Charter registration provides four major benefits to Royal Rangers that helps to strengthen the program and ensure its health and growth.

1. Charter registration provides the necessary funding to operate the ministry. Product and curriculum sales generate some income. However, it is not sufficient to cover all the operational costs of a national ministry. The charter fees from boys and men give Royal Rangers the added income to cover product development, travel, salaries, and the other expenses of operating the ministry. Additionally, one fourth of each registration goes back to assist the district Royal Rangers program. Without this income, which is designed so that many give a little, the cost of products, curriculum and events would have to increase significantly. (Note: Some districts have a higher registration fee.)
2. Charter registration provides the ministry real metrics for measuring the ministry. As outposts register, it allows the national office to have real numbers on how a district, region, and ultimately the program is doing nationally. This information reveals what areas of the country are experiencing growth, remaining stagnant, or declining. This assists us in determining where to schedule trainings and focus our support. It is difficult to measure the health and adequately administrate a national ministry without this real information.
3. Charter registration helps to protect the brand and integrity of the Royal Rangers ministry. Charter registration allows the national office to ensure that those who are using the Royal Rangers ministry agree with our core mission and beliefs. When churches use Rangers without registering, they weaken the program. Without charter registration it is difficult for us to prevent those with opposing views and beliefs from using the Royal Rangers name.
4. Charter registration allows the local outpost to be a recognized part of the national ministry. Churches that don’t register because of the very small cost involved miss the opportunity of gaining new boys and families. I observed while serving in the district office, and now in the national office, that we regularly hear from individuals moving to a new town who want to know which churches have Royal Rangers. The Outpost Locator on the national website identifies churches that have currently registered outposts, helping families connect with those churches.

The national guidelines for Royal Rangers state that everyone using Royal Rangers must be chartered. Just as individuals who don’t tithe enjoy the benefits of a local church because of the faithfulness of those who do, unchartered outposts are benefiting from the faithfulness of those who are chartered.

We paid $125 in registration fees so my son could play football for four months on the community league. That was in addition to all the equipment and other items we had to buy. When a church registers with Royal Rangers for $11 a year, a boy gets a year of mentoring and discipleship through Royal Rangers. This is a small price to pay to keep Royal Rangers strong and growing for churches, families, and boys across America.