How do you collect Scout Dues.

[momofcolin]

We joined this Troop two years ago after moving to a new state. When we intially arrived they took up a dollar in dues each week. Problem was, no one ever kept records on who was paying what and if anyone was current on their dues. Over the course of two years there have been many attempts on keeping track and collecting of dues and nothing has worked.

 

In our old Troop, and others that I have had contact with, dues were paid all at once so that it was insured that the Scout was paid up and that the recharter was paid for.

 

This Troop however likes the Scribe to take care of this so that the Scouts can be responsible for payment and being "thrifty" as well as the Scribe performing his duty.

 

I have come up with a way that would insure teaching the Scouts thriftiness and also for the Scribe to fulfill his postion. What do you think of my idea? And how does your Troop handle the payment of the Scout Dues?

 

Have a payment envelope for each Scout with their name and patrol. Have a grid, like you would find in a checkbook and starting with the yearly due amount. Then record each payment made and show a balance due. Example:

 

Colin - Bear Patrol

Scout Dues from Feb. 1 2006 thru Jan. 31, 2007 $50.00

Payment - Cash March 6 $5.00 $45.00

Payment - June 4 $5.00 $40.00

 

PLEASE NOTE ALL DUES NEED TO BE PAID IN FULL BY JAN. 31, 2007

 

Instead of collecting the dues each week, set up one day a month, "DUES DAY." Perhaps first meeting of the month. Then the scribe would set up with his envelopes prior to the meeting and after the meeting and collect any dues that the Scouts have. Having it on a constant week each month it would be more easily remembered.

 

I see doing it this way as easy and a way to keep track of what has been collected from each Scout. There are some adults in our Troop that still wish to have a scribe in each patrol and then that Scribe report to the Troop Scribe with the money collected. I asked my son if the Scribe has ever collected dues in the patrol meetings, his reply "We have a scribe in the patrol? Hmm, I think I was asked maybe once about dues."

 

I may suggest that the Scribe in the patrol be responsible for attendance and possible collect money from his patrol for the camp outs. This would enable the Scribe in the patrol to maintain his title and still provide his service while learning.

 

So, what do you all think of this? How does your Troop handle the dues? I am very interested in learning from you all.

 

Dawn - Troop Secretary

BSA - Lake City, FL

 

[scoutldr]

The BSA already has pre-printed dues envelopes for this purpose. We use these every week...the patrol scribes collect dues and record attendance, then turn them in to the Troop scribe to record the info in the Troop Record Book.

 

Your local Scout Shop should stock them.

 

PS: Welcome to the forums!

[FScouter]

The BSA dues envelopes work well in our troop as well. The troop scribe collects the dues from the patrol leaders every meeting and check off the envelopes. He turns them over to the troop treasurer.

[Lisabob]

My son's troop does not collect regular dues - they collect annual troop membership fee. I suppose it is to minimize the hassle of dealing w/ small amounts of cash on a constant basis. (Though I do understand the purpose of collecting regular dues from the boys - but there is an issue for another day, in our case.)

 

Patrol scribes in his troop do collect payments and permission slips for upcoming campouts, etc.. They're supposed to turn them over to the troop scribe who gives them to the treasurer. In practice what I've seen is that the patrol leaders tend to do this rather than the patrol scribe. Perhaps an issue of patrol leader training (delegation being an un-natural concept to many people) that could be addressed at the next Troop Leader Training?

 

Lisa'bob

 

 

[FScouter]

Why is the treasurer accepting money from various boys instead of the patrol scribe? It makes it difficult to mentor the scribe if the treasurer allows others boys to bypass him.

[momofcolin]

I want to thank you all for the advise on collections of dues. We have tried several ways and we finally found a way that seems to work.

 

We collect dues once a month, first Monday of the month, Patrol Scribe takes any dues and actually writes a receipt. All the money and receipts are then turned over to the secretary to record on the Scouts "official" record. Once every three months the Scout gets a print out of what has been paid and how much is owed until the next recharter. The receipt books were very cheap, and the patrol scribe is held accountable but accurate records are maintained by the secretary.

 

 

[jr56]

Used to be collected annually.

[Stosh]

Pre-pay their dues when they recharter/register. We used to collect dues weekly and if a boy got behind he had to pay up to go on an activity. Too much hassle. Now just pay once a year and be done with it.

[yellow_hammer]

When we collected dues ($10/month) the treasurer would invoice the scout parents quarterly for dues and other costs that the scouts had accrued. At the beginning of the year the boys all had credits to their accounts from our fundraiser so the parents usually answered that the bill should be paid from their son's credit. When that ran out they would typically send a check with their scout which was given to the scoutmaster.

 

We've done so well with our fundraiser in the past couple of years that we no longer collect dues. But we use the same process described above to collect expenses that the boys have accrued.