parental assistance

[GKlose]

Eamonn says something interesting, which I think should be examined: (And lets be honest in most cases it is the parents who end up selling the stuff!)

 

I have a couple of immediate reactions to this statement, the first of which is something that Dear Abby says: nobody can take advantage of you without your permission.

 

The second comes from my own experience...I was fourth in line, so by the time my parents got to me, they were fairly weary with everything. Once I was past the Cub Scout stage, I was on my own, especially with regards to fundraising. The other part of that is that I didn't really know what to do, but I figured it out along the way. I didn't know it at the time, but I worked on developing a sales pitch. It didn't work at first, but it came with practice.

 

By the time my troop got around to selling Christmas trees, my scoutmaster fed me several interesting nuggets which I still remember to this day. Such as "listen to the customer"...one tree-buying customer, a woman, told me "I like trees like my husband, big and tall". After that, I started to focus on, first of all, who is the decision maker, and if it was a wife, I checked out her husband...short and fat? Tall and skinny? It was a good place to start in terms of picking out trees!

 

My point is that this stuff doesn't happen automatically. It is a teaching moment. Fundraising is a skill, just like any other skill, mental, athletic, musical or whatever. It has to be taught/learned, and it has to be practiced. If it bypasses the scout straight to the parents, then the scout isn't really gaining anything from the experience, right?

 

[Gold Winger]

My kids did most of their own selling. I'd tag along and stand back on the curb while they banged on the door and did the pitch. My wife and I would sell a little bit at work because people would ask but for the most part it was the kids knocking on doors. How much? Usually about 400 boxes of GS cookies and abour $2,000 in popcorn.

 

Like you, I had to do my own selling. My mother said, "if you want the prize, get out there." You learn a lot about life when you're knocking on door. "No" is always an acceptable answer. People will chew your ear to tell you why they don't want your product. Back in those days, ladies would invite me in for a glass of milk and some cookies (ah, good old and safe days). I did the knocking on the door bit into high school. A cousin was commissioner for a baseball league whose parents would lag behind in fund raising so I'd hit the streets and sell more raffle tickets than any individual team.

 

Back to the future. Nowadays, parents hear what my kids have sold and they whine "I can't sell that much at work." I point out that it wasn't sold at work, it was sold door to door. The response is "my kid won't do that because it's too much work." Tought noogies, you want the prize, you gotta sell.

 

You're right, it is a teaching moment. A great way to prepare for adulthood situations like when you go for a job interview and they say, "Sorry. . . " Or when you do get that job and find out that your boss expects you to solve your own problems.

 

I'll buy just about anything that I can use from a kid who knocks on my door, if he has a decent presentation. If all he says is "You wanna buy this?" and he's willing to listen, I'll give him a five minute lesson in salesmanship. If I'm out and I see band kids or Scouts or cheerleaders selling at a store and they're doing the selling and not the moms, I'll buy.

[SR540Beaver]

The funny thing is that many organizations continue to do fundraisers, but now discourage going door to door due to safety concerns. They instead want kids to target family and family friends and mom and dad to sell at work. Of course, many companies now ban fundraising in the work place and grandparents and aunts and uncles get tired of constantly being hit up for scouts, school, sports, band, etc. The old door to door is still the best bet because you don't wear out your customer base as much.........unless you are hitting them every week with a different organization.

[Gold Winger]

"The funny thing is that many organizations continue to do fundraisers, but now discourage going door to door due to safety concerns."

 

That's the party line but with a couple precautions, there's not much to worry about.

 

Don't go into the house.

Always go with a buddy.

Don't go to any house if the people there frighten you.

[rjscout]

I hate to hear it when a parent says that they don't want their son to sell popcorn. It does take more time as a parent to tag along while they sell, but it does give you more time to be with your son and to help them to grow. What better way to build confidence than to talk with people and to try to sell them something. I am like GW and will buy almost anything from a child for a fundraiser, even though I know that I could buy something similar for much less. It was easier when we were young and the world was safer. I actually went beyond the Scout fundraisers and sold greeting cards to get more great prizes. My son did pretty well last year with popcorn. Now he wants to be the top seller in the Pack. Hopefully we can get more boys enthused to help the pack and to help themselves.

 

It is great when the parent can help sell at the office, but I think it means more when the boy does most of the selling.

 

 

 

[Pack432Centerville]

Organizations discourage going door to door because parents don't want to take the time to go with their kids. YOu can't blame the organization for this, blame falls 100% on the parents. I can still remember selling Christmas Wreaths with my buddy Chris and our dads. We would help our dads load up the trailer and they would HELP us sell the wreaths. Here I am nearly 20 years later and I remember it like it was yesterday. Parents need to realize that this not just about making money, its about creating life long memories with your kids. I think in these busy times, that is the part that parents don't think about ... thats the part parents need to be reminded about.

[OldGreyEagle]

way back at the turn of the century (I love saying that) I started representing the Troop I serve at Pack cross over ceremonies. We usually draw from 3-4 packs and their Blue and Golds always see to be at the same time so I helped out.

 

I saw in the paper that the 2000 census said that children statyed home with their parents until the age of 21 (cant wait to see this number in 2010!) Anyway, at the Cross Over ceremony, I would mention that, that children live with their parents until the average age of 21 and since the boys are 11, half of the time the parents have with their children is gone. I got more than a few misty eyes from the parents.