I would suggest having your potential "Eagle" scout contact his troop leadership as to whom HE needs to ask this question. It is HIS project and I believe funding is part of his project book. It may be a touchy subject since it will already have been paid for by private individuals and the fundraising will be going to private individuals.

Try this on - Someone supporting the fundraiser- "What is the money going to?" Participant - "It is going to the Eagle Scout's parents." To me it would leave a bad taste. Very hard to undo bad PR.

If you haven't already, please review the following...
http://www.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/512-927.pdf

I would recommend that you son, rather then you investigate this. All part of the Eagle project and the Scouting experience.

You will likely get helpful answers in a forum such as this, but the answer to the question that probably matters most is that of the Unit and District or Council representatives approving the Eagle project plan.

A good contact for your son to make, besides his troop would be someone on the District Eagle board.. They in the end will decide on completion if he did the project correctly or not.

He should have gotten a contact number of someone from there to bump ideas off of, when they looked over and approved the project he is doing.

(This message has been edited by moosetracker)

Thanks for the info. We are very much aware that the eagle project is to be the scout's project. The only reason I am asking here is that the troop leadership has only been providing my son vague answers and he is getting quite frustrated. They have confirmed that parents can provide funding, but not answered the question of whether fundraising can be used to reimburse. The answer to this is not included in the project book. At this point we only trying to facilitate getting this answer. He will be SPL of his troop next year and has a lot on his plate, so trying to move on this during the summer.

Have your son call your local council and ask for contact info for the person in charge of approving Eagle projects.

That is who he should ask these questions of.

Many councils assign Eagle Mentors to Scouts working toward Eagle. Have him ask about that also.

If he does not already have one, he should get an Eagle packet from your council. That should include (along with all forms/apps/etc) council rules/guidelines, and council/district contact info.

No money from a fundraiser should ever go into a parents pocket. Bad PR for sure........then you have the questions about surplus dollars.

The summer is still young get the potential eagle off his butt and start fundraising now.......seems pretty simple to me.

He's not on his butt. He's working very hard. We have a limited timeframe to accomplish everything, but thanks for your comment.

Having your son contact the Eagle Project coordinator at the District Advancement Committee with his question is the right answer. He/she is the one who approves the project plan, if it hasn't already been approved. I'm sure you are aware that no work may begin until the plan is approved. But to offer an alternative viewpoint, I don't think it matters (just my opinion). When conducting a fundraiser, the answer should be, "the money is to fund an Eagle Scout service project". Why would you need to offer up any more detail than that? If they want to know what the project entails, tell them that too. The fact that the parents provided an advance loan to get the project off the ground should be irrelevant. At least that's how I would rule if asked.

If your son is working on his eagle, and you are discussing it with anyone, then he's already failed, or you are failing him.

Eagle is an award that recognizes those few young men who can organize a project BY THEMSELVES, lead it, deliver it, and write it up.

The parents need to get the heck out of it and stay in the back seat. No funding, no scout momming, no asking questions, no getting involved.

If he doesn't earn it, there are no consequences.

The people here are just trying to be nice by advising you, but really, they shouldn't advise you at all. Your son should come here himself and ask on his own.

Once a neighborhood boy was working on his eagle years ago. He needed sign off from me to complete his badge. His mother contacted me. I told her to have him contact me. He did not. She got upset and contacted me some more. I tried to explain this simple philsophy of mine to her: If he can't do it himself, he doesn't deserve to wear the badge.

She eventually did earn an eagle badge. He did not.

I don't think parents realize that even by asking on their child's behalf, they are making them into a child and encouraging dependence and immaturity in order to get themselves an award put on their son. For themselves.(This message has been edited by BSA24)

Yeah, I think we've covered the topic of whose project it is and I believe Scout-Mom when she says she hears us.

Besides, her son HAS gone to his troop leaders and is getting fuzzy answers to his questions. With that in mind, is it not reasonable for a Scout to ask a parent? Isn't that an appropriate use of resources? Granted, at this point I would prefer to see the parent directing the Scout to various resources (like Scouter.com) and the Scout doing the research. But I'm not sure any of the boys in our troop -- or many of the adults for that matter -- in that situation know enough about the district or council structure to know who to talk with outside the troop. It would be nice if the troop leaders gave him an honest "I don't know, but call this guy on the district advancement committee."

But to your OP, I would suggest to your son that he simply go with the input he has, write up the proposal the way he wants and submit it. Worst thing that happens is the review committee says no. If he lists his work days in July and his fundraisers in August, so what? There is no prescribed order for the work. I would advise hime to include a note explaining that due to scheduling issues, his family would front the money for the project.

I don't think there is a problem, PR or otherwise, with the plan. Whether or not the money being raise is going "for the project" or "repaying the parents" is just a matter of semantics.

BSA24 - although we all like to see the Eagle scout do as much on his own as possible. The new Eagle workbook kindof now helps parents get more involved then they should.. They do allow the parent to fund the whole project if they want..

While most of us disagree, it is allowed. But, the thing that has me wondering about the loan is that the new Eagle workbook states that any money given or raised for the project belongs to the non-profit the project is being raised for. So the money the family gives belongs to the non-profit, and it is their determination what it will be spent on, so would the fundraising after the project is complete.. So the non-profit does not have to use the funds raised after to pay the parents back..

I would suggest your son read his Eagle Scout Service Project Workbook, page 18, item 2.
I would not allow fundraising after the fact in my unit.

This fundraising nonsense falls into the same catagory as scout families asking for money.

Had a family who I paid for their son to attend camp then they went to disney...... Yet another bought a new 60" tv while son was at camp this year.......


So what are the chances of those boys getting any more assistance in the future????

How is that going to impact those following them????


Same goes for the Eagle project......EC goes and gets the supplies and food donated.....Then the donors sees or hears about the EC fundraising to pay for projects....


What do ya think????? Looks bad.(This message has been edited by Basementdweller)

Sheesh. Aren't we getting a little too legalistic here? Advise the scout to make up a simple balance sheet showing income and expenses. One expense will be to pay back the parental loan. If there is any money left over at the end of the project after all expenses are paid, THEN ask the CO where it should go. My guess is, the CO won't care, since it shouldn't be much.