Leaderboard

You'd almost think that old English dude was on to something when he said, "The one part which I can claim as mine towards promoting the movement is that I have been lucky enough to find you men and women to form a group of the right stamp who can be relied upon to carry it on to its goal. You will do well to keep yours eyes open, in your turn, for worthy successors to whom you can, with confidence, hand the torch. Don’t let it became a salaried organization: keep it a voluntary movement of patriotic service." (emphasis added) https://thescoutingpages.org.uk/bps-last-message/

Our council has said they will work with other donors to have it be free free besides unit dues. Our SE said it wouldn't be very trustworthy to say "free" and then turn around with our hand out and say "well, you still have to pay us".

Keyboard Advisor here, lol... @jcousino is right. You are "owned" by your CO. If your CO does not want you to open a bank account, then you have three choices: 1) Don't open a bank account, 2) as @ShootingSports says, find out why your CO "doesn't want the responsibility", and find a way to alleviate their misgivings or 3) Find a new CO. Before you pursue any of those, you need to answer a few questions: A) How is it that you have a bank account (used for years) when your CO says they don't "want the responsibility"?? Did you inform the CO that you already have a bank account using their EIN? Which begs the next question... B) Whose EIN are you actually using for the current account? Which begs the next question... C) Do you have a current signed Annual Unit Charter Agreement?? Your DE is supposed to secure one for you each year, so, as @ShootingSports has said, call your DE to see if they have one. If the answer is "No", then your DE is not doing his job. https://www.scouting.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/524-95625-Annual-Charter-Agreement.pdf Get your Chartered Organization Rep on the horn and ask them to get this all important document coordinated and signed post haste. D) If you do have a signed Annual Charter Agreement, read para II B.4. "Authorize the unit to open a separate bank account for the Unit using the Charter Organization EIN and provide the Unit with policies and procedures for financial reporting and asset management." Again, get your COR and DE on the horn, because the CO not allowing you a bank account is a violation of the Agreement. Recommend you read the whole document for other pertinent responsibilities and understanding of who owns what... Also, for the Moderators... the OP never showed up on my Unread Content. Any idea why??

You are not a free unit you are totally owned by your CO.

The bitter truth was that the Cold War wasn’t being won by flexes in space. Technical superiority was not gaining the upper hand over Vietnamese tactics. The West’s only hope was to “out-economic” the Soviets and the Maoists. A moon base was too expensive with no immediate gains, plus deep space was utterly terrifying, and too few US states had an economic benefit that contributed to Saturn V rockets. The shuttle program seemed promising with the thought that one might touch down at an airport near you, and the International Space Station, the massive Galileo Probe and the serviceable Hubble Telescope drew international engagement (i.e., spent other countries’ budgets). Closer to Earth seemed safer, although we would soon learn the folly of that presumption. The Soyuz weren’t glamorous, but even when one didn’t work, our astronauts’ odds of living to complain about it were higher. Plus Kazakhstan turned out to be a pretty cool destination after the Iron Curtain fell. We needed all that time to build up robotics, autonomous vehicles, electricity generation, and additive manufacturing … and Kevlar! But, we also needed more open risk assessment — a skill that some Japanese auto manufacturers had, but NASA had to develop (wrecking a few probes along the way even after that). And orbital mechanics had to be mastered. Although we’ve gone back to roughly the same aerodynamic profile, the scale of Orion, how it’s assembled, how it flies, and how go/no-go decisions are made eclipses anything any nation has done. It’s a testament to those decades in near earth orbit that the thing even has a toilet (although the plumbing needs more engineering). There’s a lot the space program can teach our scouts about science, but there are lessons in integrity, dedication, and fellowship that should not be ignored.

How many recall the feedback a few years back from many of the council leadership and national that what was needed was to edge out the old guard of the BSA and make room for the new leaders, that is what was holding the scouting movement in America back. What the brain trust did not fully take into account was that many of the "old guard" did not really see Scouts as just an activity, but more as a calling and a mission. They were in it for the long haul. Those leaders have in fact moved on and nobody is stepping into the gap. Especially at district and council levels, and obviously the unit level. Getting new leaders is really tough, many families (parents) view Scouting as purely transactional, they pay and the "Unit" provides the program. Not realizing (I feel) that they are in fact the unit. They look around and wonder if they are really getting the bang for their buck. It does not take a detailed accounting to realize if you want to go camping, hiking, build a birdhouse, all of that can be done waay faster and cheaper on your own. Invite kids friends and go to out and do. Scouts needs to fully figure out what value they actually bring

You should have another discussion with your CO rep and include your DE. Otherwise, contact an attorney/cpa to get the correct answer - Not here with a keyboard advisor