When must the scout quit trying to raise funds for his Eagle Project?

[ghst]

OK the title of my question sounds pretty strange but here is my question.

 

Scenario: Eagle scout does all the paperwork for fund raising, project application,etc. Does not get all the funds to complete the project. Parents purchase material to complete project. Project is completed and signed off by beneficiary. Scout turns in paperwork has eagle scout board of review, passing that and gets his Eagle.

 

Can that Eagle scout then continue to try and get donations for that project to offset the costs that the parents incurred by fronting the money to purchase material ? I have looked all over the Eagle Scout Project Fund Raising information and can't find anything. Searched this forum also.

 

My gut feeling on this is once that project is signed off it is done period. No more fund raising because where would you draw the line? Anyway this question is coming up in our troop and I can't find any BSA official rule.

[Eagle69]

I woud say that once the project is done it is done, no hitting up anybody else for additional funds.

 

[scoutergipper]

I woud say that once the project is done it is done, no hitting up anybody else for additional funds.

I agree. I would be disappointed in a Scout who had his parents bail him out. While some small portion might come from parents, my view is that the vast majority should come from outside sources, and that all the money should be raised before the project starts.

[qwazse]

I woud say that once the project is done it is done, no hitting up anybody else for additional funds.

I think it's up to the council to decide if there's an inappropriate time for the fundraising. My understanding of the point of the fundraising application is to make sure the methods used don't conflict with the BSA's values and other fundraisers.

 

As long as the boy makes it clear that the fundraiser is to pay off personal loans that underwrote the completed project, there's no ethical conflict. Most of your federal taxes, for example, are to pay off the interest accrued on dept (not even the dept itself) for services already used. But, just like taxes, fundraising is that much harder when donors realize they are contributing retroactively.

 

Obviously, there is a point when the boy should call it quits. More than a couple of months, and it gets a little absurd. Might as well give those receipts to the tax preparer.

[ghst]

Well this is a question that has come up and our council has to figure out something out that is fair. I just don't want us to come up with an answer which is counter to BSA rules on the issue.

[qwazse]

Well this is a question that has come up and our council has to figure out something out that is fair. I just don't want us to come up with an answer which is counter to BSA rules on the issue.

I doubt you'll find a national policy on this.

[Basementdweller]

There is no policy, but certainly bad form on the families part.

 

If they had no intention of donating out of pocket then they should have never fronted the money. Fundraising money going directly into a persons pocket is bad form.

 

The money does not belong to the Parent or scout

 

"It must be clear to all donors or event participants that the money is being raised on behalf of the project

beneficiary. Once collected, money raised must be turned over for deposit to an account of the beneficiary"

 

http://advancement.ppbsa.org/pdf/FundraisingApplication.pdf

 

 

 

[DuctTape]

While we cannot go back and un-ring the bell, I wonder if the scout was advised to reconsider the size and scope of the project to fit within the budgetary constraints of the money raised. Adapting to this type of challenge is one of the major learning pieces of the eagle project. It sounds like the parents with all the good intentions unwittingly denied their boy a great opportunity to learn. IMO, their penance should be to now view that money as a donation.

[Kristian]

Once the project is done, its done. It sounds like he did raise all the money, some came from fundraising and the rest is absolutely a donation from the parents. If the scout wasn't going to be accepting of family donations the project should have been delayed until other funding sources could be found.

 

In many organizations those leading the fundraising or the board will personally make up any difference between what was raised and what might be necessary to fulfill some task if they can afford it.

[JoeBob]

I think that any bureaucratic restriction on late fundraising is just red tape. Organizing an Eagle project doesn't give a Scout the ability to forecast how much money donors will give. If parents are willing to advance funding to keep a project on schedule, what is wrong with them expecting some reimbursement? To assume that parents' loans are automatically a donation is nonsensical, and a burden on less wealthy parents.

 

We want our Eagles to stay involved with the troop, right? If they have to continue fund raising to pay off their Eagle project, they have a financial interest to hang around. To say that "Your Eagle project is done. Over. End of story. Quit. You can't work on that anymore!" is to drive the boys away.

 

Some of the projects that we're writing up now include a maintenance contract asking the scout to re-visit his project after a year to assure that it's holding up as planned, and to correct any failures.

(Raised gardening beds for a school.)

[Twocubdad]

I disagree with most of what has been written.

 

First, this is a question for the beneficiary organization. The funds are being raised on their behalf and in their name. If they are cool with it I see no reason the troop or council should have a complaint. Hopefully, the Scout should have been up front with the beneficiary about his financial situation and made them aware of how his fundraising was going.

 

Secondly, if it is acceptable for parents or Scouts to self-fund projects, why isn't it acceptable for the parent to "loan" the Scout money to keep the the project going. We don't know what time constraints the Scout may have been under. Maybe he was leaving for school and needed to finish over the summer. Maybe the project involved landscaping and needed to be in before a hard freeze. Sounds like an interesting Personal Management lesson in cash flow.

 

As to the various sign-offs, I think an argument can be made that if the Scout is still raising money the project isn't complete. Again, the Scout needs to disclose this in his write up. The SM and BOR can approve or not, that's is their prerogative. As an SM, I would need to know more details. If this were written up as a change in scope and documented as such, I'd be inclined to sign off on it, assuming the change didn't drop the scope of the project below what I would consider an acceptable project.

 

Personally, I think it is entirely honorable for the Scout to stick to his original commitment to the project, find solutions and not bail because of the failure of his fundraising effort.

[IM_Kathy]

I will first say I don't know the policies on all of this.

 

But in my opinion... once all is signed as done, turned in, and a board is done then obviously everything is done.

 

Now the whole hypotheticals of age, school, and whatever.... the boy knew what his deadline was, he needed to work that in.

 

If there was no "time" worry to get eagle and was just for say weather then I can see someone floating a loan, work gets done, and then continue fundraising. But only until all fundraising is done does paperwork get signed off and project is considered done.

 

[eghiglie]

Still it is easy to circumvent the rules. For example the boy holds a car wash to raise funds. Of course his mom and dad will get their car washed and put $150 each in the bucket (or more). Saw this done quite a few times. It doesn't pass the smell test but its "legal".

 

Sometimes the benefiting organization has the project in the their budget and the materials are paid for by them. Saw this done also.

 

I see nothing wrong with this. But a parent should not expect to be paid back by doing more fund raising. I saw one family solicit funds at the Court of Honor.

[Papadaddy]

I don't know why we need a "rule" for everything. Fundraising is an integral part of the project. Once the beneficiary signs off that the work is complete, the project is "done". If the parents gave the scout a "loan" in order to meet a deadline (age?), with the intent that the scout would continue fundraising after the deadline, that's called "cheating". So...if I were in a position to decide, I would say no more fundraising for that purpose.

[DuctTape]

I have noticed in the last couple decades a directional shift in Eagle projects to be more structure building requiring significant material cost and expertise well beyond that of a scout. In the past, projects were more labor intensive requiring the candidate to organize other scouts (and some adults) to accomplish a significant task, any cost was usually minor and often the benefiting organization would pony up that small amount.

 

In all of your estimations, what percentage of projects require significant fundraising? Have you noticed a difference from years past?