Paying to Staff

[Eamonn]

Have to say that I've never thought of myself as a muckity-muck!

I do get invited to nearly all the Wood Badge Feasts and I've never ever thought of offering to pay.

I'm as a rule too busy or just too lazy to attend.

An invite means that I will blow the best part of a day and I really don't see a need for me to be there.

But, just as I don't expect guests that I invite to go out for dinner to pay. I see the fact that I was invited makes me a guest and I never ever in a million years thought of offering to pay.

I get invited to a lot of B&G banquets and COH where food is served, I don't offer to pay at them.

People seem more upset by the fact that I don't attend than me attending and not paying.

Ea.

[Basementdweller]

wow, there is no free staff events at our council.......Even university of scouting staff were charged $10 for lunch.....

 

 

 

I don't have a problem with paying for my own meals, Like KD I can see arguments both ways.

 

 

Moose far as kickbacks go........your staff meals must be much better than ours, we have cold cuts, pancakes and spagetti......No steak or shrimp here.

 

 

Eamon, COH and B&G's are different in my book an you are an invited guest.....If I invited you to attend, I would pay for your meal out of courtesy. I believe we are talking about working for the district and council where they are making a profit and still having to pay for meals.

 

edit to respond to eamon(This message has been edited by Basementdweller)

[SR540Beaver]

BasementDweller,

 

A 60% profit on WB? How much do your courses cost? Our council went from $185 to $200 a year or two ago and we have a really tough time budgeting on that amount. We've actually cut some of the traditional WB bling things out to stay within budget. With your 60% figure and my council's $200 price tag, that means the council is keeping $120 and the course is operating on $80. That doesn't even cover food costs in our council.

[OldGreyEagle]

So, in the thread about the scout using donated funds to buy food for the workers of his Eagle Project the only comment I had was to be sure he had the proper forms filled out for any discount or free food he may collect.

 

Why does that comment demand an explanation for what I said here? I don't see the connection

 

Its a BSA trainin event, everyone there is giving of time and effort, why should one side (faculty) be treated any different than the other side (students). Both sides are volunteers.

 

I thought the trainig of others, the passing along of knowledge I received from another, was a way of paying it forward.

 

Moosetracker, its called hyperbole

[moosetracker]

Ahhh.. These are staff lunchons, these are some sort of District Honorary dinner/fundraiser event.. We always skipped them, until hubby became Advancement chair and for some reason (Not sure why..) This event fell onto his plate of responsibility..

 

Therefore we go and WORK it, doing all the dinner prep, serving, and hours of cleanup.. For a meal it is pretty good but it is sort of like a wedding where you get what you get, but they doe prime rib or pork roast and fancy veggies and deserts.. The dinners are like $30 a plate.. And it is in a fancy restraurant where we rent the function Hall area for the night.. Now the council big wigs will come and dine for free and socialize at that function.

 

 

Us kitchen help also got our meals free.. But, what we get is working from noon to midnight, where we get about 10 minutes to wolf down a meal standing in the kitchen in, then back to work.. Last year I did donate to it.. The chef spent to the max of his budget last year and did something that ruined the cheese, so I ran to the store and donated like 10 pounds of cheese..

 

Personally for me though with my husband now required to be in attendance I'd rather my family work it, then pay $120 (4 people) to be catered to.. So maybe that is kickback also..

[Basementdweller]

Not sure what this years cost is, but I think I paid $275 for my course.

 

 

The 60% came from our DE that said an event would not be approved that did not make 60%.

[OldGreyEagle]

After everything you have told us about your DE including the FTE form, you believe him about this?

[Basementdweller]

OGE....He is probably talking out his

 

 

[SR540Beaver]

I've had a fair number of DE's in my scouting career. Most are gone. The one good one I had is now Council Progran Director. My experience is that most DE's are far to involved in trying to raise funds and membership numbers to actually know what is going on around them. We usually educate the DE's, instead of the other way around. 10 to 15% is a more customary number. 60%, either he doesn't know what he is talking about or you heard him wrong or your council is engaged in highway robbery.

[trainerlady]

One thing to remember about budgeting for large events/trainings is that you have to break even with a small number of attendees. I have have run a couple of larger events in my district over the last couple of years and know that this is the case. We had to set a break even point and figure out how many bodies it would take before an event was OKd. If the numbers weren't reached by the cut off point the event was cancelled.

 

Our only profits came when more than the break even point was achieved. One year's CS klondike had sub zero winds chills and a blizzard, the next year was sunny, warm (for a northern tier state) and a nice layer of week old snow. Year one we had our quota to run, turn out was awful and we just scraped by. The next year we had walk-ins up the ying-yang. Walk-ins paid a premium for walking in on top of the regular fee. We made a bundle on the event that year. Didn't get to keep it for the next "rainy day" event though. Council got it and complained the next year when they didn't get a bundle again after another bad weather year.

 

Budgets, at least around here, have to set for a minimum number of attendees to make ends meet. However, if you max out your event capacity making a profit isn't out of the question. I just would like control over where that profit went. In some cases I'd like to see all participants get a buck or two back (when logistically possible), in other cases let the event keep the money for future use at that event. A reasonable profit from a day camp or camporee can be invested in next year's event - lower registration fees, a new piece of equipment for the event, secure a deposit, etc. Maybe give a couple of bucks back to your volunteers if they bought stuff for their portion of the event or give them a rebate on their fees for attending.

 

Personally I don't mind paying a small fee to volunteer. I'll pay for my food and accomodations.

[Eagle92]

SO TRUE!

 

I've had a fair number of DE's in my scouting career. Most are gone. The one good one I had is now Council Progran Director. My experience is that most DE's are far to involved in trying to raise funds and membership numbers to actually know what is going on around them. We usually educate the DE's, instead of the other way around.

[Basementdweller]

Our camporee's are expected to net 60%. I was at the meeting when that was discussed. Our camporee activity fee is $15.....that is for camping at a State park, which is free, and a patch. So I am guessing they are making at least 50% on that one if not more.

[moosetracker]

Wow your State Parks are free.. Ours charge, and there isn't any break for youth groups, or discounted group rates.. No exception.. This is the price per person.

[Abel Magwitch]

My troop is volunteer run. Monies are collected for campouts for the purpose of buying food and to pay the scout camp fees. Everybody pays including the adult leaders.

 

At least in my district and council, it is the volunteers who organize and run events such as training, camporees etc. And in my district and council, its the volunteer leaders of these events that collect the monies, order the patches, get the food (many times they actually do the cooking) etc.

 

Training is many times held in various churches at no cost to the district or council. Churches here generally open their doors and allow Scouts to put on their training for the district and sometimes the council without requiring a fee.

 

Now I know how things have been done and continue to be done in my district and council but I like to know how it is done elsewhere

 

At district or council events where there is a fee, there is usually one or more pros who show up to oversee things. Again they leave things up to the volunteer leadership to organize and run the events (as this is a volunteer run organization) but they do show up. Do you volunteer leaders also charge the professional a fee to participate in the event? Or do you generally allow them a free meal that has been paid for by everybody else including the instructors?

[hicountry]

Let me get this right...still shaking my head....

 

You want a volunteer to help teach woodbadge and you want that person to cough up $200 plus for the priveledge of taking a a weekend or more of their time providing you basically free labor ? Sounds like a double negative incentive to me. I think I'd take the road of, no thanks, I'll keep my time to use as I see fit and byt he way, in so doing will save a couple hundred bucks in the bargain....no brainer to me.

 

When I travel or am in all day company trainings the company who I work for salary compensates my meals, ledging etc or provides lunch at the seminar. So when I am volunteering....ie NOT working for pay I am expected to pay to work ? And the council making a profit on this is the salt in the wound. Bet they get a lot of NO THANKS from people who would otherwise help staff this stuff.