How to Go Paperless with Your Scout Troop's Permission Slips

Running a Scout troop is rewarding. Chasing down permission slips is not.

You planned a fantastic camping trip. You sent home the BSA Activity Consent Form. Two days before the event, you're down to three unreturned slips and it's 10 PM on a Thursday. You've texted. You've emailed. One parent says they sent it in with their kid last week — but there's no sign of it. Another Scout can't go unless you have that paper in hand.

If that scenario sounds familiar, this post is for you.

Why Paper Fails Scout Troops Specifically

Permission slips are supposed to be simple, but paper creates friction at every step. For Scout leaders — who are volunteers running these programs in their spare time — that friction adds up.

The backpack black hole. Papers handed to Scouts at a troop meeting have one predictable destination: the bottom of a backpack. If it makes it home at all, it often doesn't make it back.

The round-trip problem. A signed slip has to travel from your hands → to the Scout → home to a parent → back to the Scout → back to you. That's four handoffs. Any one of them can break the chain.

No visibility until it's too late. With paper, you don't know who's missing until you physically count. And you usually count the night before the event.

Legibility and completeness. Emergency contact numbers written in pencil by a 10-year-old. Medical information left blank. Dates crossed out and rewritten. Paper forms invite errors that matter when something goes wrong in the field.

What Going Digital Actually Looks Like

Going paperless doesn't mean learning a new software platform or paying for a subscription. It means replacing the paper handoff with a link.

Here's how it works in practice:

1. You create a digital version of your permission form. This can be the standard BSA Activity Consent Form (Form 680-673) or any custom form your unit uses.

2. You share a link with parents. Send it via your existing communication channel — text thread, email, Scoutbook message, GroupMe, whatever you already use. Parents tap the link, fill it out on their phone, and sign digitally.

3. You see responses in real time. No counting papers. No following up with families you're unsure about. You know exactly who's in and who still needs to respond.

4. Everything is stored in one place. When you arrive at the campsite, you're not rifling through a folder. You pull up your dashboard and everything is there.

The practical result: most parents sign within a few hours of receiving the link. Your "two weeks of chasing" becomes a 48-hour window with maybe one or two follow-up reminders.

Getting Started: Three Steps

Step 1: Pick your form

Most Scout units use the BSA Activity Consent Form (#680-673), available on Scouting.org. Some units have their own custom forms. Either works — you're not changing the form itself, just how it's delivered and signed.

Step 2: Set it up digitally

Simple Permission Slip is a free tool built for exactly this. Upload your PDF, choose which fields parents fill out (vs. pre-filling with your troop info), and generate a shareable link. Takes about five minutes to set up the first time; reuse the form for every event after that.

Step 3: Send the link

Drop the link into your next troop communication. No app for parents to download. No account creation required on their end. They open the link, fill it out, sign, and submit.

You get a notification when each form comes in. When the event approaches, pull up your submissions list and follow up with anyone who's still pending.

Common Questions

Does a digital signature count as a valid signature? For BSA purposes, the Activity Consent Form has traditionally been a paper document. Many units are moving to digital workflows — especially for internal troop use where the primary goal is tracking parental awareness and consent rather than a legally-binding signature. Check with your council if you have questions about specific high-adventure activities or flying plans, which have additional requirements.

What about parents who aren't tech-savvy? In practice, this is rarely a problem. The form is a simple web link that opens on any phone browser. If a parent genuinely can't manage the digital form, you can still print a paper backup — but most leaders find they need to do this for less than 5% of families.

Can I reuse the same form for multiple events? Yes. Set it up once and use it all season. Each event gets its own submission link, but you're not recreating the form every time.

One Less Thing to Chase

Scout leaders volunteer hundreds of hours a year. None of those hours should be spent tracking down paper permission slips that got lost in a backpack.

Going digital is free, takes minutes to set up, and makes the experience better for everyone — including parents who no longer have to dig through their kitchen drawer to find the form.

Try Simple Permission Slip free →

No credit card. No account required for parents. Set it up before your next troop meeting.

Also useful: Free permission slip templates · Why digital permission slips are replacing paper forms