adelight

Overall, we had lower numbers per scout, but more scouts participated, so our sales were almost the same as last year. I'm not sure why the numbers were lower per scout though. My son's numbers were higher, and at $3100+ he did just over 25% of the entire pack's sales.

Whew! Am I glad to hear that I'm not the only one wanting to do a different fundraiser. The % of what you earn vs. other fundraisers plus the difficulty in selling popcorn that is approx. $15 a box and that alot of people can't eat popcorn or nuts due to health issue makes for a very good arguement. We had a great kickoff last year with games, prizes, and dressing up but as hard as the guys tried, the sales were low. Alot of parents are not wanting to do the popcorn because our area has the highest unemployment rate in our state and it is easier to sell a $1 candy bar than expensive popcorn that you can run to Wal-Mart and get for 1/5 of the price.

The reason your packs sales are low is because of the parents not wanting to do it, not because of unemployment or the prices. If the parents (and leaders, from the way it sounds) aren't willing to invest the time to help the boys, the boys won't be motivated to sell ANYTHING, and their sales will be low. I'm saying this from experience, as my son was the #3 seller in his Pack as a Tiger, #1 as a Wolf (beating our #2 by $1500), and is #1 as a Bear (beating our #2 by $2500). The only difference between my son and the boys who are #2 is parent involvement, plain and simple.

My son sets a goal for himself every year and I work to help him hit the goal. I do not sell for him. I go with him when he arranges his own Show & Sells and I sit thru the Show & Sell booths; I take him from door-to-door doing "Show & Deliver" and "Take Orders". I do not "have the time" - I make the time. I am a single mom who works full time. In addition, I own my business that I do on my own hours, and I have a 2 year old & a 2 month old.

The difference is encouragement, and the willingness to stretch yourself as a parent to help you son grow into a man. Period.

We hold our popcorn kickoff at the end of our regular September pack meeting. It always starts with a loud, wild, fun skit by the leaders. Two years ago we did a "Mission: Impossible" skit with the theme music playing loudly while our Cubmaster, dressed in a trench coat, battled bad guys who had stolen the prizes for our popcorn sale. Last year, we played the Indiana Jones theme while our Cubmaster, dressed in leather jacket and fedora with satchel and whip, avoided bad guys to reach a temple and unlock a treasure vault containing the prizes for the sale. We really make these skits into big productions, building up to revealing all the prizes the Scouts can earn by participating in the popcorn sale. It really gets the kids excited.

 

Once everyone is all pumped up, we serve popcorn and go over the pack's sales plan, including the prizes and how Scouts can earn money for summer camp. The pack prizes are in addition to the Trail's End prizes awarded after the sale, and we have them on display so the boys can see them and touch them. We make a big deal about each boy coming to Blitz Day and getting a prize.

 

The first day of the sale (Saturday) is Blitz Day. Scouts pick up popcorn in the morning and sell for at least two hours sometime during the day. Everyone gets back together in the late afternoon for a pizza party, and everyone reports their Blitz Day sales and turns in the money they have collected so far. Last year, we had 23 Scouts participate in Blitz Day resulting in one-day sales of $8021.

 

Every Scout that participates in Blitz Day gets a prize ($5-$20 value), with the Scout with the highest sales for the day selecting first, then next highest, and so on. This seems to work well for us, because every Scout wants to come to the party and get a prize, and once they get out and try, they found out how easy it is to sell the popcorn. By the end of the day, most are well on their way to whatever goal they've set for themselves, so there is incentive to keep selling after Blitz Day.

 

Scouts and their families set their own goals, but the pack offers $50 toward summer camp for anyone who sells at least $500 in popcorn. The amount the pack contributes toward summer camp goes up for every $250 sold above $500. This way, not only are the Scouts helping the pack go, they are helping themselves, too. Last year 17 boys earned $2650 toward summer camp.

 

Hope you find at least some of this useful!