Adult Costs - What Does Your Unit Do?

[Hedgehog]

The title is pretty much self explanatory.  What does it cost for aduts in your unit?

 

For our Troop, the Troop covers the $25 BSA /Council annual registration fee.  That doesn't add a lot to the kids cost because the troop is around 50 boys, but even so, with 10 adults at $25 that is $250 or $5 per boy.  Adults pay the same as Scouts to go on outings -- that is they pay the same for food ($3 breakfast, $3 lunch, $5 dinner and $1 for consumables like propane), the same for camping (typically $2 to $4 per person determined by the total cost for the campsite by our typical attendance of 25 people) plus the cost of any activity.

 

For the Venturing Crew we are forming, I'd like to do the same.  The initial cost is $33 per adult.  Fortunately, we have a lot of adults already registered with BSA and there is no additional charge for them.  However, we are looking like we have 3 new adult registrations or around $99.  For a crew of 10, that is $10 per scout.  My sense is to have that absorbed by the Crew in the youth registration.  My sense also is to have the adults pay as they go on outings just like the youth.  My advice for the Crew is to plan fundraising so that next year any costs for youth and adults are paid for.

 

What do your units do?

[NJCubScouter]

Our troop pays the registration fees for adult leaders.  We have sort of an unwritten policy that if a leader is inactive but wishes to remain on their charter, they have to reimburse the troop for their fees before the recharter is submitted.  This has come up a few times with Scouts who age out of the troop, register as ASM's and then go off to college and don't really do anything with the troop.  Usually it is their parent(s), who continue to be an adult leader(s), who wishes to maintain their son's registration, and pays the fee.  I think it has come up once or twice with an "older" leader who wishes to be inactive but registered, but most often they are simply taken off the charter.   This all results from the time, more than 10 years ago, that the SM and CC looked at the charter and realized that we were paying registration fees for almost as many adults as Scouts, and there were a number of adults who weren't really active, so it was decided that those adults would either get taken off the charter or pay their own fees.

 

For regular camping trips, the adults pay the same fee as the boys.  Generally that is $10 for the weekend for food.  If something more is involved such as a ticket to get into something that is part of the trip (football game at one of the military academies, battleship museum, etc.) both the adults and boys pay that cost as well.

 

The troop does pick up summer camp fees for adults.  Generally that boils down to one or two of the adults who are going to camp because the camp throws in some (I don't know how many these days) adult registrations.   One year I noticed that there were something like 6 adults registered for camp to go with about 20 Scouts, and the troop was probably paying for 4 of those adults at more than $300 per.  I questioned whether we really needed to be doing that, and the rest of the troop committee looked at me like I was the Grinch.  I think this year we only had 3 adults at camp so the troop probably paid for 1, which is fine.  

[Hedgehog]

The troop does pick up summer camp fees for adults.  Generally that boils down to one or two of the adults who are going to camp because the camp throws in some (I don't know how many these days) adult registrations.   One year I noticed that there were something like 6 adults registered for camp to go with about 20 Scouts, and the troop was probably paying for 4 of those adults at more than $300 per.  I questioned whether we really needed to be doing that, and the rest of the troop committee looked at me like I was the Grinch.  I think this year we only had 3 adults at camp so the troop probably paid for 1, which is fine.  

 

 

We do the same for summer camp.  Fortunately, the camp we go to has a limit on the number of adults.  I think they allow us to have 4 adults for 25 scouts and to pay for up to one additional adult.

[David CO]

No charge.

[desertrat77]

We are in a very rural part of Oklahoma.   Lots of good folks and public support for scouting.  But dollars are far and few between.

 

The scouters I know pay their way for everything, except for the summer camp adult discounts that the council offers.   And though they keep quiet about it, many scouters regularly kick in financially to help poor scouts stay in the troop--uniform shirt, meals on the road, camporee fees, etc.   Numerous families have trouble making ends meet.

 

I don't think our case is unique to scouting, I'm sure scouters everywhere do the same in one way or another.

[Stosh]

I'm pretty much paddling the same canoe as @@desertrat77 

[CherokeeScouter]

$25 per adult. 

[mashmaster]

Our troop picks up the registration cost but everything else is out of our pocket including cost for food for campouts and summer camp.

[dedkad]

Adults pay for their own registration fees and pay the same costs for outings. They get reimbursed for gas, but that is it.

[qwazse]

Now that we merged. Troop adult registrations come out of the troop budget.

The real cost to adults is keeping up with training. Which they pay in their own time/internet fees.

 

Crew, everyone - adult or youth - pays their respective share of registration fees. Again, this pales in comparison to time spent getting trained.

[fred johnson]

There is no single answer for this.  I've been in units that do almost every combination you can think.   Usually, unit pays for membership and person pays for camp, food, etc.  The paid membership is more like "thank you" than covering significant cost.

 

More importantly ... I'd ask ... What do you want to encourage?  

 

- Need more adults helping out?  Pay for their registration.  

- Need even more adults?  Subsidize camping? 

- Have too many adult leaders?  Adults pay their own membership. 

 

The one that I've never liked is where scout fundraising goes to subsidize adult camping.  Okay on enough adults to make the event work.  But I never care for when the camping is subsidized and there is 20 scouts and 20 adults.  It seems like fundraising money is being wasted in that case.

[perdidochas]

The title is pretty much self explanatory.  What does it cost for aduts in your unit?

 

For our Troop, the Troop covers the $25 BSA /Council annual registration fee.  That doesn't add a lot to the kids cost because the troop is around 50 boys, but even so, with 10 adults at $25 that is $250 or $5 per boy.  Adults pay the same as Scouts to go on outings -- that is they pay the same for food ($3 breakfast, $3 lunch, $5 dinner and $1 for consumables like propane), the same for camping (typically $2 to $4 per person determined by the total cost for the campsite by our typical attendance of 25 people) plus the cost of any activity.

 

For the Venturing Crew we are forming, I'd like to do the same.  The initial cost is $33 per adult.  Fortunately, we have a lot of adults already registered with BSA and there is no additional charge for them.  However, we are looking like we have 3 new adult registrations or around $99.  For a crew of 10, that is $10 per scout.  My sense is to have that absorbed by the Crew in the youth registration.  My sense also is to have the adults pay as they go on outings just like the youth.  My advice for the Crew is to plan fundraising so that next year any costs for youth and adults are paid for.

 

What do your units do?

The adults pay their own way for everything. 

[andysmom]

The adults pay their own way for everything. 

 

Same here

[Ankylus]

Our troop pays for adults' registration fees and summer camp costs. If we go to a state park and there are parking fees, the troop picks those up as well. Everything else the adults pay...grubmaster for campouts, high adventure, the lot of it. On the registration fees, however, we do require that before they can register that they acquire all the training they need for their "trained" patch before they can register. That way they have some skin in the game.

[frankpalazzi]

Registration:  It depends on the size of the Unit and treasury.  Most years, adults are renewed by the Troop/Pack.  Only a few times over the years were the adults asked to pay their own way, and no one objected. Rechartering can be expensive!!

 

Camping:  Adults pay their own way.

 

Summer Camp:  Adults are charged for meals ($5 per meal) and pay their own way.

 

There were never any issues with this in our units.

Edited August 18, 2016 by frankpalazzi