Corporate Sponsors

[PackCC99]

We were thinking about getting some corporate sponsorships for our Pinewood Derby. Our district exec said it was fine... but I also want to be careful to not make our event into one big advertisement.

 

Are sponsorships something that may be frowned on at all by national or council?

 

Do you think there is a good balance that can be reached where the local businesses are supporting scouting without it becoming too commercialized?

[Eamonn]

I have to admit to being a little surprised that the DE is OK with this.

While companies can donate to a Scout unit,in most cases Scout units are not recognized by the IRS as charities and the donation is not tax deductible.

A lot will depend on what are calling sponsorships? If the local restaurant is supplying the hot-dogs for nothing or the local trophy shop is donating the trophies, I don't see much of a problem, but if a local company is donating lots stuff either money or product you might have a problem.

Councils do not like units getting stuff from local businesses, Scout units are supposed to earn the money that they get.Most Districts/ Councils rely on local businesses when it comes time for the community FOS campaign.

I know when I was District Chairman we had a local florist that always donated to the District FOS, I called them to remind them and they said they had already donated.

It turned out that a local pack had asked for a center-piece for their B&G. The florist didn't know that units and Districts aren't the same thing.

The pack ended up with a $20.00 flower arrangement the council lost a $250.00 donation.

You might want to check out the Unit Money Earning Application and the guidelines before you move ahead.

http://www.scouting.org/forms/34427.pdf

Welcome to the forum.

Eamonn.

[PackCC99]

Our council does not collect donations in our area.... so that's not an issue. But I'm being told that as long as we have the sponsorship checks made out to our charter organization, who will then need to write the check back to us, that we can do this.

[Fuzzy Bear]

Pack,

 

I realize that you have already made your decision by your statements. So be it.

 

I will still post because what you are doing wont stop me either.

 

Your Council does go into to your community and does solicit donations. It is done through the Districts FOS program on a yearly basis. It is true they do not go to 100% of the businesses in your community but they try. This money indirectly Supports Your Program.

 

Your District has several functions each and every year and they solicit donations from businesses. They do not go to 100% of the businesses in your area and they wont even try. These donations directly Supports Your Program.

 

Your Pack can and has been asked to go into the community and sell popcorn. You are not just selling a product at an equitable price but you are asking people to Support Your Program. You can go to 100% of the community, businesses included if you like. You have a distinct advantage over the Council and your District. You have Cub Scouts that people like and many will hate to turn down. They can wear their uniforms and they can sell through parents that work at many of the businesses in your community.

 

This is an arrangement that is generally understood and most are reluctant to make it a rule. This means it is an understanding with exceptions but changes should be done very conservatively out of respect for each other. Everyone wants the programs to remain.

 

Now, for the last point, a dictum that should be observed with every financial decision and that is a Scout should learn to pay his own way. This is a lesson that has great value and that most of us agree on. FB

 

[PackCC99]

Fuzzy - I don't know much about any other council or district other than ours... but our council offices are located almost 2 hours from us. Our DE lives near us but I feel pretty confident in saying that neither our council or district has done much in the way of FOS fundraising from anyone other than the scout families themselves. And the DE is telling me that we can go ahead with this idea... so if it was infringing on his fundraising I would have expected him to object.

 

I'm not saying I agree with the idea of corporate sponsorships. But it seems like in our economy it has unfortunately become a necessity to look to something other than popcorn to sustain the pack.

 

Look at the Public Broadcasting Station (PBS) as an example. Do your remember when PBS sponsors were individual families and foundations... and a corporate sponsor might be quickly mentioned? Well if you watch PBS now you will see that they now have what really could only be considered actual corporate commercials (including Chuckie Cheese & McDonalds). It seems to go against what they had intended be... so why have things changed? Well my guess is that indvidual sponsorship was down.... people's money is being pulled in many more directions, and they have to compete with many more commercial stations through cable & satellite.... so basically they had to change their ideals in order to survive.

 

I have very mixed feeling about it to be honest... that's why I posted here to see what was going on with other groups.

 

We still sell popcorn and we promote it as our most important fundraiser. Just seems like we need something more to supplement the program. I agree that the scouts should pay their way. We're just reluctant to ask them to do yet another fundraiser during the year... which if it's something like subs or candy bars... is probably only going to raise $200 anyway.

 

The families in our school district are totally and completely inundated with fundraisers from the PTO and sports organizations. I believe our boys do their best with popcorn sales... but their efforts are just not enough to support the pack the way they once did.

 

Any thoughts? ... because truly I'm open to advice & ideas here. We ARE trying to do the right thing and I am approaching this all very cautiously because I do not want to dive into something that compromises scout ideals.

 

 

[Eamonn]

PackCC99,

Fuzzy Bear is right.

While Scout Districts can and do a lot.

While I don't want to go into the full workings of a District and do not want to belittle the workings of the people who make a District work.

Districts are an arm of the Council and most of the goals they have to meet are all about numbers.

* Membership Numbers.

Each District should have a Membership Chair, who leads the District Membership Committee, they should work on new units and recruiting.

* Finance.

Again each District should have a Finance Chair, who leads the District Finance Committee. They should work on the FOS Campaign this is normally in 3 parts.

District: How much will be collected from the members of the District Committee.

Family: Working on the presentations that will be made to the units.

Community: Money that will be collected from the local community.

When I was District Chair. I wanted more effort put into the Community Campaign.

My feelings were that the units have a hard enough time trying to come up with the money they needed to provide a worth while program.

We were lucky that we had a very active Community Chairman, he worked with the District Finance Chair and the DE.

The District was split into communities, each with a Community Captain, he or she was responsible for recruiting people who would "Work" 5 -10 Cards.

The idea being that people will more than lightly give money to someone they know who asks them in person.

We are a very small District in a rural area.

At the time we were serving about 1,000 traditional members.

My goal while it never was recorded was to bring in enough money to pay the salary of the DE. A little over $30,000 a year.

While I was Chairman we seen a lot of the bigger companies in the area close or move out. This really hurt us as many of them did donate to the Council (by-passing the District and not helping us meet or reach our goal.) But a lot of the parents of our Scouts lost their jobs. Money was tight and they were unable to donate to the family FOS.

The Council has a budget of almost $1.5 Million. That money has to come from some where.

Last year we came up short.

The Field Director we had left under a cloud, but was never replaced. He was the guy who gave leadership to the DE's, without a FD, I noticed that a lot of things that should have been done, weren't being done.

There was talk about selling off the only Camp site we own (the other is leased from the state.)

Building and maintenance of buildings came to a halt. 84 Lumber had donated over $100,000 worth of lumber, but the Council couldn't afford the nails, cement and shingles that was needed. Camp fees went up by $25.00 the biggest increase the Council had ever imposed.

We can all argue if Councils spend money as wisely as they should? I know at times I feel that the pros are not doing enough and seem to rely too much on the people who are doing the most to give the most.

I have never understood why each and every Council doesn't have a skilled Grant Writer on staff.

You are correct when you say that money given to your CO can be given without following the Guidelines.

Of course that money isn't really been given to the Pack and it would be up to the CO if they want to use it for the Pack.

They could use it for something else, which might lead to a lot of ill feelings.

Eamonn.

[ScoutNut]

If you go to your Scout Shop, & purchase a copy of the pamphlet #14-619A, "District Finance", I believe you will find it states that no direct solicitation of funds by units is permitted. Asking for Corporate Sponsorships is direct solicitation of funds.

 

Regardless of what your DE is telling you, or what you feel your finance folks at your council are doing, I can pretty much GUARANTEE that your council is doing fundraising aimed at business (both big & small) in your area. Soliciting money from a business will get them a heck of a lot more $ than hitting up their members and councils need money to survive.

 

Now, perhaps they have managed to overlook the one (or more) business that your Pack has approached, but that does not mean that the council is doing nothing in your area.

 

As to your Pack's money needs - Why do you need over $200 to run your Pack's PWD? How much more are you talking here? $500 - $1000 - $3000? How many boys do you have? Do you have an annual budget?

 

Every area in the country has to face multiple fundraiser from scouts, schools & sports. Especially at the beginning of the school year! This is not something unique to your area. Our Scouts attend a Catholic grade school. Much of their families income goes to pay for that schooling. On top of that the school has mandatory fundraisers & many of the boys are on multiple sports teams (some are traveling which are even MORE expensive). Many of our families also have girls in Scouting. The girls have candy/nut/magazine sales at the same time as our popcorn sale and then their cookie sale directly after. With all of that our Pack, with an average of 30-40 Cubs, makes between $3,000 - $4,000 each year from popcorn. We pay for books, scarfs, awards, patches, PWD cars, Cub admission to outings, Pack camping and much more.

 

The only "Corporate Sponsorship" a unit should need is that of their Charter Organization. Our CO helped us to purchase a new 4-lane PWD track, so we named our race in their honor. If they could not have done that we would have continued to use (& repair) our old track & possibly looked into holding a few car washes to pay for a new one. What more do you need?