Maboot38 Posted January 10 Share Posted January 10 Does anyone else have a council that has said "Absolutely no other troop fundraising other than popcorn sales during popcorn season (which runs from June to November!!!!)? Ours says this, which flies straight in the face of letting the scouts decide what they want to do....and eliminates almost all possibility of car washes, food sales at outdoor events, or pretty much anything not directly around selling popcorn, which is highly unsuccessful once they ditch the cute little cub scout uniforms! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skeptic Posted January 10 Share Posted January 10 They cannot do that, period. They might though not allow a unit to participate IF they do other stuff too. But, the unit, as long as it is within the rules of National fund raising, can choose whatever they prefer. Now dealing with such a demand is dicy I would guess, but if you have a strong unit with good support, you can suggest some sand pounding I believe, but in a Scoutlike way. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrjohns2 Posted January 10 Share Posted January 10 29 minutes ago, skeptic said: They cannot do that, period. Not true. To do any fundraising, a unit needs an approved fundraising application. That is part of “following the national rules”. That application MUST be signed by the local council. Again, if you want to follow the rules. No application is needed for council fundraising. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maboot38 Posted January 10 Author Share Posted January 10 3 minutes ago, mrjohns2 said: Not true. To do any fundraising, a unit needs an approved fundraising application. That is part of “following the national rules”. That application MUST be signed by the local council. Again, if you want to follow the rules. No application is needed for council fundraising. I think Skeptic is saying "they" (council) cannot forbid fundraising because it may not be popcorn sales. if so, are you saying THAT isn't true, or are you agreeing that they cannot forbid fundraising during "popcorn season"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrjohns2 Posted January 10 Share Posted January 10 What I am saying is they can forbid any fundraising they choose to. If they don’t want to approve any other fundraising besides popcorn for 6 months, they can do that. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maboot38 Posted January 10 Author Share Posted January 10 1 minute ago, mrjohns2 said: What I am saying is they can forbid any fundraising they choose to. If they don’t want to approve any other fundraising besides popcorn for 6 months, they can do that. Ah ok. Thanks for the clarification. (Inserting opinion - this doesn't sound very "scout led", and is opposing my messaging to the scouts "what do YOU want to do?". Instead, it's adults telling the scouts what the must do....kind of like saying...you MUST go to Klondike Derby, instead of asking the scouts if they want to go to Klondike Derby or would they rather go mountain climbing). End rant. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yknot Posted January 10 Share Posted January 10 I think they can say you can't do it, but I don't know that they have a way to prevent you from fundraising if you decide to ignore them. The popcorn thing is a huge problem for many units and you would not be alone in going rogue. Far from it. They do have some sticks they can beat you with though so be prepared. Our units opted out -- politely, but firmly -- and endured a lot of threats. But we continued to make an in lieu contribution to council from our new, more successful fundraising efforts and our membership grew, so within a year or two they left us alone. Hopefully you're in a reasonable council. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maboot38 Posted January 10 Author Share Posted January 10 Just now, yknot said: I think they can say you can't do it, but I don't know that they have a way to prevent you from fundraising if you decide to ignore them. The popcorn thing is a huge problem for many units and you would not be alone in going rogue. Far from it. They do have some sticks they can beat you with though so be prepared. Our units opted out -- politely, but firmly -- and endured a lot of threats. But we continued to make an in lieu contribution to council from our new, more successful fundraising efforts and our membership grew, so within a year or two they left us alone. Hopefully you're in a reasonable council. I definitely don't want to fight council. So many great scouters in our council, and they are super helpful to me, so not looking to start a fight, just want to understand what is an actual "rule" and what is just a "suggestion" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RememberSchiff Posted January 10 Share Posted January 10 I believe you are in Katahdin Council and if so here are their unit fundraising rules on their website. I found no mention of "Absolutely no other troop fundraising other than popcorn sales during popcorn season." https://www.katahdinareabsa.org/files/18266/KAC-Unit-Fundraising-Guidelines-pdf In my experience, if a statement sounds doubtful ask to be shown where it is written policy. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maboot38 Posted January 10 Author Share Posted January 10 Just now, RememberSchiff said: I believe you are in Katahdin Council and if so here are their unit fundraising rules on their website. I found no mention of "Absolutely no other troop fundraising other than popcorn sales during popcorn season." https://www.katahdinareabsa.org/files/18266/KAC-Unit-Fundraising-Guidelines-pdf In my experience, if a statement sounds doubtful ask to be shown where it is written policy. In this case, when I was told this, I went directly to my Unit Commissioned, and he confirmed that it is a rule because too many units are not doing popcorn and they think selling meat sticks instead of popcorn is a good idea, so council banned sales other than popcorn. I'll see how it plays out, and if the scouts want to do something additional, I'll do my best to make the case. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AwakeEnergyScouter Posted January 10 Share Posted January 10 Stupid question... Why does council care what item is sold for fundraising? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrjohns2 Posted January 10 Share Posted January 10 16 minutes ago, AwakeEnergyScouter said: Why does council care what item is sold for fundraising? They get a cut of the ones that they coordinate. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maboot38 Posted January 10 Author Share Posted January 10 30 minutes ago, AwakeEnergyScouter said: Stupid question... Why does council care what item is sold for fundraising? $$$$$$$$$$$$ 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skeptic Posted January 10 Share Posted January 10 1 hour ago, Maboot38 said: I think Skeptic is saying "they" (council) cannot forbid fundraising because it may not be popcorn sales. if so, are you saying THAT isn't true, or are you agreeing that they cannot forbid fundraising during "popcorn season"? Yes, that was my intent. Sorry. We have chosen to no longer do the Popcorn, as it is NOT a good look due to the prices and such. Also, with YP, keeping scouts in front of stores and so on is challenging should we say? Thank you. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maboot38 Posted January 10 Author Share Posted January 10 Compounding the problem, we have scouts who want to go to camp, but struggle with the cost. Our council does "Camp Cards"(little coupons with discounts to local businesses I think) that are sold by scouts interested in getting financial assistance for camp. I have been told that in order for our troop to be eligible to participate in the camp card program, we MUST participate in the popcorn program. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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