How much money in the Troop Treasury?

[bluecat]

Thanks, everyone. Some very good ideas there.

 

Although I feel a little guilty about spending down the inheritance, I will have to now convince the rest of the Committee that I think it's the best for all of us. I'm not really inclined to see it go to the CO (who haven't been involved at all) and I always worry about a treasurer who goes AWOL with the funds. (It has happened!)

 

I especially like the idea of spending on recruiting events and offering a discount for Webelos signing up with us. It serves the purpose of growing the ranks too.

[jpstodwftexas]

One way to use it..

In My Youth Troop we had Honor Scouts..

Scouts earned points for...Attending Meetings...Wearing Proper Uniform..Attending Events (Campouts, Camporees)..Advancement...Earning Awards, Merit Badges..etc..and Community Awards such as Attending Church..School Participation..

At the The end of The Year...Points were Tallied...

1st Place Honor Scout got Philmont and Summer Camp Paid for..

2nd Place Got 1/2 Philmont and All Summer Camp paid for

3rd Place Got All Summer Camp Paid for

4th got 1/2 Summer Camp Paid for

plus each won a Medal to wear on Ceremonial Uniforms

You could do "High Adventure BAse of your Choice" depending on where you live.

 

Spend it on Members of the Unit...don't waste it on Possible Members..Use it wisely

[Basementdweller]

Does anyone remember the news story of the Los Angeles troop that had their treasurer steal $40,000 dollars and another in vermont for $30k.

 

 

If anyone has any spare laying around my guys could use it. I promise with won't be spent on adult registrations, or troop trailers.....But more tents and cooking gear.

[CherokeeScouter]

What a great problem. And what an easy solution. Get the Scouts together, pull out of a the map of the U.S. and pick a place to go camping. My suggestions would be Philmont, Sea Base in the keys or the Grand Canyon. Then book some flights, go there and camp. What about the World Jamboree next year?

 

We found ourselves in a similar situation with several thousand in the bank. Soooo, we decided to give every kid in the troop a scholarship to one summer expedition. We had groups going to Summer Camp and Northern Tier. We usually also do a group to Philmont and/or Sea Base, but not this past summer. It worked out really well. I think we granted every Scout a $150 scholarship.

 

All this money comes courtesy of a poinsettia fundraiser that I"ve posted about before. We prolly make about $5,000 a year out of that thing (although I'm not exactly sure because I'm not on the finance committee).

[Pack18Alex]

1. If the money is a legacy that you are a steward of, continue protecting it. You should keep a reserve that is the amount you need for 4-6 months of the program (i.e. time between fundraisers).

 

2. Invest in the future of the troop, spend some on recruiting. We have done custom signs, custom flyers, etc. Some are pitching our brand, some are pitching our specific scouts (instead of generic pictures).

 

3. Invest in your Pack. Does your CO have a pack? If not, start one right now. That's the best source of new recruits, and it's a no brainer use of money bequeathed to you.

 

4. Invest in a Satellite Pack. See if you can get a second Pack chartered to your CO. Find a location that is within a 15 minute drive of your CO. Recruit a Pack there. If you have a Pack there, those boys should be encouraged to float over to the Troop each year, where 15 minutes is less of a big deal (Cub Scouts are tired at night).

 

5. Shiny Webelos Recruiting? Advertise a free, Webelos Only PWD or other event with a fancy new track.

 

But if you have two new NSPs coming from two packs/year, your longevity is safe.

 

Now, funds are part of the issue, an adult to champion each of these things is another story.

 

This will be super unpopular with the core group here, but if you have money in the bank, but not enough Scouts in the Troop, to me the most obvious use of the money in the bank is to convert it to Scouts. You can't exactly buy Scouts, but you can invest in marketing.

 

I am super against the idea of "we have this big legacy supply of money, and we're shrinking, so we'll spend our endowment today on a big hedonistic bang." If you don't want to invest it growing the troop, go purchase zero-coupon bonds for the Troop, with various maturities, so the Unit can fold but when it's time to restart it you have a legacy.

 

Good luck. But you didn't earn the money, the scouts of today didn't earn the money. It's robbing the past to spend it on today's Scouts. It's a tribute to the past to spend it on recruiting tomorrow's Scouts.

[Sentinel947]

I think Alex has summed up my opinion nicely.

[bluecat]

I haven't visited this site in ages...I thought I'd share what happened to my issue , 2.5+ years later.  (Read the above, if you are interested.)   My boy is now recently "graduated" from the troop and I am essentially out myself...just dabbling....

 

Here's what transpired since November 2014:

 

-  We tried our darndest to grow the troop.   We did flyers, an open house, visits to cub packs, and so on.   We had the inklings of success when the troop got about 5-7 new scouts from a pack.   To be honest, they had a leader amongst them (a dad) with a strong personality that they all liked to follow.  He chose our troop with an eye on becoming our new SM.   

- The existing SM did not understand that the new guy had his eyes on the crown and, in any case, wanted to stay on and was oblivious to the situation.  Too bad for all of us, as it would have been a good way to ensure the future.  (Old guys sometimes need to give way!)

-  An avoidable error then happened at a scouting event and all the new scouts subsequently left the troop.   

 

-  So: the 12 or so scouts that we built up to slowly but surely wore down to just a handful.

 

-  The money we had in excess was slowly used up for special outings and for subsidizing events.

 

-  The idea (stating the thread above) of starting a feeder cub pack was mentioned but never seriously considered.   (It's one of those ideas that sounds great until you realize you don't have the people interested enough to implement it.)   The DM was absolutely zero help.   (A look at her linkedIn page is quite illuminating as it barely speaks of her scouting accomplishments, other than her fundraising skills.)

 

-  No one even talks about recruiting anymore.  There is still too much money in the treasury but it is now it's an issue for the remaining parents.  

 

I wish this particular story had a happier ending.   To be optimistic, the story is not over yet and the troop may survive yet!

[F-P]

An avoidable error?  What happened?

[Stosh]

Inquiring minds want to know!     Don't leave out any of the tasty tidbits of gossip and like all gladiatorial WWE events, if there's blood we want to see it.

[bluecat]

Sorry, not going to go there.   Suffice it to say, some families were displeased.

[Stosh]

My comments were sarcasm, thanks for leaving it lie.

[qwazse]

Thanks for the update.

SM's who overstay their position miss out on all manner of opportunities.

Hopefully there are other, wiser troops in your district.

[Back Pack]

Thanks for the update.

SM's who overstay their position miss out on all manner of opportunities.

Hopefully there are other, wiser troops in your district.

Our very popular SM is stepping down. His reason: Time to leave (fade in to the background) and let someone new take over. He's been fading in to the background since spring to let the new SM gradually take over. In September he will officially step down but by that time he will have transitioned all duties. He plans to stay away through December so the guys can get fully used to the new SM. He said, "If the boys don't miss me, we've done our job as adult leaders. It's not about us, it's about them."

[Stosh]

When I was in the ministry it was an unwritten rule that when a pastor retires, he does NOT stay with the congregation, he moves his membership elsewhere.  There are too many people who will still look to him for pastoral services which is a great dis-service to the new pastor.  I served in congregations that did not follow that policy and it created quite a bit of friction for everyone.

 

The classic example is where a pastor founded a new congregation and served his entire ministry there and retired as the chaplain of the local hospital.  He lived to be 104 years old and 40 years after he retired it I was called to serve there and it was like the guy left the day before I arrived.  Not good.  The pastor who followed right after him said he stayed 3 years and then spent the next 25 years at the state mental hospital.  He didn't very often mention it was as a chaplain.  It distracted the story. 

 

It does no one any good to continue to hang around.  In my second troop, I took over as SM and the former SM stayed on as the CC to "help out".  He did understand the problems with such a setup and did not attend meetings or outings and refused to interact with the boys in the troop other than as CC.  It worked out well and we are still good friends to this day.

[Col. Flagg]

Our very popular SM is stepping down. His reason: Time to leave (fade in to the background) and let someone new take over. He's been fading in to the background since spring to let the new SM gradually take over. In September he will officially step down but by that time he will have transitioned all duties. He plans to stay away through December so the guys can get fully used to the new SM. He said, "If the boys don't miss me, we've done our job as adult leaders. It's not about us, it's about them."

 

This is a great approach. 

 

To be honest, after a while (several months) I would have no problem of him fading back in. We had a former SM take a similar approach. He spent several months "in exile" and then returned about 10 months later to camp and help out. The kids by then had fully accepted the new SM and were fully engaged with him.

 

The former SM would help as needed, then spend some much deserved time breaking in that new hammock.