Tired, lonely ASM

[qwazse]

... to be Eagle by the Summer of 2015...and THEN' date=' Brothers and Sisters, I AM retiring. [/quote']

 

Clearly the SM has been looking for a way to move on, and your new ASM is it. In my opinion, at some point you should get the two of them in a room and suggest it's time to call a spade a spade, clear it with the CC, and swap patches in front of the boys at everyone's earliest possible convenience.

 

By retiring, I hope you mean shedding a bunch of position patches that seem to get you stuck with meetings and paperwork! But, save a little piece for the boys. Counsel your favorite MB, teach silly songs, etc ...

 

Hopefully your son, as an Eagle, will become an even more essential resource to the troop. If he get's his bird on schedule, he has an opportunity to be "the guy" that these new scouts will look up to ... the one who is "in it" for more than the "bling."

[SeattlePioneer]

It's time for rechartering. Who does that?

 

 

I think I might try calling each parent and asking them to volunteer to do some needed task in order for the boy to be able to register for the next year.

[Stosh]

It's time for rechartering. Who does that?

 

 

I think I might try calling each parent and asking them to volunteer to do some needed task in order for the boy to be able to register for the next year.

 

"Yeah, if you don't sign up to work, your boy can't be part of the program." -> There's a PR nightmare just waiting to happen.

 

I'd kinda back off on that one.

 

I did post a couple of times how to get people involved in the units by focusing on activities and NOT on the people themselves. They get pretty vocal once you make them feel guilty enough.

 

Stosh

[King Ding Dong]

I think the better approach is if we cannot get this done as a group non of us will have program next year for our boys.

 

No one will step up to CC for the troop so I have to do it. My next landmine I see on the horizon is a troop mandatory minimum fundraising goal or a mandatory buyout. Everyone on the committee seems to think we can do this, after all they "voted" on it.

[SeattlePioneer]

<<"Yeah, if you don't sign up to work, your boy can't be part of the program." -> There's a PR nightmare just waiting to happen.

>>

 

 

 

Well, I haven't done that, but I don;t think there's anything wrong with it as a policy, used judiciously.

 

 

Personally, I wouldn't burden the single mom working two jobs and barely making things work. Go with God....

 

 

But a good many other families are Artful Dodgers, who avoid helping out unless unit leaders make pretty clear demands on them. Then they are probably willing to help out. Tapping into these folks would be my aim with this kind of policy.

 

 

Having some pretty clear expectations of families to support the program seems quite reasonable to me. Otherwise, you are going to burden other unit leaders unreasonably, or wind up with a failed unit when the existing leaders leave.

[Stosh]

We just explain to the parents that if the money isn't there, we can't fund the unit. The popcorn sales this year ranged from sales for an individual $400 to $2500. While that might be quite a bit unfair in most parents eyes, there's one boy out there paying the way for the others. He's the PL and "he's taking care of his boys". And yet, how many troops out there would be elated if the minimum sales for their boys was $400. Relative to the unit it was kinda unbalanced. Relative to Scouting in general, it was pretty darn good. Considering that no money goes into any ISA and that all the money goes into the general fund of the troop, it's kind of an anomaly, but I have NO ONE complaining. I also have one parent from every family registered in an adult position.

 

Stosh

[SeattlePioneer]

<<. Considering that no money goes into any ISA and that all the money goes into the general fund of the troop, it's kind of an anomaly, but I have NO ONE complaining. I also have one parent from every family registered in an adult position.

 

Stosh >>

 

 

That's excellent!

 

Reason we use Scout Accounts is so families can, if they wish, pay for all Scouting expenses without leaning on the family budget.

 

Or, they can pay cash for stuff including pack dues if their time is more valuable than cash.

 

Also --- A Scout is Thrifty --- which means paying you own way. This allows boys and families to pay their own way in Scouting.

 

 

[scoutergipper]

While that might be quite a bit unfair in most parents eyes, there's one boy out there paying the way for the others.

Stosh

 

You're lucky. We had a similar situation, which people did notice, so we had to revamp our entire fundraising plan. We had low dues, with a single fundraising effort that paid for the majority of the Troop's needs. However we had quite a number of Scouts that made no effort at fundraising, but went on every campout. Some were getting a Scout program for $65 a year. Others were paying $400. A few of our newer parents tumbled to this pretty quick. So we went to higher Dues for everyone with ISA's for "excess" fundraising dollars based on effort.

 

[packsaddle]

This is an incredibly good 'teaching moment' kind of issue and Scoutergipper's experience is an example. It is a microcosm of so many 'citizenship' lessons. Start with the story of the 'Tragedy of the Commons' as a great way to describe the basic conflict between individual and collective interests, then work your way as far as you want into contemporary concepts such as charity, welfare, taxation, social justice, discrimination...and on and on. What a great opportunity!

[CherokeeScouter]

If it's any consolation, all troops hit rough patches. You will get through this. Just scale back to the absolute minimum - just enough to keep the troop viable and the boys interested. Good luck and thanks for your service.

[Stosh]

 

You're lucky. We had a similar situation, which people did notice, so we had to revamp our entire fundraising plan. We had low dues, with a single fundraising effort that paid for the majority of the Troop's needs. However we had quite a number of Scouts that made no effort at fundraising, but went on every campout. Some were getting a Scout program for $65 a year. Others were paying $400. A few of our newer parents tumbled to this pretty quick. So we went to higher Dues for everyone with ISA's for "excess" fundraising dollars based on effort.

 

I'm not "lucky", the system just works, at least for us. There are no dues*. All money raised by the troop goes into the general fund. No ISA's at all. If someone thinks that is unfair, because their kid worked harder than the next guy, that's their choice to do so, but we're not going to change the troop financial structure to accommodate a few whiners.

 

When it comes to summer camp, camporees, etc. the committee looks at the available funds and decides what support can be offered to the boys going and say, everyone gets $xx.xx for summer camp, for example. Boy not going to summer camp aren't shortchanged on anything. If is important that they get a cut of the funds, all they have to do is go to summer camp.

 

* Dues per se are not collected, but "dues" are collected on a patrol basis for the boys to learn about funding an organization, i.e. the patrol. The money they collect this way goes into their patrol funds and can be spent anyway they wish, on camperships, equipment, or whatever the patrol decides. If the QM puts in a request for a new stove and the committee thinks the old one is good enough, the boys can simply go out and buy it on their own. It is important that these boys acquire their dues by their own effort. They are not to ask for handouts from their parents. This way they have skin in the game when it comes to spending it wisely.

 

If this set-up is not acceptable to any parent, they are free to shop around for a troop that better fits their financial situation.

 

My boys know that the troop is located in a somewhat depressed area of the community and the boys that are better off know that they are subsidizing some of the less fortunate boys in the troop. The boy that had $2500 worth of popcorn sales this year is the PL and he was the one that was instrumental in setting up the troop in this financial situation.

 

Keep it in perspective as well. $2500 fundraising by one scout and $400 by the other has no effect on their parents' pocketbooks. Fundraising comes from the charity of the community.

 

The boys also know that if the fundraising is not successful, they will receive less or even no financial support from the troop funds because there will be no funds to consider. At that point the parents and boys start covering the cost of things from their own pockets.

 

Stosh

 

[SeattlePioneer]

<

>>

 

 

Sounds like a fine system to me.

 

However, the pack with which I work has a limited number of volunteers and thus we have to choose where we spend our time. Perhaps someone will choose to provide the leadership that would lead to the kind of desireable situation you describe.

 

But last year we had no parent agree to manage the popcorn sale, and we didn;t participate in that last year. This year, the only person willing to organize the popcorn sale was the Cubmaster, who was therefore unreasonably burdened and distracted from doing the job of the Cubmaster.

 

 

In Cub Scouts, our motto is "Do Your Best!" Often enough I find myself doing my best but still finding it could easily be better.

 

So I commend your unit's practices, but I don't see an early way of emulating them.