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LATEST POSTS
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By InquisitiveScouter · Posted
Spot on! Nothing. You hit upon one of the bigger issues also... deconfliction. Council does not want CO's going to the same well to ask for funding. That's where I could see things going off the rails... -
What stops a "friends of" CO from going the route of the money earning application? In my experience the only time I have been told no/had a money earning application denied was when I was going to solicit an organization that I had contacts at for a unit donation and I found out that at higher levels the organization was already directly contributing to FOS in my council so I was told to not piss the source off by asking for another donation. I have never had a bakesale, or candy bar, or dinner fundraising application denied by my council. Additionally there are no rules prohibiting acceptance of unsolicited donations. -
By InquisitiveScouter · Posted
Yes, and this is why National tries to discourage incorporation of units or their "boosters". It is all about the money! For your average CO, their raison d'être is not Scouting. Take a church, for example... Your local church "uses" Scouting as a program to enhance their service to youth. If Scouting units under a CO fold, then the CO continues its other activities. Your local church may ask for donations for a new steeple, to replace their pews, or put a new coat of paint on everything. That is different from your local church asking for donations solely to support their Scout units. When they go down that road, their activity falls under the charter agreement. And, when they do have any money or property earmarked for Scouting, if the unit folds, the agreement is that they will keep all that money and property for the purposes of Scouting, should they start up a unit again. (Of course, council wants that money, so they sometimes pursue that purse.) For the "Friends of Troop XX", their entire purpose for existence (if you didn't yet look up what "raison d'être" means 😜 ) is to support the Scout units, so any and all monies and property they should be used solely for the purposes of Scouting. If the units fold, then the reason for the existence of the corporation ceases also. In everything I have read, nowhere does National "prohibit" units (or "Friends of") from incorporating (because they really cannot). BUT, they do put the threat of revoking your charter out there. "Units could lose their charter if they tried to get their own tax-exempt status and solicit tax deductible gifts." Here's an example (page 2, end of first paragraph): https://www.ciecbsa.org/document/tax-exempt-for-units/25798#:~:text=Units should not incorporate or,approved unit money-earning projects. And another https://lpcbsa.doubleknot.com/newsfeed/fiscal-policies-and-procedures-for-bsa-units/9007 And another https://michiganscouting.org/unit-resources/unit-finance/ You'll notice the verbiage is exactly the same, which means (to me) this comes out of National... I never heard of National denying someone's charter for this. YMMV I cannot see them doing it, especially these days, unless the money amounts get big, and they get jealous/greedy. -
Right. My point was it is no different than any other CO. -
By SNEScouter · Posted
As InquisitiveScouter already correctly pointed out, a "friends of" organization that is a CO needs to comply with its charter agreement, which directs the CO to "[r]efrain from soliciting financial support except as authorized for the benefit of the Unit or the Local Council." Even if the CO is a tax exempt org, it can only solicit funds in the name of Scouting with the local council's approval.
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