Boy Scout/Cub Scout popcorn sales question

[DawnM]

I hate selling. I really, really hate it. It is the only thing I truly hate about being in scouts.

 

We were out yesterday selling and I have to say it wasn't nearly as bad as selling door to door (we sold in front of a store.) However, I still hate it.

 

I am curious though: For those of you in scouting, how much does your scout need to sell or donate to the pack/troop?

 

Our current sales are as follows:

 

Sell $300 in popcorn per scout or,

donate $100 per scout.

 

What are your pack/troop minimums?

 

Dawn

[thescrappyhomeschooler]

We don't have minimums for our pack, but I hate selling also. I hate asking people to spend so much on popcorn. It is so over priced, but I am a den leader, and none of the other den leaders seem to have a problem with it. What makes it worse is that different regions have different prices for the popcorn, so my nephew who lives in another state sells it for around $2.00 cheaper per bag. Try explaining that to relatives whom you are trying to guilt into buying the junk! :tongue_smilie:

 

I signed my kids up for 3 show and sells (in front of Walmart, which is another whole post :rant:), because I'll probably only get 2 or 3 people that I know IRL to buy some. And I have 2 kids in cub scouts. I'd much rather just give $100 donation, but that isn't offered as an option in our pack. Although, last year I ended up buying a bunch of popcorn (which we don't even eat) because I had to even up the amounts between my kids so they could both get a dinky prize and not be left out at the popcorn award ceremony at the pack meeting.

[DawnM]

I thought about just donating and some people are doing that this year, but I have THREE boys, so that is $300 out of pocket.

 

I am going to the 3 show and sells and whatever percentage I still owe I will pay.

 

I did tell DH I am starting an ING account for $25/mo. I will have close to $300 by this time next year!

 

Most likely I will still do show and sells but I not REFUSE to do door to door. I got chewed out by a neighbor last year (whole other post there!) so I have stopped selling door to door.

 

We actually did ok yesterday. We got about $160 in sales and about $80 in donations. Donations count towards our $100 per child, so I have covered more than one boy so far.

 

Dawn

 

We don't have minimums for our pack, but I hate selling also. I hate asking people to spend so much on popcorn. It is so over priced, but I am a den leader, and none of the other den leaders seem to have a problem with it. What makes it worse is that different regions have different prices for the popcorn, so my nephew who lives in another state sells it for around $2.00 cheaper per bag. Try explaining that to relatives whom you are trying to guilt into buying the junk! :tongue_smilie:

 

I signed my kids up for 3 show and sells (in front of Walmart, which is another whole post :rant:), because I'll probably only get 2 or 3 people that I know IRL to buy some. And I have 2 kids in cub scouts. I'd much rather just give $100 donation, but that isn't offered as an option in our pack. Although, last year I ended up buying a bunch of popcorn (which we don't even eat) because I had to even up the amounts between my kids so they could both get a dinky prize and not be left out at the popcorn award ceremony at the pack meeting.

[jen3kids]

A minimum - that's crazy! I would hate that.

 

I have one boy in Cub Scouts who always has his eye on the big prize so we go door-to-door. He doesn't love it, but he doesn't hate it either. He must have gone to 30 houses yesterday and only got one sale (plus a donation). He was disappointed, but he's fine with going out again today.

 

My older son is a Boy Scout who only goes to neighbours he knows because he knows most people will not buy and he hates wasting his time. The only 'minimum' his troop has is for everyone to sell one item, and that's easy for us.

[higginszoo]

Supposedly $300 in sales per boy, no donation equivalent. They sat out in 100+ degree temps for 3 show and sell shifts and only brought in $300 total (people were interested in going from air conditioning to air conditioning, not stopping for anything by then -- we were over a month into the heat wave which ended at almost 80 days in a row over 100). We're not going to get another $300 in family sales, and won't go door to door either (we have a few neighbors who asked). It is what it is. We'll probably put all of the take order sales on the Boy Scout, since the Cub Scout pack doesn't need the money and ours is leaving halfway through the year anyway. I've recently backed out and left all things Boy Scouts to dh. The popcorn lady/troop committee chair and I are seeing things very differently and there's also enough for me to focus on with the girls' stuff.

[DawnM]

I think it because we don't want to raise the cost of dues. We need to raise more $$ but no one wants the annual dues to increase.

 

Our annual dues are $24. What are yours?

 

Dawn

 

A minimum - that's crazy! I would hate that.

 

I have one boy in Cub Scouts who always has his eye on the big prize so we go door-to-door. He doesn't love it, but he doesn't hate it either. He must have gone to 30 houses yesterday and only got one sale (plus a donation). He was disappointed, but he's fine with going out again today.

 

My older son is a Boy Scout who only goes to neighbours he knows because he knows most people will not buy and he hates wasting his time. The only 'minimum' his troop has is for everyone to sell one item, and that's easy for us.

[mrs.m]

$350 in sales per boy with no "buy out" mentioned.

Our due are $20.

 

Each boy has sold $600 from door to door and show and sells.

[abbeyej]

We have no minimums! I think we do pay $90 per year in dues to the Troop, and if you have earned money through popcorn sales or Christmas tree sales, that can be applied toward dues (or summer camp or camp outs or even gear or uniforms).

 

Personally, I hate, hate, hate popcorn sales. (Or any type...) Shudder.

[DawnM]

Right there with you. I hate sales of any kind.

 

Although I was pleasantly surprised yesterday by the amount of sales we did.

 

We have no minimums! I think we do pay $90 per year in dues to the Troop, and if you have earned money through popcorn sales or Christmas tree sales, that can be applied toward dues (or summer camp or camp outs or even gear or uniforms).

 

Personally, I hate, hate, hate popcorn sales. (Or any type...) Shudder.

[Serenade]

Our troop has no requirement to sell popcorn at all. Boys can if they want, but they don't have to. if any of the boys sell anything, the full profit amount goes into their scout account, so the troop does not use this as a money maker. I'm not sure what our annual dues are, but I think they are under $50. Our troop also sells wreaths, but again, it's not required. I would have a hard time selling $300 worth of any fundraiser. I would probably pull my sons out of scouting if that was required. I, too, hate asking people to buy things that are overpriced, and that they probably don't need. I don't have a problem with making a donation instead, but I think for some people that would be prohibitive.

 

Incidentally, my youngest son's pack also doesn't do the door-to-door sales. It's not even an option. They have a cake auction instead. Now, granted, parents buy cakes for insane amounts, but since the cakes are all made by other scouting parents, all the money goes to the pack, and it's like making a donation but getting a yummy cake along with it. Participation in the cake auction is also not required. The nice thing about the cake auction, however, is that even if a family does not have a lot of money, it's pretty inexpensive to make a homemade cake, so even if they can't buy one, they can make one that will easily bring in $50+ for the troop. Many of the cakes sell for several hundred dollars, but all of them tend to bring in at least $50.

[Samiam]

Our pack dues are $80. If you sell $300 in popcorn, you do not have to pay any dues. They would be pro-rated if you sell less than $300.

 

Show-n-sells, while I hate it, have been made a killing for us.

 

We've been in three packs, three states.

 

1st Pack in FL: Did show in sells in front of Publix (regional grocery store). Did decent. Don't remember the details but only went to a show-n-sell twice. I don't remember the $$$ but I do know out of the $175 dues (yes, really), we only had to pay $50....so we must have done decently on popcorn.

 

2nd Pack in NC: They didn't do show-n-sells, and as a matter of fact, didn't even understand the concept when my husband mentioned it to them We sold $50 total to family. Thankfully dues were only $20.

 

3rd Pack in SC: Show-n-Sell GALORE. We are in front of Lowe's (2 of them) and BiLo (regional grocery store, and 3 of them!). Our Pack has shifts from 9 a.m-8p.m. Sat-Sun. We've done three shifts, and have sold almost $450 ourselves. With a few neighbor sales, some online family sales, we've got over $600 this year. Never would have done that without the Show-n-Sales.

[m0mmaBuck]

Our Pack sells a buttload of popcorn... as in $30,000-40,000/year. We find our best sales come from door-to-door sales with product in hand. We do some storefront but fiind that the boys going door- to - door average $200-300/hr in sales while the boys in front of stores average less thatn $100/hr. We have no minimim requirement but most of our boys shoot for about $750 in sales.

 

Now remember... 30% of the money goes back to the popcorn company to pay for the popcorn leaving 70% for the Council and the unit (Pack/Troop). In our Council, the more popcorn the unit sells, the bigger percentage of the money the unit gets to keep. Everyone starts out keeping 30% at the unit level and 40% going to the council but by $40,000 in sales the unit keeps 45% giving only 25% to the council. Granted, the Council still gets more $$$ from those units that sell more but there is a definite incentive to the unit to be a big seller. The Council relies heavily on fundraisers and donations (my much hated Friends of Scouting campaign) for the budget (to run programs, camps, pay for insurance, etc).

 

OK, so... this year we should get 45% back to the Pack. The first $200 a boy raises goes to the Pack to pay their dues. After that, the Pack keeps 25% and boy gets 75% into his individual scout account. At about $455 in sales, the boy has paid for his full year of scouting (BSA registration-$10, Boys Life subscription-$12, uniform shirt-$23, hat-$13, neckerchief-$8 and slide-$5, required patches-$5-10, book-$7-15, advancements and awards $15, Pinewood Derby, Space Derby, Regatta, Blue and Gold, $5/boy/month for den level activities, snacks at Pack meetings, t-shirt, family camp, fall picnic, etc). At $750, he has paid his way to resident camp. Most of our parents get behind the idea of making their boys pay their own way via fundraising.

 

Of course the parents can just write a $200 check and skip fundraising if that's how they want to pay for their year.

Edited October 9, 2011 by m0mmaBuck

[oneplustwoIdaho]

We have the same $300 sales minimum or $100 donation, or combination. Ds just sells what he can, usually one store front sale day, to family and friends, and then pay the difference. It is not worth the time to go door-to-door for us at this time of year. Both DH and DS hunt on weekends, and I start working in the afternoon after HS. I know it is for a good cause, but the product is SO overpriced it is embarrasing.

[cindergretta]

Wow, I feel really lucky. We pay $35 when we register each year and that covers money to the pack for awards and such and the registration fee to the BSA. We have no dues and we have no minimums are popcorn sales.

 

I enjoy the store front sales. I like hanging out with the other parents and the boys have a lot of fun. I loved it with my first son and now I am enjoying it with son#2, lol!

 

The pack as a whole must sell some incredible amount as we are never "hit up" for money for this and that and the pack is incredibly active and fun, kwim?

 

I would not appreciate being told to sell $XXX amount or donate $XXX amount. That would most likely bar my dc from scouting. :( (My dds are on "financial assistance" with Girl Scouts and it has never come up with the boys.)

[DawnM]

I guess the thing is, DH does quite a bit for council each year. He fund raises for the golf tournament and brings in a LOT. But none of that counts towards my boys. It does come in handy during Friends of Scouting though as I tell them we have already donated quite a bit. Dh puts in the time and the companies who he gets to donate put in the $$.

 

We have 2 more show and sells to go and I may see if we can get another one if there is an opening. If we can sell our $900 that way I will be thrilled. Door to door has not done all that well for us. Many of the neighborhoods around here either have no solicitation signs or are very heavily saturated with cub/boy scouts. We hear a LOT of "I already bought popcorn" from people.

 

What is helping too is that we take one box of each of the microwave popcorn and sell individual packs for $1 each. Sometimes people want to buy but can't afford the $18 box.

 

I still hate selling and wish we didn't have to do it, but I much prefer the show and sells in front of a store to door to door.

 

Dawn

[jen3kids]

I don't know that we pay dues. We pay a fee for rechartering, and in Cub Scouts, we pay for camping trips ($15/person) and summer camp. Most everything else is paid for by the Pack.

 

In Boy Scouts, I don't think there are dues either - just the rechartering fee. Any money raised through Popcorn Sales or other fundraisers go into the boys' Scout account and we pay for camping trips with that.

 

Some boys (both Cub and Boy Scouts) sell thousands of dollars of popcorn each year - on their own and at booth sales. Some sell only one item to their parents. Whatever each boy sells is fine here and there's no pressure from anyone - just do what you can/want to.

 

 

 

I think it because we don't want to raise the cost of dues. We need to raise more $$ but no one wants the annual dues to increase.

 

Our annual dues are $24. What are yours?

 

Dawn

[mrs.m]

We have 2 more show and sells to go and I may see if we can get another one if there is an opening. If we can sell our $900 that way I will be thrilled. Door to door has not done all that well for us. Many of the neighborhoods around here either have no solicitation signs or are very heavily saturated with cub/boy scouts. We hear a LOT of "I already bought popcorn" from people.

.....

 

I still hate selling and wish we didn't have to do it, but I much prefer the show and sells in front of a store to door to door.

 

Dawn

 

Show and sells are the way to go especially if you have a Tiger Cub there that day. My youngest would draw them in just by saying "Hi my name is E, what is yours?" I would see their hearts melt and they either handed him money for donation or bought popcorn. The older scouts would sell the popcorn and answer questions.

 

The people around here are generally friendly about the sales, even door to door. There's the occassional grouchy old man but nothing like we encountered in the last neighborhood we lived in! So I know the door to door can be terrible!

[cindergretta]

Oh my goodness! Tigers can sell enough on their own to run a pack! :lol: They're so stinkin' cute in their uniforms and come across sweet as pie talking to people about popcorn and Scouts. Awwww... :lurk5:

[Julie in Austin]

Yeah, it is almost wrong to let Tigers sell . . . they are so darn cute they could sell snow to an Alaskan.

[Tigger]

Our pack doesn't have minimums - the $45 we pay to register each year includes all awards and our BSA fees; however, the pack spends about $140 each year per kid, so popcorn sales and other fund raising activities are strongly encouraged.

 

Last year I didn't want DS selling, so we made a donation directly to the pack for $150 - the pack kept 100% of that, unlike the popcorn sales which only a small percent of the 70% that comes back goes to the pack.

 

This year we've started online (kick-off is still in a couple of weeks for our pack) and sent emails out to family and friends - that is the easiest way to do it....so far about 75% of those we emailed have purchased something, most often the military donation. So DS has sold a good amount already online, so we can beg off the door-to-door or show-and-sells.

 

Maybe you can do something with the online sales option?

[QueenCat]

The boys are encouraged to get a minimum of $250, no donation requirement. Required minimums or donations violate National BSA policy, according to the Council rep I talked to when our troop was considering it.

[m0mmaBuck]

The boys are encouraged to get a minimum of $250, no donation requirement. Required minimums or donations violate National BSA policy, according to the Council rep I talked to when our troop was considering it.

 

This is true. You can't force the kids to sell and you can't force the families to pay but you can limit what the Scout can participate in based on funds available. We have parents sign the Pack budget which also shows them exactly what it costs for each thing the Pack provides and does. Most of our parents get their boys to fundraise and therefore have no out-of-pocket expense. However, if parents choose to make a donation rather than fundraise, that is their choice. Likewise, they can choose to pay for each item/activity out of pocket as it arises (everything from uniforms, patches, advancements, and books to snacks and activities and camps). And if a family has financial hardship, the committee can vote to waive payments. The majority of our families prefer to have a sort of pre-paid activities account with the Pack (either via fundraising or donation)so they don't have to continually hand over $0.59 for a patch or $5 for a derby car or $20 for a Webelos weekend or what have you.

[Pretty in Pink]

My ds participates in all of the group events such as selling outside of Walmart. He doesn't do door to door sales and neither dh nor I sell to our friends, family, or co-workers on his behalf. That money goes in the troop fund and offsets, if not fully covers, the cost of group campouts and some other activities throughout the year.

 

I think that if you make money on door to door sales that goes toward your own individual activities rather than the troop fund. I'm not sure.

 

I have no idea what our annual dues are to be honest. We're still sort of new to Scouts.

 

We aren't expected to contribute a specific amount of money towards the troop beyond annual dues. If the troop doesn't raise enough money then camping trips and such cost a bit out of pocket for each kid every time they roll around.

[angel marie]

boy, that's alot to be personally responsible for. our troop announced they weren't participating in the sale this year and i couldn't have been happier. i have never let my boys go door to door or go outside walmart. we would end up buying the stuff or i would let them harrass our relatives only. i do however think the popcorn is great. good luck!!

[Nestof3]

I just wanted to throw in that I would be much more eager to buy Scouts stuff if the items were more appealing. For baseball, our eldest used to sell these large candy bars. They sold like hotcakes. They were only $1.00 each, but people bought them very easily.

 

I am not a huge fan of the Girl Scout cookies, and I could not believe how expensive the popcorn (which I don't like anyway) cost! I just donated $5.00 instead.

[thescrappyhomeschooler]

We just got back from a show and sell outside of Walmart. We sold only 3 popcorn items in 2 hours, but my 2 boy and another kid made a total of $108.18 in donations in 2 hours. People want to give to the Cub Scouts, they just don't want to pay $20.00 for a measly bag of popcorn.

[Nestof3]

We just got back from a show and sell outside of Walmart. We sold only 3 popcorn items in 2 hours, but my 2 boy and another kid made a total of $108.18 in donations in 2 hours. People want to give to the Cub Scouts, they just don't want to pay $20.00 for a measly bag of popcorn.

 

:iagree::iagree::iagree::iagree:

[Plucky]

I hate selling. I really, really hate it. It is the only thing I truly hate about being in scouts.

 

We were out yesterday selling and I have to say it wasn't nearly as bad as selling door to door (we sold in front of a store.) However, I still hate it.

 

I am curious though: For those of you in scouting, how much does your scout need to sell or donate to the pack/troop?

 

Our current sales are as follows:

 

Sell $300 in popcorn per scout or,

donate $100 per scout.

 

What are your pack/troop minimums?

 

Dawn

 

Is the donation just troop fees?

[m0mmaBuck]

I just wanted to throw in that I would be much more eager to buy Scouts stuff if the items were more appealing. For baseball, our eldest used to sell these large candy bars. They sold like hotcakes. They were only $1.00 each, but people bought them very easily.

 

I am not a huge fan of the Girl Scout cookies, and I could not believe how expensive the popcorn (which I don't like anyway) cost! I just donated $5.00 instead.

 

We just got back from a show and sell outside of Walmart. We sold only 3 popcorn items in 2 hours, but my 2 boy and another kid made a total of $108.18 in donations in 2 hours. People want to give to the Cub Scouts, they just don't want to pay $20.00 for a measly bag of popcorn.

 

I totally agree. However, the popcorn sale the sale endorsed by BSA nationally. It won't go away because so much of the BSA's budgets depend on it. I said before, 30% of the sale goes to the popcorn company and the other 70% goes back to BSA but about 1/2 of that stays at the council level rather than directly to the units. In our Council, the units are able to do other fundraisers (like bulb sales, pancake feeds, and candy sales where ALL of the profit stays with the unit) as long as they are approved by the Council, but the Council won't approve fundraisers for units that didn't sell popcorn.

[m0mmaBuck]

As another interesting point, a certain Council executive told my husband (who is the volunteer in charge of popcorn for the entire Council) that the Council expects that each boy will fundraise enough to give $200 back to the council as that is their cost/boy for a year of scouting. That means the Council expects each boy to sell about $700 in popcorn so that they can fund their program. Of course that's off the record. Anyway, we know when they did not meet their quota because they turn around and want us to sell nuts later in the year. And their Friends of Scouting campaign seems more desperate during those years as well.

[Nestof3]

I totally agree. However, the popcorn sale the sale endorsed by BSA nationally. It won't go away because so much of the BSA's budgets depend on it. I said before, 30% of the sale goes to the popcorn company and the other 70% goes back to BSA but about 1/2 of that stays at the council level rather than directly to the units. In our Council, the units are able to do other fundraisers (like bulb sales, pancake feeds, and candy sales where ALL of the profit stays with the unit) as long as they are approved by the Council, but the Council won't approve fundraisers for units that didn't sell popcorn.

 

I'm ignorant. What does the council do with the money?

[mom31257]

I hate selling. I really, really hate it. It is the only thing I truly hate about being in scouts.

 

We were out yesterday selling and I have to say it wasn't nearly as bad as selling door to door (we sold in front of a store.) However, I still hate it.

 

I am curious though: For those of you in scouting, how much does your scout need to sell or donate to the pack/troop?

 

Our current sales are as follows:

 

Sell $300 in popcorn per scout or,

donate $100 per scout.

 

What are your pack/troop minimums?

 

Dawn

 

We have no minimun and are not required to participate. I would not belong to a group that did require it. Our dues are only $40 per year, too. Ds has participated in 2 booth sales at stores and sold $170 on his own. I don't know the totals of both booth sales, but I know one was about $100 credit for ds.

 

While I don't like selling stuff, I was very happy to see the growth in ds from last year to this one. Last year he could barely ask people. He was very shy. This year, he was upfront, speaking to people as they came up, and even explaining the product in detail. I could tell that adults were impressed with how well he was doing. It makes a momma proud!

[Moxie]

We have no minimun and are not required to participate. I would not belong to a group that did require it. Our dues are only $40 per year, too. Ds has participated in 2 booth sales at stores and sold $170 on his own. I don't know the totals of both booth sales, but I know one was about $100 credit for ds.

 

While I don't like selling stuff, I was very happy to see the growth in ds from last year to this one. Last year he could barely ask people. He was very shy. This year, he was upfront, speaking to people as they came up, and even explaining the product in detail. I could tell that adults were impressed with how well he was doing. It makes a momma proud!

 

Yeah, selling stinks but all the things the boys do aren't free. In our Pack, if there were no minimums, we wouldn't make enough to do the fun stuff.

[Joyofsixreboot]

We have no minimum. My boys hate selling so we don't. They participate in other fund raisers. We're not good cookie sellers either.

[DawnM]

I no longer have a Tiger, but I do have a Wolf. He was nervous at first but did quite well by the end of the 2 hours.

 

Dawn

 

Show and sells are the way to go especially if you have a Tiger Cub there that day. My youngest would draw them in just by saying "Hi my name is E, what is yours?" I would see their hearts melt and they either handed him money for donation or bought popcorn. The older scouts would sell the popcorn and answer questions.

 

The people around here are generally friendly about the sales, even door to door. There's the occassional grouchy old man but nothing like we encountered in the last neighborhood we lived in! So I know the door to door can be terrible!

[Samiam]

I agree, that while I hate selling, I do see the purpose of it.

 

Once we pay our dues, or sell enough popcorn to cover it, we normally do not pay for much else throughout the year.

 

We don't pay for belt loops or badges (and some boys get ALOT of belt loops)

We don't pay for pinewood derby cars.

We don't pay for many special events.

We don't pay for the handbooks and nerkerchiefs when a Scout moves to the next level.

 

Other events are off-set, for example for big trips, like to Overnight at Georgia Aquarium, we only pay half (or less), the Pack pays the rest.

 

There's a bunch other little things that our Pack pays for, that we as Scout parents are not nickeled and dimed to death for. Having been in different Packs, some that sold more popcorn and one that did not sell as much, I see how it affects the Pack overall, and how it affects my purse for the less successful popcorn selling Pack.

 

Then there's the Council stuff, that others have mentioned, the Camp, etc etc.

 

The thing to remember is that Scouts are non-profit. Each Pack has to have money to do all of these activities. Fund-raising is the norm for most non-profits, one way or another. Scouts choose popcorn. I think it helps to remember that you are not JUST buying popcorn, you are actually donating and supporting the Scout program, and get a bonus of popcorn too. It's a bigger picture then "I don't want to spend $20 on a small bag of popcorn."

 

Overall Scouts are expensive to participate in. Our dues of $80 would be quite a punch to our bank account. Selling popcorns, to do our part for the Pack, allows my son to participate. Our Council also gives scholarships for families who simply can not afford to pay for scouting...that $$$ comes from popcorn sales.

[i.love.lucy]

Our pack dues are $30, and I think we had council dues on top of that. :confused: I don't remember. I was shelling out a lot this summer for the uniform and dues and lost track a bit. We have been asked to sell $300 at the show and sell phase (done with that phase and sold $80 :glare:) and another $300 in the take order phase. We are brand new this year so I am not taking it too personally. We have some super star sellers in our Webelos. Which makes sense, really, as I am so new to it I am still trying to make sense of it all, and those boys have it down.

 

My little Tiger sure was cute selling in front of Walgreens though! He's lost his two bottom front teeth and says "would you like to buy thome popcorn?" (even though I told him to ask people to support scouting instead!). People just melted. We only sold $80 of product mostly because it was the tail end of the show-n-sells and we only had 2 flavors of the big bags left. But he got about $100 in donations!

 

I have a no soliciting sign on my door, and HATE being bothered in my home to be asked to buy stuff, so I refuse going door to door. I will take him to my husbands office, and will hit up the grandparents, but that's it. If we fall short then so be it.

[Jennay]

Our pack doesn't have a minimum required but the more you sell the less you need to pay out of pocket throughout the year.

I have a Bear and a Wolf and they spent 2.5 hours in front of a grocery store today and sold $331 in popcorn and received $24 in donations. Not bad!

[cindergretta]

Samiam, ITA 100%. :iagree:

 

Our show and sells generally go pretty well. At our last one, there were around 10 boys (stationed at 2 different doors) and *each* boy ended up with $45 credited to him. (I have no idea about donations, but those were a whack!! :D ) The one before that had 6 or 7 boys and each boy ended up with around $100 credited to him.

 

And I love not being nickled and dimed! (I have soccer for that... :glare: )

[prairiewindmomma]

4 hours at a show & sell = $100 credit to them OR $300 in sales

 

We chose the show & sell route.

[NoPlaceLikeHome]

We don't do Boy Scouts here, but I wish some of the groups we have been in would just ask for a donation. I'd much rather donate $100 than sell $300 worth of anything.

 

:iagree:I hate sales:( I especially don't like them when the kid who is expected to sell them cannot eat the product due to peanut and tree nut allergies. I hope packs take this into consideration and always allow an opt out with a donation or the like.

 

We would consider helping out at a shop and sell though:)

[eternalknot]

Our dues are $35/year, including whatever they send to the council.

 

We don't have a minimum selling quota, nor a suggested donation fee to cover.

 

The first year my two scouts sold the most in their pack (independently placed 1st and 2nd). The next year one scout decided not to sell and the other scout came in 2nd for pack sales. This year they've switched, so last year's #2 seller is taking a year off but the one who didn't sell last year is selling this year. He'll sell a lot, he's a natural at it and enjoys it. We've actually discussed and studied the art of selling over the years. I hate pushy salespeople and will leave when pressured. It's a major peeve of mine. I've vowed no spawn of mine would become one LOL.

 

It also helps that we live in a small, affluent community that is good about and has the means to support multiples of the same fundraiser. This popcorn ain't cheap! And it's not even that good, if you ask me.

 

Our pack doesn't do the show-and-sells.

[Guest mkday22]

We have twin 6 year old boys that we just put into cub scouts... My Husband was a scout throughout he's life and he wanted to have our boys experience the same fun and learning lessons he had. I thought yeah great why not, the boys were rearing to go too. A newsletter was sent home from the first meeting in regards to popcorn fundraising... Under the title of Sales Quota  it says as I will type word for word... "we are asking each scout to sell at least $650 worth of popcorn which translates to $195 for our pack" under this statement in bold letters is "If a scout does not reach that goal or chooses not to sell, then the parents are responsible for the difference"  You could have knocked me over with a feather. We both work weird hours and do not have a great social outreach we can sell to, but good heavens.... It would be bad enough having one boy not make the quota but two?? if they sell $100 0r $200 each that leaves us with a balance of over $1000 we have to pay... Told my husband to pull them out of this pack... He is now looking for another den that will not kill us financially. Anyone seen this kind of issue before??? 

Thanks.

[tabinfl]

With two Girl Scouts and a Cub Scouts, fundraisers were one thing I was dreading. Not having to do them for school is one of the benefits of homeschooling IMO!

 

A little off the topic, but...

Now that I'm a GS troop leader, I am taking seriously the part where Girl Scouts intend the fundraisers to be more than just earning money for the organization. We're doing a business & financial literacy workshop for our girls tomorrow to kick off our fall fundraiser. My husband is handling all of the Boy Scout things, so I don't know if they are doing anything similar, but I'm determined to turn this into something positive for my girls beyond just a money grab. There really is a lot to be learned, even at the youngest levels, about business/people skills and money management. These are lessons that will last a lifetime, and that many people never learn. I have lost count of the number of people I've dealt with in non-profit organizations who "can't sell anything" or won't ask for donations. This isn't rocket science, but kids catch the vibe from parents, grow up hating to or afraid to reach out, and then become adults who think they can't. Many friends trying to start their own businesses don't have the first clue as to how to talk to potential customers or budget and save money to cover future expenses and the slow times when there isn't a lot of income.

 

I do think there's a lot of waste and inefficiency in most of these fundraisers with all of the prizes and hoopla, but I suppose that's what motivates many of the kids so it's a catch-22. I'm trying to make the best of it for my kids, and the girls in my troop, though!

[Sherry in OH]

Talk to the pack leaders before panicking.  The letter could be a badly worded way of stating that if the pack as a whole does not sell enough popcorn to fund all activities, the pack will ask parents to make up the difference. You could also contact your district and/or council representatives for advice. 

 

If your pack is permitted to enforce this policy, your maximum expected contribution should be $195 per child less 30% of the child’s popcorn sales -- the amount the pack would have earned from $650 in sales.   

[kentuckymom]

Wow, Squirrelboy's pack seems really cheap compared with some of those detailed here. We pay an $18 registration fee every year and boys do have to pay for all the uniform costs and the books, but not the patches or belt loops. The pack sells popcorn but there is no minimum per boy and no donation required if a boy doesn't sell anything. Some boys sell 1000's of dollars worth of popcorn. Some sell only at show and sells, some well one item to parents or none at all. The money that goes to the pack is shared evenly and offsets the cost for activities, campouts, etc. Our immediate neighborhood is rife with Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts, so you need to get out right away if you want to sell to our neighbors. Since we didn't do that, last weekend DH and Squirrelboy biked over to another neighborhood. Apparently no Scouts have been out selling there, and he made a decent amount. We have show and sells every  weekend in October in front of a new Costco. Unfortunately, Squirrelboy will have limited time to participate since he's deep in rehearsals for a Dia de los Muertos ballet show the first weekend of November, but I'm sure he'll do some selling there.

 

I should mention that, while our family is solidly upper middle class, and probably 1/3 of the families in the pack have an income similar to ours, a whole lot of families have a lot less than we do.  Our neighborhood is very diverse. Our street and the streets in one direction from it are middle to upper middle class. The streets in the other direction are working class. Within a couple miles there are apartment buildings with subsidized rent. The pack gets kids mainly from 3 area elementary schools, all of which have large free and reduced lunch populations. About 1/3 of the parents of kids in the pack speak limited English. The fall campout was this past weekend, and DH said that one Dad asked at the pack meeting on Tuesday if he could just show up with his kid without preregistering. He wouldn't have the money to register until he got paid on Friday. Mind you, an alarming number of these families spend their money on unnecessary things, like cigarettes, but the fact remains that they have a whole lot less money than we do and that paying expensive dues or selling or donating a certain amount would be a real hardship for them.

[boscopup]

Last year, ours was sell $100 worth of popcorn (very easy) or pay something like $30 or $35 to the troop?

[Stratford]

DH is the cubmaster for our son's pack.  We have fundraisers but don't impose a minimum or a "penalty" for not selling.  Thankfully, most people participate and we can cover our annual budget just fine.  This year, we're skipping popcorn sales and doing a different fund raiser.  (The parents in our pack informed us they were popcorned-out and didn't want to do it.  Fine by me.)   

[Alice]

 

 

While I don't like selling stuff, I was very happy to see the growth in ds from last year to this one. Last year he could barely ask people. He was very shy. This year, he was upfront, speaking to people as they came up, and even explaining the product in detail. I could tell that adults were impressed with how well he was doing. It makes a momma proud!

 

I always have mixed feelings about the popcorn sales. I hate selling and feel bad asking people to support my kid in Scouts. At the same time, I realize that it’s not just my kid but other Scouts also and that the fundraising is somewhat of a necessary evil. We don’t have a mininum, nor do you get any “credit†for what you sell. They give a goal amount that they encourage each Scout to sell, this year it is $200. We pay about $80 in yearly dues. We’ve had years where we sold way less than the encouraged amount, years where we donated most of it and a few years where ds has sold the amount suggested. 

 

This year ds took ownership of the selling and went out door to door and took charge of asking people at church and our co-op. I was proud of him as he is super shy and I saw that this experience has been a good one for him. He very quickly go to his $200 goal and a little beyond. 

[kbutton]

We just got back from a show and sell outside of Walmart. We sold only 3 popcorn items in 2 hours, but my 2 boy and another kid made a total of $108.18 in donations in 2 hours. People want to give to the Cub Scouts, they just don't want to pay $20.00 for a measly bag of popcorn.

 

I hate fundraising too, but the pack has to operate on something, and not everyone can afford dues increases, etc. I realize not everyone has a network of willing buyers, but to have no one is unusual. If we had more than one fundraiser per year (like one for school, one for scouts, etc.), we did only one. I am not going to ask the same people over and over for money.

 

We've found that the people who do not want to pay so much for popcorn often donate a couple of bucks, which goes 100% to the pack. Win-win. We do the same for their fundraisers unless we really want what they are selling. If people feel bad when we knock on their door, we just thank them and leave. No pressure at all. We try to skip that house the next year. We also have some houses where people are excited we've come. They want to support the scouts or love the popcorn. I think people who feel guilty about saying no or gripe about the price really don't understand how the fundraising works. You are not SELLING POPCORN. You are selling scouting. The kids who sell entertainment books for band are not selling entertainment books, they are selling the opportunity to be in band. I realize people don't have a lot of extra money. If so, they should say no nicely. Any personal guilt is their problem. Same with people knocking on the door or calling to ask us to support their favorite charity, cancer group, etc. Kids sell something so that they aren't simply begging for money. Adults who are asked to buy popcorn need to be adults and learn to say, "no thank you" instead of griping that kids sell something.

 

I will also say that it's discouraging to make the effort to sell and then hear pack members who won't sell or volunteer at all gripe later. If you took the top 5-10 sellers in our pack in past years, you'd lose half of the popcorn sales. If you divide the total popcorn sales by the number of boys, each boy would have to sell only a piddly amount. But many families continue to sell nothing year after year. That's why many packs set minimums or make you pay outright. At the same time, I think packs should talk to families more and come up with multiple revenue sources (dues, fees, etc.) based on what the families want. Of course, families need to attend meetings and be willing to think outside the box. I've also been in meetings where people have legitimate concerns and great ideas and WILL NOT SPEAK UP or won't show up.