Den Dues - Anyone do it?

[bkale]

I am just completing my first year as a Den Leader (Tiger) and had a ball doing it. I have a den of 12 boys.

 

However, I found that when I went back and tallied up the expenses I covered for crafts, supplies, and such, the amount is not trivial (just imagine 12 of anything and you can see how it would add up). I guess I really didn't realize how it would add up.

 

Our Pack is not rolling in dough since we keep our dues to the boys rather small ($40/yr to include Boy's Life and we give the boys a handbook and neckerchief each year they graduate).

 

I see only a couple of options here for me:

1. Scale back my activities with the boys - hate to do that since I am not doing extravagent things now

2. Submit costs to the treasurer and see what the Pack can afford to reimburse (if anything)

3. Pay for all of this out of my own pocket (which in our economical condition is not a overly favorable option)

4. Have the parents bring their own supplies from a list I provide

4. Establish a den dues system

 

Do any of you do a Den dues program? or how do you work parents bringing craft supplies - especially since I have a hard enough time getting the boys/parents to bring their handbooks (can't imagine the supplies with a boy not having any and just sitting there)?

[raisinemright]

Absolutely.

 

I realized a couple years ago that being a scout leader does not mean that I am responsible to personally finance everyone's activities. One, I cannot afford it and two, it does nothing to teach responsibility to the boys.

 

My den dues are $1.00 per meeting. I just use that as my slush fund when I need to get supplies. Right now, we probably have a whopping $25.00 in the jar. When I buy stuff, I round it up to the nearest dollar and remove the money from the jar. I don't keep any records of it cause it's only about $100 per year and no one has ever asked. If it seems that jar is getting a little full, I "forget" to collect dues.

 

There has never been any hesitance on the parents part regarding dues.

[Nativtxn]

This was my first year as well and we did not collect dues. Mainly because it wasn't being done when we signed up, we had a lot of money already and hardly any kids in our pack (not sure how that happened). Anyway, when the new school year starts this year we plan on doing .25 a meeting per kid and every kid needs to bring some aluminium cans (for recylcling) and see how that goes. Most of our kids are not from affluent areas but they all drink cokes! I paid for most of our projects and supplies this year out of my pocket too because I just didn't want to use up what money we had but I know I can't keep doing that if we grow as a pack which is our plan.

If you sell enough popcorn you don't need to collect dues and stress that to the kids/parents when it's time to sell (the more you sell, the more stuff we get to do that you don't have to pay for).

Also get a budget going for next year and see how much you'll need to do your crafts and such. Every pack needs a budget for sure which I now realize and which we are going to do this coming year.

I wouldn't count on parents bringing supplies. anything can happen and if someone with the paint doesn't show up what do you do because you are right- it's hard enough to get them to bring the books so have supplies on hand.

No matter what, dues are a good thing to do as it teaches the kids responsibility.

[KISMIF_Works]

Just like raisinemright, I opted for den dues this year of $1 per scout per meeting. I also considered the "bring-your-own-supplies" alternative but decided against it because I wanted each boy to have the same supplies and because it is usually cheaper to buy for a group than for each boy to buy everything he needs on his own.

 

You are already volunteering plenty of time, so let the parents help out with the supplies!

[Oak Tree]

We just include the den dues with the annual pack dues, and expect the den leaders to submit for reimbursement. I've got nothing against doing the dues at the den level, which is how it's typically described in the literature, but I think it's a pain to keep track of.

[John-in-KC]

One option is for the Pack committee to allocate budget to Den Leaders, based on sales of Christmas wreaths or Popcorn.

 

We did the former, trying to substitute for direct payment of den dues. Worked pretty fair too.

[DanKroh]

During my stint as den leader, I didn't do den dues, but I did have an "activity fee" if we did an activity that had a significant cost attached to it. For example, when we built birdhouses as Wolves, or toolboxes as Bears, or even making a nifty "family photo album" as Tigers. The rest of the time, I either brought stuff from home that I had anyway (paper, coloring stuff, etc.), or rotated between parents as to who was responsible for bringing what supplies for each meeting.

 

My son's current den leader has everyone put up some money up front at the begining of the year (I think we started at $10), and when that money got used up buying supplies, he would ask for more. If there was money left over at the end of the year, he would do a special treat for the boys. It was easier to do it that way than to keep track of who paid each week and who didn't (because you know there will invariably be that boy who forgot his dues, or that parent who doesn't have the money on them that week).

[ScoutNut]

When I had my son's den we charged $10 per year. This covered the larger supplies and some entrance fees for den outings. For everything else we would ask parents to bring in stuff and we would scrounge.

 

With my Tigers, I do not charge den dues. The Tiger Team in charge of the meeting provides the supplies needed.

 

For every day supplies like crayons, glue, paper, etc, the Pack has a supply cabinet at our CO where we keep all sorts of "stuff" that is available for all dens to use. Whenever someone in the Pack notes that something needs replenishing, they usually bring in some. Right now we are getting rather short on glue so the next time I am passing the $1 store I will see what they have. One dad brought in a large packet of blueprint sized (EX-LARGE) blank paper. One aunt brought in paint and crayons left over from a day care event. Still another parent had extra booklets from a safety assembly she brought in. I am constantly copying coloring pages at work for Pack meetings and all of the extras go in our cabinet for den gathering activities. We have sea shells, pine cones, bird seed, tape, twine, flower seeds, paper cups & plates, napkins and paper towels, plastic gloves, grocery bags, foil, beads, cording, etc, etc.

 

Our cabinet REALLY needs to be straightened out!

 

Spread the cost, involve the entire Pack!

 

 

 

[pixiewife]

I am just finishing up my first year as a T.C. leader. We had two dens meeting together, which equaled 13 boys. We had each boy pay $7/month. We do not get anything from the pack for our dens. I found that the $7 was more than enough to cover, and we did a lot of things, like went to a ceramic shop at Christmas time to paint gifts for mom/dad. Now that it is the end of the year, we have almost $100 left. We are spending it by throwing an end od the year bonfire/cookout. Also, we bought fun patches almost every month for things that we did, like airport tour, which totaled about $1.05/patch. I do not want to lower the fee, since I know that things get harder/more in depth as the years go on.

Also, during the year we had a couple parents that came to me and said "I just can't pay this month", for whatever reason, and that was fine. If they made it up, great, if not, we took care of it in the den. We live in a rural area in MI which has economically taken a huge hit for the last 5 years! The recession is not news to us!

Another thing, my oldest son just crossed uver, and I was Assistant in his den for two years. That den charged $10/month. At the time I did not think it was a big deal. However, as I started doing more with the leader, and watching her shop, that kind of thing, and now that I am doing it myself and seeing the projects that the boys did, I think that $10 was a little excessive. I think if she would have charged less, but then asked for a specific amount for special projects if needed, she would have had an easier time of it. She had a lot of parents questioning her every move by the end.

 

I think that if you have any questions, you should sit down with your parents and talk it out. They should not expect you to cover it all out of your pocket, and probably have not even put any thought into it. They most likely think that you are sponsored by the pack or something. They will most likely all be able to agree to something!

~Pixie

[gcan]

we collect $5 per month. it covers all the glue, colored pencils, posterboard, ect that we need. We also have the parents pay for *most* trips- the pumpkin' pickin they had to pay for, but our trip to the ice rink came out of den dues. It really just depends on how much is in the kitty at the time, what else we have going on that month, ect.

 

the PACK charges $60/year for reg. fees- it covers chartering, Boy's Life, any awards they earn thruout the year, and pack activities.

 

We have some parents that can, some that can't. But we are small enough that we can taylor the cash due to the family, and usually even out in the end.