What does your CO do for you and...

[JeffD 10]

what do you do for them?

 

our Charter Org. is very hands-off (theyre a school PTA) and i feel like this is surely a relationship that is lacking in our pack... though the PTA has told us that they signed the charter since they didnt have to "do any work" and we had our own insurance coverage...

 

we were recently contacted by an American Legion post who wants to sponsor a pack. so the reason for the question.

 

TIA

[John-in-KC 311]

Jeff,

 

The short version: Get your DE and/or a Commish involved. Ask them to sit down with both the Legion and the unit. LOOK AT THE OBLIGATIONS, together.

 

If the Legion wants to do those, the next step is to talk to the PTA and the school itself. See if the PTA is willing to surrender its charter at the cycle time. In the meantime, evaluate what the school and PTA are providing in terms of the charter agreement.

 

If you do choose to transfer the charter, you want to do this in friendship. As someone in another thread (and another part of the Scouter forums) discovered the hard way, burning bridges is almost never a good idea.

[Lisabob 13]

Jeff, the pack we were with was also chartered by a PTO and they did practically nothing for us. We did assist them from time to time with service projects. But it was always a challenge because both the membership of the pack and the PTO changed every year and they seemed not to want to be bothered by us most of the time. Mostly the relationship, such that it was, could be summed up as follows: we stayed out of their way and they stayed out of ours.

 

That said, moving to a new chartered org. is a big deal and your DE will likely encourage you to stay put. Partly because, if there is another group in town that wants to charter a pack, your DE will probably prefer to see them start a pack too - rather than just moving your pack over. And partly because, moving units around tends to be a sign of bigger underlying issues that suggest instability in the program. Your DE will probably advise that you try to work with your current charter partner to improve things first, rather than moving.

 

Whether this makes sense in your situation is another matter, of course.

 

 

[JeffD 10]

just to add something - our DE contacted us about this asking if we would be interested. he knows a little bit about (as lisabob said) we stay out of their way and they stay out of ours. i dont think we would have been contacted by him had he thought we were best served by 'staying put'

 

the ONLY benefit we have is meeting at the school - though we met there before we were chartered by the PTA and the school principal is the one who doesnt mind us meeting there. so far we have even been unsuccessful in getting a tax id number to save sales tax on awards at the scout shop.

 

im interested in the link to the 'burning bridges' thread referenced

 

thanks

jeff

(This message has been edited by JeffD)

[JeffD 10]

found out a little more info - they're also interested in supporting a new or existing boy scout troop. also heard mention of supplying a trailer and camping gear. there used to be a troop in the area that folded, and i dont know if they had any involvement in them or not.

[Beavah 205]

Yah, I gotta admit that PTOs in general seem to make poor Chartering Orgs. If there is a real alternative, that might make for a much better relationship as long as yeh don't have any issues with school access.

 

Beavah

 

[Jeffrey H 25]

We have a great two-way relationship with our CO which is a church. They are very supportive and engaged with our unit.

 

What do we do for our CO? We do occasional service projects that benefit the CO and we also promote the CO. The CO uses our Pack as an outreach to the community. Many families that are associated with the Pack have become members of the CO.

 

It helps a great deal if some of the Pack leaders are active members of the CO.

[beardad 12]

We have a great relationship with our CO.... Since we are self chartered. ha ha ha

[SSScout 1615]

Ditto the 'burning bridges' and new unit vs transfer unit to a new CO. DE would always want to see new units rather than t/f units.

 

Tax ID: For tax free status, the Pack/Troop/Crew buying at our Scout Shop is always tax exempt, covered by Council status, not unit. Then too, the CO (at least in YOUR case, a PTA) should be non-profit/charitable; therefore you might inquire to use their tax ID, since they "own" the Pack. If you buy things for PERSONAL use, then you pay the tax.

 

There's that word again...