fred johnson

I've read alot about IRS, non-profits and fundraisers. It's a game of nuances. Plus, there is ETHICAL and there is LEGAL. Not really serious --> Sometimes I think all troops should just be categorized as for profit organizations and publish 1099 to the scouts that earn money. It would make life easier. BUT ... (please note that most troops fly under the radar. The IRS does not care about small organizations such as most boy scouts troops. ) - If your troop / charter org wants to keep the non-profit status, you can't REQUIRE participation in fundraisers. IRS clearly calls

I don't think this is as clear cut. Ultimately, the parents pay either way. Ya pay for this event or for the next event. In my experience, the parents are often the driving force in fundraisers. Plus if there is no money in the scout account, the parent pays. I just don't see the big deal and I definitely do not see it as my place to step into family politics. All scout accounts within the same family IMHO can be used by any family member. I'll leave it up to the family to fight their own battles internally. Now what I've seen that I really don't like it is when troop $$$ are used

One of the worst mistakes our troop ever did was over engineering patrol structure and/or assigning patrol structure. To restructure patrols, the best way I've seen it done is to coach the SPL on a procedure. The procedure being to figure how many patrols can exist. 2, 3, 4, etc. Then have the SPL point out locations in the room for patrol 1, 2, 3, etc. Tell the scouts each patrol can have no less than four scouts and no more than XX scouts. Then, let the scouts choose. For newly arriving scouts, let the scout choose his patrol. KEY POINT - Stop the adults thinking it i

I'm always amazed at the mean spirited abuse others inflict on others by throwing around the word discrimination. It's not about clearly communicating. It's hate speech. BSA has always had a faith component. Now we can debate if BSA should change that, but it's not discrimination any more than my neighbor discriminating against me when he doesn't want me entering his house without permission. Personally, I think BSA should leave membership to the charter orgs because it's the only way to avoid the ugly interactions of people we've seen flood these threads for years.

Did an authorized person indicate the requirement is complete? Stop thinking about where the "official" record is. That's just wrong thinking. Yes, think about where to keep the most up-to-date record. I prefer the Boy Scout Handbook and ScoutNet. TroopMaster is just supporting materials. *** The correct focus is *** Did an authorized person (leader or appropriate scout) tell the scout he completed the requirement. The "authorized people" are the people the troop leaders say can test/approve the requirement. It's moot whether the recorded is in TroopMaster or the Boy Scout Handbook.

Okay. Don't laugh at me or chastise. We had been paying $300 each year for a guy to come in and run our race. Well, we instead bought a track and spent $2000 on it. 40 foot. Four lane. Nice timer. Software. Piece parts. We've used it at least three times a year between multiple packs and other events. Great investment. Pain to store, but great investment. Just create an Excel file listing each piece part you will purchase. Don't forget tax. Then add 10% or similar for unknowns. That's your budget.

Basementdweller ... Your experience is totally opposite from my experience. I've worked with about six or seven DEs now. They've all be great. Outstanding. Definitely not paid enough for what they do. Some better than others. Sorry you've had a rough time of it.

I could take or leave the advancement program. The skills taught are great and the adventure is great. The advancement ... ho hum. FOR MY KIDS ... I have them in scouts to #1 push their comfort zones and develop skills, #2 build "healthy" friendships and #3 get a tan that is not from the basement TV. I view the MB program as something nice to expose topics and broaden horizons. BUT .... Since they are in scouts, I encourage them to also go for advancement and Eagle. If they get it, great. If not, no loss.

I just caught up on reading this thread. I saw that an earlier poster said their unit defined expecations that included " for the last 6 months ". "for the last six months" ... You can do that because your scouts might not know better. But the BSA GTA doesn't defend that. You can set expectations, but once met, they are met. You can't say "for the last six months". BSA GTA PDF Page 21 4.2.3.1 point three says "If, for the time period, a scout or ....meets those aspects of his unit’s pre-established expectations that refer to a level of activity, then he is considered active

Your council's interpretation is NOT supported by a clear text reading of the BSA GTA. Heck the title itself is "Alternative to the third test if expectations are not met". There is no wording in the BSA GTA 2011 page 21 that defends your council's interpretation.

I've never seen the issues Basementdweller describes other than the profit of each event goes into the council general fund and we are NOT allowed to keep a district slush fund. To hold an event, we have to first get a signed approved budget / spend plan in place that includes a mandatory profit margin for the council. I can understand that though because some events crash and consume council $$$. I'm just frustrated that we can't keep any $$ from district events to run the district. i.e. funds for a better roundtable or district awards.

This is a huge issue in our district. We have awards that we want to give at the end of the year. District award of merit. Name tags. etc. But we can't use any profit from any event to fund a different event. Each event must stand alone. So we end up charging extra for the awards dinner to pay for the awards. IMHO, that's tacky. To be honest, I've skipped most all traditional dinners. Been there. Done that way too many times. Don't want to repeat.

Yeah, I've tried that route. I've had pants that wear our and pants that tear. My boy's shirt say things such as " oy s outs of meri a " because the letters fall off. I've got rings of threads on my shirts. I've had official belt buckles that just give way ... twice from metal fatigue. I've buy clothes elsewhere and have none of these problems. In one year, I had two return two official belts and three pairs of pants. I'm only up for hemming so many pairs of pants a year. So unto BSA gets better quality and I've got enough energy to try again, I'll focus on just replacing my scout

I'm sensitive to the the "scouting pants" issue. When the new uniform came out, I bought all my sons the new pants. I bought three pair for myself. All three of mine fell apart. I returned some and got more. They wore out too within six months. So I've got lots of junk pants that I could return for more junk pants. Either they wear thru or disintegrate. Luckily, I bought lots of the old-style pants for my sons that were on clearance. Saved our budget. So at this point, my sons are properly uniformed to staff scout camp. I wear pants I buy elsewhere that don't fall apart. The f

Plus ... SM + MBC is two applications because one is a troop registration and the MBC is a district registration. Two different units.

Not to delay this as it's not key to the original poster's comments... http://www.samhoustonbsa.org/leader_resources/the_commissioners_concept/rechartering_your_scouting_unit/hints__faq See "Does a leader need a new application for each time ...". It indicates it's okay at recharter because the IH is signing the recharter. Our council has a short "Change Of Position" form that requires the COR signature (same signature that goes on the new leader application) to approve the position title change. I'm the CC & COR in our units. So I sign that form and it's a done deal. It's r

ADCinNC is right. You have to already be registered in the unit. You need an application to associate with a unit. Each unit is an entity in and off itself. After registered in the unit, you can change position without a new app. Still takes COR signature though. Our council has a single page form. I'm the CC & COR in each of my units. Just makes life a lot easier. At recharter time though, you can change people's titles almost at a whim within the same unit.

Ummm.... Perhaps your councils are different. In our council, if you are registered in the unit, your name can be shifted around between different positions in the unit WITHOUT a new application. If you are NOT registered in the unit, yes, a new app is needed. But for years, I've changed leader titles both at recharter and as needed using a change of leadership form. Tiger den leader --> Cub scout den leader Cub Den leader --> Webelos den leader ASM --> scoutmaster Scoutmaster --> ASM Committee member --> ASM

If they don't care about reimbursement, then you shouldn't worry. Just remember to thank them for the donation. I must admit that I'm one to rarely submit expenses. I ask for a check BEFORE when I'm rechartering the pack or paying for camps. If I'm registering one scout and it's mid-way thru the year, I usually don't even bother with reimbursement. On the flip side, I also don't do as much fundraising. My son probably only sells $300 in popcorn. So instead of doing a huge amount of fundraising, this is how my family contributes.

jblake47 ... I applaud your commitment and follow thru. I just wish it was the standard. With today's society, I can easily see why busy UCs might let slide working with units that were not in crisis.

I'm just sort of sad about the whole thing. BSA has many charter partners who have contradicting values. BSA needs to NOT pass this. The damage will just continue. People will ignore the rule to do what they want and the public action groups will continue to beat-up BSA for being intolerant. Instead BSA needs to pass something that says .... "BSA provides a program structure and materials and leaves membership management to the charter partners to manage consistent with the beliefs of those partners." If a charter partner has beliefs that contradict too much, then BSA should no

desertrat77[/url=http://www.scouter.com/member/9031-desertrat77] said it well. UC is a theoretical idea that I doubt ever worked “on a broad scaleâ€Â. The issue is numbers, a structural issue. There are just not enough knowledgeable UCs with the right temperament who can consistently serve and have the time and resources to serve. Read desertrat77’s post. Most experienced scouters know the UC concept is broken and most have given up on the UC program. Few take an honest evaluation because UC has a long tradition back to the beginnings of scouting. Instead

Then when you save it says ... Error while saving content: Internal Server Error.... confusing

Last was duplicate .... I tried to edit to clean up. Tried to save when it said to a title is needed. The "Title" box is read only and I can't enter a title. Vicious catch 22.

CO can choose membership. It is an incorrect question to ask if BSA explicitly allows COs to choose members. BSA has a structure and a program. Charter Orgs choose to run a youth program using the BSA framework. I don't think BSA "allows" anything as the CO can choose / filter the youth it offers scouting too. CO's can limit membership because of unit size, religious / location / money / ... ... ... / other affiliation, etc. Similarly, units can ask members to leave for almost any reason. Personally, I think this is where BSA gets in trouble. On one hand they say they offer a progr