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Scouting Around the World

Scouting is a worldwide Movement with nearly 30 million members in 151 countries around the world.


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    • Yes, and this is why National tries to discourage incorporation of units or their "boosters".   It is all about the money! For your average CO, their raison d'être is not Scouting.  Take a church, for example... Your local church "uses" Scouting as a program to enhance their service to youth.  If Scouting units under a CO fold, then the CO continues its other activities. Your local church may ask for donations for a new steeple, to replace their pews, or put a new coat of paint on everything.  That is different from your local church asking for donations solely to support their Scout units.  When they go down that road, their activity falls under the charter agreement.  And, when they do have any money or property earmarked for Scouting, if the unit folds, the agreement is that they will keep all that money and property for the purposes of Scouting, should they start up a unit again.  (Of course, council wants that money, so they sometimes pursue that purse.) For the "Friends of Troop XX", their entire purpose for existence (if you didn't yet look up what "raison d'être" means 😜 ) is to support the Scout units, so any and all monies and property they should be used solely for the purposes of Scouting.  If the units fold, then the reason for the existence of the corporation ceases also. In everything I have read, nowhere does National "prohibit" units (or "Friends of") from incorporating (because they really cannot).  BUT, they do put the threat of revoking your charter out there.  "Units could lose their charter if they tried to get their own tax-exempt status and solicit tax deductible gifts." Here's an example (page 2, end of first paragraph):  https://www.ciecbsa.org/document/tax-exempt-for-units/25798#:~:text=Units should not incorporate or,approved unit money-earning projects. And another https://lpcbsa.doubleknot.com/newsfeed/fiscal-policies-and-procedures-for-bsa-units/9007 And another https://michiganscouting.org/unit-resources/unit-finance/ You'll notice the verbiage is exactly the same, which means (to me) this comes out of National... I never heard of National denying someone's charter for this.  YMMV I cannot see them doing it, especially these days, unless the money amounts get big, and they get jealous/greedy.  
    • As InquisitiveScouter already correctly pointed out, a "friends of" organization that is a CO needs to comply with its charter agreement, which directs the CO to "[r]efrain from soliciting financial support except as authorized for the benefit of the Unit or the Local Council."  Even if the CO is a tax exempt org, it can only solicit funds in the name of Scouting with the local council's approval.      
    • "The friends of" is the chartering org, it is not the unit itself. As a separate legal entity it may do its own fundraising just like any other CO. 
    • Update 11/4/2024: Now ain't this a coincidence... The Hernando County Chamber of Commerce met on Wednesday for their monthly breakfast meeting at the Sand Hill Scout Reservation. Century 21’s Broker-Owner Marilyn Pearson-Adams kicked things off by discussing her firm, which sponsored the meal, before the keynote speaker’s presentation. “Family first is our motto,” Pearson-Adams said. “The reason that is important is obviously we are blessed to go out every day and make the American dream of home ownership a reality and to provide shelter for family. That is what we do, and we take that very seriously.” ... While members munched on the morning’s morsels, the Florida Association of Realtors’ Chief Economist, Dr. Brad O’Connor, came forward to talk about the development of the Florida housing market... More at source: https://www.hernandosun.com/2024/11/04/dr-oconnor-provides-florida-real-estate-update-at-chamber-breakfast-meeting/
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