Cburkhardt

Looks like the conversation is going in another direction, so I'll end my thoughts by simply sharing that I highly doubt a Victims Trust Fund would be funded by future national registration fees. This would be too unreliable a funding source in a bankruptcy negotiation. Registration fees might continue to increase for other reasons, but not to fund a trust. I remain supremely confident that the BSA will get through this for several reasons. We still have a great purpose and many great supporters. And, the nature of the bankruptcy reorganization will assist us do justice by providing r

The potential method and formula for funding a BSA Victims Trust Fund is the subject of highly confidential discussions at this point, and anyone having that information should maintain the confidentiality of it. Anything I share here is not inside information, but just general bankruptcy information. The normal circumstance is to fund a trust of this particular nature within a reasonable time after a reorganization plan is ordered by the bankruptcy court. That's because we don't have near-guaranteed future consumer spending to rely on (like future proceeds from the purchasers of tobacc

Very directly put, the claimants and their lawyers should want to see a BSA national and the councils to continue to exist so they can continue to pay into the pension plan. If national liquidates, the Guarantee Corporation attaches pretty much everything. I share this to encourage everyone that there are significant reasons why the claimants will want to agree to a reorganization plan.

The lawyers and claimants are incented to agree to a reorganization plan that includes payments to a victims trust fund. After the trust fund is in place and funded, a trustee would review the claims in detail. She would eliminate the ones she thinks are fraudulent, and pay remaining claims by applying criteria she would develop. More severe claims get a bigger payout, etc. If national liquidates and the Guarantee Corporation takes most or all national and council assets, there would be little or nothing left for either national or councils to fund a victims trust. (The council portion

Clarification on Pension Plan Debt All council and national entities participate in the same “pension plan”. If the national bankruptcy “reorganization plan” fails and national liquidates, the pension plan covering council and national employees will immediately terminate by function of law. All available national and local council assets can then be attached by the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation to satisfy the pension plan indebtedness. The Guarantee Corporation has first priority, including before victim claimants (and their lawyers). National and every council are “jointly a

We will do our once-a-year contribution that I described, and that is it. If we paid an annual fee that was particularly low (like the $3 one some council charges -- I mean, what is the point of that?), I would make sure it was supplemented with a unit FOS gift to provide a reasonable level of support -- after all, we do need to maintain things at the camp and in basic operations. I just think the old ways of funding the council through multiple asks and inefficient product sales will fade away. Wrap it into a reasonable all-in fee that is transparently explained and be done with all the r

I think council fees are the best way for the future in lieu of FOS and product sales. Please hear me out on this. Our Troop approach is to ask families to pay all-in semester dues (this includes everything except campout and summer camp fees) and contribute to our annual coffee fundraising gathering at whatever level they can. We get family contributions ranging from $20 to $500 at that event, and outsiders contribute as well. Under-resourced families pay 50% dues and 50% camping fees (some get more) and this is supported from our event proceeds. Our December fundraiser raised en

I was using the number I have seen that combines the girl registration for Cubs and Scouts BSA. I believe the number for Scouts BSA is around 30,000. We do not have any girls trying to get Eagle by this summer. We purposely did not try to attract any girls (and parents) trying to earn it on the compressed program. Sometime in the Spring I'll share thoughts on how we have done as a Troop advancement-wise. So far, we fit a pretty typical Troop advancement profile. About 1/3 of our Scouts are go-getters who have good chances to earn Eagle around the three year mark. About 1/3 are

Merry Christmas, everyone. I was gone for a few hours and just read the latest. I think we have definitely gone over the top, should put this to bed and move on to proposing mandatory wearing of knee socks by all Scouter.com commenters. As your 2-year certified Scoutmaster of a "Boy Scouts for Girls" Troop, I officially declare that there is no actual confusion about what our 130,000 girl members and their families have joined (let's see, with parents that's over 1/4 million people who know precisely what they are doing). Never heard of a girl who was misled and tricked into earning her Se

Is it your professional opinion that these admissions make the case for GSUSA?

I should have directly stated that if we had taken the misguided approach of making ourselves appear to be associated with GSUSA, we would have not been successful. The families that joined were not wanting GSUSA programming or whatever other attributes are offered by GSUSA. Whatever the GSUSA “stands for”, our families are not looking for it.

As a Scouter deeply engaged in the roll-out of a Scouts BSA Troop for Girls during the applicable time, I can personally attest to the facts discussed above. The attempt to conflate limited instances of brief over-enthusiasm and uninformed mistakes into a significant problem should fail. The examples GSUSA cites are simply isolated. I am not an intellectual property attorney and don't know the applicable legal standards here. If showing that a possibility of customer confusion is enough, perhaps they will have something. If they need to prove actual and widespread confusion, they have a

Our "Scouts BSA Troop for Girls", which is the term we consistently use for identifying ourselves, has had about 60 girls and their parents visit with us during our open houses at the beginning of each semester. I have met every one of them and none were even remotely "confused" about what program they were visiting. Of the 45 girls who ultimately joined us, only two also continue their association with a former GSUSA unit. Approximately 10 had previously been in Girl Scouts, but affirmatively joined us to associate with the BSA-style program, most often citing wanting to be part of a progr

We recently had our annual Troop no-cost community fundraiser on Zoom to raise our scholarship money for Scouts from under-resourced families (last year we did a live coffee reception). We collected about $7,000 on our site within a day or two. The cash zaps instantly into our bank account. I think we would have received far less if we had encouraged potential donors to “mail it in” or “drop by a Troop meeting and leave some cash”. Instead, we sent them a link to a special donor page on our beautiful web site (the viewing of which encourages them to contribute as well). It is the same bas

Your Troop Treasurers have no idea how much convenience and efficiency they are losing by not collecting electronically on a web site. More important, young families today have a better attitude when it comes to paying for something with their debit or credit card at home on a web site or in-person (using one of those devices that your treasurer can plug into his smart phone). Parents today will promptly pay your fees without much fuss if you use a web site. I am no expert about this, but the technology experience of the transaction itself somehow makes the payment seem more secure and “wor

One aspect to all of this is convenience and regularity in the payment system itself. We use our troop web site and collect nearly all fees and dues through it. This is what every parent of a Scout today wants to do. Any unit collecting cash or checks on a regular basis is rubbing against the personal finance practices of young families of today. Another aspect is being really direct and up front with parents and others about the tremendous value a family and Scout get from participation in a Troop activity. Compared to the fees of school, community and athletic groups, which often ch

I see huge disadvantages in Scouting continuing to wear this huge target on its back as it tries to recast a positive image for a program in which young people learn Scouting skills and values and are taken on safe outings. We are not an ethnic-centric organization like the leagues of immigrants and descendants that preserve specific ethnic heritage. There is no advantage for our young people if Scouting encourages them to impersonate native Americans. Let’s keep the study of cultures and their attributes as part of our merit badge program and move forward.

Sounds like a valid approach. Do the families tell you at the start of the year whether they will pay directly or fundraise? If not, you might ask that question in September and immediately invoice the families who opt to pay directly. This might avoid awkward pursuit of families that do not fundraise and later use excuses like “If you had chosen a better product to sell my child would have participated. Call me next year.” It would also bring in cash early to fund the operation during early months. In any case, great to hear about your success.

Very solid ideas from Parkman. One difference between his Troop and ours is that we started from scratch two years ago and needed to build-in some capital acquisitions into our budget for the first three years or so. We also had some extra start-up money from the church and a individual funding “angel”, but regardless had to pay for things ranging from flags, flag stands, essential program equipment to camping gear. We are at 45 and are naturally growing approximately 5 Scouts net per semester. After we have finished acquiring the basics, we will further build our “rainy day” f

1) Our Treasurer electronically invoices the parents at the start of each semester and all amounts are collected on our web site. We have a couple of families that pay by check, which is fine. Because we build-in the national dues and a council contribution into our budget, this means we collect only 2 checks per year. We have 45 scouts and have a few families that are habitually late, but they eventually pay without much fuss. Our volunteer treasurer handles it all. The Scoutmasters never are put in the position of a bill collector. 2). Our annual budget is drawn on a program

An Alternative Way to Fund Local Scouting Several commenters has suggested we need to finance Scouting in a different manner. Prior to forming a new Scouts BSA Troop two years ago, our formation group conducted focus groups with parents of prospective Scouts. We included discussion on dues, fund raising and camping fees. Here are their opinions: They want to know the full, actual cost of operating the Troop and the actual costs of camp activities (both weekend and long term residential). They want this on a per-scout basis. They do not want their children to engage in p

Very thoughtful. I do not find it difficult to involve our CO, but it takes remembering that a unit has to directly include them in our program. When our bus leaves the church parking lot for summer camp, a priest is invited to provide encouragement and a blessing. When we wanted to do a service project at the church, some of our girls attended their facility committee meeting. When a girl’s mother died we asked for a nun to visit and talk to us. The Senior Warden is our Troop Chair. They will want to be part of us if we ask them. How the legal document is drafter would not impact those

I am inclined to agree with you. The only apparent purpose of the presumed lessor-lessee option is to handle the liability issue and not to distance a unit from a religious affiliation. I have my Troop as an example. If our Episcopal Church CO was to somehow opt into this new arrangement at some point in the future (maybe at the insistence of a Diocese official?), it would not change our programmatic activity or relationship with the church at all. The parish leadership and members love us and the Scouts admire them greatly in return. The Bishop attended our very first gathering and dedic

Will “renting” impact “duty to God”? A separate thread is currently discussing the apparent development that churches will now have the option to discontinue their chartered organization relationships with Troops in favor of a more-distanced lessor-lessee relationship. Te practical and relationship discussion of this should continue on that other thread. However, from a cultural perspective, this presents an issue. If a Troop is a “renter” and no longer part of a church’s program, how will this impact the “duty to God” aspect of Its program? Does this present a bigger issue acros

Sentinel is correct. This was a discussion regarding District Executives. As to the comment on the document itself, I agree the job requirements have become overly expansive and no longer suggestive of a “fun” career. As for the fund raising component, I am going to start a separate discussion in a couple of weeks sharing my view that Scouting should adopt a different model to raise funds for units and FOS for councils. Stay tuned, because you will see things you like and dispute.