Fundraising and Finances
A Boy Scout troop, just as any other organization, needs to finance its
program, thus the need for fundraisers. Troop 68 has four fundraisers
each year consisting of breakfasts, popcorn sales, Christmas tree
sales. The boys work during these fundraisers, thus practicing the idea
of being thrifty by working to pay his own way.
Each of the fundraising activities allows the Scout the chance to earn
credit that may be used toward his summer camp fees, some monthly
activity fees, or high adventure trip costs. Scouts have been known to
earn most of their way to camp through these opportunities. You, as a
parent, should not just pay the fee for your son to go to camp. Use the
fundraisers to help him develop the sense of ‘paying his own
way’.
Two breakfasts are held each year, one in the
spring and one in
the fall. Scouts are expected to ‘pre-sell’
tickets. For each ticket
sold he receives credit for camp. Scouts and their parents are required
to work during the morning of the breakfast. While the Scouts may be
required to work the whole morning the parents usually work one of two
shifts.
The profit from a breakfast usually falls between $1000-$15000. The
portion of the profit that is not used for Scout’s camp
credit is used
for general expenses (spring) or high adventure expenses (fall).
The popcorn sale is a fundraiser for the troop and
the council.
Scouts earn camp credit for each ‘unit’ of popcorn
sold. The remaining
profit is divided among the various funds of the troop treasury. Scouts
take orders from customers in November. Orders are delivered in
December. This fundraiser is optional for the scout to participate in.
The Christmas tree sale was first held in 1995. A
good portion
of the tree sale profit goes into a fund out of which scouts earned a
‘wage’ for each hour worked at the stand. This
‘wage’ is put into the
scout’s summer camp fund. The rest of the profit is used to
help defray
costs of the program. Due to the troop membership decline during the
2000's, this fundraiser has been dropped.
Scouts are scheduled to work in the tree stand after school on week
days and on weekends. Parents are assigned to help on the weekends. The
sales begin Thanksgiving Week and end the week before Christmas.
When compared to other youth programs Scouting is a good value. Through
the funds provided by these activities the cost to each family is kept
to a minimum, thus allowing more boys to participate in what Scouting
has to offer.
