studdman

dana_renner

You bring up some very good points. However, I think the leadership guide is not very well organized. The forms are all over the place, and when you have to make copies of them, they come out gray and cloudy because of the green tinted background. There is no cd that accompanies the handbook either. It reads like a dull textbook and in many places is too general and vague. I believe in the youth run program quite highly, but if National is to be the one to provide us with the literature, then they need to have it be practacle and fool proof. If I had 5 or so years of venturing under my belt, the manual would probably be a more useful tool, but for the one starting out, not very user friendly. They should have examples inside the books for the forms, but have the copy-friendly ones in the back so they are easily accessible. It would be nice to have a small handbook for the president, vice president and program chair. Anyhow, I think they had too many intellictual people write the manual instead of practicle ones.

We used PVC pipe that was just lage enough for the 1/2" rebar to fit inside. The length was 13". We shaved off the sides of one end enough so that the plug would come on and off easy. We had someone make a 3/4" round metal spike and had a washer welded on so that it could be driven into the ground and once the washer hit the ground, you knew that you were far enough. Then you lift up the spike and insert the 13" pipe. Easy as that. We handed out the flyers and picked up 3-4 more people in a little over a week.

ASM1

Interesting how some people can get the attitude of "I can do it better." Unfortunately I held this attitude when I served as an assistant scoutmaster. Back in September, I was put in charge of the entire scout program. It is a lot of work! Especially since the unit was flat broke and owed debts when I took it over. Youth leadership was lacking because the previous guy micromanaged everything. Now, I literally eat, think and sleep scouting and how I can improve the scouting program. I compare it to the old phrase: "how do you eat an elephant? Answer: one bite at a time." Just be careful not to choke. I took the initiative and had all the Adult leadership to get their new leaders essentials. I made sure that the youth ran the show and not the scoutmaster(s). We made sure that the boys planned the activities. I have never run a Venture crew, so this start has been a bumpy one. But the boys are eager to learn and participate, and that helps. The irony here is, that I need a trailer with gear and I have many scouts, you have a trailer with gear and no scouts!

One thing about the PVC pipes, make sure you shave off the ends of the pipes, otherwise, you will not be able to get the caps of. We had a fixed belt sander and we took off about an inch down the pipe and just enough so the cap will still fit on it, but loose enough to take it off. Does this make sense? Dry fitting PVC is a nightmare. Those caps will stay in place too well if you don't shave off the sides about an inch down in one end. We just had our first rollout last week. It went very well. Picked up 3 more subscribers for a total of 27. It would be a good idea to have the local paper go out on your next run. The publicity will help the troop get more subscribers, and is good PR for the local troop.

t487scouter

Glad to meet a fellow Washingtonian. I am in the bustling metropolis of Ephrata. The flag package we use was meant for outdoor use. The epoxy coated rebar is inserted inside the PVC that goes in around 12-13 inches. That helps give the PVC pole that the flag is mounted to some strength and stability. True, having a 7 foot flagpole can be hard to manage, but we have found that they fit inside most minivans. Using trucks is the ideal method. The flags come in increments of 10 inside a tube. This makes it good for storage and keeps the dust out.

Another fundraiser that I thought of is have a community flag day where you advertise and work with local leaders to have the citizens trade their old flags for new ones, or just get one for themselves, either by donation, or for free. This could even be an eagle project. Get businesses to donate the flags, advertise around the community, and have a flag swap old for new. Then take the old flags and have a public ceremony or just one with the scouts, and retire them formally.

The key to any fundraiser success is advertising! Radio, Newspaper, flyer's, the works! Radio stations have to do public service announcements per order of FCC, and many newspapers will print your project for free or at a significantly reduced cost.

If a troop is suffering with an inflow of money, then they are not doing the right things to make their fund-raising successful. We try and stay away from things that require purchasing up front, such as candy, first aid kits, etc. Doing a fundraiser that involves the community and keeps the scouting program in the public eye is a good thing. Many of these people were, in one time or another, involved in scouting. When they see a need, they contribute.

Thanks Backpacker!

I was considering doing a program like that, for that is the direction we are going with our new crew. I feel that the spirit of scouting is to help the boys become better men, leaders, citizens, and stewards of the earth. Creating a high adventure program around that is what, I feel anyway, is the purpose of venturing. I am going to take what you suggested and apply it fully in my crew. My boys really want a good, quality program. Setting goals to meet will help them in their academic abilities as well as at their place of employment. I think it is hard to make a one size fit's all program. The beauty of scouting is that it is flexible to accommodate the boy's interests and needs. Please give your ideas to national! I look forward for more program guides!

OneHour

The problem I have is that I am forbidden to have personal Scout accounts. Since we are an LDS troop, having those kind of things are against church policy. So, the motivation of selling is limited. I tried really hard to have personal scout accounts, but the Bishop read from the handbook concerning that matter.

That troop you know, how exactly do they run their fundraiser?

As for the PVC, we have a good method of installation. We pound in a wide stake and that opens the hole. Then we insert the PVC and cap it. We prefer to place them where there is no grass and where having a bit of pipe peaking out of the ground isn't too noticeable. So far, we haven't had any problems of what you mention.

On order to compensate the boys' time and parents, we set a minimum for attendance. If the boy's meet that, they get summer camp paid for, and what is left over goes towards other camping trips and outings.

I can't imagine how frustrated you may be by only getting 4 subs. How large is your community?

Here are some more fundraising Ideas:

Having a Car Wash and or a rummage sale is good way to make a thousand dollars. A few years ago we did two fundraisers in back to back weekends. One weekend we did a rummage sale and made $1200. To get the merchandise, we went around to yard sales and offered to take what they didn't sell. We also placed and ad in the paper asking for donations for things to put in the sale. We got an Army/Navy store to donate a bunch of clothes, backpacks, mess kits, etc. The next weekend, we had a carwash and sold hotdogs at Wal-Mart. They usually match dollar for dollar, but that wasn't available at that time. We put an empty 3 gallon water jug taped down at the table and sold the hot dogs and car washes by donation. We made a little over $800 dollars. We got Safeway to donate the buns and the hot dogs were cheap. You just need someone with a food handlers card to sit at the stand. I am not sure what kind of area you live in, but I have known troops who have in the past sold firewood in advance, then had the National Guard cut wood in the forest and the boys hauled it in. The guy told me that they made a few thousand easy, because wood, around here goes for 80-100 bucks a cord.

I know of a troop that has a desert banquet where they treat their guests to desert and they get local businesses to donate merchandise etc. They hold an auction for this merchandise. They advertise on the radio and newspaper. I am told that they do quite well for themselves.

Another idea is when communities hold their annual festivals, especially in warmer climates, scouts get bottled water donated and offer to sell them by donation. The potential there is good

I have heard of scouts run a food booth around county fair time. This is good, especially for larger troops. They can pull in quite a lot of money. It takes a lot of help to do something like this, but the profit margin is large.

I can't imagine how frustrated you may be by only getting 4 subs. How large is your community?

Here are some more fundraising Ideas:

Having a Car Wash and or a rummage sale is good way to make a thousand dollars. A few years ago we did two fundraisers in back to back weekends. One weekend we did a rummage sale and made $1200. To get the merchandise, we went around to yard sales and offered to take what they didn't sell. We also placed and ad in the paper asking for donations for things to put in the sale. We got an Army/Navy store to donate a bunch of clothes, backpacks, mess kits, etc. The next weekend, we had a carwash and sold hotdogs at Wal-Mart. They usually match dollar for dollar, but that wasn't available at that time. We put an empty 3 gallon water jug taped down at the table and sold the hot dogs and car washes by donation. We made a little over $800 dollars. We got Safeway to donate the buns and the hot dogs were cheap. You just need someone with a food handlers card to sit at the stand. I am not sure what kind of area you live in, but I have known troops who have in the past sold firewood in advance, then had the National Guard cut wood in the forest and the boys hauled it in. The guy told me that they made a few thousand easy, because wood, around here goes for 80-100 bucks a cord.

I know of a troop that has a desert banquet where they treat their guests to desert and they get local businesses to donate merchandise etc. They hold an auction for this merchandise. They advertise on the radio and newspaper. I am told that they do quite well for themselves.

Another idea is when communities hold their annual festivals, especially in warmer climates, scouts get bottled water donated and offer to sell them by donation. The potential there is good

I have heard of scouts run a food booth around county fair time. This is good, especially for larger troops. They can pull in quite a lot of money. It takes a lot of help to do something like this, but the profit margin is large.

We do the following Holidays:

President's Day, Memorial Day, Flag Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Patriot Day (9/11), $ Veterans Day.

I have searched many sites for good flags. They all offer this very same flag package. I found this site to be the cheapest. We purchased 60 flags and they gave us a discount.

https://www.colonialflag.com/article.php?article_id=6

Don't go through the headache of pounding those stakes into the ground. It takes too much time.

For another flag fundraiser, I knew of a guy who was in the scouting program in Seattle. They went to businesses to get the flags and worked with the city to get special mounting brackets installed on light posts. When a business wanted a subscription, they mounted the flag on all federal holidays, not just the 7 mentioned. They also had businesses donate the flags. He said that the first few years were decent, but when other businesses who did not subscribe saw what they had done, they got on board to. He said that they made enough money to go to National Jamboree one year. I think doing the business thing would be much easier. All you have to do is go down the street with flags bundled in your hand and plant them in a holder one by one. It would be conceivable to have 200+ or more subscribers if you are in a large city. That is $7000 dollars for just placing a flag.

JD, to answer your thought, the local VFW I believe has been the one installing flags on the cemetery site. Putting them on grave sites would be even easier, especially if you are in a large cemetery. All you need is the smaller flags, and the potential exists for 300 or more there. (Thats $10,500 per year) A good ad campaign and getting the city involved in it helps. Word travels fast, especially in smaller communities. If anyone has more questions, please ASK!

I can understand complety about the frustrations with Venturing. Being new to Venturing, but not Boy Scouting (Eagle scout I am), I went through the new leader training for a Venture Crew, purchased the Venture Leadership manual, and began the crew last month. I can say that Varsity and Boy Scouting have it easy with the planning guides and troop resources. There is nothing for Venturing. I found the book confusing and not really much help. They should have more specific things in there to help people like me get off the ground. I also have the Crew startup guide and found that not helpful at all. It seems like they really through this Venturing thing together. Venture Patrols and Venture Crews, how confusing is that? National really needs to print Crew resource guides for activities and have the forms copy friendly. With that green tint background, copying in black and white doesn't do it justice. I am not impressed with this Venturing program method. I like the concept, but what good is a concept without the right tools necessary to build it up further?

Not to start a new thread, but has anyone noticed that prices for BSA items or merchandise keeps going up each year? Uniforms, supplies, etc?

We started the flag fundraiser for residential neighborhoods, and modified it bit. It has such a large potential to make some big $$$. We bought flags 10 at a time that come with 2' epoxy coted rebar. Then at the homes of our subscribers, we intall a 13" PVC pipe in the ground and cap it. Then, when it comes time to put up the flag, all that needs to be done is remove the cap, put the rebar inside the pipe and place the flag over the rebar. We charge $35 for 7 holidays. So far we have 25 suscribers and more on the way. The first and second to the last day's of the fundraiser, put flyers on the neighbors 2 to the left and right and 4 across the street directing them to look at the flag that their neighbor has and that they can have the same thing too. That keeps more flags in a smaller area. The potential for $$$ is large. The flags cost 15.50 each with shipping. Get businesses to donate the cost of the flags. Don't take the hit the first year on funds. We managed to raise 1000 dollars to purchase flags in just a short amout of time. If you live in a smaller community, limit an area, or divide the area into sectors. Then take the troop and divde them up and establish routes. This way, 100 or 200 flags are managable. In one year a troop can make $3500 with just 100 flags! Divide the town up into those sectors, (we have 4) so that makes 25 flags per sector. We have 20 (boys, leaders) total, so 5 per sector. 4-5 boys can put up flags in no time, with a leader driving the truck, especially if they are in a concentrated area.

Does anyone have experience with flag fundraisers? Pro's, Con's, Words of advice or flag companies to go to? Our Troop (64) is looking into the idea.

Thanks!