how Scouts sign up for outings

[RainShine]

How do your Scouts sign up for outings?  And, is there a cut-off after which they cant sign up? 

[mrjohns2]

4 minutes ago, RainShine said:

How do your Scouts sign up for outings?

We use Scoutbook. We have the due date as the meeting the week before the week of the event. We are flexible when we can be about deadlines. 

[5thGenTexan]

We have a Scoutmaster that sometimes doesnt announce the campout location till the Thursday before the Friday the campout begins.  

As CC I am about tired of it.

As a parent, I dont let my kid go.  

[fred8033]

We had a table with sign-up sheets.  A committee member would manage the sheets, permission forms and payments.  Often the patrol leader would help.

[MikeS72]

We give our scouts multiple chances to sign up and make payment (if required) beginning about a month prior to the activity.  Something like summer camp they start signing up about 3.5 months ahead of our camp week, which both gets a discount on the fee and also allows them to select merit badges and activities well in advance.

As to your situation @5thGenTexan, I think as CC I would be having a serious conversation with your SM about prior planning.  How often do you end up having to cancel an outing when transportation is an issue due to parents and leaders not knowing where the troop is going until the day before?

[DuctTape]

Do any plan and coordinate by Patrol?

 

[InquisitiveScouter]

We use Scoutbook.

The PLC decides our trips and events during the Annual Planning Conference.  (We have two APC's per year, so we always have a minimum of six months of activities on the books...)  An adult helps the Troop Webmaster and Troop Scribe enter the events in Scoutbook (due to Scoutbook edit permissions.)

For "regular" events, our planning horizon is 90 days.  Prior to the 90-day clock starting, the PLC has to designate a Youth Planner for the event.  The Committee tags an Adult Planner.  The Youth and Adult Planner use this checklist (a bit outdated, but still useful...) to plan for the event.  All details go into Scoutbook, and an appropriate RSVP date is set and entered into Scoutbook (I wish there was a feature for this.)  At the suspense date, the RSVPs are closed, and the trip is set. At that point, Scouts and families are financially obligated if tickets/groceries/etc are purchased on their Scout's behalf.  Changes are on a case-by-case basis after RSVPs close.  

There is a full PLC each month, usually the meeting night following a camping trip.  (No regular meeting then.)  At that PLC, they review the trip planning for the next three outings (90-days out, 60 days out, and next outing)  They plan activities, schedules, etc.  No, they are not good at it, but remember who we are dealing with 😜 

The meeting before the trip, all menus must be approved by the ASM assign to that patrol.

Planning and prep for gear and meals is done by patrol.  We set an overall budget (usually about $20 per person for food for the weekend) and the patrols pick their shopper.  Sometimes, patrols will combine if there are only one or two from a patrol going.  If the shopper exceeds the budget, their family eats the overage. 

The patrol shoppers buy and submit a receipt after the trip.  We ask parents who take them shopping to cover the cost until reimbursement.

All accounting is done via Google Drive shared spreadsheet after the trip, with the Adult Planner, Youth Planner, Troop Treasurer reconciling costs.  Once reconciled, charges and credits are issued in Scoutbook.  We haven't reached nirvana on this, but we are close.

Rather than paying outright for every trip, some parents deposit money into the Troop account, which is tracked in Scoutbook and debited/credited accordingly.  Some parents wait and float a debt... At $200 debt (for past events), your Scout is no longer allowed to participate until you clear the debt. 

We have had a few people skip out on the Troop, to to tune of about $30 to $50 on average.  This happens about once every other year.  Most of the time, we eat that cost, or count it as the cost of having that family exit the Troop, if you know what I mean.  (Happy to elaborate, if needed.)

This way, we almost never have to have small sums of money change hands.

As it turns out, each Scout in a patrol does the shopping about once every six months.  The amount credited to their account for the groceries covers their participation for the next six months...

Parents can view all credit/debits/balances directly in Scoutbook.  It is a wonderful tool. 

All these policies/procedures are in our Troop Handbook.

Hope this helps...

 

outing_planner_checklist_from_troop_leader_guidebook_volume_1_bsa_publication_512-150_2015_printing.pdf

[RainShine]

Yeah I was expecting Scoutbook and SignUp Genius, and Ive learned some troops use CheddarUp. One Scoutmaster I spoke with locally is enthused about troopwebhost for all this.

InquisitiveScouter, you guys are light years ahead of us. If I quit my job and started now, how long would it take to set all that up?

[InquisitiveScouter]

11 minutes ago, RainShine said:

Yeah I was expecting Scoutbook and SignUp Genius, and Ive learned some troops use CheddarUp. One Scoutmaster I spoke with locally is enthused about troopwebhost for all this.

InquisitiveScouter, you guys are light years ahead of us. If I quit my job and started now, how long would it take to set all that up?

It took me about 2 years to change the culture of the Troop.  And I am retired and spend most of my time working at the unit level.  It's been running OK for about 4 years after that, but it is still on shaky ground because people are lazy and apathetic... adult volunteers, Scouts, and parents.

I give it about eight months after I depart to fail... unless a like-minded dedicated Scouter comes along to shepherd the process and hold feet to the fire.

However, most of the principles in all this--- PLC and Patrol Method--- is the heart of Scouting, and in ALL the literature you read.  You do not actually find many units who use the Patrol Method well.

Best wishes!

 

[5thGenTexan]

9 hours ago, MikeS72 said:

We give our scouts multiple chances to sign up and make payment (if required) beginning about a month prior to the activity.  Something like summer camp they start signing up about 3.5 months ahead of our camp week, which both gets a discount on the fee and also allows them to select merit badges and activities well in advance.

As to your situation @5thGenTexan, I think as CC I would be having a serious conversation with your SM about prior planning.  How often do you end up having to cancel an outing when transportation is an issue due to parents and leaders not knowing where the troop is going until the day before?

Feb camp was cancelled due to lack of adults.  

Yes, I agree I need to have the conversation, but I tend to be uhhh abrasive and I have to think about a new SM if this one were to decide to walk.  

The lure of Scouting is lessened when 90% is dealing with adult issues.

[mrjohns2]

On 3/17/2023 at 6:17 AM, DuctTape said:

 

Do any plan and coordinate by Patrol?

 

 

Outings? No. Food (menu) and who is buying (grub master), by patrol. 

[DuctTape]

2 hours ago, mrjohns2 said:

Outings? No. Food (menu) and who is buying (grub master), by patrol. 

But not who is actually attending?

This could be a first step towards fully planning the outings as a patrol.

[curious_scouter]

we use troop web host.  I post the outings in the calendar, scouts can sign up.  Usually after the event, the CC tallies up the receipts and uses the scout accounts feature of TWH to assess actual cost to the Scouts.  This varies a bit.  Pretty much everyone pays a split of the campsite fee if any, but then the food is done by patrol.  That way if Patrol A spends $15 per person and Patrol B spends $9 per person for food, the actual costs are passed along.  I like TWH.  In addition to just being able to post it, there are quick buttons for sending reminders to people who HAVE signed up and those who have NOT RSVPed (either yes/no) so you can nag just the people you want to and not the entire troop.  If someone says "Not going" they no longer get chatter about that outing via email.

I like it a lot.

We also use it to send a final confirmation of pickup time for Sunday.  There's a feature to route an SMS by email for most major carriers which is nice.

[mrjohns2]

On 3/18/2023 at 4:55 PM, DuctTape said:

But not who is actually attending?

This could be a first step towards fully planning the outings as a patrol.

Oh, no, yeah, they talk through that. That is when the rubber meets the road as a patrol to know who is going , who is buying food, and who is tenting with whom.  

[Jameson76]

Use the troop website for signup and paypal to collect any fees.  Leaders indicate who will attend also.  For the outing we can set a cutoff time, Scouts can add notes if they are coming later or leaving early.  Also we can enable for guests if appropriate.

Scouts can see who signed up, etc etc.  Then Monday before the outing the patrols plan meals.  

Transportation makes sure we have drivers