Importantly, if you give to the BSA, give directly to them, and not through an umbrella organization like the United Way, which is now giving to a lot of questionable causes.
I have never seen arguments over the advantages of giving to the national organization, the local council, or both. I can well imagine that the local councils vary tremendously in both character and the personalities involved.
It would probably serve the national well, were they to create a separate, legal branch, to take on those that attack the BSA. When Pat Robertson did this by creating the American Center for Law and Justice, it became hugely successful, fighting “brush fire” attacks and judicial activism all over the US, and usually winning.
A friend scoutleader told me that about a decade ago.
Another reason to avoid middle organizations like UW is like the feds they a non-profit have a huge very costly administration that eats up the money, and they cant tell you exactly how much of your donation gets to the real charity.
I always try to explain this to kids out of college who are taught that non-profits are more efficient than profits.