why a 2 week "chill" period in Eagle paperwork?

[Lisabob 13]

I'd like other perspectives on this because it seems silly to me.

 

Scoutson is working toward Eagle. He got his project preapproval stuff done and moved to completing the fundraising app. The project beneficiary signed it right away. The SM signed it right away. The required council rep happens to also be affiliated with son's troop and signed it right away.

 

And then, the fundraiser form states that he must wait for 2 weeks before even contacting the business where he intends to do his fundraiser or the stores from which he hopes to secure donations of materials.

 

He has all the signatures and is otherwise ready to go - what is the point of waiting 2 weeks and cooling his heels? Is this simply a lesson in bureaucracy?

 

 

[Gunny2862 11]

It's dumb from our perspectives, but from Council's it their opportunity to make sure we aren't raiding a funding line they've developed for Council.

 

Don't know why it should take two weeks though...

[Oak Tree 15]

I could see that there might be a period of waiting until the council rep signed it. That would give council the chance to do whatever checks they needed to. But once the council rep has signed it, what's the point of waiting longer?

 

I'm with you - it seems like once the council has approved, the project should be able to begin.

[Horizon 97]

WAG: There is probably another review by someone after the Council Rep - the 2 weeks gives them time to do it.

[CalicoPenn 729]

Lisa,

 

Does the Council Rep that signed the fundraising application truly have authorization to give Authorized Council Approval to the fundraising application? If so, then I think you've just run into something that is likely to be relatively rare, especially if the Authorized Council Rep signed it without it having been submitted to the council service center.

 

The reason for the two weeks is to give time for the council service center to route the form to whomever is responsible for approval and to get it back from them. It may be a district executive, another council staff member, a council or district advancement committee, a finance committee, or whomever else the Scout Executive might designate. Some Councils may review and send to different people depending on the extent of the fundraiser - for instance, there might be a dollar limit of approval (not affecting the Scout) that might go something like this - approval under $1,000 can be signed by the District Executive but over $1,000 needs to be signed by a Senior District Executive or even the Scout Executive.

 

And sure,some could say 2 weeks is more than enough time to get approval but I think it's a safe hedge against others schedules - maybe you send it in on a Wednesday to hold the fundraiser on Saturday but the person authorized to sign it is on vacation and there is no other designated person - it won't get signed in time. It might also be routed to a volunteer - so the service center mails it to the volunteer, who may or may not sign it right away, who then mails it back - now you've got mailing times added to the potential time it takes to get the signature. I think the 2 weeks is just a safe bet cushion the BSA has chosen.

 

Once the form is signed by an authorized council approver, I think you can start your fundraiser right then and not wait 2 weeks. I don't see it saying wait two weeks after getting approval, I see it saying, it might take us 2 weeks to get approval.

[Twocubdad 665]

I don't think it's a "cooling-off period", rather just a guideline that it could take that long for approval. Don't submit the paperwork on Thursday and expect everyone to move heaven and earth to get approval for a Saturday fundrasier.

 

The new tour plan process allows a two-week turnaround time, too. Our council usually kicks stuff back in a couple days. If they're sitting on ANY paperwork for two weeks "just because" they should probably rethink their commitment to customer service.

[fred8033 1591]

"And then, the fundraiser form states that he must wait for 2 weeks before even contacting the business where he intends to do his fundraiser or the stores from which he hopes to secure donations of materials"

 

Agree with previous poster. This is a mis-reading. The form says the following. Eagle Workbook quote: ""... and then submit the fundraising application to your council service center at least two weeks in advance of your fundraising efforts. You will be contacted if it cannot be approved or ..."

 

IMHO, it means you need to schedule two weeks to get council appoval. But if the council designated rep approved it, then your good to go. The waiting time is over.

 

It's just a warning to make sure you plan two weeks to get through council beaurocracy.

 

[Eagle732 27]

"He got his project preapproval stuff done and moved to completing the fundraising app."

Our council has been requiring the fundraising apps to be completed BEFORE the initial project signature. The troop's policy is we don't sign the fundraising app until the book is completed through to page 17 (fundraising app) and reviewed by us.

Anyone else dealing with this?

 

I don't recall ever getting anything back from council on a fundraising app. We just send them in and do the fundraiser and never worried about the waiting period.

 

(This message has been edited by Eagle732)

[fred8033 1591]

Eagle732 wrote: "The troop's policy is we don't sign the fundraising app until the book is completed through to page 17 (fundraising app) and reviewed by us. Anyone else dealing with this? "

 

Yes. We just require what the eagle book requires. That's thru page 10, not 17. If fundraising, he fills out that form and we sign it. Both the workbook thru page 10 and the fundraiser app is reviewed and signed off by the district advancement coord. Happens in one sitting usually within a few days of the eagle candidate requesting district approval.

 

After that sitting, he uses the final plan (pages 11-17) and other documents as necessary to plan and run his project.

 

There is room for interpretation. I don't agree with the interpretation, but your troop might find it useful to interpret it differently. It's probably not that big of an issue either way.

 

...

 

Eagle732 wrote: "I don't recall ever getting anything back from council on a fundraising app. We just send them in and do the fundraiser and never worried about the waiting period."

 

Huh. That's a new view. Never thought of it. I've been reading that, when the project is done, the scout needs to submit his workbook for his BOR and processing. So your saying the workbook would contain a Fundraising application that didn't have all the signatures? Huh. That's interesting. Not sure what I think about that.

[Lisabob 13]

Hey all,

 

Thanks for feedback. yep, I understand the notion of a 2-week turnaround so that the kids don't submit the app on the same day they want to do the fundraiser or something like that. In my son's case, YES, the guy who signed for council does have the authority to approve this. So the 2 week period sure seems unnecessary in such a case.

 

Doesn't impact my guy - I just was struck with the goofiness of it, once the signatures are in place. And it sounds like others pretty much agree.

 

 

[Twocubdad 665]

Say a Scout is selling something like discount books, which he can do any time, versus a carwash which is scheduled for some date in the future. So are you saying that if a Scout takes a fundraising app in and the guy signs it while they're all standing there they still expect the Scout to wait two weeks before going out selling the books?

 

Nuts.

 

Once the app is signed he's good to go. If he's smart, he'll try to sell a book to the guy who just signed the app. If he signs the app then tries to tell the kid to wait the two weeks "just because", tell the guy to pound sand.

[Eagle732 27]

fred, when our boys send in the fundraising app they keep a copy of the signed form for their book and send in to council the original. We never (even when sending in troop fundraising apps) get anything back verifying that it was received or approved. But the eagle candidates to have a copy of the signed form.

[eisely 13]

I agree with those who say that once the council approver has signed, the two weeks waiting period is over. I think that language is incorporated into the form to deal with situations where the eagle candidate does not have good immediate access to the council. In our local situation, the council office is at most a 20 minute drive and direct face to face coordination is relatively simple. In the situation you describe where the council has signed off, I say the two week waiting period is over.

[fred8033 1591]

Eagle732 wrote: "fred, when our boys send in the fundraising app they keep a copy of the signed form for their book and send in to council the original. We never (even when sending in troop fundraising apps) get anything back verifying that it was received or approved. But the eagle candidates to have a copy of the signed form."

 

Is the council signature line signed? That's what I was wondering. It sounded like a strange process. There's nothing in any eagle process that we have about submitting the fundraising paperwork to the council. The DAC person signs the fundraiser form too. He's the designated council approver. At that point, we're done. No need to do anything with the form.

 

I was just wondering because it sounded like in the discussed process the scout would never have a form with the "council" signature signed. I must be mis-understanding something. Because if it's signed, why wait? But if not signed, you send it in. But you only hear back if it's not approved? But then you don't get a signature. I guess I don't understand something.

[Beavah 205]

Yah, just readin' this thread is kind of depressing, eh?

 

What have we turned Eagle into???? How long is that blasted workbook and ancillary documentation goin' to get? A boy can get a full-ride scholarship, a job, an automobile, almost anything up to a house with less paperwork.

 

There should be a universal test on all BSA paperwork. How does this specific form advance our mission and goals? If a jury of 12 scouters doesn't agree unanimously that the form, restriction, or guidance advances our mission in positive ways and there's no better way to do so, then da thing gets dropped.

 

Fund raisin' apps should be dropped. If we can't get it together to approve a project and its fundraisin' at the same time, that's our problem, not the boy's.

 

Beavah