Pack funding level

[prairie 10]

Just how much does it cost to run a Pack per Cub per year?

Figure camping, trips and such are extra cost.

[Basementdweller 608]

We spend about $100 per scout a year. With that we provide the Book, registation fees with boys life, pinewood and raingutter regatta kits. All awards, we have free advancement, but the belt loops are way to expensive, the 4 council activities are also included.

 

Camp outs are addition as is museum or sport team visits.

 

We do the popcorn sale, a couple of bake sales a year and the spring candy bar sale.

[ntrog8r 19]

It costs as much as you have. What I mean by that is whatever money you earn you spend on the program - as much or as little as that is. When we started earning some major popcorn money, our spending went way up. Your minimum costs can just be recharter fees, depending on what the Pack does for the program. Even this can be paid for by the chartered organization - which is how we've always managed to do it with the units we've been affiliated with.

[Novice_Cubmaster 10]

Fund the beltloops, dump the Boys Life (or at least make the parents who want it, optionally pay for it).

 

Beltloops are part of recognizing some achievement - whether awarded at the at the pack or den meeting - which is a big part of the program. Too many unread copies of Boys Life end up in landfills.

 

NC

[Lisabob 13]

I disagree with novice_cubmaster. I have met a lot of parents who told me that their cub-aged kids never read anything, but that they enjoyed boys life. We also pushed hard on parents to read BL with/to their sons, with a lot of success I might add.

 

Those beltloops get expensive. We paid for them the first time a kid earned them, but not if they earned a repeat loop (which many did, especially as they got into the webelos requirements). At that point, we offered to buy the little rocker segments that they could put on the back of their brag vests instead. Those were a lot cheaper and the kids like them too. If parents wanted duplicate loops, they were welcome to buy them out of pocket though.

 

More generally - we ran our program for anywhere between $30/boy to $150/boy, depending on the year, the fundraising success, and the willingness of parents to pay out of pocket for things.

[raisinemright 13]

Our program cost last year was $160 per scout. That included day camp completely covered for boys who met their popcorn goal or paid the balance between sales and cost. Most of our boys attended camp.

 

We're generally able to cover all other pack expenses from popcorn sales so there is little to no out of pocket costs beyond registration.

[Novice_Cubmaster 10]

Maybe reading isn't a strong suit in our area, but our pack was about 50/50 as to whether Boys Life was getting read or not. Which is why our pack always made it optional. Whereas recognition shouldn't be optional.

 

But Lisabob makes a good point (she always makes good points, BTW) that the pack shouldn't pay for multiple copies of the same award. Then again, our Cubs would have turned their noses up at any scout wearing 2 of the same beltloop.

 

NC

[AnniePoo 13]

Our cost per Cub Scout is about $100. This includes Boy's Life, belt loops, program materials, $20 toward summer camp fees for each scout, school rental for den meetings, etc. We also offer financial assistance to needy families to cover the cost of activities and summer camp. For instance, we covered the cost of summer camp for four scouts this summer. Our income comes from registration fees, popcorn & wreath sales, and a spring rummage sale.

 

If needed, we could probably get costs down to $50/scout, or we could go wild with expenditures and get costs up to $200 per scout. We have an estimated budget for the year, and generally stick to it.

[Pack212Scouter 10]

Our Pack costs per boy are about the following:

BSA registration (youth, portional leader, Boys Life, and insurance) $30

Awards (belt loops only awarded once) $40

Technolgy costs (PackMaster, website, voicemail, etc) $10

Basic Den Supplies $5

 

Derby costs are usually covered by concession sales at the event. Campouts are an additional

cost.