fred johnson

boomerscouter ... as long as the reduced fees, dues, etc are not tied to raising money and the raised funds can't be targetted to those who ran the fundraiser or the ran the organization. The funds of a non-profit are to be used for the purpose of the non-profit for the public good. Individuals raising money targetted to reducing their own costs is not being used for the public purpose of the non-profit. Requiring participation in a fundraiser is viewed as equivalent as dues because the public can't benefit from the non-profit without raising funds. I'm not an IRS or legal exper

YOUR EXAMPLE IS BAD. You are misdirecting by "pay" having two connotations. One being where did the money come from. The other being who did the paperwork. Paying with troop funds is not the same as depositing money from parents in the troop checking account and then writing a check to Philmont. The troop only begins to pay for Philmont when the fundraiser earnings are used. If mom/dad write a check that is deposited in the troop account, the troop is not paying I have never seen a troop pay for a "troop" to go to Tomahawk. An individual scout, yes. Part of some expenses, yes

Though units will set non-profit fundraiser participation rules, the IRS has already said that's not legit. It's conveying the private benefit of membership based on fundraiser participation where the result of fundraisers is supposed to be the public benefit of the purpose of the non-profit. It's imaginable that the unit instead of raising as much money could just charge the members more. Since there is a financial equivalent, it's private benefit.

SSScout ... The trouble is that you may "want" to have it different, but the IRS is interpreting the law. If you want a different interpretation, change the law. I must admit that the IRS is right in my opinion. Ignore the trinkets for now. Even the IRS states that some non-significant amount is okay in that it helps earn more money for the non-profit. The issue is that the money earned under the non-profit name is for the non-profit. Those that lead the non-profit or do the fundraising can't be the targets of the benefits because of their fundraising. That is self serving and u

I must admit too that I'm sort of miffed the previous discussions threads disappeared. Is it a web site bug or censorship? I'd like to understand what happened?

What is SMF? What do you mean by "archive this forum?"

We have had local groups use this one. http://www.blackbeard-cruises.com/scouts/

Sounds like he automated "Leave No Trace" almost perfectly. It's that almost that will get you.

Camp cards are great !!! I've bought several myself. They make sense financially and I'm always glad to support scouts. We don't sell popcorn. It's a horrible value. Walmart and Target sell comparative products for 15% to 25% of the price. It's really a cash donation with a thank you gift. I remember one year buying the microwave popcorn for $15 for the box. The outer card board could be peeled off to reveal other packaging and that exact product package could be bought at Walmart for $2.50. Ever since then, I do not buy the popcorn. Camp card on the other hand are absolut

Best answer.

First, I'd exclude the extremes that seem to be about 5% to 10% of the scouts. The scout with a parent who pushes them to be in scouting but where the scout works even harder to get out of scouting. And ... the scout who's parents are not there and do not value scouting but the scout gets there and is really involved. After those extremes, I have a few thoughts. ---- Kids value what their parents value. If the parent shows through actions that they value scouting, the kid will value scouting more. ---- Most Eagle scouts have motivating parents that keep them on the path. I

Yeah, there are many arguments both ways. Another aspect I see is that a real informed choice rarely happens. Most brothers join the troop their first brother joined. Only one he's seen, family association and family pressure. Most den members follow the decision of the den leader and his son. Loyalty. Most packs feed the same troop until something happens. Then the pack feeds another troop until something else happens. Such trends and statistics reflect herd movements and not real "choice". It's much less about a real decision and much less about unit quality

I agree that the Group Leader is the key role and needs to coordinate between units and help the units build on each other. You say it's like a commissioner. I think it's more like an active charter org representative and/or a larger group committee chair with sub-committees for each unit. Heck, there really should be one treasurer for the group and one recruiting program that recruits all ages and one training chair and .... PACK LEADERS THAT SUPPORT A DIFFERENT TROOP - I must actually disagree. I'd rather mentor and get interested parents to training and help grow new leaders than kee

I'm in favor of people doing what's best for their kids. If the school is bad, they can transfer. But there is a big difference between a bad school and shopping for the best situation. In my city, there are six normal elementary schools and one specialty (alternative teaching style) school. I only know one parent who has posted for the alternative style school. I know no one that has petitioned to attend a different elementary school. Otherwise, everyone attends the ones assigned. And those parents then join the PTO and school activities and make that school better. I've y

I just realized something. I don't mind the topics of the Belt Loops. I think it's great that scouts can get together and play kickball or badminton and get something to remind them they did it. USABILITY ... I just hate the belt loops. If my son earned 20, I'd have a nightmare trying to put them on a belt and put the belt in the pants and then somewhat regularly wash the pants. The belt loops would be in a drawer and never used. PRICE ... Plus, the belt loop is too expensive. It should be a buck or less. And you get a pin and a belt loop for close to the same thing? What? And the pa

Our troop recruits and invites Webelos to join us on any camp out that logistically would work. We also provide a calendar of events and cleaned up roster (last initials only, etc). We even volunteer to help at events if we can get scouts to sign up for it. And we have a November camp out that targets Webelos and we teach them skills and ask them if there is anything special we should cover. We also have two den chiefs in other units. ================================================== ====== But several troops in our city are very gung-ho over-the-top recruiting now. The troop that i

Don't worry about that. As long as the scout is mostly self-sufficient, most scoutmasters are glad to have one or two attend with them. As long as the match up works. In another words, a scout from a relaxed troop probably would not do well in a strongly regimented troop, but the reverse would probably be fine. In our city, I've seen it happen regularly. Our troop has done it several times and other troops have done it several times. It's no big deal.

I've seen this multiple ways. One is to create a mobilization plan for notifying scouts based on an emergency. It was okay, but I don't care for that style because it won't be used. I prefer something real with this. The one way that I saw it done that I like is at our summer camp. Every scout has to participate in a mobilization drill for storms, lost scout, etc. It's written down in the camp scout leader guide. The scout could read and explain and then explain his role in the plan.

Agreed. Our SPL always brings visiting Webelos / youth up front to introduce them and often gets the scouts to play a game for everyone to meet each other and learn names. What I'm frustrated at are the Cubmasters that view troops as a source of labor / resources such that if you don't bend over backwards for them then they will go elsewhere. Here are the types of requests we get lately? - Can you provide X scouts to help with our pinewood derby? - Can you provide scouts to staff our auction fundraiser? - Can your scouts teach these Webelos requirements?

Ya know these discussions bring up a key part that really frustrates me. Stop asking what Troops can do for your pack. Boy Scouts do not exist to serve packs. Boy Scouts want to camp, hike, canoe, throw a football around and socialize with their friends. Asking them to go out of their way to help packs do things is very noble, but it's also fighting an upward battle. Run some events for the packs? I run away from troops that do too many pack / troop events. Those troops usually have adults assigned to market the troops to the packs and have a heavy adult overhead on the scouts

I almost want to open a topic tangent. But it has been discussed before and there is no good answer. COST OF DRIVING SCOUTS I've driven scouts for years in minivans and large vehicles. I often drive six or seven scouts. I remember other parents who show up driving to the camp out and their cars are full such that there is a question if they can take one other scout. It usually does not bother me because it's my choice and I enjoy driving and just listening to my son(s) and their friends interact. You learn a lot as a fly on the wall. But sometimes it crosses from a choice to

Most councils offer lone scouter summer camp opportunities too. ... or go with another troop to summer camp. Summer camp is a big part of the program and it's sad to lose the experience. But I must admit I could not afford $700 for summer camp every other year.

dedkad - Yeah, if the scouts are told they have a choice, then you need to honor the choice. BUT BUT BUT ... You experienced the one reason that I so so detest the current BSA cross over concept and the troop shopping concept. There is no shopping to choose the Pack to join when transitioning from Tiger to Wolf. Heck, Tiger is sort of a pre-"Cub Scout" rank. Similar, there is no shopping when going from Bear to Webelos even though "Webelos" is more like Boy Scouts if done right. So why emphasize the cross over at Boy Scout years. Scouts can change units at any time. That's great if

$260 - Week of summer camp run by local scouting council $140 - Week of summer camp run by our troop. We sometimes do both. $700 - Sounds like high adventure. Sea Base was about that price years ago WITHOUT transportation. Your troop might be doing some special summer program this year. IMHO, troops should offer a normal priced summer camp each year. The high price forces some scouts out.

You actually have many questions here. "Can you?" -- Sure. There is no rule against it. Assuming your charter org is a non-profit, non-profits often donate to each other. "Should you?" -- IMHO, that is your real question. You are asking about a hard rule to avoid resolving the internal disagreements and politics. No, there is no hard blocking rule to use to avoid having this harder "should you" discussion? Personally, I have no issue with it. But, if your troop's adult leaders are not on the same page, I'd invest time getting them on the same page. Your committee chair may or may