| Troop Finances |
Excerpted from BSA Troop Committee Guidebook
For Successful Troop Operation
Copyright 1998, Boy Scouts of America, ISBN 0-8395-4505-3 |
 |
SCOUTMASTER
AND COMMITTEE
TREASURER
SHOULD START
THE PREPARATION
OF THE ANNUAL
BUDGET.
The Unit Budget Plan
and the Troop/Team
Record Book are
useful guides. |
Troop Finances |
| Proper Management of the troop's finances will allow your troop to achieve its
program goals. The recording, disbursing, and budgeting of troop funds, along with unit
money-earning project assistance, is the responsibility of the troop committee and its
treasurer. |
| TROOP BANK ACCOUNT |
| Every troop should have a checking account at a local bank. An account
that requires two signatures on each check, those of the committee treasurer and
Scoutmaster, is recommended. Troop funds need to be recorded and deposited
weekly into the troop's checking account. The Troop/Team Record Book is
an indispensable tool fo this purpose. Disbursements from the checking account
are made on the recommendations of the Scoutmaster with the authorization of your
troop committee. |
| PETTY CASH FUND |
| Occassionally in the course of troop activities, the Scoutmaster will
need unplanned miscellaneous articles. The committee needs to establish a petty
cash fund for this purpose. When most of this fund has been paid out, the Scoutmaster
accounts for it with the receipts for purchase and secures a new advance from the
treasurer. |
| THE ANNUAL BUDGET |
| The troop budget is a plan for receiving and spending troop funds. Immediately after
approval of the troop's annual program plan, the Scoutmaster and committee treasurer should
start the preparation of the annual budget. The Unit Budget Plan and the Troop/Team
Record Book are useful guides. |
| Troop expenses will include: |
 | Membership registration fees
|
| Boys' Life subscriptions
|
| Unit accident insurance
|
| Advancement and rank badges
|
| Literature for the troop library and record keeping
|
| Unit charter fee (which goes to the general liability insurance program)
|
| Reserve fund (for unexpected expenses)
|
| Program materials (including unit flags, new camping gear, and program supplies)
|
| Activities funds for summer camps and high-adventure trips (usually paid by the
participating boy and his parents or raised through special troop money-earning
projects)
|
|
| SOURCES OF INCOME |
| When the cost estimates for expenses have been calculated,
the next step is to identify sources of income. These include: |
| Dues. Dues are usually paid weekly or monthly by troop members. In some
troops, the boys pay a yearly fee. We don't recommend this because it doesn't help
the Scout learn how to budget. In most such instances, the parents pay the fee,
so the boy will not learn how to pay his own way, and the fee could prohibit many
potential Scouts from joining the troop for economic reasons.
|
| Troop money-earning projects. The remainder of the anticipated expenses
not covered by dues and surpluses from the previous year must be raised through
troop money-earning projects.
|
|
| TROOP MONEY-EARNING PROJECTS |
| These projects can be large or small, depending on
the amount of money that is needed. Some suggestions are: |
| Troop-sponsored dinners
|
| Collecting aluminum cans for recycling
|
| Car washes
|
| Lawn care service
|
| Council-sponsored fund-raisers (popcorn sales, Scouting show tickets, etc.)
|
| Bake sales
|
| Product sales (ink pens, candy, greeting cards, etc.)
|
|
| Project selection should begin with the patrol leaders' council and
the Scoutmaster. They will bring the ideas to the troop committee. |
Once your money-
earning project has
been reviewed for con-
formity to Boy Scouts
of America standards
and approved by the
troop committee and the
chartered organization,
the Unit Money-Earning
Application must be
submitted to your local
council for approval.
This step is to make
certain that the project
conforms to Boy Scouts
of America policy.
|
Here are some guidelines to help you to determine whether your project
conforms to Scouting standards. |
| 1. Have your troop committee, chartered organization, and local council approved
your project, including the dates and methods? |
| 2. Do your plan and its projected dates avoid competition with money-raising
programs and policies of your chartered organization, local council, community chest,
and United Way? |
| 3. Is your plan in harmony with local ordinances, free from any stigma of gambling,
and consistent with the ideals and the purposes of he Boy Scouts of America? |
| 4. If a commercial product is to be sold, will it be sold on its own
merits and without reference to the needs of Scouting either directly (during sales presentation)
or indirectly? |
| 5. If tickets are sold for any function other than a Scouting event, will
they be sold by your Scouts as individuals without depending on the goodwill of Scouting
to make the sale possible? |
| 6. When sales are confined to parents and friends, will they get their
money's worth from any product they purchase, function they attend, or services they
receive from your unit? |
| 7. If a project is planned for a particular area, do you respect the
rights of other Scouting units in the same neighborhood? |
| 8. Is it reasonably certain that people who need work or business will
not lose it as a result of your troop's plan? |
| 9. Will your plan protect the name and goodwill of the Boy Scouts of
America and prevent it from being capitalized on by promoters of shows, benefits, or
sales campaigns? |
| 10. If any contracts are signed by your troop, will they be signed by
an individual without reference to the Boy Scouts of America and in no way appear to bind
the local council or the Boy Scouts of America to any agreement or financial responsibility? |
| CAMP SAVINGS PLAN |
| Local councils use every opportunity and means available to keep
summer camp cost to a minimum. But despite their best efforts, many boys and their families
will have difficulty paying the average camp fee at one time. The Boy Scouts of America
has devised a systematic savings plan that will allow most boys to have their camp fee paid
when it is due. |
| By depositing money weekly or monthly toward the camp fee, the majority
of the fee will be paid by camp time. |
| FRIENDS OF SCOUTING |
| The local council provides many services to make the Scouting program
possible for your troop. These services include program, support materials, training,
advancement program, activities, camping facilities, high-adventure opportunities, and
personnel readily available to assist in making possible a better program for your troop. |
| Friends of Scouting, or FOS (called Sustaining Membership Enrollment,
or SME, in some councils), is a primary source of operating income for the council. Friends
are those individuals with an interest in the Boy Scouts of America and a desire to support
the program financially. When properly informed and given the opportunity, many families of
youth members wish to become Friends of Scouting. |
|
Unit Money-Earning Application - Page 1 |
|
Unit Money-Earning Application - Page 2 |
|
|
| Last revised 2/9/2007 |
| Troop 96 |
