scout account and troop funds

[lynn07 10]

I'd like to hear from experienced scouts as to how the division of fundraiser money is divided into scout accounts and how troop funds are handled.

thankyou.

[Trevorum 24]

Lynn,

This is an excellent question. There is no right answer and different troops will handle this in different ways. I can tell you what works for our troop.

 

For each fundraiser, we pre-establish some ground rules about how much of the income will go to the troop and how much will go to individual scouts. Generally for group efforts where individual efforts are hard to track (like a garage sale), 100% of income goes to the troop. But, for our annual BBQ, each scout sells tickets and a percentage of each ticket goes to the Scout in the form of "Scout Bucks". So if a fellow sells $300 of BBQ tickets, he might have $100 deposited into his account. The treasurer keeps all the books. Scout Bucks accrue from year to year and are transferable to another troop if the scout moves and makes a written request. The scout can elect to redeem his Scout Bucks for any long term camp fees (his total due is reduced appropriately and the treasurer transfers the monies), or for equipment that he will need in Scouting (tent, backpack, etc). In the latter case, he gets the SM's approval for his purchase in advance and submits the reciept to the Treasurer for reimbursement (up to the value of his ScoutBucks). If a fellow leaves Scouting, his ScoutBucks revert to the general troop fund after 12 months. The accounting is posted on our Scout bulletin board and is updated quarterly. This system requires a treasurer who is skilled in spreadsheets (!) but it work well for us.

 

[eisely 13]

Our troop does not do this, but there are many troops that do. One of the issues in my mind is crediting ticket sales versus participation. Our troop does two car washes each year. It is not obvious to me how I would credit the two distinct activities that a scout may perform in connection with the fund raising, selling tickets or washing cars.

 

You do need written policies about what the funds may be used for and how unused funds will be handled when the boy leaves scouting altogether or transfers out to another unit.

 

This can be a lot of extra work for the treasurer so you have to make sure your treasurer is both willing and able to take this on.

[hotdesk 10]

In our troop we credit hours worked at a car wash, meal fundraiser, etc. by the number of hours worked multipled by the "hourly pay rate". We take the precentage that was airmarked for the scouts and divide it by the number of total hours worked by all scouts. This gives you the "hourly pay rate". You multiply that "hourly pay rate" by the number of hours worked by each individual scout. This gives you their amount for that event.

 

When we do ticket sales scouts earn a bonus of $5 per each $50 sold in tickets. This amount is deducted from the revenue of the event that the ticket was sold for. Our goal is to have each scout sell $50 in tickets. The remaining amount from ticket sales is considered part of the event revenue and the amount is split per the planned scout/troop amount.

[ASM857 10]

We have the accounts every fundraiser the boys have a minimum amount that goes to the troop, everything over that amount goes to the boys account. If we are doing trash at the fair or setting up tables, it is based on the hours worked. Seems to work well and weve had no complaints.

 

YIS

Doug