FunkyChikin Posted February 4, 2018 Share Posted February 4, 2018 Our Cub Scout Pack is also sponsored through a fire department. We have run into problems with fundraising. There are lots of opportunities out there, but a lot of them also want us to have 501 c (3) status. Our CO won’t extend their tax exempt status to our individual EIN. How are some packs out there raising funds through Amazon Smile??? That requires a 501c(3) status as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RememberSchiff Posted February 4, 2018 Share Posted February 4, 2018 @FunkyChikin glad you boogie down to scouter.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ItsBrian Posted February 4, 2018 Share Posted February 4, 2018 (edited) 29 minutes ago, FunkyChikin said: Our Cub Scout Pack is also sponsored through a fire department. We have run into problems with fundraising. There are lots of opportunities out there, but a lot of them also want us to have 501 c (3) status. Our CO won’t extend their tax exempt status to our individual EIN. How are some packs out there raising funds through Amazon Smile??? That requires a 501c(3) status as well. Amazon smile isn’t worth it from what I’ve read. Anyway, it depends on your CO. Mine is a American Legion, which let’s us use their tax number. That’s how I got most of my Eagle Scout Project funded, corporate donations. Edited February 4, 2018 by ItsBrian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FunkyChikin Posted February 5, 2018 Share Posted February 5, 2018 1 hour ago, ItsBrian said: Amazon smile isn’t worth it from what I’ve read. Anyway, it depends on your CO. Mine is a American Legion, which let’s us use their tax number. That’s how I got most of my Eagle Scout Project funded, corporate donations. We have been checking out several local fundraising opportunities in addition to Amazon Smile, but they all want our EIN to show tax exempt. Our CO will not work with us at all. I know we can’t be the only pack that has encountered issues like this. We are considering switching CO’s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Back Pack Posted February 5, 2018 Share Posted February 5, 2018 My old sm looked in to this with out plc. In our council only the council could to Amazon smile. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ItsBrian Posted February 5, 2018 Share Posted February 5, 2018 57 minutes ago, FunkyChikin said: We have been checking out several local fundraising opportunities in addition to Amazon Smile, but they all want our EIN to show tax exempt. Our CO will not work with us at all. I know we can’t be the only pack that has encountered issues like this. We are considering switching CO’s. I wouldn’t switch COs just because of that in my opinion. Have you tried talking to your COR? How about the town? The mayor? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FunkyChikin Posted February 5, 2018 Share Posted February 5, 2018 1 hour ago, ItsBrian said: I wouldn’t switch COs just because of that in my opinion. Have you tried talking to your COR? How about the town? The mayor? It’s not the only reason we considered changing. They make us feel like we are a burden to them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ItsBrian Posted February 5, 2018 Share Posted February 5, 2018 6 hours ago, FunkyChikin said: It’s not the only reason we considered changing. They make us feel like we are a burden to them. Have you told them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scoutldr Posted February 5, 2018 Share Posted February 5, 2018 BSA and Councils have rules about Unit Fundraising. We were always forbidden from soliciting corporate donations, because that is the job of the Professionals and is the Council tier of Friends of Scouting. Whatever your fundraising idea is, you are required to complete and submit the Unit Fundraising Application and have your proposal approved by the Scout Executive. Council would prefer you stick to the official popcorn campaign, since they get a cut. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FunkyChikin Posted February 5, 2018 Share Posted February 5, 2018 37 minutes ago, scoutldr said: BSA and Councils have rules about Unit Fundraising. We were always forbidden from soliciting corporate donations, because that is the job of the Professionals and is the Council tier of Friends of Scouting. Whatever your fundraising idea is, you are required to complete and submit the Unit Fundraising Application and have your proposal approved by the Scout Executive. Council would prefer you stick to the official popcorn campaign, since they get a cut. We are aware of those rules and regulations and are not trying to solicit gifts from corporations. I didn’t mean for that to be implied at all. Popcorn fundraisers don’t always raise enough to cover your expenses through the year, and older units have shared their success stories with other fundraising opportunities with us. We can’t even get our CO to work with us on a pancake breakfast or spaghetti dinner. And yes, we have expressed our various complaints with them. The BSA fiscal policies state units should not file for their own tax exempt status, but then in those same policies it talks about a small few who have their own status and need to file forms with the IRS each year. Reading those policies sometimes sounds like circular logic, and several people I know feel that they need to be more clear and provide direction for units who need to do additional fundraising outside of popcorn and dues, and who aren’t given tax exempt status by their CO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Back Pack Posted February 5, 2018 Share Posted February 5, 2018 Don’t some units use a friends of status? I’ve been told that using that status allows them to register and file as a nonprofit. Don’t know if that’s true. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blw2 Posted February 5, 2018 Share Posted February 5, 2018 I have to wonder why an organization would actually be a CO if they didn't want to be.... this whole thing seems odd and smells fishy to me.... Not the original thread, just Funkychickin's situation, posts starting today.... Well I guess maybe.... you're saying they "just won't work with you" on this one issue of non-profit status. Well I might understand that. But not working with you in general? that would make me wonder why. My old troop's CO is a church, Catholic, and is part of a larger diocese, which in turn falls under a larger Ecclesiastical province. It's a HUGE organization and gets complicated really fast. They of course have non-profit status, and from an accounting perspective their books I'm guessing rival an huge corporation. In many ways they didn't really want to work with us either. At the parish level, they were ok with our using the status to open a bank account....but honestly I don't think they they have a concept of actually owning the troop. They want NOTHING to do with our money. From their perspective and understanding, we are either our own entity OR the BSA owns us. that's kinda how it should run anyway, so running with it seems the logical choice. Personally, I wouldn't worry so much about the non-profit thing. So you can't use amazon smile..... So what? So you have to pay higher rates if you use paypal....so what? So you can't incentivize donating patrons with a tax write off....again. so what? Non of these thing really amount to all that much in the big scheme of things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NJCubScouter Posted February 5, 2018 Share Posted February 5, 2018 17 minutes ago, blw2 said: I have to wonder why an organization would actually be a CO if they didn't want to be.... this whole thing seems odd and smells fishy to me.... In many cases a decision was made many decades ago to be a CO, by people who are long gone. The people in charge now follow the path of least resistance and remain CO even though some of them would really rather not be bothered. I suspect that if our CO was asked to be CO now, having never done it before, it is no better than 50-50 that they would say yes. They do let us use their tax i.d. number though. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Flagg Posted February 5, 2018 Share Posted February 5, 2018 13 hours ago, FunkyChikin said: It’s not the only reason we considered changing. They make us feel like we are a burden to them. 26 minutes ago, blw2 said: I have to wonder why an organization would actually be a CO if they didn't want to be.... this whole thing seems odd and smells fishy to me.... Way back when, our Pack was hosted by a church that really treated us like a burden too. They never really liked the Pack and treated every request as if we were begging at their doorstep. Then the membership policy changed in 2013 they dropped both the Pack and the Troop that were there. In our area most churches treat BSA units like we are any other group renting their facilities. Only the Catholic units are seen as an extension of the church's ministry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blw2 Posted February 5, 2018 Share Posted February 5, 2018 4 hours ago, Col. Flagg said: In our area most churches treat BSA units like we are any other group renting their facilities. Only the Catholic units are seen as an extension of the church's ministry. that's exactly how I used to put it. I'd make the case that we were an extension of their youth ministry. I remember when i first thought of it that way... I was the CubMaster and basically also the CC and several committee member jobs too.... and I was having a discussion with the GS leader. They were being very stand-offish about letting non-parishioners into the troop. I made a strong case that i look at it as a ministry. That our hope should be that we engage in families not currently coming to church. That it would be a blessing if through our activities even just one family found a church community that they might even considering to join. Sadly, i think it's the other way around from their perspective, at least to a degree. The pastor likes and verbally supports scouting, and I believe he would echo the same sentiments that I did, but basically the general 'machine' of the church "staff" sort of treats us as you put it "renters"..... We always seemed to have a lower standing when compared to youth and other uses of the building.... and we certainly never had our own room. I never really understood that... I've honestly thought it comes from the catholic tradition...."think the stereo typical nun in an old catholic school"....mean and strict. It's just the way they are. Like a drill sergeant. Anyway, in our case the COR was never engaged so that may have been a factor. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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