Adult Particpation & Costs

[Suz]

It has been raised to the troop committee that perhaps the troop can help subsidize the adult costs for attending trips. Also, that some financial assistance might help get other adults to attend.

 

What experiences do other troops use to entice adult particpation, and how many offer assistance for adult costs?

[Spiney Norman]

Our troop usually does not charge adults who accompany the troop on campouts, unless of course their are an inordinate amount of adults going or the cost of the campout is prohibitive. On a normal, we're just going camping, weekend I don't pay the campout fee. I guess it helps to offset the cost of gas. LOL. If were going to some event while on the campout that would cost extra, I do pay. I really don't mind, I have just as much fun as the scouts.

 

On troop outings such as sporting events I pay my own way.

[dan]

The troop pays for ALL training.

If they are willing to do this, I should be willing to make sure that no campout would be canceled because of lack of adult participating. They have shelled out around 400 dollars for my training.

The troop pays for half of scout camp for any leaders going.

Troop outings are paid for by the troop, unless it is a high dollar item, like skiing or climbing.

 

[scoutingagain]

The practice in our troop is:

 

Troop pays for training for adults.

 

There is no cost for adults to attend summer camp.

 

For long trips, > 200 miles, drivers have been reimbursed for the cost of fuel.

 

On normal weekend outings, adults pay the same as scouts.

 

No one seems to mind and we do not have a problem with adults willing to participate in outings.

 

SA

[Bob White]

Adults pay for their food, and for extended trips receive reimbursement for gas. All adult leader training is paid for including $100 towards Wood Badge.

 

 

[acco40]

Our troop policy:

 

Adults pay for initial registration (approx. $10), troop pays for re-registration

 

Adults pay for training (my bills so far: $30 SLF, $300 Woodbadge, $300 Powerderhorn, $1000 PTC including air/car/fare - all well worth the money!)

 

SM & SA go gratis on outings except for summer camp

 

Trailer hauler gets gas reimbursement

 

No adults pay "dues"

 

 

[eisely]

Adults are subsidized for outings and summer camp by the scouts who are participating. Adults usually pay for their own food if they are eating as a separate patrol on an outing. For some outings drivers may receive gas reimbursement or a flat amount of money. All of these amounts are built into the budgets for the activities involved.

 

Our troop also pays all fees for district and council level training.

[eagle90]

In our troop, the troop pays for all adult registrations and training. The adults pay all fees for summer camp and High Adventure trips. On weekend campouts, the adults do not pay unless we are staying in a cabin and have a pricey rental fee for the building. Drivers are only reimbursed for Summer Camp (375 miles) and High Adventure trips.

[Eamonn]

As I no longer have a Troop or Pack Committee to fall back on all costs and expenses come out of my pocket.

At times some of these costs are just way out of line. $27.00 for breakfast? I can't eat $27.00 worth of food at breakfast.It seems that all of our Area meetings are as far away from where I live as is possible, so there are Hotel or motel costs on top of everything else.

I do have the odd moan and groan. Still I a lucky in that I can afford it and Her That Must Be Obeyed, is very understanding.

I look at it from the view point that Scouting is my hobby. I don't hunt and thanks to a bad back no longer play golf. I have friends who hunt and sit on committees to do with Ducks and Turkeys. These guys really do spend a lot. One pal of mine was over the moon about a new club that he had just bought for $600.00!!

In my Cub Scouting days we did have it that the pack would pay for all leader training. That was fine until we hosted a Wood Badge course in our Council and six people from the pack attended. Six at $200.00 was just too much at one time.

I think that no one should be out of pocket for a Scouting activity. Gas should be a budget item and that sort of thing. I do think that leaders should pay their own way or at least pay the same as the Scouts. If I stay home I don't eat for free.

Scouting is my hobby and my pass time. I enjoy doing things for people and thank the good Lord that I have been blessed to be able to afford it. I do keep very good records and am careful how I pay for things, normally by a company check made out to he BSA. All this stuff goes to my accountant and we meet three or four times a year to go over it all.

Still there are times when I am out with a group of kids and I buy a round of ice cream and pay cash. I just enjoy doing it and cost or taxes don't matter. Sharing that time and being allowed to be part of their group is worth all the tea in china.

Have you ever noticed that even the most unruly kid in the world can't act up with an ice cream cone in his hand. I love ice cream, Her That Must Be Obeyed used to get mad at me when OJ was a little fellow we would have it for breakfast.

Eamonn

[scoutldr]

District training is free to all units who participate in Popcorn.

Summer camp, we get 2 free adults. Any others who want to go, we split the cost equally among all of us. Woodbadge, Philmont, etc is at our own expense. Camping trips, adults pay for and cook their own food and pay their own camporee registration fees. We pay for our own membership fees. The troop even pays the recharter fee because the COR doesn't. We've been paying for gas out of pocket and claiming IRS mileage, but with gas headed back to $2 a gallon, we are going to start reimbursing the drivers. I buy my uniforms on Ebay for about half price. I even bought a brand new Venturing shirt for $15 because it was in my size (X-fat) and I might need it one day.

[Twocubdad]

My pack pays adult registration fees and for training. Wood Badge hasn't come up. It's being offered again in the spring but I'm the only one likely to take it and I wouldn't ask the pack to cover the $300 cost. Webelos Resident camp covers the cost of the first two leaders and charges $35 for others. We also pay for that. I don't know that we've gone anywhere where gas is an issue, but since we're cub and parents must attend, everyone takes care of their own transportation.

 

To my knowledge, my older son's troop doesn't pay for anything. I even paid the troop $10 for my registration even though I didn't really owe it (being dual-registered in the troop and pack I should only have to pay one fee.) Even driving to camp this summer the troop didn't reimburse me for the 200+ mile round trip. One parent did sick a fin in my pocket.

[mk9750]

Almost all of the fees for activites in our Troop are paid via fund raisers. Both youth and Scouts get credit for the amount of time they spend at a fundraiser. For example, if we make $1,000.00 on a car wash, the Troop puts $200.00 into the general fund for expenses like awards, registration fees for the trailer and kayaks, ect. $800.00 gets divided up among all participants in the fundraiser on a percentage basis. If your 3 hours there is 2.5% of the whole amount of time there, you get 2.5%, or $20.00, in you Scout account, from which you can pay event fees.

 

Adults pay the same fees as Scouts do, except for summer camp every other year, where the camp allows for a certain number of free adults. All adults wh oattend that summer camp split the actual cost of all adults attending.

 

We pay 1/2 for all training, youth and adult, with consideration given to paying more if a special need exists.

 

We reimburse actual gas expenses on longer trips.

 

We don't seem to have a problem with finding adults for events. I can't think of an event when we had less than 5 or six adults in attendance, and often more.

 

Mark

[candidapax]

For regular activities, like backpacking trip, river rafting etc. our adult leaders pay for their share of the trip however sometimes we are reimbursed for gas.

For summer camps since this is a week long activity, the troop normally shoulders the cost. When we prepare the budget for the summer camp, the cost of the additional adult going to camp is figured into the budget. The budget includes the cost of the camp program, patches and other incidentals and allocation for additional leaders to attend the summer camp. The logic behind this cost allocation - the leader takes a vacation to help run the summer camp. It is just fair for the leader to participate and not pay for the program, after all we are stuck with the scout for a period of 7 days. I have been to 4 summer camps and the only time I had to dole out money from my pocket was when we did not have enough scouts going and the summer camp was out of state.

For ordinary trips, our leaders are willing to pay the cost of going on an outing whether it is a backpacking trip or a camping one.

[SR540Beaver]

In our old pack, we established a policy to pay for adult training as long as there was enough money in the pack account and it would not impact the program adversely. Adults paid the same as cubs for outings.

 

We started a brand new troop in June. Currently, the vast majority of our leaders are all WB trained. The majority of other training that costs anything is not beyond $20 or so. We may create a policy in the future that calls for paying for adult training, but right now we are in the process of raising funds to buy needed equipment. Training costs will be a "sacrifice" by the adult needing training until we have more cash.