A Scout is Thrifty...

[Eamonn]

Lisabob

Far be it for me to tell anyone how to spend their hard earned cash.

I don't buy into this running total thingymebobsywotsit.

Scouting is my hobby.

I don't hunt, so I'm not buying guns, ammo, the gear that you might need to go hunting.

I have been to some Wild Turkey Federation and Ducks Unlimited Banquets and people who attend are not shy about putting their hand in their pocket to support these causes.

I no longer play golf (Due to my poor old back!!) I never was much good anyway.

I did pay the membership fee to join our local club (Have since changed it to a family pool membership) I pay $125.00 a month for food and drinks. It makes no difference if I eat or drink the $125 ! I get charged anyway!!

Pals of mine fork over big bucks for special clubs and travel all over the USA and beyond to play. Some help support Scouting by playing in Council golf outing fund-raising event.

Visit my basement and there is some boxes (Lots of boxes) OJ got his first Nintendo when he was about 8. I can't remember what he system player cost? I'm guessing about $100. It's in the box with a stack of games that cost me about $20.00 each. We upgraded to the super Nintendo which cost more and the games went to $30.00 each. We have a stack of them. After that we got the Play station. Same thing more money and the games cost more!! Now we have the X-Box. the last games I paid for were $60 each.

He is on his third laptop. The last one was an Apple which cost me over $2,000.

 

Scouts and Scouting, even with the uniforms and extra events such as Jamborees, NOAC, Philmont. Is by far the cheapest activity he has been in.

Even a simple game like soccer, with special boots and over priced Soccer Camps ended up costing me more than Scouting.

I just thanked my lucky stars that he wasn't playing ice hockey!!

 

I got conned into doing a FOS presentation last night. The Troop is located in a small rural community. The charter said that the Troop has 33 Scouts.

My presentation wasn't that bad.

I got 17 cards back. A couple were for over $300.00, most were for $100.00 a couple were around $50.00

I came away thinking that it had been worth my while to drive out there.

But the hard truth is that nearly half the families are not doing anything to support the Council.

I know it's been a tough year.

I've "Lost" a lot of money in the market and from my investments, I'm paying the high price for gas and heating oil.

I put off buying the new car I'd promised myself.

I'm sure that some people can't afford some of the things that might be nice to do -Like supporting their Council.

But I'm wondering what these people would do if the Council wasn't there?

No summer Camp?

No Council Service Center close to home?

No local support?

I'm 100% for bringing Traditional Scouting units to areas where they could do some real good.

But I think we all know that there is no such thing as a free lunch.

Eamonn.

 

[SSScout]

E: I agree that Scouting is really a better deal than most other activities. But that still doesn't explain why some units seem to actively choose NOT to support the bigger Scout world. FoS is the support that does that, so it would seem. And FoS is then divided into three parts, so as to approach the smaller donors and the larger donors appropriately.

Ultimately, it would seem that that is why our area is being reorganized again for the second time in less than five years. The official reason being given that it will be easier to assign a DE for the larger District that will be named. So (I am told) the present 7 Districts we have in the area will be made into 3. Our present District has about 48 Units (T,S,P,VC) and the new District may have as many as 100. It is all about money. If the DE gets the FoS, and retains membership and creates new units, then he/she is retained. If he/she is good at it, he/she is promoted. One I know, who was well liked and I thought very competant, saw the handwriting on the wall, and transferred to another Council. She has not been replaced.

Neither has the other two that have left, transferred or are otherwise not in Scouting. Our present DE is one year old (!) and still learning our ropes. But even he , in coffee hours, shakes his head and marvels at the goals he has been set. He is a retired man, is a DE more as a hobby, has no real need of the income. He is well organized, attentive and dedicated. Speaks well of his training but again shakes his head at some of the higher ups. I suspect it is because of his success in FoS (in only a little more than a year)that his District is being doubled(!).

 

So do your units pay their fair share? Or does the money they make "stay home"?

 

 

[Eamonn]

SSScout,

A couple of years back I sat in on a Finance meeting of our Area.

I had been asked to explain to a room full of professionals why the District I served was so successful with our District Community Campaign..

The meeting was held in a conference room in a hotel. 13 Councils were represented.

I was the only non-pro in the room.

I knew a good many of the SE's, mainly from my involvement in WB and the Jamborees.

I seem to remember that there were about sixty people in the room.

The meeting started with everyone getting up, saying who they were, what Council they came from and how long they had been on the job.

I was really taken back by the number of people who had so little time in. A good number had less than a year!!

Talking with the SE's it seemed to me that none of them had any real training in how to bring home "Real Money".

Not one Council had ever hired a Grant Writer and a few SE's had no idea what I was talking about.

A number of the Councils were not in any way actively looking for or trying to get any type of grants from foundations or places like that.

In fact most seemed happy to keep on doing things the way they had always done them.

I was given a CD with the latest thinking that National had on Finance. It wasn't that enlightening.

I think we are all aware that money is needed in order for us to do what our Vision and Mission statements say that we will do.

Of course if the money just isn't there and isn't coming in, services have to be cut.

Sometimes this can be a good thing.

Here in the tiny Council I serve, over the past few years we have seen the Assistant Scout Executive and the Field Director positions been done away with. To be honest I haven't noticed any big change in the services provided to the Units and while not having a Field Director has at times allowed DE's to not perform up to what I think is an acceptable standard, I'm kinda willing to accept the savings made by the Council by not having to pay for a Field Director as the price for this lack luster performance.

I'm not exactly sure what a DE costs?

I'm thinking with salary and benefits the cost must be close to $65k a year for a new DE.

The recommendation was that a DE should serve about 1,000 youth members.

This of course would mean that we need $65.00 per youth member per year just to pay the DE.

I really don't think DE's are over-paid. In fact I'm sure that if the starting salary was any less we just wouldn't attract anyone!

Councils do need to be more careful with how they spend the money they do have.

Council Executive Boards do need to go over the budgets that the SE prepares, making sure that they are realistic and not based on wishful thinking and "Stretch Goals".

Some cuts are unavoidable. Sadly some of these cuts will upset some people.

This year will be a really tough year for everyone.

Our Council does receive a percentage of the interest that the endowment fund makes each year. We have all seen how bad things have been in the financial markets.

Ordinary everyday overhead bills for heating and lighting the Council Service Centers along with providing gas to transport DE's to where they need to be have gone through the roof.

Health insurance for Council employees has gone up a lot. The list goes on.

To my way of thinking what we have in place right now, just doesn't work.

It doesn't seem fair to me that some people go above and beyond while others are happy to do nothing.

It could be that the entire way we are set up needs a re-think? I don't know what this might mean or entail.

Some of the small Councils are just not going to make it. Here in the part of PA where I live we have a fair amount of these smaller Councils.

Councils that operate Summer Camps with less than 500 Scouts attending all Summer??

Camps that are just not being used? Or are under used?

Many of us have fond memories of these places and many of us have strong emotional ties to belonging to a Council or a District.

This is a good thing, but unless we are willing to put our money where our mouth is! Who pays to keep all of these up and running?

Councils do need to do a better job of not relying on the volunteers for as much of the income as they have in the past.

I know that $100.00 a year membership is not enough, but if everyone paid the $100.00 we would be better off than we are now.

Councils do need to watch each and every cent that is spent, ensuring that they do provide the best possible services.

But we the volunteers also need to get away from thinking that just because we volunteer and give our time that we can get away with not putting our hand in our pockets.

 

"He works to pay his own way..."

Eamonn.