how much money

[5yearscouter]

You know the more money they have, the less likely the committee is to vote to approve spending the money. The scoutmaster suggested fillin the troop library with one new edition of the full color merit badge books, and having the troop librarian go thru and use them to help him determine which of the other merit badge books are too out of date. There is a whole footlocker full of books going back well not the full 80 years, anyone want collector's editions of these things? But the committee said that was too much money to spend and the boys would just take them home and lose them.

 

They charge $65 a year, plus $1 a week dues paid EACH WEEK (which drives the boys nuts they spend too much time collecting money each week and asked if they could just collect it once a month and were denied)

Plus at least $10 a campout for troop equipment use and propane

 

They do pay 75% of woodbadge for adults and have several go each year.

and they pay 100% of boys to go to NYLT and several go each year, next year they'll pay for a few boys to go to NAYLE.

 

They don't give camperships. A scouter who died set up a campership/scholarship fund, so any scout that needs $ for camp can apply for that. The troop gives the money from inactive scout accounts to the campership fund even though that's not totally probably a legit use of scout funds (if a boy sells popcorn and gets 100% of the profit, and then drops out, the $ goes into camperships that come back to the troop boys). The campership fund does have other income from other places and is a non-profit separate from the troop.

 

there are 72 boys registered, about 10 aren't coming at all and another 10 are hit or miss. There is over $350 per boy in the troop coffers.(This message has been edited by 5yearscouter)

[moosetracker]

Ick, bankruptcy, You guys are with us po' folks now. Once in bankruptcy, I don't believe that it is all your CO's choice to let you keep it, the debts have to be paid, and the assets Liquidated..

 

Who ever hoarded should be hung from the nearest tree, because the money now doesn't benefit the boys at all. It really will not benefit your CO's either.

 

It would have been best if you had a heads up and moved out before they filed.

[5yearscouter]

Well the way I understand it is that the US part of the company has already gone thru bankruptcy, and it's settled or almost. The international part is going thru a restructuring about like bankruptcy but not exactly like in the US. so far there has been no mention of touching the troop funds in any way, but we'll have to ask outright by declaring the balance in the checking account to get them to sign off to council so we can get a new co. so who knows what they will do. It's gonna be interesting, but we have a couple of lawyers and accountants looking into it. Of course some people said to move the funds and then tell them how much money we don't have anymore, but a scout is trustworthy, right?

 

now our scout lodge that was donated to scouts almost 60 years ago may go away, as the title stayed with the CO, and it's up for sale. nobody wants to buy it yet, and we don't have the funds for that. All the girl scouts, cub scouts, crew, several troops, OA etc use the scout lodge, but together they all don't have enough $ for the property assessed as a commercial property near a resort....

 

ok, let's see what dirty laundry is still in the bin.....

 

[perdidochas]

We are about at Schiff's level--$4 or $5 k.

[Beavah]

Yah, hmmm.... I'm goin' to leave it to your local counsel to work da angles on the bankruptcy proceedings. If yeh have decent representation, they should be able to finesse the scout account one way or another. $26K is small potatoes in a corporate bankruptcy of somethin' the size of a "resort".

 

As to how much cash to keep on hand, I think most of the advice here is typical of most troops and is bad advice. Generally speaking', most NFP business entities want to keep at least 6 months of operating expenses in cash or cash-equivalent reserves. No reason it should be any different for a troop. Yeh should be able to suffer the complete loss of your major fundraiser for the year without affecting program... Like if the local school band decides to sell popcorn .

 

Da other thing that most troops don't do is budget for depreciation/capital expenses. Tents, trailers, stoves etc. cost money. If a tent is in use for 10 years, all the boys who get to use that tent over those ten years should be contributing to its eventual replacement, eh? That means that the troop account is going to be accumulating bigger and bigger cash reserves so that it has the money on hand to replace the tents when the time comes. The scouts and families at that time shouldn't be stuck with an extra fundraising burden to replace old tents just because their predecessors didn't plan or contribute for wear and tear and eventual replacement.

 

So at a minimum, a troop account should have 6 months operating reserves, plus accumulated depreciation reserve. IMHO, they should also have some cash flow reserve, so that they can pay deposits and fees in advance of revenues as needed, since we all know families can be pretty spotty about makin' payments.

 

Add that all up for your troop to get a number, 5year. Do a second calculation for what the number would be for a full year of operating reserves (+depreciation +cash flow reserve), which I'd consider the upper edge. Anything above that, it's time to be addin' to the campership endowment or considering buying some new capital equipment to enhance the program (climbing gear? Troop backpacks?).

 

Da two things I would not do is spend accumulated reserve (one-time money) on some recurring expense like reducing dues for the year, or throwing a big event/party for the current members. Capital reserve is a legacy given to you from others, eh? It should be spent for long-term program enhancement to continue the legacy.

 

Beavah