possible fee increase coming

[Jameson76]

5 minutes ago, PACAN said:

Unscientific poll....at what level of increase in the national fee do you believe members will decide to or need to quit?

The challenge may not be stay or quit, but get started.  For current Scouts, if it gets North of $50 many will reconsider.

For NEW members, especially Cubs, you need to sign up little youth PLUS yourself.  Fee is $50, to sign up you, your kid is $100, plus uniforms, books, possible pack dues; you could be looking at $250 - $300 to get involved

[mrkstvns]

13 minutes ago, PACAN said:

Unscientific poll....at what level of increase in the national fee do you believe members will decide to or need to quit?

Well, scotteg83 said the current fee is $33, so I would guess that doubling that will cause families to pause.  I think more than a $33 increase would be ill-advised.

[Chisos]

12 minutes ago, PACAN said:

Unscientific poll....at what level of increase in the national fee do you believe members will decide to or need to quit?

$50 or $60.

You can call $50 a "dollar a week".  Kind of like an "hour a week."

$60 is $5 / month.  Round number that's easy to use.

Anything past that, parents are really going to need to see added value...drops in cost elsewhere, or more support/material/etc. provided.

Maybe $100 / year, but that includes 8 belt loops, one rank patch, a cap-slide-necker set, and a partridge in a pear tree.

[carebear3895]

On 9/29/2019 at 6:20 AM, Eagle94-A1 said:

As a former pro, @ParkMan 110% correct: DEs have little to no influence at the council level, let alone the National one. In fact, I find out thinks before the DEs do from this site, FB, and friends elsewhere.

 

There is a reason I'm on this forum and follow Volunteer pages on facebook. 

[carebear3895]

31 minutes ago, Jameson76 said:

The challenge may not be stay or quit, but get started.  For current Scouts, if it gets North of $50 many will reconsider.

For NEW members, especially Cubs, you need to sign up little youth PLUS yourself.  Fee is $50, to sign up you, your kid is $100, plus uniforms, books, possible pack dues; you could be looking at $250 - $300 to get involved

Starting a new unit will be near impossible. 

[Pale Horse]

If National registration was the "all-in" cost of Scouting, I could easily sell an increase to $75/year. But it's not. To most people all that fee gets you is your name in a database.  Registration fees don't cover the cost of one badge or pin, much less a camping event.

Anyone that has done an actual cost study on the true cost of Cub Scouting, knows that it already takes close to $200 to put a kid through a year of Scouting.  That's just to run a bare-bones program for Cubs (no trips, no campouts, etc.).  That's $600 in popcorn sales before we even begin paying for outings and adventure.

Outside the cost of trips and camping,  it's actually more expensive to run a Cub program than it is a Scouts BSA program. New neckerchief and handbook every year; the cost of 2 or so pins/beltloops each month and the cost (time or money) in planning fun pack meetings.  The most complaints I get from parents are when their older kid crosses over to Scouts BSA and they start to wonder why they're paying more for Cubs than they are the older Scout. 

To top it all off, I'm still not sure why I need to pay national insurance fees on top of my own council's insurance fees. They say each council is a separate and unique entity, so why do I have to pay the insurance costs and abuse payouts for incidents that didn't happen in my council.

Edited September 30, 2019 by Pale Horse

[Eagle94-A1]

1 hour ago, PACAN said:

Unscientific poll....at what level of increase in the national fee do you believe members will decide to or need to quit?

I don't know.  I am pushing oldest to finish his last 2 MBs and have his Eagle BOR before the end of the year. But even if it happens,  I have a feeling my council will lose the paperwork and I will have to pay another year for him.

 

I will give middle son 2 year to finish up. He is Star.

As for youngest, i think i will be looking at TRAILS LIFE.

SAd thing is i have been involved in Scouting almost 40 years.  I have served in numerous volunteer and professional roles over the years. I know what Scouting can do. I just won't be able to afford it if it more than doubles. Heck even pushing it to$50 will be hard

And in my area, I won't be the only one. Median household income for my council is under $41000.

[Eagle94-A1]

48 minutes ago, carebear3895 said:

There is a reason I'm on this forum and follow Volunteer pages on facebook. 

Don't let your SE find out. He may get ticked off at you. 

[PACAN]

@Eagle94-A1   As long as your son has completed his Eagle requirements and submitted his application, he does not need to be registered at the time of his EBOR. GTA 9.0.1.1

[PACAN]

@ParkMan and @carebear3895    If DEs have no influence at the council level why do we need them?

[Pale Horse]

5 minutes ago, PACAN said:

 If DEs have no influence at the council level why do we need them?

Who else is going to coordinate for FoS to come solicit for money?

[Jameson76]

21 minutes ago, PACAN said:

@ParkMan and @carebear3895    If DEs have no influence at the council level why do we need them?

Popcorn sales...more popcorn sales.  That stuff isn't shilling itself. 

It takes a well trained professional to actually believe and convince others that the Chocolate Lovers Collection is worth $60 and a Large Bag of White Cheddar Cheese popcorn is a GREAT value @ $20.  Let's not forget the 18 pack of microwave popcorn for $20 (which is $1.11 per pack) while a Pop Secret package for a box of 30 can be had for $13.50 (which is $0.45 per pack).  The salesmanship lessons led by the dedicated DE are something to behold

[ParkMan]

2 minutes ago, PACAN said:

@ParkMan and @carebear3895    If DEs have no influence at the council level why do we need them?

DEs effectively serve as the glue that keeps Scouting moving at a local level.  They help units solve problems, they encourage membership growth, they help the district volunteers to grow and expand local program support for units.  They serve as task do-er at the local level for whatever tasks the larger council needs done - fundraising, new unit development, whatever.

We "need" these positions because we need districts/councils to exist to provide program support to units.  We "need" these positions because we need to keep trying to grow Scouting.  We "need" these positions to help prevent small to mid sized units from shrinking.

Unfortunately - today much of the DEs time is spent on FOS presentations.  Most councils need those FOS presentations to keep the lights on. So, DEs get tasked with making those happen.  Would it be preferable for the money needed by the council to magically appear?  Sure - but it doesn't.  So, DE'sp get pushed to make it happen.

Big units don't "need" DEs in an immediate sense.  They can typically solve most of their own internal issues.  But, they need the district & council to continue to exist so that they provide programming (campree for example).  Today "DEs" are the glue that keeps small units solvent and prevents the local district from shrinking.

The big decisions in the council as made by the council executive board.  This is a group composed of volunteers.  They establish council goals and policies.  The council's senior paid professionals then interpret those decisions and usually task them to the local DEs.  The DEs in turn provide feedback to the senior paid professionals.  But, make no mistake - volunteers and senior paid staff largely make the big decisions in a council.  

 

[Jameson76]

5 minutes ago, ParkMan said:

But, make no mistake - volunteers and senior paid staff largely make the big decisions in a council.  

 

But, make no mistake - volunteers and senior paid staff largely make the big decisions in a council.  

Fixed your last part

 

[PACAN]

@ParkMan that clarifies it for me.  Now I understand why DEs standard answer is "that's not me".