Whew! We are through Apples Pies successfully again . . . and special thanks to Diane Iglesias and Diane Howard for leading us on this . . . . but also appreciation to all our families that contributed a lot of your time and energy to making this a fun and successful event. The “Troop Year” opens Tuesday the 21st with our first meeting of the school year. But as most of you know, the troop didn’t really hibernate much over the summer . . . we were pretty active with summer camp, high adventure white water rafting, Venture Crew sailing in the Bahamas, Troop Picnic and Talent show, and Canoe trip! The troop website will show you the program plans for the upcoming year.__________________________________________________________ With new families welcomed to Troop 125 and the start of the new school year, the Troop Committee has suggested it’s time to communicate our approach to managing finances that support the operations of Troop 125. I think it’s been four years since we last shared this topic, thus it may be the first time for many of you. We view financing the Troop as a “necessary evil”. Obviously, the success of our troop is not measured in $ . . . but rather by the fun, learning, and growth of the boys (and young men) involved in T125. But, on to describing the “necessary evil”! It may provide some perspective to understand that simply the T125 activity fees (campouts, high adventure) totaled approximately $24,000 last year. The Troop is a fairly significant volunteer organization, with around 60 scouts that need financial support for camping and high adventure outings, equipment, insurance and more. As you will see, we need to manage the following areas so that the boys can focus on the scout activities, learning, teaching and fun.
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“operating expenses”,
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“capital expenditures” (for durable items - e.g. trailers, tents),
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administrative spending (e.g. re-registration, advancements), Courts of Honor, storage rental), and
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“working capital” (e.g. deposits for SeaBase, airfare, pie supplies - all of which will be reimbursed later, but sometimes represent big outlays months before money is collected from participants ). We’ve been fortunate with longevity of our current and previous treasurers resulting in a solid understanding of how to make the finances work smoothly, plus how to keep clear records (income statements and assets/liabilities). This has been rock-solid enough that we’d didn’t have to change anything after either the Sarbanes-Oxley accounting reform act or last year’s US banking system meltdown! Funding/Spending Overview As you know, the Troop has a one-time membership fee. In addition to offsetting the cost of initial scout registration and paraphernalia (clothing, etc), we’ve found that an initial commitment helps in successfully getting a scout involved. You may not be aware that there is a recurring Scouting registration fee that T125 pays to our local Boy Scout council for all our Scouts too (runs ~$1500 for the Troop) . . . this becomes an example of our administrative expenses that need annual funding - but so far we have been able to avoid repeatedly going back to families for this.Other spending examples (just a start!):· About $1300 on sweatshirts/shirts and new scout packages· Approx $1000 on insurance last year· Over $700 on the trailers· Almost $700 on facility rentals· A little over $200 on advancements/badges A fundamental philosophy as directed by the Troop Committee is that the ten to fifteen outings/events per year should be funded pay-as-you-go, with the cost borne directly by those that attend. In practice, most of these outings do not cover costs and typically the modest cost short-fall is covered from the troop’s general fund. The cost of Summer Camp is also supplemented from our general fund to keep the overall fee down and encourage attendance at this excellent adventure. The Committee establishes individual “scout accounts” that are intended to offer your son a banking opportunity to save/spend for scout event costs. Note that this is your Scout’s money that the Troop banks and needs to be settled/closed upon leaving the Troop. While the troop offers the scout accounts as a savings opportunity for you son to learn to fund and manage, this is not a place to borrow for outings (in a few cases we have had scouts over-spend from their account). The Committee regularly forecasts and accrues money in anticipation of significant necessary capital expenditures which are all too regular, such as repair & replacement of tents, expand/replace contents of the patrol box gear, and trailer maintenance/replacement, etc.Generally, our Committee approach has been such that as each generation of scouts/families ages out of the Troop they will leave it with about the same assets and the same financial shape as when they entered. The Troop Committee reviews a report of operating status briefly at each monthly meeting, with a deeper annual review to assure continued balance. Fundraising Most Boy Scout troops require year-around meeting dues, and numerous ongoing fund-raisers. T125 has been baking and selling pies at Arts and Apples for about 30 yrs. While we are always nervous at this time of year prior to a new wave of pie proceeds, this has tended to be a successful and stable event that can clear $5-$6k each year with a once yearly effort by the troop families (just under $5K this year). Fortunately, this is about the amount required to for annual administrative and operating expenses, to cover the small shortfall advances for the self-funding activities, routine and typical capital replacement/repairs, and even the Dege-Hare fund for scouts with financial need (we partially sponsor some scouts to events that they and family would not otherwise be able to be a part of). We know pies take a big chunk of your time, and some of you would rather just write a check. But not all can do that. And we think that the scouts see the commitment and fun that most of the families have with this as a reflection on the organization. High Adventure (HA) trips are clearly a discretionary and significant individual/family outlay. Much of the reason we do Popcorn and Wreath sales each year is to provide your son an outlet by which to earn money that goes into his scout account for either normal troop outings or HA. Many times the HA organizer will sponsor some additional event (maybe a pancake breakfast) to allow your son additional opportunity to defray costs. You are strongly encouraged to work with your son (or Venture daughter) to plan for HA outing and personal equipment expenses so that they shoulder some of the responsibility for how it gets paid – as they’ll grow from that experience and it gives them some real ownership in what they “take away” from HA. We should also acknowledge that we do one annual “solicitation” to our troop families – called “Friends of Scouting” and on behalf of our Great Lakes Council and national BSA. While this offers no direct financial benefit to our troop, it is critical funding for important benefits to us like Council scout camps. This request will come in November and is a valuable cause to keep Scouting viable at the regional level. I hope this information is helpful. Your ideas and thoughts on our approach are always welcome at the Troop Committee. And we are looking forward to another year where this financing approach will allow us to measure the Troop's health in all the "right" areas: individual advancement, leadership growth, friendships, and outright FUN! Terry Connolly (on behalf of the Troop 125 Committee)
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