Popcorn prices out of control?

[Jeffrey H]

Popcorn prices may be high, but our Pack did a tremendous sales job this year.  We sold $8,000 retail of Popcorn compared to last year when we sold only $1,000.  The difference we made this year was setting a realistic sales goal that can be easily achieved by every Scout.  Scouting is well received in our area and people respond positively to Popcorn sales. 

 

Were done now and can move on to fun stuff.  Yea!!

 

[MomToEli]

This has been an interesting thread to read. I thought I would address this as the mom of a Wolf Cub, rather than as a Den Leader ...

 

Yes, the popcorn is pricey (and we don't use Trails End here - our's is a better value, IMO, but still pricey). So is all the school fundraiser junk I've bought this year to support other children's efforts. But I buy it anyway for several reasons - support the child, support the organization are just a couple of them.

 

I think there is a far greater lesson here, and point, than raising money for an organization. I know I love the growth opportunity this has provided for my almost 8 yo son. He made a plan and he worked his plan. He learned to wait to start speaking until the other person was able to give them his attention. He started out looking at his toes and ended up looking people directly in the eye. He learned to speak in such a manner that other people can understand and hear him. He learned to feel proud of being affliated with an organization worthy of that pride. He set a goal -- so high we had no doubts that he could NOT POSSIBLY meet that goal, but we trudged along anyway. This morning, he surpassed his goal (and I only placed a smaller order early on). He has been dreaming over that prize sheet for a month. Now he can't sleep, he can't quit talking about it. And the pride I, as a parent, feel for him for his tenacity is priceless.

 

He also learned how to accept no and even borderline (or blatant) rudeness with integrity and a thank you. He learned that you don't quit -- some will, some won't, so what. He learned not to let other people control his efforts or his success. I could easily go on and on.

 

So, as a mother, THANK YOU, BSA for even having a fundraiser! Perhaps a big part of the difference is that I, as the parent, never once saw the inconvience of it, or the unworthiness of it. I saw the opportunity to teach my child and we ran with it! Just my $.02.

[Scouter_x1]

Popcorn...... If the guy who started the whole popcorn thing had seen what the Scouts have done to it he would roll in his grave. Most councils earn 1/3 of their operational budget from the Scouts working for them by selling popcorn. I can tell you that in our council you are punished for not selling it. You actually pay a higher price for summer camp and for use of certain facilities. What a Joke! We wonder why Scouting numbers are down but we dont look at the "business" end of it at all. I was online putting together a venturing uniform the other day and it came out to $157.00 FOR A SINGLE COMPLETE UNIFORM! My troop sells cookie dough and subs along with reeths and flowers and our boys can go anyplace they want. The average Scout in the troop has about $400 in their account. We wouldnt have that if we sold popcorn.

 

 

[AnEagle]

Hmm, as someone who is not envolved with scouting I just want to make a quick comment. One day I too was going in a store and saw some Boy Scouts selling popcorn. Now since I don't eat popcorn I wouldn't have payed much atteniton but the fact was I and several others were giving them second glances because frankly we didn't even know our town had a boy scout troop! Now this may be just where I'm from and I'm not suggesting anything but the fact is that we never see the scouts unless they want money. I know several Eagle Scouts and suport the BSA but isn't there a way that the troops can actually demonstrate to the public what they're learning to encourage donations? In todays society people want to see the benifits of the cost they're paying, to say that it will benefit the troop is all well and good but unless you have a son, nephew brother etc in the organization the only thing people see is a small bag of popcorn. The organization is private not secret show the public what they're son, nephews, couins etc can learn to do and they will make donations with or without popcorn. :-)

[BrentAllen]

It's amazing the correlation between those who are so negative about popcorn (or anything else) and their units losing membership. Hmmmmm....

 

Can't never could.

 

We are in an area with 7 Packs and 6 Troops within a 10 mile radius. These are fairly large units. Our Pack has 120 boys. I can step out my front door and see 4 houses with Scout families. One could look at the numbers and convince themselves that the market is saturated, that there is no way they are going to sell any popcorn. Or they could just go sell popcorn.

I set a goal of $150 in sales per boy for our Pack, for a grand total of $18,000. This was a modest increase from the $16,500 we sold last year. The boys really took it to heart this year, and blew away my goal - they sold $26,577! Our top seller was over $3,100. So, please, don't tell me it is over-priced or deceitful or give me any other excuses. We are teaching the boys to pay for the programs we bring to the Pack, that they need to carry their weight. They are earning this money, not just having mommy and daddy pull out their wallet.

Many people probably think Corvettes are over-priced, but there are plenty of salesmen making very good livings selling them. I believe that is the essence of salesmanship - convincing the buyer of the value of the entire product - popcorn, Council, unit programs.