scouting budget

[tresmel]

Our existing cub scout pack is starting a boy scout troop.

We are on a limited starting budget and are looking for examples of yearly budgets that other troops may share with us. I'm very new at this and if anyone is will to share a budget of expenses that we should be aware of that would be greatly appreciated!

 

[EagleInKY]

If you PM me your e-mail address, I'll be happy to send you our troop's start-up costs and some other items. We started last year.

[tresmel]

Thanks alot - hamecosys@charter.net

[anarchist]

How big and bad do you want to be???

 

Big swing in budget amounts depending on lots of things...

 

number of starting boys?

 

equipment goals, C.O. and parent resources?

can the kids supply themselves at first with camping gear?

 

type of area you reside in ie urban, suburban, rural?

areas with good incomes/jobs have non troop resources that can be tapped to help.

 

(did your pack do pot luck for Blue and gold or did it have a catered affair...really, alot depends on "to what you have become accustomed", or can accept.)

New troop I helped, started on less than $200 with 'services' and paper donations from parents and now email cuts the need for newsletters and flyers.

 

Old Troop I work with can run on as little as $700 per year for 35-50 scouts, including camping resupply (propane etc) or as much as $10,500...(major equipment purchases)

 

the actual start up cost is really not bad for small, new group...Flags are usually the CO's gift and outside of membership fees, each boy will cost the troop less than twenty dollars a piece for a years worth of patches and awards...equipment, however, is another thing!

anarchist

ex troop equipment guy

[Eamonn]

Hi,welcome to the forums.

If you look back to the pack budget, you will see the basics.Rechartering, Boys' Life magazine along with the cost of insurance. Say a ballpark number of $30.00 Per Scout.

You might be able to borrow camping equipment from another troop or the Council to get started. I very much like the idea of troop/patrol equipment. This is very expensive. Please buy the best quality that you can afford.

Visit another troop and ask to see what they have in their QM's store.

Some stuff is easy to get. American Flags can be donated by your Congress man or other elected official. Ask your Chartering Organization if they would like to donate the troop flag. When the pack that I was involved in wanted a Troop Flag the church said no, but they put a request in the church newsletter. One family not only donated the flag but also added $5,000. Their son was an Eagle Scout and a policeman who had got killed. At Scout Sunday the flag was blessed and a few more parishioners came forward with a few more bucks.

You do need to come up with a wish list. While you really ought not go out begging for this stuff it is better to have the list on hand when somebody asks if they can help. If you can tell them that a tent costs $250.00 you will do better than just saying a few kind words and coming away with $20.00

Budgets are fine but they can at times be just wish lists. First where is the money going to come from? Most times it has to come from Fund Raising events. You can have events where all the money goes to buy equipment. Dinners and breakfasts are good for this as everyone is working together and there are no clear lines that anyone made more than anyone else. You might decide to take a percentage from all the Fund raising events.

I'm thinking that you will be starting with a Den that is crossing over? To get all the stuff you need I would guess that you are in the $1,200.00 range.

Coleman has a nonprofit price list, which is worth looking at you need to apply on line at the Coleman web site.

Don't stop doing outdoor activities while you are getting the cash. You don't need your own equipment for summer camp. Or to do day hikes.

There are a lot of good plans for patrol boxes on the net. Again a visit to a local troop is a good place to start.

It really is a good idea to start off as you will continue, buy Patrol equipment. For now I wouldn't go too much for back packing equipment.

The day to day running of the troop is not that very expensive.

Eamonn.

[tresmel]

Thank you for the input. Yes our webelos II boys are crossing over next week. We have some equipment that was a pervious group of boy scouts. Our troop is actually restarting there hasn't bee a boyscout troop for about six years. So we are all new parents volunteering to get this started. We have an Eagle Scout Parent who will be our Scout Master and some other trained parents to fill in some gaps. We have raised about $1500 this year to start the troop with the help of our troop and fund raising. I'm trying to get a handle of the cost due to the Scoutmaster has some really big ideas that are going to cost alot of money that will eat up the money we currently have to start. I'd like to create a small reserve so we are comfortable.

Thanks

[Eamonn]

$1,500 added to what you may have is a great start.However why are you keeping a reserve? The money was raised for the troop, the troop needs equipment. Equipment will help provide the Scouts a program that is fun and will provide them with adventures. Money in a reserve will earn about 3% interest (If you are lucky!!) Buy what you need. Look at the cost of the stuff that you will need for next year, build that into the budget and raise the money and then buy the stuff you need.

Forget about the reserve, think about serving the Scouts that will be in the troop.

Eamonn.

[anarchist]

tresmel

 

I tend to agree with Eamonn reserves for the troop are to be watched carefully. They tend to become mentally untouchable (after they are set up you can't bring yourself to spend them... so the are wasted anyway. Work up your budget, including fund raiser estimates, set aside enough to operate the full year including conservative fund raising goals and plow the rest into your program. A well equipped program creates excitement and helps increase membership and you find fewer reason not to go camping in the rain with good tents.

One word of caution...The troop has two sides, represented by the SM (program) and the CC (committee/admin) the SM will lay out his BOYS' vision (not just his... we hope)for the troops future and the committee trys to make it happen. But committee controls the purse. Like many marriages money problem equal stress so work together and make good reasoned decisions.

 

One thing you might want to try is to 'put' a couple of natural 'talkers' (salesmen/women)...who like 'toys'... on an equipment subcommittee. (We call them the "equipment guys") They help train the QM. They also take the SM's desire for gear to "another" level. They are "charged" (by their own inclination, we hope!)with trying to enlist the finacial aid of everyone they can think of to support your equipment needs. You would be surprised at how many business people will give a troop a "tent" (read - check), a cook set, a rain fly... IF YOU ASK! Lions clubs, VFW's, American Legions Elks, Moose Lodges, fire halls with bingo operations, business associations, community groups... use your imagination! It is incredible if you just ask! In the last 5 years our equipment guys have been able to find enough benefactors to get a troop trailer, 25 Eureka tents, lanterns and distribution trees for five patrols and four new kitchen sets, five tarps, six dutch ovens, five propane stoves and hoses! Our Scouts fund raising efforts are used for their program requirements and "equipment care and feeding". In other words they are not responsible for Capital expenditures. They work harder knowing they get direct benefit from each effort they make...they raise the money for their camping trips, awards, training camps and community service projects.

Good luck and keep in touch!

anarchist

[Proud Eagle]

Use your start up money to buy things the troop will always need that will last a long time.

 

Create a list of essentials. Consider if you can get those essential things from some other place, at least for a while.

 

Also, don't just buy camping equipment.

 

The troop is going to need some materials, books, and resources. You don't need to go buy every merit badge book, but there are some things you really will need.

 

On equipment, consider options for getting equipment at a low rate. There are many discount programs available. Also, using a less well known brand can sometimes save you a pile of money. There is a particular brand of cooking gear that is often much cheeper than the well known brands. Shop around.

 

One final suggestion is that Alps Mountaineering has the best Scout discount program of any I know. They apply their Scout prices to Scout units, as well as individual Scouts and Scouters.

 

http://www.alpsmountaineering.com/

http://www.scoutdirect.com/

 

They sell tents, sleeping bags, and packs.

 

I have only used one of their tents, but it was for a week, and it worked quite well. My council purchased 120+ of their tents and all performed well.

 

I personally like Eureka tents, but they are much more expensive. However, if you buy the Outfitter series from Eureka, they will literaly last a decade or more even when used by Scouts, so long as they are cared for properly. I would say the Eureka Timberline Outfitter 4 is about the best tent a Scout troop could get. I am biased since that is what my troop uses, and has used since I joined in 1995. Some of our tents were well worn at that time, and some of those that were worn then are still in use today.

 

It is also possible to get by with $30 discount tents, but they won't last very long, nor will they do the job in extreme conditions. However, some units go this rought, so that if something is damaged it will be cheep to replace.

[tresmel]

thanks for the input. Our SM doesnt want the boys to pay for registration, camping etc. so i was going to try and have a $200 - $300 roll over budgeted each year to take care of incidentals, registration, misc. non-budgeted items.

 

Do any of you leaders charge an administration fee? Example renewal/ registration - boys life

[anarchist]

 

 

Totally fee program??? Nice touch if you can do it, though there is something to be said for the boys raising their own money for scouting!!!

 

Don't know about the rest of the wild and wooley world but we charge the family for BSA Registration fees, insurance, and boyslife (@$21.00 per boy). The rest of the budget is from fund raisers (a difficult task in a semi rural area. We are currently looking at many different options to limit fund raising; like charging "dues" or troop membership fees. We are finding some families never seem to be 'available' during fund raisers or sell maybe $5.00 worth of "what-evers"(total= $2.00 troop profit) when other scouts/families 'raise' $75-$100 per scout (in troop profits) time and time again...and it leads to bad feelings...something about free loading....

 

Our boys can all chose to participate in 'scout account' fund raisers to earn money (100% of the profit) for an account used for scout related "stuff" camp fees, gear, even campout food! Each boy is responcible for funding his food on campouts (patrol cooking) and any camper fees charged by the event/camp site. (say, the National Seashore charges $30 per night and we have 30 boys go= $1 per boy per night) We are also considering a troop camp equipment repair/replacement fee of $1.00 per campout for purchasing replacement 'small stuff' lantern globes, mantles, propane, lines and rope, tent repairs etc.

 

but to your last question @$300 'roll over' seem abouts right! GOOD PLAN! and

Good Luck!

anarchist

[Proud Eagle]

I would suggest using your start up money on long term capital costs.

 

Then use money earned through fund raising to pay for program fees, etc.

 

That way, the boys can see exactly what they are earning money for. They will know that if they raise money, they get their camping paid for. If they don't raise money, they will have to pay themselves, or do less expensive camping.

 

Totally free program is a great objective, but you should consider weather or not that is a realistic, and sustainable goal. Maybe you can do it this year if you spend all your start up money on it, but can you keep it going in the future, particularly if you have more new Scouts join?

 

If you can raise that kind of money year after year, that is great. If not, then perhaps it would be best not to create unrealistic expectations for the Scouts and their parents.

[Eamonn]

While nearly all the troops in the district do not ask the parents to pay for the cost of rechartering, they do deduct that amount from the Scouts account or take the money from the troop fund.

Your committee will have to decide how they are going to manage the money that the boys raise. Most troops in our area, including the troop my son is in, put all the money each boy earns in his own account. His troop asks that the parents do not allow it to fall below $50.00. Everything they do is subtracted from that account. At rechartering time that amount is taken out. If the committee/ troop leaders say that they need to buy something - Lets say five new tents at $200.00 each they divide the $1,000.00 by the number of Scouts in the troop. There are about 50 in his troop so they deduct $20.00 from each Scouts account. For weekend camp-outs rarely if ever does any money change hands it too is just deducted from the account.

Trying to do activities for free is a very noble idea. Bad thing is that just doesn't work. It places way too much emphasis on fund raising and takes away from the program. It also seems that the older the Scouts become not only do the activities that the Scouts want to do become more expensive, but it seems that both the Scout and his family become less interested in participating in events that raise money.

There are people who think that I'm very mercenary when it comes to Scouts and Scouting. I very strongly believe that Scouts and their families will pay for a quality program. The vision of the BSA, talks about fun and adventure, while fun is cheap adventure and what our Scouts see as adventure isn't cheap. We are doing what we can to prepare the Scouts that we serve to become good citizens. Learning how to manage money is part of this as is being thrifty. A free ride isn't teaching them anything.

My son decided that he wasn't going to sell popcorn this year. He is going to the Jamboree next year and one way or another will go to Philmont. I have said that I will half of whatever the costs are. Him opting to not sell was a very dumb move on his part. I sold popcorn about $600.00 worth, which brought in about $240.00. I donated the profit to our district FOS.He lost out. If he had that $240.00 I would have matched it.That $480.00 would have gone a long way. Sure it hurts me a little, but I think he has learned a lesson. I do hope that the Scoutmaster and the committee take a long hard look at this before the troop gets underway.

Eamonn.

[Blaze]

I am the committee chair for Tresmel's new troop. We are working closely together to get our troop off to a great start. The responses given to Tresmel's question are tremendous. Keep them up! We are soaking up the information!!!!

 

Can you help me? Although I have 2 years' experience as a Pack's committee chair, I am new to the Troop committee chair position. Any tips anyone can offer will be appreciated!

 

Thanks for all your help!

 

Blaze

 

[Eamonn]

Blaze,

I forgot in the other thread to welcome you to the forum.

Starting or resurrecting a troop is not an easy task. What you guys are doing is wonderful. I wish you nothing but the best and thank you, I'm sure the little fellows from the pack will have lots of fun and plenty of adventures in their new home.

Eamonn.