Troop Finances

[nolesrule]

oops.(This message has been edited by nolesrule)

[nolesrule]

Trailer repair is a general troop expense, the kind of thing that should be paid for out of the general fund.

 

You guys are making the accounting overly complicated. And again, nothing should be debited out of a scout account without direction from the scout or his parents (even if you are billing individually for advancement).

 

The way you are running the accounting, it sounds to me like you are running a co-op, not a scouting unit.

 

As we have said, you need to reassess how you fill the general fund, not how you redestribute the expenses to members. You start losing scouts and the expenses charged to the families will get out of hand fast.

[nolesrule]

Just as an aside, I'm currently doing some computer work at my dad's office (killing time waiting for diagnostics to run). He's a CPA and a former ASM of about 10 years. I described the situation regarding your books and how individuals are being charged for group expneses and he just shook his head.

[John-in-KC]

I have to wonder what District out there is requiring they approve the unit budget to sell popcorn. If I was a COR in that District, it would not be a friendly cup of coffee with the chairman and the DE. It'd be a confrontational business meeting ... and the message I'd be sending is "If you want my churchs' support, stay the **** out of my business affairs."

 

Now, if this unit is a SCOUTREACH unit, that's a different story. Then, the District has some responsibilities.

 

Someone made a comment earlier about camp fees. That, to me, is one of the places where a chartered partner can best help a Scout. Billy is already giving his lawn mowing earnings to Mom and Dad so they can make the mortgage or pay the car payment (that's really happening in my neck of the woods). That's the kind of situation where the Chartered Partner silently steps in with the Scoutmaster, and makes sure that boy can go to camp. I also know Chartered Partners which do their own fundraising, such as Saturday breakfasts at the Legion post... Scouts come in as individuals to be busboys ... Legion makes sure the Scouts have camp fees paid.

 

Finally, if District tells you get bent on selling popcorn, Scouting magazine is full of other products to sell! Wreaths do well this time of year.

[boomerscout]

Not everyone likes to sell. Your three (?) fundraisers: pizza cards, spaghetti dinner, popcorn all involve sales. You might consider a change of pace -- a non-selling findraiser.

who set up the troop's accounting-bookkeeping system in the first place? the way troop expenses are jumbled with personal expenses makes us wonder.

Please don't be offended by us. Some of us who have been in Scouting a long time -- from Cub Sprouts to Scouter have been there, done that. We sometimes see consequences where newbies may not even see causes. Sometimes we are even correct.

[boomerscout]

John-in-KC: From having lived in the area, I can tell you that not many in South Florida buy Christmas wreaths

[nolesrule]

Do they buy gift cards? There are programs out there for selling gift cards, where a portion of the proceeds goes to the non-profit (and they even get a cut for refilling the card online). My dad is running the program at my synagogue, and it's doing well. It's amazing the huge list of retailers involved in the program.

 

The nice thing is you can collect the full price of the cards in advance, then purchase them at the discount and distribute them when they are received. Even better, if you give people your group's code, they can buy the gift cards online themselves and your group gets the commission, all without ever having to touch any money.

 

I looked to see if any scout units were doing this, and found one troop website that does it year round with order turn-ins twice a month. They collect the money, place the order, then distribute the cards when received.

 

The nice thing is that since these are gift cards for major retailers, there's not a perception of having to overcharge for a retail product in order to raise money... how often have we heard the complaint about overpriced popcorn?

 

Yeah, this is a bit off-topic, but it could help.

 

 

[boomerscout]

nolesrule:

we do the giftcards for two area groceries. first we took a survey to see where the Scout parents actually shopped, and approached those specific stores. one gives us 3%. we still need to call the parents from time to time to refill the card, or even do they need a new card. receipts from renewals go into a hopper for prize drawings at the Families of Troop # Christmas potluck (where we discuss the troop's past year)

do the math: $100 a week for groceries is $150 into the troop ea year

[nolesrule]

That's not too bad really. Obviously local grocery stores are going to be easy sells.

 

Unfortunately, the single dominant grocery chain here, while a good company, doesn't do any gift card fundraising programs.

 

The program my synagogue uses has numerous retailers with varying percentages. From 1.5% up to around 14%. We're talking gas stations, mall retailers, Amazon.com, CVS and Walgreens, and much more. Here's the full list.

 

http://www.glscrip.com/shop/specialoffers.aspx

 

Just suggesting it as a possibility. I have no relationship with this company, other than that I use it to support my synagogue's fundraising efforts.

[ScoutNut]

Our church/school uses The Manna Group. Lots of restaurants, big box stores, clothing stores, various retail/speciality stores, theaters, etc. It is an easy way to help both yourself and the organization. Great for birthday gift cards, and I know they do a big business around the holidays.

 

If you go with scrip fundraising, I would check out area companies. That way you can get gift cards from both local businesses and national chains.

 

 

[galvodog6]

your sponsor is supposed to help out with finances, as it states in the CC hanbook. Then there are fundraisers, and also, there are companies that would love to give a donation to troops. My company dontaes $750 every year for each employee involved and the donation goes to THE TROOP itself, not the national