acco40 95 Posted July 10, 2002 Share Posted July 10, 2002 My wife and I have coordinated the popcorn sales for our Cub Scout pack for three years now and for my older son's Troop last year. My wife is the District Popcorn Chair. For our pack we lay out a few ground rules. I tally up pack expenses (which are paid out of by pack funds) for the previous year and divide by the numbr of boys currently in the pack. This gives a rough estimate of what it costs to run the program per boy. It usually comes out to around $40 to $60 per boy. We give parents the option of selling popcorn or donating money to the pack. Many of the parents have complained that they don't like selling door to door. My sons do (with Mom & Dad) but I don't go to the door with them. We also do store sales (and some stores have recently denied permission because of the BSA policy on gay leaders but that is another story). I have NO extended family within 600 miles and sell maybe $15 worth at work so my boys work hard at it and do quite well. I keep my mouth shut but about 10 - 12 boys and their families usually fund the majority of the pack (45 - 55 boys). For my older son's troop, I suggested that all store sale profits go to the troop but that all door to door sales go to the individual boy's scout account. If a family doesn't want to participate in door to door sales (has more $$ than time) no problem. As for what mix to sell, the beauty of Trails End is that you do not have to purchase product. Make sure you get enough. The problem I have is where to put it all! Essentially, I have no garage from October to November each year! What we do not sell can be turned back in to our Council. Doesn't all Councils work this way? We receive approx. 37% and if we meet certain requirements (attend all meetings, get monies and orders in on time, etc.) we receive an additional 1%. I believe it is a great learning experience for the boys and the public finds it very hard to say no to those Tiger Cubs! The boy scouts have to work a little harder.(This message has been edited by acco40) Link to post Share on other sites
ScoutNut 147 Posted July 10, 2002 Share Posted July 10, 2002 My husband and I have also done popcorn for our Pack for the last 4-5 years and both the Troop and Pack last year. Our council also takes back unsold popcorn so you are not "stuck"(unlike GS cookies!). We get 30% and prizes. Like acco40, we have popcorn from the end of September until mid-December in our house! We have a spare room that is filled to the brim! Boy, the smell of that butter can sure get real old after a while! We base our order on what we sold last year and order enough up front to cover both booth sales (show/sell) and take-orders. That way the boys can get their take-order popcorn right away and have more time to get the money. All of the Troop profit goes into individual Boy accounts. The Pack profit goes to the Pack operating budget. We are thinking of instituting a minimum popcorn sale amount this year because our major sellers will be going up to BS and we need to get the other boys and their families to help share the cost of Scouting, one way or another! With us fundraising is a bit more of a pain because we belong to a Catholic Church/School. The families are CONSTANTLY fundraising for one thing or another. At least popcorn is not sold by any other organization! But we found out last year that our popcorn sale is at the same time as the Girl Scout Fall Product Sale! Well, they do say that competition is what makes the world go round! Link to post Share on other sites
Idaho-SM 10 Posted August 8, 2002 Share Posted August 8, 2002 We, like so many others, have not had good success at selling popcorn. It seems that the "value" is not as good as other types of popcorn we can buy in the stores, and they're much cheaper. We always sell Christmas wreaths in November, and that one fundraiser fuels our whole program. Most of the money goes into the boys' individual accounts to pay for summer camp, or weekend camps. This fundraiser is usually by word of mouth, and most of our boys do not have to go door-to-door to sell the wreaths. After a few years, we now have people call us, wanting to know when the wreaths will be offered. Our boys save their order forms from previous years, and simply contact the customers on their list. Nearly all buy, and some refer others who want to buy one too. This has been by far our most successful fundraiser. Link to post Share on other sites
tdyer56 10 Posted August 8, 2002 Share Posted August 8, 2002 While poeple talk about the "value" of the popcorn we sell not being a sound one, let me offer this up. Many individuals buy the popcorn for the popcorn. But I would bet that most people are buying it for the "value" of helping the boys. I for one think it is a great value. Popcorn money funded our pack for the entire year. The boys got to do things they would not have because of financial issues. So when you talk about "value", please consider how much value the boys are worth. Tim Dyer Link to post Share on other sites
cubmom 10 Posted August 20, 2002 Share Posted August 20, 2002 I guess maybe I'm in the minority here, but we just LOVE the popcorn. I like the microwave pc better that any other I've had. And the chocolate stuff is wonderful!! I just wish that they'd offer up the cheese flavor that is sold in the big triple tin as a separate item. Link to post Share on other sites
Airmaiden 10 Posted April 17, 2003 Share Posted April 17, 2003 I like some of you were ashamed to ask someone to buy the popcorn. In these days where money is tight you just hate to ask people to spend a minimum of seven dollars for a little bit of popcorn. Most people are saving up their money to buy girl scout cookies, where for $7 you can get 2 boxes. As bad as we are in the hole in our district, maybe they need to adjust some of their fund raising rules or at least get a product that everyone looks forward to buying every year at a reasonable price. I had many parents with the same feelings the last 2 years. I have give to FOS for the last 2 years in place of buying the popcorn. I have also seen the kids who's families are well off or are able to sell at there work really have a greater advantage over other scouts. This again has the parents selling when it should be the scouts. Link to post Share on other sites
KoreaScouter 13 Posted April 17, 2003 Share Posted April 17, 2003 Airmaiden; I'm not sure I agree with you 100% here. Under that gigantic "Who Pays For Scouting?" umbrella, I think there's a place for family involvement in unit fund-raising as well as the Scouts'. For example, if a mom or dad can't make a car wash, but has the ability to move popcorn at work, then bravo! And, if their son the Scout is paying dues, then I think the family's covered. As long as the lad is paying his way in some fashion, and the family's involved as well at some level, does it matter who actually sold the popcorn? KS Link to post Share on other sites
OldGreyEagle 5 Posted April 17, 2003 Author Share Posted April 17, 2003 KoreaScouter, I understand your position on what does it matter who sells the popcorn. Having popcorn selling be a "family affair" in no way can be bad. What I do not like is when the scout whose family all pitched in and together sells $2,000 is feted as a supersaleman and made a role model for the rest of the unit. Link to post Share on other sites
KoreaScouter 13 Posted April 17, 2003 Share Posted April 17, 2003 OGE; You're absolutely right, and there's a lot to be said for being up front about who actually did what...sort of reminds me of the PWD cars that you know the Scouts themselves never touched... KS Link to post Share on other sites
Eamonn 61 Posted April 18, 2003 Share Posted April 18, 2003 As a family, we just have never had time to go door to door, but I have had a great deal of success, when I owned my own business having my suppliers support Scouting by buying it by the case. Yes at that time my son was the hero, but I think everyone knew what was going on. In our district every unit now sells popcorn, they are aware of how vital it is to the life of the council. I have a friend with no kids, who is a beer salesman, a few years back he took five cases to give out as gifts to his customers, mainly small bar owners, a lot of them used it as a freebe on the bar and just loved it. His boss then started to give it to all his sales staff, and some of the bar owners wanted to buy it. This year we sold 98 cases. The council has a drawing with your name going in the hat for every five boxes you sell, the prize is a trip to Disney. We have never won. Link to post Share on other sites
evmori 11 Posted April 18, 2003 Share Posted April 18, 2003 OGE, Ditto! Ditto! I have always wondered how many of the top popcorn sellers actually sold all the popcorn! What we have done in my Troop for this & other selling fundraisers was to not count those funds sold by mom & dad toward the top seller award. Ed Mori Scoutmaster Troop 1 1 Peter 4:10 Link to post Share on other sites
scoutldr 732 Posted April 18, 2003 Share Posted April 18, 2003 KS's post about the PWD gave me an idea. Why not have a separate competition for the adults? Link to post Share on other sites
OldGreyEagle 5 Posted April 18, 2003 Author Share Posted April 18, 2003 We used to in the pack, it was the Senior Unlimited Circuit, essentially no rules but that it had to fit on the track and not knock off other cars Link to post Share on other sites
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