Christmas trees for conservation projects

[mrkstvns]

We've had some previous discussions in these forums about scouts collecting old christmas trees for use in conservation projects like beach dune replenishment or soil erosion control in woodlands or stream beds.  But these discussions were mostly about doing it for the conservation impact, not necessarily to raise funds.

Yet a well-planned conservation project often CAN be a very effective fund raiser.

There's a new article in the Bryan on Scouting blog that shows how one troop made this work:
https://blog.scoutingmagazine.org/2020/01/29/oh-christmas-tree-troops-unique-project-blends-service-fundraising-conservation/ 

I thought it was interesting in that the troop seems to be eliciting funds from seaside communities who want their dunes built up so their community can be more resilient against storms.

That's an interesting approach to the "revenue stream" problem.  When I've thought about how this kind of erosion control project could make money, I'd only thought about asking families to pay a "disposal fee" for the troop to pick up the trees.

I wonder how much a troop might be able to earn if they charged both for tree pickup and for the project execution...Hmmm.

Edited January 31, 2020 by mrkstvns

[Eagledad]

2 hours ago, mrkstvns said:

We've had some previous discussions in these forums about scouts collecting old christmas trees for use in conservation projects like beach dune replenishment or soil erosion control in woodlands or stream beds.  But these discussions were mostly about doing it for the conservation impact, not necessarily to raise funds.

Yet a well-planned conservation project often CAN be a very effective fund raiser.

There's a new article in the Bryan on Scouting blog that shows how one troop made this work:
https://blog.scoutingmagazine.org/2020/01/29/oh-christmas-tree-troops-unique-project-blends-service-fundraising-conservation/ 

I thought it was interesting in that the troop seems to be eliciting funds from seaside communities who want their dunes built up so their community can be more resilient against storms.

That's an interesting approach to the "revenue stream" problem.  When I've thought about how this kind of erosion control project could make money, I'd only thought about asking families to pay a "disposal fee" for the troop to pick up the trees.

I wonder how much a troop might be able to earn if they charged both for tree pickup and for the project execution...Hmmm.

That is interesting. But, it raises the question of when the character growth of service crosses over into the motivation for profit. I have to think about this one.

Barry

[mrkstvns]

2 hours ago, Eagledad said:

That is interesting. But, it raises the question of when the character growth of service crosses over into the motivation for profit. I have to think about this one.

Yes, I see the gray zone....charity should be done without expectation of an award.

Let me ask you a question though:  Hypothetically speaking, if you were on an Eagle board of review and the candidate told you that he was able to make some money off the project, which he then turned over to the recipient organization or his troop (i.e., not for personal gain), would it affect how you view the candidate's service project?

 

[Eagledad]

1 minute ago, mrkstvns said:

Yes, I see the gray zone....charity should be done without expectation of an award.

Let me ask you a question though:  Hypothetically speaking, if you were on an Eagle board of review and the candidate told you that he was able to make some money off the project, which he then turned over to the recipient organization or his troop (i.e., not for personal gain), would it affect how you view the candidate's service project?

 

Ignoring that I don't think the proposal would get past the Eagle Project review, I would ask the scout to tell me about the project from how he heard about it to final the completion. I guess I'm looking for a trace of a noble benevolent heart in his motivation. 

Barry

[qwazse]

1 hour ago, mrkstvns said:

... Let me ask you a question though:  Hypothetically speaking, if you were on an Eagle board of review and the candidate told you that he was able to make some money off the project, which he then turned over to the recipient organization or his troop (i.e., not for personal gain), would it affect how you view the candidate's service project?

Depends on how he/she made the money and how much it was part of the plan.

As far as the troop gaining from both acquisition and deposition. In my day we collected paper and glass bottles (with the occasional contribution), bound the papers and broke the bottles down by color and arranged a truck to take them to sell to the recycling center.

I'm sure other troops do similar fundraisers.

Frankly as a consumer, were I foolish enough to own beachfront, I'd rather pay a scout for this than for a dozen boxes of popcorn.

[T2Eagle]

12 hours ago, mrkstvns said:

I wonder how much a troop might be able to earn if they charged both for tree pickup and for the project execution...Hmmm.

As it is, according to the article they've already made $6,000 and are on track to get to $10,000.  I'm not sure trying to make more money would really be a good idea.

[Pale Horse]

7 hours ago, T2Eagle said:

As it is, according to the article they've already made $6,000 and are on track to get to $10,000.  I'm not sure trying to make more money would really be a good idea.

Why? 

[qwazse]

A 10k budget ain't all that much for a large troop. And those are probably a lot of weekends to get a job done. Even in a small troop, when broken down into scout-hours, it's probably a week of work to pay for one or two big trips.

Did anyone else notice scout working in full uniform? Somebody give that kid a patch!

Edited February 1, 2020 by qwazse

[mrkstvns]

On 1/31/2020 at 3:17 PM, Eagledad said:

Ignoring that I don't think the proposal would get past the Eagle Project review, I would ask the scout to tell me about the project from how he heard about it to final the completion. I guess I'm looking for a trace of a noble benevolent heart in his motivation. 

When I re-read the article, it seems apparent that the primary goal here was troop fundraising.

I have heard about scouts doing similar projects for Eagle or Hornaday....in those cases the "noble benevolence" is a reasonable element to consider. In this specific project though, the elements of community service and conservation turn out to be by-products of a well-planned fundraiser.

[mrkstvns]

On 2/1/2020 at 6:31 AM, qwazse said:

A 10k budget ain't all that much for a large troop. And those are probably a lot of weekends to get a job done. Even in a small troop, when broken down into scout-hours, it's probably a week of work to pay for one or two big trips.

Quite right.  

As my son's troop inches towards 100 scouts, fundraisers that net $10K don't stretch all that far. It will only help defray costs of $100 per scout.  $10K might sound like a lot of cash, but when you have an active troop that sends scouts to summer camp every year, offers a couple of different high adventure treks, and has a very active troop program with monthly campouts, scholarships for things like NYLT training, etc. .... well, we might need something like this project in addition to our other troop fundraisters and in addition to participating in popcorn sales or other types of council-sponsored fundraisers.