Mandatory Fundraisers

[RWSmith]

Okay, I gotta say it... There's only one thing that'll stop a fellow volunteer from imposing the following words, mandatory fund-raiser upon you (or your child)... Just say, "No." (Or you could be real polite, and say, "No thanks; I think my son/daughter will pay his own way, some other way.") Politely stick to your guns and you'll either be fairly accomodated (as you should), or you'll take your ball and your bat (your kid and your money) to another unit. (Who wants his/her kid(s) in a Unit that forces fund-raisers down your throat... I don't know about y'all, but I enough of that garbage from the schools... I have four teenagers.)

[BM_Crawford]

EXACTLY, Thats what I told them that everyone has to fund raise for all the school activities and even many of those have buy-outs.

[West]

Scouts who don't participate shouldn't benifit, but makeing it required is just silly. Does it really matter where the money comes from?

[optimist]

Does it really matter where the money comes from?

I agree that fund-raisers can't be mandatory. However, I must disagree with the above statement. Everything a Scout does throughout his Scouting career matters. A Scout is Thrifty. A Scout should pay his own way when there is an opportunity to do so. A Scout is Helpful. He should work towards the betterment of his troop whether or not he will directly benefit. A Scout is Loyal. The troop depends on the actions of every Scout to pitch in and do their share so that the troop can accomplish its goals.

Yes, it matters where the money comes from. A Scout may not be able to participate in every fund-raiser but when a Scout simply lives out of their parent's pocketbook when there is ample opportunity to support the troop through there own effort, they seem to be missing the point of what it means to be a Scout.

[West]

Well, that much is true. I never thought of it that way (never haveing the oppertunity to live that way myself). I often didn't do fundraiser simply because it was more productive to spend that time at work where I had a higher rate of return for my time (webdesign in in 1994 was a good thing for a kid to know). That's what I was getting at I guess, either way I had to earn it. How should be my choice.

[optimist]

hehe Well, you were paying your own way which goes to show there's always exceptions to the rule

[Chief J]

I hate the idea of mandatory fundraiser's and won't support them in my Troop. We lay out the cost of participating to the scouts and parents. We then provide ample (read too many) opportunities to fundraise. Any profit from these fundraiser's are held in the Troop account in the name of the scout to be used to defray the cost of scouting. If they do not fundraise, they can pay to participate, or not participate.

A final option for scouts who try to fundraise and fall short is to have his parent's meet with the CC and Treasurer to discuss a "campership" provided on behalf of the Troop. These are funded by several Committee Members who participate in fundraising, and then designate their profits for this purpose. In three year's only 1 scout needed this option.

As a volunteer, if I choose not to participate in your mandatory fundraiser, what will be the consequences? I can always take my ball and play in someone else's court. Mandatory Fundraiser's are absurd.

Chief J

[Woodbadgegirl]

I agree! No bigger turn off than to be told that YOU HAVE TO DO THIS! What are they going to do? Kick me and my son out of scouts? There are many troops and packs out there that would love to have anohter warm body in them, so I would say NO to that type of fundraising!

[ASM-142]

It looks like everyone that has responded to this posting is against mandatory fundraisers. Is there anyone out there that requires them in their troop?

[BM_Crawford]

My troop requires them but they very much like to play rulemaker It causes alot of problems between the committee and the ASM's

[West]

I would think it would cause problems between the adults and the scouts as well. Rules like this are strange. Frankly the adults have no business sticking their nose in it at all. It dosn't involve safety or any other issue that the adults have final say on. Maybe someone should ask they boys what they think about mandatory fundraiseing. (I'm still against it, but I'm betting that 90% of the boys will be too).

[BM_Crawford]

I agree 100% and this committee has been doing stuff like this since before I was in the troop. They feel their job is to run the troop. An ASM in my troop (soon to be scoutmaster) recieved a phone call from the worst committee member of all. She told him that the ASM's job is to sit in the room and the committee is suppose to run the troop and plan everything. Well BSA national council says that the committee's job is to work "behind the scenes" to "support the troop" as determined "SM and the PLC""

[Woodbadgegirl]

I agree 100% and this committee has been doing stuff like this since before I was in the troop. They feel their job is to run the troop.

I think they mean well, but they are doing more harm than good for the boys.

We have the same issues in our troop. We don't force fundraising, but the adults want to have their hands in everything from troop elections to changing the requirements for advancement.

If this is going to be a "Boy Ran" troop then they need to give up on some of the self imposed rules and get back to the basics.

[Lynda J]

Guess our troop is really lucky. We hear from our committee when we need something. When we need help with transportation we make a call and it is taken care of. Our committee chair is an active member of the troop leadership but never acts like a committee chair. She just takes care of what her job is and then helps everywhere else.

[West]

Well, then she IS acting like a committe chair. Or what a committe chair is supposed to act like.

[t305spl]

Yeah that sounds like shes doing a good job in acting her position.

[BM_Crawford]

Yea I agree with all of this. I really do have a good feeling that after the last camp out the lady who wanted mandatory fundraisers without buyouts will calm down a bit. She was able to see the leaders in action and I think she realized that we are competent and are in it for the boys.

She like you said woodbadgegirl does mean well. I figured out that what she is trying to do is run the troop like a cub scout pack and that is why there has been a lot of friction.

Plus being a member of this forum has helped me learn the rules and regulations and has given the leaders an upper hand in restoring order to the troop (that and the fact that the soon-to-be scoutmaster's father holds the troop charter lol)

[troop173fl]

There is really nothing Mandatory except the BSA G2SS and the advancement requirements. Mandatory Fund raisers are again a Troop rule. If each scout needs so much money for a trip they can fund raise or make out of pocket payments. Council must approve all fund raisers and any form of gambling IS NOT ALLOWED.
I have been a band director for 33 years and I have never made fund raising mandatory as my school district said I could not. If a trip is 400.00 per person and we offer fund raising to help with that the kid can fund raise or just pay the 400.00. You can say if you raise thjis amount of money all the camporees are free or if you do not take part you pay out of pocket.

where did gambling come into play in this question?

[t305spl]

He was talking about making money that way for fundraising.

[wagionvigil]

Bingo,Strip Tickets,Tickets that go off on the Lottery.The only form a a raffle allowed is a chinese auction.