Stosh

Should be simple enough for a pack. Create your budget.... You need $10,000 to cover everything pertaining to the pack. Divide by the number of boys and half of that is registration for the year. As money comes in for fundraising the amount due by each family is reduced to offset the other half due by each family. If a family quits and leaves the pack with the bill, budget it into next year's expenses and move on.

@ I don't think you understand the issue here. Even the IRS says that what the people tell you when you call the IRS directly is not necessarily a valid interpretation of their bureaucratic policies. I know this for a fact because I called 4 times and asked the same question and got 4 different answers. Everything is all well and good until the come knocking at the door. They went after high school booster clubs and there's nothing to say they can't go after BSA as well. I guess I just don't feel good about getting caught with my hand in the cookie jar.

My boys don't do the dues business. They just go out and fundraise as needed. Behind the scenes, the committee is working with parents to secure funding for their boys similar to what dues would do. When they see a short fall coming down the road, they suggest to the boys to do a fundraiser, which they always do and if it doesn't cover the costs of the activity, they contact the parents. We're running on empty most of the time, but we have equipment, we go camping and the boys seem to be content with the process.

My boys are trained to handle unannounced visits by either a Webelos den or an individual...so even unannounced you may get a troop that is prepared to put on a good show anyway.

And if you're the only game in town, that could mean the end of that boy's scouting career. I find that difficult to accept. I don't like punishing the boys because the parents are patoots.

Great scout, single mom, 3 siblings, no discretionary family funds. Marginal scout, 2 parents, 1 sibling, both parents work. So tell me, what's the policy going to be mandated from the CO?

Every troop is different, every boy is different. With that said, each troop needs to adapt to the boy's needs and the boys need to step up and adapt to the troop as well. Just lost my best scout, he prefers his parents drive him 35 miles to a different troop because it has older boys and he won't have to do as much work. He lives 4 blocks from where we currently meet. He has a tendency to quit when things get a bit difficult, so it's probably a good idea he moves on. One can't expect a brand new troop to have 16 year old scouts that will do all the work for the younger boys. He's not yet 2nd Class, but he does have 16 MB's. I hope he fits in well with his new troop. Those that can't adapt to the troops will need to find one that doesn't require it. Actually boys that select troops based on the fact that all their buddies are going there don't always work out well in the long run. With that being said, they'll stick with their buddies anyway.

I totally understand, but do the parents reading these posts with $$'s in their eyes understand it? I have had way too many parents argue with me about their son's money in his account. The only way to combat that is to just do away with any and all "scout" accounts or any referencing that the money raised by the troop might somehow belong to an individual scout. It is always expressed that money is raised for the troop/patrol. If the boys sell enough popcorn they get a prize from the council, not money from the funds that go to the troop. If the boy wishes to avail himself of any of those funds, he will attend the activities they are paying for just like any and all of the other boys in the troop.

Remember, we're dealing with the BSA here. It doesn't need to make sense.

So the boys get money for an activity whether they go or not? A scout could get rich by not going to any activities under that policy.

Boy-led, patrol-method - Troop Rule #1 (Safety First) trumps anything the boys can come up with. Note to PL's: you are to take care of your boys. If they do not have sun screen on, you are not taking care of them. Do your job or steps will be taken to find a functioning PL that will.

If one is working with the Scouts, then the funds should be apportioned appropriately. If you provide 5 volunteers and they provide 95 volunteers, the pack gets 5% of the proceeds. If that doesn't generate sufficient funds to float the pack, then the boys will go without. One cannot spend money they don't have. Money talks. Make it clear to the parents this is the process that they need to consider. If the pack doen't have the money, then the parents pick up the tab or their sons go without.

Okay, why does the money need to be going into any "scout accounts" Summer camp costs $250. Troop is going to pay $100 of that for each boy that goes. The 10 boys going submit $150 to the troop and the troop treasurer sends off a check to the camp of all the money collected from the boys and $1000 from the troop treasury. Where's the need for any "scout accounts"?

One has to remember that these boys will be pointing symbolic lethal weapons at symbolic human figures. A definite no-no under BSA policy. If allowed, those poor young boys may have to face the consequences of 20-39 years.... of professional therapy that will result in such activity. Squirt guns are a gateway opportunity to eventual WMD's.

I don't have a problem with $$ being put aside for a specific activity, i.e. Philmont, BWCA, Jambo. That isn't counted in the operational budget, it's just a holding account designated as basically already spent towards the activity. I'm having a problem with the units out there that are basically hoarding undesignated, unbudgeted, funds with no purpose other than some nebulous rainy day that when we get down to that day, we do a fundraiser anyway to pay for it.

Then there's the NFL's Vikings depicting an inaccurate depiction of some Norwegian wearing a helmet with horns. That was never the case. Another inappropriate caricature of an NFL football team. Go Pack!

I'm also willing to bet that the vast majority of those Scouts and Scouters out there who think it's cool to wear a clan tartan kilt are really certified by the family to do so. I would be willing to bet the tartan was selected not because it was the family tartan, but because it was a cool color. But, hey, who cares anyway. If I want to wear a tartan, or use some cool family crest, or wear an Irish knit sweater that goes with my dress pants, it's nobody's business but me. Wrong, family wears family tartans and knits not yahoos at Walmart. I AM certified to wear my family's tartan. I had to prove my genealogy to the correct people in Scotland, but I did get myself certified. How many women out there claiming to be DAR? Veterans? How far do we go before someone raises a red flag? Maybe one ought not start looking for the line in the sand and just respect the traditions of others.

I'm off to commissioner's training with the "new" and "improved" software. This ought to be "interesting".

My parents made me do my own taxes. I have my 1962 return that I filled out when I got my paper route. There are those parents out there that know how to do it right. I have a copy of every tax return except the one immediately following the divorce. That's just a printout of jibberish that some business order by the court to play round with. I have no idea if it was ever correct, but the statute of limitations has run out and I'm not in prison for tax fraud.

@ well done!

I had trouble logging in at first, but went through the forgot my username process and then forgot my password process and finally got logged in to find everything was pretty much okay. I say that with a sense of trepidation because I don't think BSA IT is done messing with the new format and there's still a chance to lose stuff. I also find that there's a few bugs in the software. For example my YPT was last taken 10-15-2014 and says it expires 10-15-2016. Yet the title says YPT Status: Expires 91d-2yrs whatever that means.

My first Eagle scout I worked with just got married. I traveled half way across the country to be there. Since getting his Eagle, he has become SM trained, WB (beaded at the wedding reception) and is currently in the Air Force. Plans on getting out and back into scouting as soon as he's done. Oh, by the way, his new wife is also SM trained, WB beaded at the wedding ceremony. There are real Eagles out there, but as you say, they kinda are more the exception nowadays.

@@Jodie First of all, welcome to the forum. Good question to get started with. I agree with the others, if this was one of my boys, I would not hesitate to speak with his parents about taking it down. Whereas I am not in favor of individual scout accounts in the troop, to me this is the ultimate abuse of BSA for helping out an individual's cause. Like @ states, this is panhandling using the BSA to back it up. I would be johnny-on-the-spot vocal about this because if he gets caught I don't want my name anywhere near condoning it. By the way, the honest thing would be to return any funds people send him on the gofundme account. Really poor judgment on the part of the boy here.

One needs to get the line of communication going with the young man. I usually start with the back door. The boy is off by himself the rest of the troop/patrol is engaged in an activity. I would approach the boy and drop an off-hand comment like, "Things sure haven't changed much since I was a scout." Pause and don't anticipate an answer. Then maybe drop in a comment like, "When I was that age I was 4' 11" 98#'s. It really sucked getting left out." Now if he was left out, he'll empathize with you, if not, he'll correct you. Now it's up to him to respond. Sit down and wait for it even if it takes all afternoon. Sitting there with him, your presence let's him know he's important and that's all you need to do get the conversations started. Once they do, listen, listen and listen. Then listen some more. Let him vent, don't interrupt until he starts asking questions. Once he does talk to him as a peer, not a SM/ASM You started out "When I was that age...." stay that age when talking to him. Just remember, it took a long time to get him to this point and will take a long time to fix it. Don't rush it.

@ You are referring to all the "Lost Cause" legends that have been created over the many years since the Civil War and yes, you are correct, "They ain't done yet!" The modern history books are loaded with these legends. For example, everyone believes the war ended with the surrender of Robert E. Lee at Appomattox Courthouse, VA. Nope, The Army of Northern VIrginia surrendered when Lee surrendered, but there were still other Armies from the different Confederate states that still fought on. The last to surrender was Texas in late summer, early fall of 1865. Johnson surrendered in the Carolinas somewhere, Hood in Alabama/Mississippi area and I believe it was Taylor who surrendered the Texans. The reason Lee got so much notoriety is because his Army was closest to Washington and it protected Richmond, the Confederate capital. The newspaper reporters didn't need to go very far to get the news. Lost Cause will let everyone know how brilliant Lee was when he fought on for 4 years. Well he wasn't part of the Army of Northern Virginia in the beginning and when he finally did take command it was just that small part of the Army located in Virginia. Grant on the other hand was over-all US general of all the federal forces from Missouri to Washington DC. Grant fought in every aspect of the war from Vicksburg on the Mississippi to the city of Richmond in Virginia. Lee fought in Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania only. He never left his own backyard.