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HELP - Eagle Project Fundraising Application - Project Soon!


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Hello Everyone!

My Eagle Scout project is set to take place this Saturday, February 17th. For those curious, I'm organizing a group of about 50 volunteers that are getting a semi truck of dehydrated ingredients sent to my school cafeteria. For two hours we will be packaging the ingredients into individual meals, boxing them up, and then sending them throughout the world to those in need, especially schools in Africa. Over 10,000 meals will be made.

Sounds fine and dandy, right? So this costs a lot of money (almost 3k), however, I'm not worried about that part. I'm very close to reaching that goal and should do so by Saturday. Naturally, I've been fundraising the last couple of months, through emails and word of mouth. 

Now to the problem. I never had a Fundraising Application signed. I don't recall the council rep saying anything about it when I was presenting my project proposal, so I never thought anything of it. This means that after I had my proposal signed, I went right away to emailing my beneficiary about raising funds, and he set up a website to make it easier for people to do so. Thus, I have been receiving funding since 11-8-17, a few days after my proposal approval. 

The application states 'you must obtain approval from the project beneficiary and your unit leader, and then submit the fundraising application to your council service center at least two weeks in advance of your fundraising efforts'. However, since the beneficiary was the one to make the donation website, it's not like they don't know that I'm fundraising for them.

So I don't really know what to do. Am I going to have to do another project? Yes, this was a mistake, but I feel like this shouldn't completely void all the work I've put into this.

Please let me know what your thoughts are or if you have any experience in this.

Thank you so much in advance,

Matt

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@Mattosaurus, whatever you do you need to be honest. You skipped a step. No biggie but you do need to own up to it as other people have advised. The Guide to Advancement (the book Scouters are suppose

@Mattosaurus First, your Eagle Project sounds great.  My wife and I have participated in similar food  packs and the experience was rewarding and fun for the volunteers in addition to providing d

How is fudging it Scout like? That’s pretty bad advice. A scout should follow the rules and the process. 

14 minutes ago, Back Pack said:

Talk to your Eagle coach and your district or council rep. It may not be too late to get the application approved. I wouldn’t go forward with out it. 

He could fudge it all in honesty and have the SM and beneficary sign the date before he received money. But I think with $3000 requires a council signature. It depends on the district and/or council

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3 hours ago, ItsBrian said:

He could fudge it all in honesty and have the SM and beneficary sign the date before he received money. But I think with $3000 requires a council signature. It depends on the district and/or council

How is fudging it Scout like? That’s pretty bad advice. A scout should follow the rules and the process. 

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@Mattosaurus

First, your Eagle Project sounds great.  My wife and I have participated in similar food  packs and the experience was rewarding and fun for the volunteers in addition to providing desperately needed nourishment.

I completely agree with Backpack.  Work to rectify the documentation as quickly as possible.  Admit you missed this requirement and already started collecting the funds. I don’t believe you would run into an issue unless there are significant concerns regarding your fundraising method.  Talking with my father who runs EBORs there are frequent paperwork issues.  They would much rather have scouts own and rectify the issue. Attempting to fudge data or having mom or dad run cover (make up fake excuses) is not a good method to address the gap.  

Keep up the good work and good luck!

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8 hours ago, Back Pack said:

How is fudging it Scout like? That’s pretty bad advice. A scout should follow the rules and the process. 

I never said it was scout like, but I’m sure some scouts have done it. And he can’t follow the process if he broke the process unfortunately.

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3 hours ago, ItsBrian said:

I never said it was scout like, but I’m sure some scouts have done it. And he can’t follow the process if he broke the process unfortunately.

Actually you did  because fudging something means being dishonest. So the answer is to break the rules? That’s bad advice for someone trying to be an Eagle Scout. The answer is to be honest and contact your Eagle coach and district rep and jump through whatever hoops they require. He messed up and the honest thing to do is own up to his mistake and take the consequences. Not lie or be dishonest by back dating an application after the fact. 

Edited by Back Pack
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Nobody's going to freak out over this. The beneficiary is effectively fundraising for the project. In the description, state that the beneficiary has already set up a special collection for this project and is raising funds for it on its own website.

A fine point (in case you haven't done this), some Africans restrict their diet out of religious devotion. So, you may want to label meals that contain pork/alcohol vs. those that don't. I'm not sure if you're also collecting halal ingredients. But if you do, take the trouble to note that on your packaging. It will mean a lot to the recipients that you thought of this.

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@Mattosaurus, whatever you do you need to be honest. You skipped a step. No biggie but you do need to own up to it as other people have advised. The Guide to Advancement (the book Scouters are supposed to consult when they have advancement questions) allows for instances such as yours.

  1. Contact your Eagle Coach today, as well as the district rep.
  2. Let them know your issue and your project timeline. In most instances they will be happy to approve your completed form, but they will advise you on your next steps.
  3. Document your interaction with them via email and confirm both in writing and verbally. This may help you later.
  4. Above all DO NOT go forward without contacting them...and most certainly do not "back date" or "fudge" anything. Not only is that dishonest and against the Scout Law, it is not worthy of an Eagle Scout. Yes, it is a big deal. It is called integrity.

Make sure your parents are in the know on this issue too. While you are the one responsible, it usually make sense to have your parents up to speed on your status. Also your unit lead (Scoutmaster). 

Good luck!!!

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1 hour ago, Back Pack said:

Actually you did  because fudging something means being dishonest. So the answer is to break the rules? That’s bad advice for someone trying to be an Eagle Scout. The answer is to be honest and contact your Eagle coach and district rep and jump through whatever hoops they require. He messed up and the honest thing to do is own up to his mistake and take the consequences. Not lie or be dishonest by back dating an application after the fact. 

You can’t even “fudge” it since he most likely needs a council signature due to the $ he raised. I was just saying.

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1 hour ago, qwazse said:

Nobody's going to freak out over this. The beneficiary is effectively fundraising for the project. In the description, state that the beneficiary has already set up a special collection for this project and is raising funds for it on its own website.

 

Agree... as long as the beneficiary set up the website and the funds are going to an account handled by the beneficiary.  If this is how it is being handled, the Scout is not actually doing any fundraising (even though they may be promoting the website).  It appears as if the beneficiary is providing all materials required, and the Scout is providing the leadership and labor for the project.

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Thank you all for the replies!

So since the beneficiary is essentially collecting the funds, do I even need the application?

There is one other loophole, because of course nothing can be simple in life. People have been handing me money in person, since they don’t feel comfortable doing so online or they’re not old enough to have a bank account in which they could do so. I have then been donating that money to the website. Will this change anything? Because the Scout is then donating to his own project and that is allowed to be done without the need for a packet.

Also, everyone suggesting to talk to my Eagle Coach, I’ve never had one.

I apologize for all the confusion and thank you all that have been so helpful!

 

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OK, talk to your Scoutmaster then, and ask him for a connection to an Eagle Coach.  This is part of the process.  For the fundraising,  as I understand it (and I am only on the fringes of hearing about Eagle projects, not much experience) I believe you are supposed to keep a log of all donors, so -- to the best of your ability, you should make a record of all your cash contributions that have been made.  Lastly,  I don't think you can skip any of the paperwork -- take a look at your whole Eagle packet, read the instructions very carefully, twice -- and make sure you are covering all of the specific details.

I'm sure there are other Scouters here who can help you more.  Best wishes!  Do your best!

Edited by WisconsinMomma
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