matuawarrior 10 Posted February 14, 2003 Share Posted February 14, 2003 Does anyone know the requirements for a state of territory to receive a charter from National BSA to start a Council? I'm interested in knwoing how this operates. Link to post Share on other sites
Bob White 20 Posted February 14, 2003 Share Posted February 14, 2003 I think the days of starting Councils is pretty much over. Unless a current council develops a strong enough, wide enough financial base to where it can divide into two councils. You have to remember that councils first started to appear in 1916, so over the last 86 years the entire geography of the Us and it's territories have been covered. Within each council the geography is dived into districts. I am not aware of any piece of inhabited ground that does not already reside in a district in a council. All current Council charters are renewed on an annual basis with the National Council in Irving Texas. BW Link to post Share on other sites
bt01 10 Posted February 14, 2003 Share Posted February 14, 2003 The only "new" councils that I heard of in the past couple of years are the ones that have merged. Link to post Share on other sites
matuawarrior 10 Posted February 19, 2003 Author Share Posted February 19, 2003 BW So a Council can be formed if it has a strong financial backing. Does a 7 figure endowment given exclusively for use to my district help? Then it is really about financial support than membership. Here's the History: For 4 decades after the merger of the council here with the council I'm presently with, There has been a Major rift. A couple years ago, I tried to help repair the rift after attending WB but a couple of months ago a situation developed that now most of the local volunteers would like to merge with another council that is closer OR reactivate our former council. Here are some of the factors: 1. Cultural differences 2. Time Zones-My district IS a day ahead of the Council. 3. Distance-It takes 8 hours to get to council by plane and costs over $1,500 one way to attend needed council trainings or to attend WB. There are more factors but these are the top three for now. The volunteers here need your help in finding out what exactly are the requirements to form a council. We are meeting next week to move forward with the two options: merge with another council or reactivate our former council with Nationals blessing. Link to post Share on other sites
flyingember 10 Posted February 20, 2003 Share Posted February 20, 2003 woah. It sounds like you need to go to people above the council level on this one. Guam. wow. Link to post Share on other sites
RMV 10 Posted February 21, 2003 Share Posted February 21, 2003 If you want to know the name and number of the guy you should talk to about this, email me direct. I know him well. I almost moved your way last summer! A few thoughts: In todays market a seven figure gift in endoment gets you about $40,000 per million, if you are lucky. What does it cost to run a council...I don't know. I do know that $40,000 doesn't go as far as I wished it did. But perhaps the real question should be, what do you want the council to do for you? Really, in your situation, I would think you would do most of your business by email and through catalogs. The real issue is how to do things for basic services; advancement, training, camping, activities, civic service. Do you have the population of volunteers to handle doing all of these things? Then add the things a Council would do. As I recall, the entire far east council has less than 600 youth. How many are in your district? One of the districts I help serve has less than 200 youth. We constantly struggle with basic services because we don't have the population to support a district let alone a council. Do I pull a SM to be the Dist Commish, or do I live with out a Commish becauase we have no other candidates for SM? (My answer to this was SM all the way.) It is a rural town, not a military base, so your level of organization is probably stronger, but I bet you would face many of the same issues. I'm not sure I understand the cultural differences. The Council office is in Japan, a long way away, but with Scouts and Scouters that are all a part of BSA. Most of the units are with military installations or with U.S. Diplomats as I recall. I truly don't want to discourage you, but you should really ask yourself; What will going down this path solve? If it means better service to youth, that is one thing. If it means that we can do what we want here and now, you may be surprised that all the time is spent doing the things a council must do, not what you intended. Have faith in your fellow Scouts! RMV Link to post Share on other sites
Bob White 20 Posted February 21, 2003 Share Posted February 21, 2003 RMV is right. You ned to be talking to the professional staff that are looking at the bigger picture. As far as what it costs to sustain a council, I believe the current average is around $170 per youth member served, but don't quote me. As far as training, most training can be arranged to be done within your locality and more is coming on-line for self study. BW Link to post Share on other sites
matuawarrior 10 Posted February 26, 2003 Author Share Posted February 26, 2003 Thanks for all the info. Yes, we will use it wisely in our decision making. I'll let you all know of our decision after tonight's meeting. Thanks Matua Link to post Share on other sites
matuawarrior 10 Posted March 1, 2003 Author Share Posted March 1, 2003 Just thought I thank everyone for giving me insight on "Council Charters". I had a talk with the TOP volunteer in our District on Thursday Morning. He gave me quite an insight on financial responsibilites of a council. There is so much. Alot of grievances were brought up. I was assured that will be repaired. The biggest factor to the dissension between our district and council was and is communication. It's the same in any organization when communication is not dessimated both ways. As per my meeting with the other volunteers on Thursday Evening, We're going to stick with the program, help OUR district, and work with council to make the program for our youth better. One point that was brought up to Help council is bring the outer islands under our district to help cut costs. The main decision will be the council board and region. Again thanks, Matua Link to post Share on other sites
Eamonn 61 Posted March 1, 2003 Share Posted March 1, 2003 I have no idea how Councils are /were formed. I belong to a very small Council, four districts, which serve just over 10,000 youth, including Learning for Life programs. The Council budget this year is just under 1.3 Million dollars. We do have a big Metro Council"Next Door" and some of our members do live in fear that one day we will become part of them. Have to admit, that I do like belonging to a small council, where most of the people know each other. As for being spread out, we are part of the North East Region, which also includes Germany,England, and Puerto Rico. I'm not sure if it also includes the Virgin Islands. Link to post Share on other sites
RMV 10 Posted March 1, 2003 Share Posted March 1, 2003 Wonderful news! Amazing what a bunch of Scouts can do when they decide to do something. RMV Link to post Share on other sites
dsteele 20 Posted March 1, 2003 Share Posted March 1, 2003 Eamonn: Yes, your region includes the Virgin Islands, as well as Puerto Rico. Lucky dogs! Also, best of luck to Matua. I think you guys have made the right decision. Guam is a long way from Honolulu, but communications in this day and age have become a lot easier due to electronics. DS Link to post Share on other sites
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