We do not charge dues and have no fundraiser obligations or requirements. Each weekend outing cost $10 per person (to cover cost of food, campsite fees, etc...but there is always surplus). We usually have enough of a surplus each year to have nice courts of honors and even purchase some new camping equipment too.
Greg - 11 years ago
Ours are steep at $200 per year (just paid them last night). However, they include all campouts, except summer camp and winter camp. Transportation is provided by parents with a reimbursement for mileage which doesnt quite cover the gas bill. We have some great trips though that include taking tours of caves, river boat rides, entry fees to some very nice parks, rock climbing and the troop has some great equipment. The kids can earn credit through the fund raising to offset either dues or summer camp, my son paid for his entire summer camp with this.
On another note, I read some responses on popcorn sales: My younger sons pack does this and it's really hard to get them motivated now with the gift cards (they worked alot harder to get the knife and other camp gear). Other problem is people dont really want overpriced popcorn, they would rather just give a tax deductible donation. Other packs do trash bags and coupon booklets and seem to be more successful.
Our pack charges $100 pack dues and $80 den dues per year due in September, in addition to $15 BSA fee. the den dues cover ALL materials the den leader could need to supply a quality program from go see its to tangible items the boys make throughout the year. the pack dues cover all awards and belt loops (cards, parent pins etc) with the average scout earning $11 in awards per month, handbook and leader training at the district level.. do the math, yes we are still short but we also have a few parents with a severe entitlement disease. here's the good news.... we give the parents an ability to have the $100 pack dues refunded by participating in the fundraising events throughout the year AND earning money to equal dues payment. we were left with no choice because many parents would pull, "oh I forgot my check book or purse, I will pay next time." then they never would. it became an incredible headache....and the parents wouldn't participate...leaving it really...babysitters of America and leaders fronting money to never have repaid, enough was enough. by collecting up front and giving the ability to earn their dues back, participation is up and they are vested, now they actually show up to den meetings and pack meetings...
Leland - 11 years ago
We do not charge dues. Scouts are required to work at one of our troop fundraisers (Christmas Tree Sales, concession stands, etc). Activity fees (ski trip, summer camp, high adventure trip, special outings, etc.) can be paid out of pocket or from scout's individual fundraising earnings.
John Pritchard - 11 years ago
We've charged $1 a week for about 20 years (I paid 10cents a week in the same troop in the 1960's and our new scoutmaster in 1972 decided it was time to go to 25 cents. When we went to 50 cents in the 1980's, many of the troop committee balked.) from September to June. Dues are still collected weekly. We also charge whatever the current registration fee is from National. We have some scout o poor that they collect soda bottles to pay their way. Sure, the well off families could pay it in a single payment, but how does that support a scout is "thrifty" if mom or dad just write a check?
Jim Kangas - 11 years ago
Scouts are charged $100 per year in troop dues. To make this palatable, $25 is deducted from their Scout account each quarter. Standard fee for a weekend outing is $15.00; each patrol then purchases their own food, and all Scouts share in the transportation fees (per mile). Costs are calculated prior to the event, so the fee may be noted on the sign-up sheet.
Tom - 11 years ago
Our troop charge is $50/yr. This covers as many advancements as they can earn and the registration fee each year. Camping fees are independent.
Joseph - 11 years ago
$35 per year does not go far, which is why we have a major fundraiser each year to help cover the cost of new equipment, awards, etc. We do charge additionally for campouts.
jay - 11 years ago
Our annual dues are $25, $35 with Boys Life. leaders pay $15 a year. This covers registration and insurance. We do a few decent fundraisers that help us through the year and fair share with the council has allowed us free rank advancement and merit badges, helping us greatly. With everything going up in price each year, we are trying our best to keep scouting as low in cost as possible.
Lorrie - 11 years ago
We charge $65 to include registration and a pack t-shirt. Families have the option to pay it all or $15 at the first meeting, and $5/month thereafter. The dues cover advancements, some supplies, admin fees, 1 pack tee, liability & Recharter fees, and 1 pinewood derby kit.
$75 includes registration, Boys' Life & council insurance. Net $47 to troop to cover overhead.
Chris - 11 years ago
Our COR just pays the fees. We have no idea how much it is. Our unit's budget is handled differently. We don't do the traditional fund raising that Scouts do now. It changed for our units in the late 80's.... when I was a Varsity Scout.
Gina Clifton - 11 years ago
My current unit charges $140 a year per Scout. That includes re-charter fees, awards and recognition, and equipment (tents, stoves, lamps, etc). However, the Scout can sell popcorn or discount cards to offset or eliminate that amount altogether. I vastly prefer this method over a prior unit that wanted money every week for something or other.
Ron Souliere - 11 years ago
Only annual "dues" are recharter + boys life. $30. Other fundraisers pay for awards, and equipment purchases.
Sherry Aguerro - 11 years ago
We just started charging $25 for dues. That is to fund the 2013 national dues, pinewood derby car, and badges or whatever the cub has achieve. That's plan with it anyways. We may use some to help a needy scout family. Camps are on the family since many don't make it due to other things going on at the same time. That also goes for uniforms except for the patches (which pack pays for). $25 is about all that our packs families can do. Even my family is paying dues and that's 2 scouts, Cubmaster and Unit Commissioner, that's a lot of money to come up with.
Our Troop charges $50 w/o Boy's Life $62 with Boy's Life. That covers the BSA charges and most of the advancement charges for the year. We do Luminaria at Christmas as a Fund Raiser with other Scout, Venture Crews and GS Troops in the area. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luminaria. The Luminaria price is $6 for a bag of supplies to make 6 of them. Our cost is around $2. Out of the $4 remaining the Troop gets $2 and the other $2 is divided among the Scouts participating based on the number of hours they work. Last year we divided each route with the boys on that route but some routes are better than others and we wanted to reflect how much work they put into it rather than how much money they got from their route. Popcorn money goes to the Scout's account not to the Troop. For camping we charge $15 for food, that goes to the patrol cook for the outing. The Troop covers any campsite fees, gas for the tow vehicle and program fees. For Summer Camp we add about $25 to the camp fee to cover gas for the drivers and a new Troop summer camp T-shirt. For the Ski Trip and Whitewater trips the boys pay around $75-85 for the weekend. On trips that require a longer drive we do ask for gas money.
We try to keep the cost of Scouting as low as possible while having outings that the boys want to do. The ski trip and whitewater trip despite their higher costs are the most popular outings each year. The scouts can use their scout bucks to pay for these outings, summer camp, Eagle projects, Sea Base, Philmont or Northern Tier.
If there is a need, and there has been over the years, the Troop will pay for a Scout that can't afford to go on any outing up to and including Philmont or Sea Base. As Scoutmaster I never wanted the cost of Scouting to keep a Scout from going on an outing.
We're pretty fortunate several of us work for a company that gives us $750 for volunteering 50 hours with a non-profit. That works out about right, an hour a week 52 weeks a year. ;-)
Between those grants and Luminaria we're in pretty good financial shape right now. We also try to cover the more expensive training adults need like Wilderness First Aid, CPR/IED and Woodbadge. We've been updating gear lately and we'd like to get our larger trailer decorated and add a ladder rack on the top to carry a couple canoes or kayaks. Maybe next year if we do well on Luminaria.
On popcorn, it would be great if Trail's End would offer a $5 item, like a 5 pack of microwave popcorn for $5. Asking people for $10 for a $2 bag of Fiddle Faddle or Cracker Jacks is a stretch.
Leslie Sanborn - 11 years ago
Our Pack charges $50, which pays for the National registration fee/insurance, Boys' Life subscription, handbook, Pinewood Derby car kit, and all awards/badges for the year (including the belt loop program). Other Pack expenses are funded primarily by popcorn sales; these sales also allow us to reduce/waive this fee in the case of needy families, or families with more than one Scout.
CH - 11 years ago
My last two packs kept costs to a bare minimum. One charged a flat $55 that covered registration, council insurance, council patch, unit numbers, all awards, a Christmas present (derby car/ship/or regatta), and a new neckerchief/slide for the end of the year ceremony. Popcorn sales and Oktoberfest covered monthly award expenditures in excess of the dues. This Pack also aided some of the families with uniforms/patches/etc if it was deemed neccessary by the leadership to get a kid into scouting that otherwise couldn't afford it.
The second Pack charged the registration fee and the council insurance. An additional $5/month dues fee covered all awards, a Christmas present (derby car/ship/or regatta), and a new neckerchief/slide for the end of the year ceremony. Popcorn sales covered anything spent in excess of the dues. Dues were monthly since it was a 95% military Pack that had high turn over and low incomes that made a flat fee up front prohibitive to young military families. Also, new scouts were not required to have their shirt/neckerchief/slide/patches for a couple of months due to the low income of the families who couldn't afford the registration fee and initial uniform startup costs.
If you have active Cub Scouts/dens then you do need to be self supporting, and you do need to award the kids in a timely manner with whatever means you fund your treasurery, be it dues/sales/donations/or a combination. Remember that it is not uncommon for Cub Scouts to earn 3 belt loops in a month. Since Belt loops are $1.79 each plus the pocket cards cost which is $.59-$.89 for a sheet of 8 cards, there is more money is being spent on many Cub Scouts than a $5/month dues fee.
Our Troop charges $55 per year, plus the $30 whatever we have to pay to council.
We sell popcorn, but it's optional, and the 30% proceeds go into the Scout's account. Our main fundraiser is a spaghetti dinner with auction. Scouts have a minimum ticket sales goal, but after exceeding the minimum, Scouts are adding to their Scout accounts. We have kids completely funding trips to Philmont, Sea Base, and Jamboree through fundraising.
We too have seen a huge decline in popcorn sales. That with the rising costs of everything, we've had to raise the dues in recent years too. Even though we have a good side troop (50 scouts), keeping costs for advancement and repairs just takes it's toll and we hope to not have to increase again any time soon.
Adrian Ruck - 11 years ago
we have worked to keep the due's low. but as popcorn sales have been decling we will need to evaluate.
Popcorn sales helped a lot to subsidize scouting, however the product is just not selling.
David - 11 years ago
Dues has always been a tricky issue related to the Troop. We are a young troop as we enter year three (we were founded in 2010). The Troop needs to obtain gear year by year as the troop is growing and eventually wants to own tents. Scouting is not cheap and adding to that is there are some families that do not sell popcorn because the didn't have to as part of the their Pack. We are looking at a sliding scale dues to level the financial load because the popcorn sellers should not have to fund the activities and supplies for those who sell nothing. I would welcome the thoughts of others
MES - 11 years ago
We charge nothing as a Pack, which what our Council encourages us to do. This is to keep the initial registration fee sticker shock down. We try to fund our self through Popcorn and battery sales.
Terrel Miller - 11 years ago
Units in the LDS Church don't have dues. That covers around half of the Scouts in America.
We do not charge dues and have no fundraiser obligations or requirements. Each weekend outing cost $10 per person (to cover cost of food, campsite fees, etc...but there is always surplus). We usually have enough of a surplus each year to have nice courts of honors and even purchase some new camping equipment too.
Ours are steep at $200 per year (just paid them last night). However, they include all campouts, except summer camp and winter camp. Transportation is provided by parents with a reimbursement for mileage which doesnt quite cover the gas bill. We have some great trips though that include taking tours of caves, river boat rides, entry fees to some very nice parks, rock climbing and the troop has some great equipment. The kids can earn credit through the fund raising to offset either dues or summer camp, my son paid for his entire summer camp with this.
On another note, I read some responses on popcorn sales: My younger sons pack does this and it's really hard to get them motivated now with the gift cards (they worked alot harder to get the knife and other camp gear). Other problem is people dont really want overpriced popcorn, they would rather just give a tax deductible donation. Other packs do trash bags and coupon booklets and seem to be more successful.
Our pack charges $100 pack dues and $80 den dues per year due in September, in addition to $15 BSA fee. the den dues cover ALL materials the den leader could need to supply a quality program from go see its to tangible items the boys make throughout the year. the pack dues cover all awards and belt loops (cards, parent pins etc) with the average scout earning $11 in awards per month, handbook and leader training at the district level.. do the math, yes we are still short but we also have a few parents with a severe entitlement disease. here's the good news.... we give the parents an ability to have the $100 pack dues refunded by participating in the fundraising events throughout the year AND earning money to equal dues payment. we were left with no choice because many parents would pull, "oh I forgot my check book or purse, I will pay next time." then they never would. it became an incredible headache....and the parents wouldn't participate...leaving it really...babysitters of America and leaders fronting money to never have repaid, enough was enough. by collecting up front and giving the ability to earn their dues back, participation is up and they are vested, now they actually show up to den meetings and pack meetings...
We do not charge dues. Scouts are required to work at one of our troop fundraisers (Christmas Tree Sales, concession stands, etc). Activity fees (ski trip, summer camp, high adventure trip, special outings, etc.) can be paid out of pocket or from scout's individual fundraising earnings.
We've charged $1 a week for about 20 years (I paid 10cents a week in the same troop in the 1960's and our new scoutmaster in 1972 decided it was time to go to 25 cents. When we went to 50 cents in the 1980's, many of the troop committee balked.) from September to June. Dues are still collected weekly. We also charge whatever the current registration fee is from National. We have some scout o poor that they collect soda bottles to pay their way. Sure, the well off families could pay it in a single payment, but how does that support a scout is "thrifty" if mom or dad just write a check?
Scouts are charged $100 per year in troop dues. To make this palatable, $25 is deducted from their Scout account each quarter. Standard fee for a weekend outing is $15.00; each patrol then purchases their own food, and all Scouts share in the transportation fees (per mile). Costs are calculated prior to the event, so the fee may be noted on the sign-up sheet.
Our troop charge is $50/yr. This covers as many advancements as they can earn and the registration fee each year. Camping fees are independent.
$35 per year does not go far, which is why we have a major fundraiser each year to help cover the cost of new equipment, awards, etc. We do charge additionally for campouts.
Our annual dues are $25, $35 with Boys Life. leaders pay $15 a year. This covers registration and insurance. We do a few decent fundraisers that help us through the year and fair share with the council has allowed us free rank advancement and merit badges, helping us greatly. With everything going up in price each year, we are trying our best to keep scouting as low in cost as possible.
We charge $65 to include registration and a pack t-shirt. Families have the option to pay it all or $15 at the first meeting, and $5/month thereafter. The dues cover advancements, some supplies, admin fees, 1 pack tee, liability & Recharter fees, and 1 pinewood derby kit.
$75 includes registration, Boys' Life & council insurance. Net $47 to troop to cover overhead.
Our COR just pays the fees. We have no idea how much it is. Our unit's budget is handled differently. We don't do the traditional fund raising that Scouts do now. It changed for our units in the late 80's.... when I was a Varsity Scout.
My current unit charges $140 a year per Scout. That includes re-charter fees, awards and recognition, and equipment (tents, stoves, lamps, etc). However, the Scout can sell popcorn or discount cards to offset or eliminate that amount altogether. I vastly prefer this method over a prior unit that wanted money every week for something or other.
Only annual "dues" are recharter + boys life. $30. Other fundraisers pay for awards, and equipment purchases.
We just started charging $25 for dues. That is to fund the 2013 national dues, pinewood derby car, and badges or whatever the cub has achieve. That's plan with it anyways. We may use some to help a needy scout family. Camps are on the family since many don't make it due to other things going on at the same time. That also goes for uniforms except for the patches (which pack pays for). $25 is about all that our packs families can do. Even my family is paying dues and that's 2 scouts, Cubmaster and Unit Commissioner, that's a lot of money to come up with.
Our Troop charges $50 w/o Boy's Life $62 with Boy's Life. That covers the BSA charges and most of the advancement charges for the year. We do Luminaria at Christmas as a Fund Raiser with other Scout, Venture Crews and GS Troops in the area. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luminaria. The Luminaria price is $6 for a bag of supplies to make 6 of them. Our cost is around $2. Out of the $4 remaining the Troop gets $2 and the other $2 is divided among the Scouts participating based on the number of hours they work. Last year we divided each route with the boys on that route but some routes are better than others and we wanted to reflect how much work they put into it rather than how much money they got from their route. Popcorn money goes to the Scout's account not to the Troop. For camping we charge $15 for food, that goes to the patrol cook for the outing. The Troop covers any campsite fees, gas for the tow vehicle and program fees. For Summer Camp we add about $25 to the camp fee to cover gas for the drivers and a new Troop summer camp T-shirt. For the Ski Trip and Whitewater trips the boys pay around $75-85 for the weekend. On trips that require a longer drive we do ask for gas money.
We try to keep the cost of Scouting as low as possible while having outings that the boys want to do. The ski trip and whitewater trip despite their higher costs are the most popular outings each year. The scouts can use their scout bucks to pay for these outings, summer camp, Eagle projects, Sea Base, Philmont or Northern Tier.
If there is a need, and there has been over the years, the Troop will pay for a Scout that can't afford to go on any outing up to and including Philmont or Sea Base. As Scoutmaster I never wanted the cost of Scouting to keep a Scout from going on an outing.
We're pretty fortunate several of us work for a company that gives us $750 for volunteering 50 hours with a non-profit. That works out about right, an hour a week 52 weeks a year. ;-)
Between those grants and Luminaria we're in pretty good financial shape right now. We also try to cover the more expensive training adults need like Wilderness First Aid, CPR/IED and Woodbadge. We've been updating gear lately and we'd like to get our larger trailer decorated and add a ladder rack on the top to carry a couple canoes or kayaks. Maybe next year if we do well on Luminaria.
On popcorn, it would be great if Trail's End would offer a $5 item, like a 5 pack of microwave popcorn for $5. Asking people for $10 for a $2 bag of Fiddle Faddle or Cracker Jacks is a stretch.
Our Pack charges $50, which pays for the National registration fee/insurance, Boys' Life subscription, handbook, Pinewood Derby car kit, and all awards/badges for the year (including the belt loop program). Other Pack expenses are funded primarily by popcorn sales; these sales also allow us to reduce/waive this fee in the case of needy families, or families with more than one Scout.
My last two packs kept costs to a bare minimum. One charged a flat $55 that covered registration, council insurance, council patch, unit numbers, all awards, a Christmas present (derby car/ship/or regatta), and a new neckerchief/slide for the end of the year ceremony. Popcorn sales and Oktoberfest covered monthly award expenditures in excess of the dues. This Pack also aided some of the families with uniforms/patches/etc if it was deemed neccessary by the leadership to get a kid into scouting that otherwise couldn't afford it.
The second Pack charged the registration fee and the council insurance. An additional $5/month dues fee covered all awards, a Christmas present (derby car/ship/or regatta), and a new neckerchief/slide for the end of the year ceremony. Popcorn sales covered anything spent in excess of the dues. Dues were monthly since it was a 95% military Pack that had high turn over and low incomes that made a flat fee up front prohibitive to young military families. Also, new scouts were not required to have their shirt/neckerchief/slide/patches for a couple of months due to the low income of the families who couldn't afford the registration fee and initial uniform startup costs.
If you have active Cub Scouts/dens then you do need to be self supporting, and you do need to award the kids in a timely manner with whatever means you fund your treasurery, be it dues/sales/donations/or a combination. Remember that it is not uncommon for Cub Scouts to earn 3 belt loops in a month. Since Belt loops are $1.79 each plus the pocket cards cost which is $.59-$.89 for a sheet of 8 cards, there is more money is being spent on many Cub Scouts than a $5/month dues fee.
Our Troop charges $55 per year, plus the $30 whatever we have to pay to council.
We sell popcorn, but it's optional, and the 30% proceeds go into the Scout's account. Our main fundraiser is a spaghetti dinner with auction. Scouts have a minimum ticket sales goal, but after exceeding the minimum, Scouts are adding to their Scout accounts. We have kids completely funding trips to Philmont, Sea Base, and Jamboree through fundraising.
We too have seen a huge decline in popcorn sales. That with the rising costs of everything, we've had to raise the dues in recent years too. Even though we have a good side troop (50 scouts), keeping costs for advancement and repairs just takes it's toll and we hope to not have to increase again any time soon.
we have worked to keep the due's low. but as popcorn sales have been decling we will need to evaluate.
Popcorn sales helped a lot to subsidize scouting, however the product is just not selling.
Dues has always been a tricky issue related to the Troop. We are a young troop as we enter year three (we were founded in 2010). The Troop needs to obtain gear year by year as the troop is growing and eventually wants to own tents. Scouting is not cheap and adding to that is there are some families that do not sell popcorn because the didn't have to as part of the their Pack. We are looking at a sliding scale dues to level the financial load because the popcorn sellers should not have to fund the activities and supplies for those who sell nothing. I would welcome the thoughts of others
We charge nothing as a Pack, which what our Council encourages us to do. This is to keep the initial registration fee sticker shock down. We try to fund our self through Popcorn and battery sales.
Units in the LDS Church don't have dues. That covers around half of the Scouts in America.