InquisitiveScouter

Only a Sith deals in absolutes. Do you really think I am advocating that people work for free? At the council level, I could see a structure of using the median income of the population you serve as a baseline. Add a percentage increase year by year based on performance. Many ways to skin that cat. But no council (that I know of) gets to select its own talent. BSA selects the "talent pool" for them. And they must select one of those. So, ultimately its about surviving the long con in the network of who-you-know to land a slot at the feeding trough.

I acknowledge that "This is the Way", but I believe, at it's heart, this model is flawed. And I know I ain't going to be the one to change it. This data, when presented to Mom and Pop on main street, doesn't fly. Especially in the light of the "value-added" discussions we have had. And I do not buy the 'we have to pay these kinds of salaries to attract the talent" argument.

Except that the execs will still be getting their six or seven figure salaries and retirement compensations, no matter which way it goes.

What were your recharter fees this year, compared to last? Wanna place bets now on whether those fees will increase with a future-payments-victim-compensation-fund? You can bet your sweet campfire they will. You and I and our future Scouts will be the ones paying into this. That's the connection...

There is a Chesapeake Bay Sailing Adventure offered thru Rodney Scout Reservation in Del-Mar-Va council. https://www.delmarvacouncil.org/high-adventure-opportunities/high-adventure-sailing-on-the-chesapeake/9297 Cost is less than Sea Base. You can cut costs even more if you plan for and procure your own meals, which, according to my sources, is really all the Rodney provides for you....so, camp food. You can charter with the Captain directly, provide your own meals, at substantially lower cost, and still get a High Adventure program, including merit badges. DM me if you want more contact info.

How is it a disadvantage to lawyers and claimants, unless the settlement includes mandated future payments into a victim's compensation fund? If that is the case, then who has to bear that financial burden?

Just thinking about this...and please help me flesh out these thoughts... The IRS allows individuals to receive monetary gifts, up to a certain amount, tax free. I have often thought units might give (even anonymously) gifts to value-added council employees to support them directly. 2020 & 2021 exclusion is $15K. Give privately, so council doesn't reduce their salaries. Having done Lone Scouting in various locations around the world (registration and support processes through electronic means), and with Scoutbook and Scoutshop on line, I can see a future for unit-level Scouting without the need for a district/council structure. We ran our own Summer Camp. Kids loved it. Agree that many units would not be able to mount that sort of effort. Maybe "Council" should just be centered around the Summer Camp (or a long-term camping experience). Now that I think of it, that is where most of our council's expenditures are (outside of salaries) anyway. (So, if we have a full-time paid Camp Director on staff, why should the SE be making a salary that puts them in the top 7% economic bracket, nation-wide?? The SE isn't the one managing the top expenditure in the council, the Camp Director is. Hmmmm) Training done regionally...maybe with smaller regional area divisions, supported by National??? What to do about insurance, though...we do need that support... Again, musings...have a great weekend. Going camping now

https://blog.scoutingmagazine.org/2014/03/13/interpreting-under-the-auspices-in-national-outdoor-awards-requirements/#:~:text=If it's part of a Scout's work on merit badges,state park wouldn't count.

Lol...at the unit level, concur...and IMHO, this should be the case for district and council level events for units. This is a great role for the OA! And as I shared in a previous post, our PLC had planned and geared up to staff/run several stations at two separate district events, and were waved off at last minute by district committee volunteers who said ,"We have enough adults to run things now." Our PLC corporate memory still bears a bit of scar tissue from that. I don't blame them...

Not at district or council level...right?

A tool, of course, but one of the best in the tool box of things to attract, recruit, engage, and retain youth.

Nor do they have to provide you copies. This was a speed bump, but I understand they don't need to spend time making copies. So, I asked if it would be scanned to a file. No, definitely not, was the answer. Now the speed bump is a road block. So I just wait until items are available on Charity Navigator or GuideStar and then distribute for public information. This is part of why I am blacklisted. I see it as just facilitating transparency

Awww @MattR, the occasional rabbit hole is fine, right?? Council fees should help fund professionals who go out and recruit and train (or see that training is provided to) adult volunteers (Commissioners included) to run the program. Tracing it backwards, bad program is usually a result of poor adult volunteerism, which is usually a result of a lack of recruiting/training by professionals, who get paid by the council fees... I firmly believe, if the program was the focus, the fees and fundraising would fall into place with no issues. That does not seem to be the mindset here (in this council)...

Barry, The observation on our program is mine, when looking at other units, and speaking with volunteers and parents at multiple events. And, I totally get that Commissioners' attention should be first and foremost to units that are struggling. My point is just what you sussed out: our council/district/unit Commissioner apparatus is broken, and I believe it directly affects the quality of programs at each level. The secondary point is that, if we did experience an issue we needed help with, I'd have no idea who to call directly. We do not have a Unit Commissioner assigned, nor have we had any interaction with a Commissioner (except for Roundtables) for about 2 years. And the last was a request by me to do a unit contact to "check the health", from which we got zero Commissioner feedback. (No news is good news?) But, I see it as a DE (and the other two of the Key 3) responsibility to recruit Commissioners. Am I wrong? It ain't happening here. And the liaison bit was a direct quote pulled from the Administration of Commissioner Service manual https://filestore.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/34501.pdf Finally, I am trying to tactfully engage our SE to find some way forward (to get off his blacklist), but he is swamped with funding/bankruptcy/DE&I/YPT issues. So I remain on the back burner until his bandwidth is more open (sorry for the mixed metaphor ).

This is one facet of the problem. Thanks. And I am not the only one...there are quite a few around here who are in that boat. It seems our council board is really out of touch with the volunteer base as well. We are a perfect example of where leadership is cutting off its nose in spite of its face.

And only good for two years? Whereas a NCS certification is good for five?? For me to volunteer to be your Short-Term Camp Administrator? I'll pass. Instead, I think I'll apply for the National Office job of Short-Sighted Camping Program Demolisher

If it is virtual, and required by National, could it be done through https://training.scouting.org/?? Or is it tailored to your specific locale??

Sometimes you wonder if they are trying to put themselves out of business...

@MattR and others... Spot on! A council (or any organization) must be of value, be able to demonstrate that value, and advocate for their value-added to Scouting. Our council is dysfunctional, for many reasons similar to those some of you see in other councils. That was my challenge to our council. "If you want our money and support, please tell us what value you give to our program." - Our district events are not fun or interesting for our Scouts, therefore not well attended. If our PLC does not wish to do District events, I CANNOT veto them. I only veto their decisions for health and safety reasons. I have given much time to District events and Committees, but for the last two years, our SE has denied my participation, ostensibly based on my non-support of FOS. Our PLC has volunteered to help run a few District events. For the last two, the PLC responded on short notice to staff stations at an event, and, after jumping through hoops to get people and materials together, were told at the last minute, "We don't need you now, we have adults who will staff the event stations." - Our council events? Aren't any...our last council-level event for units was three years ago. Our Troop supported it, and constructed a Pioneering project that was a hit. Constant line to participate and climb on it... Cost for the event was $30 a head, and that did not include food cost for our unit. Did not get program value for $30 a head. (Our local amusement parks charge about $40 a head for groups over 20. Our Scouts prefer those.) - Our OA Lodge? A self-serving organization that does nothing visible for our units. Our Committee and I support using the OA in our unit as an honor recognition for our Scouts. When they start doing service events in our council or community, I will encourage them to wider participation. - Our local camp? Our Scouts don't want to go there to camp or for Summer Camp. The facilities are horrible, and we can get similar or better services from our county and state parks, or local facilities, for cheaper prices, with less interference and interruption to our program. Our unit has done at least eight service projects over the past five years worth thousands of dollars to improve portions of camp... not one iota of thanks or recognition for our Scouts. (Not that they do it for the thanks, but gratitude costs little to nothing. We did a service project for our local land conservation non-profit (with expenditures similar to our council) and every single Scout participating got a hand-written thank you card from them.) - Our Scout Shop? Awesome, keep it. Although, we can get everything we need from on line Scout Shop, at same prices. Our local shop allows us to get 99% of our needs quicker...you pay for convenience - Our Registrar? Awesome. But, I believe most functions could be automated and placed on line. Scoutbook has been a huge improvement in our ability and agility to file for advancements and recognize our Scouts. It took two years of lobbying to get our council to put MBC lists in Scoutbook. - Our District Executive? Don't have one. I have done the Charter Agreement for our CO for the last four years, and delivered it to council. We get support from our Scout office in no-cost-to-unit printing of recruiting materials. - Our Unit Commissioner? Don't know who that is this week (sarcasm). A Commissioner only visits when I specifically ask our District Commissioner for a visit. They have an open invitation to attend any event or outing. Never seen one... "The commissioner is the liaison between the local council and Scouting units. The commissioner’s mission is to keep units operating at maximum efficiency, maintain regular contact with unit leaders, coach leaders on where to find assistance, note weaknesses in programs, and suggest remedies. The commissioner is successful when units effectively deliver the ideals of Scouting to their members." I know we are one of the best units in District and Council, but we never get that feedback from any level... We are left in a state of benign neglect. I have offered to become a Commissioner when my tenure ends this year. Will be dependent on whether SE still denies my participation at the district and council level. and the list goes on... I would love for our council to improve, but suggestions for change are not solicited, and, when given, are routinely ignored or rejected.

FOS = Fund Our Salaries??

Ours, National fee $66 plus council fee $60 (service $48 plus insurance $12) = $126 total for youth. National $42 plus $5 council (insurance) = $47 for adults. Does not include the $25 first time fee for youth... Our troop dues, $49...so Scouts in our unit paid $175 to recharter for the year....not including Scout Life. I will remain council-anonymous

You cover airfare and rental car, and I'm in!! I have relatives in SA and Fort Worth areas...which is closer?? So, if you can recruit someone to do it for your unit/council, here's what I did... Week long course at Philmont Training Center to be a certified WFA Instructor. Includes certification to teach CPR/AED and Standard First Aid. Cost for me back then was about $400 for the course. We made it a family road trip, and the wife and kids did a week long program there too. If you haven't been to PTC, highly recommended. They did a great job. Then you have to purchase the training materials from the course provider...about another $250 (can't see my old invoices now), depending on the provider Then buy CPR manikins and supplies, and a practice AED...another $750. Practice First Aid supplies, Projector, computer, etc, etc, All in, you are there for about $1500 minimum if you already have the tech support. That is the cost of about 8 WFA courses if your unit pays for them... You can recoup the cost of your outlay by training other units for a minimal fee. Worth considering...

When I do these, I assess a small fee to cover the cost of my qualification and materials (instructor certification, curriculum slides, projector, computer, CPR manikins & bags, practice AED, bandages, etc.) that I paid out of pocket to start up the operation. Still less than half the cost you'd see by council or on the market. CPR/AED costs about $110 and WFA costs about $200 in these parts. I do CPR/AED for $35, WFA for $60 (includes both). When I offered to do these for council at bare-minimum cost, and the professional training advisor said "No." The reason given was that they had professional relationships to maintain outside of Scouting, and that undercutting prices for services Scouters get from Red Cross/REI/NOLS/American Heart, etc., etc. would damage those relationships. (I remain skeptical.) If I did them through council, we had to charge a rate comparable to the market. I taught these for our council contingents to Philmont a few years ago, taught in council facilities. Council charged them the $200 per person, folded that into the cost per participant, and gave me my $60 per, which is all I asked... I will no longer spend my time being a revenue generator for council. I gladly teach volunteers, and they arrange for facilities and snacks...

I do see microfiber shirts with canvas pants a lot around here....