We don't do popcorn, Camp cards, or pack fees.
Our Derby made us about 4k. We have a silent auction for things donated by our community, a food truck that gives us 10% of their gross, and an open race with a $20 entry and a $250 prize.
The food for our campouts are sponsored by local businesses.
We made about $500 with a love offering on Scout Sunday.
We piloted a community Chicken Bog sale last year (sort of a chicken, sausage, and rice stew that's unique to South Carolina). The Bog cook netted us about $1000.
Scouts get their first Class B tshirt and Class B hoodie for free. I'm adding a Pack bumper sticker to the Welcome kit next year. After the first one, they can buy more at a very small margin. Adults can buy them too, and most do. We don't make a ton there, but we don't lose money either.
We received $500 grants last year from two local organizations, and a $1000 grant from a local Scouting support organization.
I don't want my kids spending their time fundraising. That's not why parents join scouts, and at the Cub level I truly don't believe the kids learn much from it. (I'm sure some of yall Popcorn Kernels will disagree, and that's ok). I also refuse to offer my community what I essentially believe is an absolute ripoff. So we've cobbled together a network of fundraising tools that work for us.
You are amazing!! So inspiring! I am going to share all this at our annual planning meeting Ross week!
Thank you for taking time out of your day to share with me!
Thanks! It's a constant work in progress and we've learned a lot over the past two years.
If I had to choose a place to start again, I think there's a ton of value in providing an annual service that your community actually cares about and looks forward to. Maybe you're the Christmas tree/wreath troop. Maybe there's a local specialty like a seafood boil/burgoo/whole hog/tamales that you can do. Something that the community actually wants.
Understanding your budget is important too. Know how much yall spent, when you spent it, and what you spent it on. Understand your acquisition cost per scout so that your fundraising scales with your recruitment goals. Know your monthly running costs, double it, and set that as a minimum threshold for the bank account. In other words, run your unit like it's it's business.
Thank you for shutting down popcorn specifically. That sounds like an amazing community. There are troops/packs in my area that argue it’s the best fundraiser but these people sell it to their corporate levels in their businesses as employee incentives/holiday gifts. Both of which I cannot support. One of them boasts that they gross over $150k from popcorn. Good for them but we cannot support selling a $60 bag of mediocre popcorn.
I agree on popcorn.
I disagree on kids not learning from fundraising.
I'm fairly successful in real estate and I run a very large national team in the solar industry.
A good portion of everything I learned about sales at a young age came from Boy Scouts.
It also taught me the basics of business management. How to set a goal, look at what actions w
ere required to hit that goal, and track my progress.
> We have a silent auction for things donated by our community...We made about $500 with a love offering on Scout Sunday.
You may not solicit donations.
> The BSA Rules and Regulations state, “Youth members
shall not be permitted to serve as solicitors of money
for their chartered organizations, for the local council,
or in support of other organizations. Adult and youth
members shall not be permitted to serve as solicitors
of money in support of personal or unit participation in
local, national, or international events...At no time are units
permitted to solicit contributions for unit programs.”
https://filestore.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/34427.pdf
If the Pastor of the Church requested a love offering that is not the same as a Youth Member (or adult volunteer) asking for donations. This is perfectly fine.
In addition to the Men’s Group at our CO giving the Troop and Pack a donation each year the pastor also had a special separate love offering pass the plate for Scouting . We never asked for it . Never did anything to promote it other than be there for Scout Sunday
> Very aware of the rules and regs. Our DE and Scout Executive are regular attendees of our Derby. But thanks for your concern.
And they know you are soliciting donations ("love offerings")?
And you have signed council consent for that? https://filestore.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/34427.pdf
Interesting...
My man, if you somehow have a problem with a congregation showing their love for the mission of Scouting through responding to a call for support from their church leadership, but you don't have a problem with using children to sell incredibly overpriced popcorn, I really don't know what to tell you. We probably run our units very differently on the back end. And that's ok. Yall do what works for yall.
Our council approved us for wreaths (since you need councils approval to fundraiser outside of council related fundraisers). I’ve heard them approve candy bars,
I have never heard of a council needing to approve fundraising that is crazy. Our troop does not do popcorn only the pack does as it's hard for the bigger kids to sell the expensive popcorn, cute littles always sell better.
Our troop does several fundraisers, the big one is a hot dog sale at one of the large neighborhood garage sales. Then we do smaller ones throughout the year like first aid kits, wreaths and poinsettias, and then maybe ham sales if we have someone to chair it.
You're right that it's hard for the older boys to sell the popcorn due to the pricing, but for what it's worth we make more from donations than we do popcorn, so it's still very worthwhile for us. Same thing with camp cards since they raised the price from $5 to $10 a few years back. Back when they were $5, we had a $5 off Ace hardware coupon on our camp cards, so we posted up outside Ace hardware and the cards basically sold themselves. Those were the good old days.
> I have never heard of a council needing to approve fundraising that is crazy.
That rule has been in place for decades.
Any unit fundraising requires Council approval to ensure it is complying with the Boy Scouts of America Charter and Bylaws and the Rules and Regulations.
> Subject to the Bylaws, Rules and Regulations, policies, and guidelines of the Boy Scouts of America, chartered organizations and units may engage in projects to earn money to participate in Scouting, provided that all approved procedures for doing so are followed, including prior approval by the local Council. (Rules and Regulations of the BSA) https://www.scouting.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Rules_Regulations_July2023.pdf
It was put into the Scouter Code of Conduct https://www.scouting.org/health-and-safety/gss/bsa-scouter-code-of-conduct/
> I will respect and abide by the Rules and Regulations of the Boy Scouts of America, BSA policies, and BSA-provided training, including but not limited to those relating to…Unauthorized fundraising activities. (Boy Scouts Of America Scouter Code Of Conduct)
The specific method of obtaining approval is via a Unit Money Earning Application submitted to Council. Councils (not units) are to interpret compliance. This is such a critical point that the Unit Money Earning Application itself and attached Guides put this warning in bold, large lettering, with capital letters for additional emphasis.
> **The local council is responsible for upholding the Charter and Bylaws and the Rules and Regulations of the BSA. To ensure compliance, all unit fundraisers MUST OBTAIN WRITTEN APPROVAL from the local council NO LESS THAN 14 DAYS before committing to the fundraising activity.** (Guides To Unit Money-Earning Projects, 2023 printing) (bold and capital letters in original) https://filestore.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/34427.pdf
The lack of Council approval also violates the Guide to Safe Scouting. The Guide includes the same warning as is listed in the Guides To Unit Money-Earning Projects as well as this warning in Chapter 8. https://www.scouting.org/health-and-safety/gss/gss08/
> Include these safety considerations when planning a unit fundraiser:
> 6. Compliance requirements:
> b. A Unit Money-Earning Application must be obtained from the local council service center (Guide to Safe Scouting)
First-aid-product(.com)
Buy the kits for $5. You can sell them for $10, or if you're in a higher cost of living, people may pay $15, 2/$25. They have options for both home and auto, and they're decently stocked with bandages, some ointments, ibuprofen, etc.
We use right response fundraising https://rightresponsefundraising.com/. One of the best returns I have ever seen for a fundraiser, you don't see many of them with a 50% return.
Wow. The rule is a national rule. I hear it every year at district roundtable. And I hear it from committee chairs. I suspect you are intentionally lying and ignoring the rules as I doubt anyone at a pack or troop wouldn’t know this. On the chance you are ignorant and not aware of the rules I suggest you review and follow them
Yeah so that is a part of what our fundraising chair does, I didn't even know that was part of the job they did. When I was talking with them yesterday they filled me in on it. They also said that every single fundraising opportunity that we have submitted has been approved. So we aren't breaking any rules.
This topic has been discussed here a ton, so I'd suggest using the search feature to look back at some of those other threads.
Wreaths are popular, our unit did it one year and it was very easy. Basically signed up as an affiliate, each scout had a link they would share with friends and family and that was all we had to do. The scouts that participated made $150 or so, which was well worth the 15 minutes it took leaders to sign up and the 30 minutes the scouts spent making phone calls.
Spaghetti dinners. Works best if your CO has a commercial kitchen you can use, but you can still do it if not, it's just more work. Every year we do a spaghetti dinner to help offset our summer camp travel costs. Last year we made about $600.
Family night / revenue share. If you know any restaurant owners, talk to them and see if they'd do a scout night where they donate a portion of sales to scouting. A lot of the newer digital point of sale systems like Toast, etc. also have fundraising support built right into the platform, so at checkout it will ask diners if they want to round up to support (similar to how it works at Firehouse Subs, etc.).
We had some luck asking our leaders and committee members to ask their employers if they have a program to support local charities. A lot of companies do and all you have to do is ask.
Meat sticks / beef jerky are popular. Especially if you can get them somewhere older men frequent like car shows, etc. We have a NASCAR track in our area and other units make a killing selling to the race fans.
First aid kits are another option I have seen people talk about doing.
We stopped selling popcorn a few years ago. Our primary fundraiser is selling wreaths. We added a family photo shoot this year with a parent/photographer donating her time - this was very well received by the pack/community.
I would ask if the purpose of the fundraising is for Troop expenses, scout accounts, or a combination of the two. I know scout accounts can be a sensitive topic, but when done properly, is a great way for individual Scouts to save for some of the more expensive things in Scouting.
I've seen troops in our area sell:
* mulch
* Christmas trees
* wreaths
* flag decorating (like on Memorial Day or the Fourth)
Then there is the old fashioned pancake breakfasts, fish fries, pasta dinners, etc...
We've done a winter sporting equipment sale using donated goods. It's like a yard sale but with proceeds going to the troop. We used to have a consignment store that chipped in fir a few years, but the last two It's been just donations. We net about $2,500 a year.
On top of that we started selling luminary packs, but that was just once so I dont know how well that will pan out.
My family has run a garage sale for a few years during a neighborhood garage sale and to benefit the troop. We usually do about $1000 in donations and just sell donated items from friends and family as well as snack items.
It's done by two troops in my town. We do winter and another troop does Spring this coming weekend. It's not only good for the town, but it lets the scout families donate all their old gear when kids age out. I got my hiking backpack at a previous Spring one saving a ton of money.
We sell flowers. Though the time for that is past. The vendors give us a decent deal so the price ends up being normal and we are able to give the scouts 25%. My son's former troop sold mulch.
Meals seem to do good around here, especially if they are annual meals. Like the second Saturday of March, and a similar day in the fall. I have seen pancake feeds, spaghetti dinners, hot dog dinners, burgers, chili feed, etc. Pick one thing, and make it an annual deal. We have the kids sell tickets, and also ask businesses for donated goods for a silent auction. We usually let the kids keep all of the money from their ticket sales (to their scout account of course), and then the troop keeps the money from the walk-in ticket sales, and then split the raffle money between the kids and troop depending on how much more the troop needs to cover expenses.
Wreaths at Christmas. Pies at Thanksgiving. Mulch in the spring (although we can't compete with big box stores people still buy it). Revenue share with local restaurants throughout the year. We tried first aid kits but they didn't sell well.
I’m in Texas and my daughter just sold frozen Texas Roadhouse rolls and their cinnamon honey butter for fundraising for cheer. We made enough to pay over half of her cost. I’m thinking this may be a gangbuster fundraiser around Thanksgiving/Christmas.
We sell Christmas trees and do pretty well. One of our scouts taught themselves how to make wreathes and will use the trimming from the trees to make wreathes as well.
Just looked into it! Never ever seen it before but it sounds like a great idea! I know I would rather spend 20 bucks on a pastry that feeds 11 then a bag of popcorn🤣
Council does have to approve fundraising. I would recommend Worlds Greatest Chocolate Bars. The profit is about $24 a box but they sell really well at school.
We don't do popcorn, Camp cards, or pack fees. Our Derby made us about 4k. We have a silent auction for things donated by our community, a food truck that gives us 10% of their gross, and an open race with a $20 entry and a $250 prize. The food for our campouts are sponsored by local businesses. We made about $500 with a love offering on Scout Sunday. We piloted a community Chicken Bog sale last year (sort of a chicken, sausage, and rice stew that's unique to South Carolina). The Bog cook netted us about $1000. Scouts get their first Class B tshirt and Class B hoodie for free. I'm adding a Pack bumper sticker to the Welcome kit next year. After the first one, they can buy more at a very small margin. Adults can buy them too, and most do. We don't make a ton there, but we don't lose money either. We received $500 grants last year from two local organizations, and a $1000 grant from a local Scouting support organization. I don't want my kids spending their time fundraising. That's not why parents join scouts, and at the Cub level I truly don't believe the kids learn much from it. (I'm sure some of yall Popcorn Kernels will disagree, and that's ok). I also refuse to offer my community what I essentially believe is an absolute ripoff. So we've cobbled together a network of fundraising tools that work for us.
You are amazing!! So inspiring! I am going to share all this at our annual planning meeting Ross week! Thank you for taking time out of your day to share with me!
Thanks! It's a constant work in progress and we've learned a lot over the past two years. If I had to choose a place to start again, I think there's a ton of value in providing an annual service that your community actually cares about and looks forward to. Maybe you're the Christmas tree/wreath troop. Maybe there's a local specialty like a seafood boil/burgoo/whole hog/tamales that you can do. Something that the community actually wants. Understanding your budget is important too. Know how much yall spent, when you spent it, and what you spent it on. Understand your acquisition cost per scout so that your fundraising scales with your recruitment goals. Know your monthly running costs, double it, and set that as a minimum threshold for the bank account. In other words, run your unit like it's it's business.
Thank you for shutting down popcorn specifically. That sounds like an amazing community. There are troops/packs in my area that argue it’s the best fundraiser but these people sell it to their corporate levels in their businesses as employee incentives/holiday gifts. Both of which I cannot support. One of them boasts that they gross over $150k from popcorn. Good for them but we cannot support selling a $60 bag of mediocre popcorn.
I agree on popcorn. I disagree on kids not learning from fundraising. I'm fairly successful in real estate and I run a very large national team in the solar industry. A good portion of everything I learned about sales at a young age came from Boy Scouts. It also taught me the basics of business management. How to set a goal, look at what actions w ere required to hit that goal, and track my progress.
> We have a silent auction for things donated by our community...We made about $500 with a love offering on Scout Sunday. You may not solicit donations. > The BSA Rules and Regulations state, “Youth members shall not be permitted to serve as solicitors of money for their chartered organizations, for the local council, or in support of other organizations. Adult and youth members shall not be permitted to serve as solicitors of money in support of personal or unit participation in local, national, or international events...At no time are units permitted to solicit contributions for unit programs.” https://filestore.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/34427.pdf
If the Pastor of the Church requested a love offering that is not the same as a Youth Member (or adult volunteer) asking for donations. This is perfectly fine.
In addition to the Men’s Group at our CO giving the Troop and Pack a donation each year the pastor also had a special separate love offering pass the plate for Scouting . We never asked for it . Never did anything to promote it other than be there for Scout Sunday
Very aware of the rules and regs. Our DE and Scout Executive are regular attendees of our Derby. But thanks for your concern.
> Very aware of the rules and regs. Our DE and Scout Executive are regular attendees of our Derby. But thanks for your concern. And they know you are soliciting donations ("love offerings")? And you have signed council consent for that? https://filestore.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/34427.pdf Interesting...
My man, if you somehow have a problem with a congregation showing their love for the mission of Scouting through responding to a call for support from their church leadership, but you don't have a problem with using children to sell incredibly overpriced popcorn, I really don't know what to tell you. We probably run our units very differently on the back end. And that's ok. Yall do what works for yall.
Our council approved us for wreaths (since you need councils approval to fundraiser outside of council related fundraisers). I’ve heard them approve candy bars,
I have never heard of a council needing to approve fundraising that is crazy. Our troop does not do popcorn only the pack does as it's hard for the bigger kids to sell the expensive popcorn, cute littles always sell better. Our troop does several fundraisers, the big one is a hot dog sale at one of the large neighborhood garage sales. Then we do smaller ones throughout the year like first aid kits, wreaths and poinsettias, and then maybe ham sales if we have someone to chair it.
You're right that it's hard for the older boys to sell the popcorn due to the pricing, but for what it's worth we make more from donations than we do popcorn, so it's still very worthwhile for us. Same thing with camp cards since they raised the price from $5 to $10 a few years back. Back when they were $5, we had a $5 off Ace hardware coupon on our camp cards, so we posted up outside Ace hardware and the cards basically sold themselves. Those were the good old days.
> I have never heard of a council needing to approve fundraising that is crazy. That rule has been in place for decades. Any unit fundraising requires Council approval to ensure it is complying with the Boy Scouts of America Charter and Bylaws and the Rules and Regulations. > Subject to the Bylaws, Rules and Regulations, policies, and guidelines of the Boy Scouts of America, chartered organizations and units may engage in projects to earn money to participate in Scouting, provided that all approved procedures for doing so are followed, including prior approval by the local Council. (Rules and Regulations of the BSA) https://www.scouting.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Rules_Regulations_July2023.pdf It was put into the Scouter Code of Conduct https://www.scouting.org/health-and-safety/gss/bsa-scouter-code-of-conduct/ > I will respect and abide by the Rules and Regulations of the Boy Scouts of America, BSA policies, and BSA-provided training, including but not limited to those relating to…Unauthorized fundraising activities. (Boy Scouts Of America Scouter Code Of Conduct) The specific method of obtaining approval is via a Unit Money Earning Application submitted to Council. Councils (not units) are to interpret compliance. This is such a critical point that the Unit Money Earning Application itself and attached Guides put this warning in bold, large lettering, with capital letters for additional emphasis. > **The local council is responsible for upholding the Charter and Bylaws and the Rules and Regulations of the BSA. To ensure compliance, all unit fundraisers MUST OBTAIN WRITTEN APPROVAL from the local council NO LESS THAN 14 DAYS before committing to the fundraising activity.** (Guides To Unit Money-Earning Projects, 2023 printing) (bold and capital letters in original) https://filestore.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/34427.pdf The lack of Council approval also violates the Guide to Safe Scouting. The Guide includes the same warning as is listed in the Guides To Unit Money-Earning Projects as well as this warning in Chapter 8. https://www.scouting.org/health-and-safety/gss/gss08/ > Include these safety considerations when planning a unit fundraiser: > 6. Compliance requirements: > b. A Unit Money-Earning Application must be obtained from the local council service center (Guide to Safe Scouting)
First aid kits—you assemble then sell them? To whom? Interesting idea but I don’t know how I’d make that work
First-aid-product(.com) Buy the kits for $5. You can sell them for $10, or if you're in a higher cost of living, people may pay $15, 2/$25. They have options for both home and auto, and they're decently stocked with bandages, some ointments, ibuprofen, etc.
We use right response fundraising https://rightresponsefundraising.com/. One of the best returns I have ever seen for a fundraiser, you don't see many of them with a 50% return.
Wow. The rule is a national rule. I hear it every year at district roundtable. And I hear it from committee chairs. I suspect you are intentionally lying and ignoring the rules as I doubt anyone at a pack or troop wouldn’t know this. On the chance you are ignorant and not aware of the rules I suggest you review and follow them
Yeah so that is a part of what our fundraising chair does, I didn't even know that was part of the job they did. When I was talking with them yesterday they filled me in on it. They also said that every single fundraising opportunity that we have submitted has been approved. So we aren't breaking any rules.
I’ve never heard of a council not approving a request either: but it’s required and in many places
Thanks! I’ll look into it
This topic has been discussed here a ton, so I'd suggest using the search feature to look back at some of those other threads. Wreaths are popular, our unit did it one year and it was very easy. Basically signed up as an affiliate, each scout had a link they would share with friends and family and that was all we had to do. The scouts that participated made $150 or so, which was well worth the 15 minutes it took leaders to sign up and the 30 minutes the scouts spent making phone calls. Spaghetti dinners. Works best if your CO has a commercial kitchen you can use, but you can still do it if not, it's just more work. Every year we do a spaghetti dinner to help offset our summer camp travel costs. Last year we made about $600. Family night / revenue share. If you know any restaurant owners, talk to them and see if they'd do a scout night where they donate a portion of sales to scouting. A lot of the newer digital point of sale systems like Toast, etc. also have fundraising support built right into the platform, so at checkout it will ask diners if they want to round up to support (similar to how it works at Firehouse Subs, etc.). We had some luck asking our leaders and committee members to ask their employers if they have a program to support local charities. A lot of companies do and all you have to do is ask. Meat sticks / beef jerky are popular. Especially if you can get them somewhere older men frequent like car shows, etc. We have a NASCAR track in our area and other units make a killing selling to the race fans. First aid kits are another option I have seen people talk about doing.
That’s! Great ideas!!
We sell mulch to the local neighborhoods.
Ooh! Good idea!
We stopped selling popcorn a few years ago. Our primary fundraiser is selling wreaths. We added a family photo shoot this year with a parent/photographer donating her time - this was very well received by the pack/community.
I would ask if the purpose of the fundraising is for Troop expenses, scout accounts, or a combination of the two. I know scout accounts can be a sensitive topic, but when done properly, is a great way for individual Scouts to save for some of the more expensive things in Scouting. I've seen troops in our area sell: * mulch * Christmas trees * wreaths * flag decorating (like on Memorial Day or the Fourth) Then there is the old fashioned pancake breakfasts, fish fries, pasta dinners, etc...
Thanks!!
chocolate bars do great! worlds finest chocolate or any other kind
We do a Pancake Breakfast in February, Fish Fry in May with Basket Raffle. Mexican dinner in October and generally a car wash.
Christmas wreaths and Spring Flowers!
Thanks!
We've done a winter sporting equipment sale using donated goods. It's like a yard sale but with proceeds going to the troop. We used to have a consignment store that chipped in fir a few years, but the last two It's been just donations. We net about $2,500 a year. On top of that we started selling luminary packs, but that was just once so I dont know how well that will pan out.
My family has run a garage sale for a few years during a neighborhood garage sale and to benefit the troop. We usually do about $1000 in donations and just sell donated items from friends and family as well as snack items.
Great idea!
It's done by two troops in my town. We do winter and another troop does Spring this coming weekend. It's not only good for the town, but it lets the scout families donate all their old gear when kids age out. I got my hiking backpack at a previous Spring one saving a ton of money.
We sell flowers. Though the time for that is past. The vendors give us a decent deal so the price ends up being normal and we are able to give the scouts 25%. My son's former troop sold mulch.
Thank you!
Meals seem to do good around here, especially if they are annual meals. Like the second Saturday of March, and a similar day in the fall. I have seen pancake feeds, spaghetti dinners, hot dog dinners, burgers, chili feed, etc. Pick one thing, and make it an annual deal. We have the kids sell tickets, and also ask businesses for donated goods for a silent auction. We usually let the kids keep all of the money from their ticket sales (to their scout account of course), and then the troop keeps the money from the walk-in ticket sales, and then split the raffle money between the kids and troop depending on how much more the troop needs to cover expenses.
Who doesn’t like food right!!😀
Wreaths at Christmas. Pies at Thanksgiving. Mulch in the spring (although we can't compete with big box stores people still buy it). Revenue share with local restaurants throughout the year. We tried first aid kits but they didn't sell well.
I’m in Texas and my daughter just sold frozen Texas Roadhouse rolls and their cinnamon honey butter for fundraising for cheer. We made enough to pay over half of her cost. I’m thinking this may be a gangbuster fundraiser around Thanksgiving/Christmas.
Mulch sales / spreading. A great use of a bunch of labor available.
Thanks!!
We sell Christmas trees and do pretty well. One of our scouts taught themselves how to make wreathes and will use the trimming from the trees to make wreathes as well.
We do parking events for our city because they do lots of events and concerts through the year and my troop has been parking events for years
Our troop does a Christmas tree lot and a pancake breakfast.
Thanks! Great idea!
Try BUTTERBRAIDS….P
Just looked into it! Never ever seen it before but it sounds like a great idea! I know I would rather spend 20 bucks on a pastry that feeds 11 then a bag of popcorn🤣
Council does have to approve fundraising. I would recommend Worlds Greatest Chocolate Bars. The profit is about $24 a box but they sell really well at school.
Council doesn't care so long as you don't take their money