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- Path: sparky!uunet!ogicse!henson!mturner
- From: mturner@henson.cc.wwu.edu (Mark Turner)
- Newsgroups: rec.scouting
- Subject: Re: Fund-raising
- Keywords: scouts fund raising
- Message-ID: <1992Nov19.231639.125@henson.cc.wwu.edu>
- Date: 19 Nov 92 23:16:39 GMT
- Article-I.D.: henson.1992Nov19.231639.125
- References: <1757@necis.UUCP> <1992Nov19.184845.24539@cbnewsj.cb.att.com>
- Organization: Western Washington University
- Lines: 40
-
- jlw3@cbnewsj.cb.att.com (Joseph L. Wood, III) writes:
-
- >We sell fertilizer every spring. We go out on the first
- >Sunday afternoon in March and take orders for a variety of products.
- >We then make up an order for our supplier who gives us a really
- >good deal and arrange for the loan of a semi to bring the stuff to town.
- >On Friday 12 days later we deliver to the customers. We are
- >a very small troop and we can pull in $1500 from even our small town.
-
- >The fact that we deliver is our competitive edge. Our prices aren't
- >any better than the local nursery store.
-
- >Joe Wood
-
- I seem to recall in the fine print on the back of the Unit Money-Earning
- form (BSA) that units aren't supposed to engage in fund-raising activities
- which are in competition with local businesses. We aren't supposed to be
- doing things that would take business away from commercial enterprises, at
- least the way I read it.
-
- Our pack recently combined public service with fund-raising by painting
- large black-on-white house numbers on the curb or front steps of
- neighborhood homes. We advertised in the neighborhood newsletter, took
- orders in advance (by mail or phone to a volunteer) and then spent a day
- going around and doing the painting. We made our own stencils to keep the
- cost down. We got 19 orders at $5.00 each, with expenses of less than $10.00.
-
- The downside of the event is that Cub Scouts really haven't developed good
- spray-painting skills, so they were frustrated when the adults didn't let
- them spray the numbers, and the adults were frustrated when the kids did
- prevail and try their hand at it (with a few runny numbers resulting). We
- had to send adults back out to do some touch-up work. We're not sure
- we'll do the event again, but we're out of the hole financially for the
- time being. It might work better for a Troop or Post. We got positive
- free publicity on the radio from the fire chief who was on a local morning
- talk show.
-
- Mark Turner
- Committee Chair, Pack 2, Bellingham, WA
- mturner@henson.cc.wwu.edu
-