Re: Corporate or other Grants
dexter lovrien (drlovrie@WOLF.CO.NET)
Thu, 4 Apr 1996 05:30:58 -0600
>Does anyone have information on BSA troops applying for Grants? In
>particular I am thinking about corporate or private grants as opposed to
>governmental ones.
I may be wrong, but I thought _only_ the council can apply for grants.
Check with your DE or Council Exec. You _may_ be getting into an area best
left to the professionals.
Been there, done that and I still have the scars on my rear-end, which I
received extracting it from the wringer!
Try some sort of fund raiser, say a steak fry or pancake breakfast, and make
it real clear the funds are needed for, lets say 4 new tents. Make up a big
chart showing the goal and as the money comes in, show how much has been
raised. Be sure to have a place for "donations" to be left. Like a big jar
on a table near the exit. Place a sign by the jar saying,
"THANK YOU FOR COMING!
Your donations will help buy 4 new tents.
the Scouts and Leaders of Troop 111"
No arm twisting, no begging, don't even mention the jar. Just a place to
drop some cash on the way out. IF you put on a good feed and IF the Scouts
are seen as eager, organised and polite, you will have a great fundraiser.
Regardless how much or how little you do take in, follow up with a well
worded letter of thanks to the editor of the local paper, thanking all who
made the dinner a big success. The hall (no hall=no dinner), the stores
that supplied the groseries (probably at a good discount), the kitchen help
(some halls require that someone from their orginization oversee the
kitchen) and the public. Also, letters of thanks direct to everyone
involved. (We all like to have our help acknwledged) Treat em right the
first time and they will be eager to help next year! Might take a while,
but you can build your dinner into an annual (or even spring and fall)
tradition the community will look forward to.
When you take delivery on those new tents, call the paper to come down and
take a picture of them all set up on the lawn in front of your meeting
place. Be sure to include the Scouts! The papers love to run that sort of
stuff. The community will enjoy seeing that the money they invested in
those pancakes (and that jar) indeed got the troop some new tents. A photo
like this, IMHO, is better than the "whatever club treasuer presents $500
check to local Scout Troop". (But if the whatever club DOES give you a big
check, get a picture in the paper, the club members love to see their clubs
good deeds called to the attention of the community.
Good luck outfitting the troop, Kevin!
Dexter R. Lovrien
Austin, MN
e-mail to: drlovrie@wolf.co.net
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