Pack 232

Table of Contents

Overview

Pack 232 is committed to help all of its Scouts and Pack families experience all that Scouting has to offer. To accomplish this, Pack 232 has implemented this policy to assist scouts in meeting the financial burden of scouting activities.

Objectives

Give families who might not otherwise be able to afford scouting a chance to experience it. Teach scouts to be thrifty (“earning their way”) as well as manage their personal finances. Reward hard work by allowing scouts that go above and beyond fundraising expectations to share more directly in the fruits of their labor. Incentivize more overall fundraising to help fund the Pack’s programming.

Scout Accounts

In order to better track fundraising and other monies allocated for a scout’s scouting adventure, the Pack Treasurer will create Scout Accounts for each active youth member of the Pack. A Scout’s individual Scout Account may be funded with monies raised through fundraising efforts as described further below.

Money allocated to a Scout Account will be allocated to be spent on scouting activities for that scout and thus allow that scout to be reimbursed for out of pocket expenses of participating in scouting.

Core Scout Account Guidelines

Both Scouting America and the Pack’s Charter Organization (i.e. Selkirk Fire Department) have a nonprofit status. Any funds CANNOT have “substantial private benefit” (i.e. spent on anything unrelated to scouting) and funds must “benefit the entire unit”. A Pack benefit would be to offset the costs of scouting (e.g. attending summer camp, winter camping, etc.). Pack 232’s Charter Organization (i.e. Selkirk Fire Department) “owns” Pack 232 and thus “owns” its funds/equipment. Therefore, funds in a Scout Account cannot be transferred to the private accounts of the Scout and/or their family. Similarly, these funds may not be transferred to another Scouting unit (e.g. should a Pack 232 scout transfer to a different unit) that has a different Charter Organization than Pack 232’s. The sole exception to this is when a scout crosses over to an active Troop that also has a scout account program. The Pack Committee / Pack Treasurer is responsible for the Pack’s funds. The Pack Committee can use Pack funds to assist/award individual scouts based on their participation in activities that benefit the Pack, Charter Organization and/or Scouting America.

Funding Guidelines

There are multiple ways in which the Pack might allocate funds to an individual scout’s Scout Account.

All-Pack Subsidy

Each scouting year, the Pack Treasurer, with consultation from the Fundraising Chair and Cubmasters, may recommend to the Pack Committee a Scout Subsidy. The amount may vary from year to year based on the Pack’s financial position and taking into account the Pack activities planned for the scouting year.

In years where a Scout Subsidy is budgeted, which will only happen when fundraising efforts exceed the amount needed to cover basic programming, the Scout Subsidy will be funded into each eligible scout’s Scout Account after the Pack’s primary fundraising event (i.e. Popcorn).

There is no guarantee that a Scout Subsidy will be budgeted in any given year. Funds from the Pack’s Rainy Day Reserve Fund may not be used for the Scout Subsidy.

Special Event Subsidy

The Pack Committee may elect to grant a subsidy for scouts participating in special events (i.e. Summer Camp). The reason the Pack would consider offering such a subsidy is to encourage participation in that event because it believes it to be a valuable part of the scouting experience that more scouts should take part in.

As such, a scout that registers and/or pays for an event but does not participate will not be eligible for the subsidy as it would not accomplish the intended goal and would deprive another scout from participating in that event or another via those funds.

Upon participating in the event, the Treasurer will allocate the corresponding funds to that scouts account for use in reimbursement of their scouting expenses. This means the scout must pay for the event cost in full prior to the event and may later be reimbursed from their Scout Account if they attend and meet any other requirements the Pack Committee deems necessary to receive that particular subsidy.

Extraordinary Fundraising

Each scout is expected to participate in the annual fundraising activities of the Pack to whatever minimum degree deemed necessary by the Pack Committee that year. Those that do not meet the minimum fundraising expectations may be required to make a donation to the Pack to help cover their share of Pack’s annual program expenses instead.

However, there are usually scouts that go above and beyond the minimum requirements and personally raise funds equivalent to multiple scouts. The Pack Committee believes that such scouts should be able to share in some of the results of their extra hard work.

It is the Pack Committee’s discretion to set the particular rules in a given year for how extra fundraising money raised is shared with individual scouts. However, to serve as both an example and guideline for future years, the following example rules are shared here:

For scouts that sell more than twice the minimum amount of popcorn, those scouts will share in proceeds received by the Pack for additional sales beyond that threshhold. For such additional sales, the scout will receive 50% of the proceeds received by the Pack (as an example, if the Pack receives 30% of gross sales, the scout’s Scout Account will be allocated 15% of that gross sale). Whatever method that is used to allocate sales in general (ie. by actual sales, share by storefront hours worked for the day, etc.) should also be used to calculate funds awarded to a Scout Account for consistency and simplicity. For additional fundraising activities beyond the core annual Pack fundraiser, the Pack Committee may also offer a percentage profit share as an incentive for scouts participating in those extra fundraising activities.

In this way, the Pack will provide a means for scouts to directly earn the money to fund their scouting activities themselves while also ensuring there still remains funds available to finance the Pack as a whole.

Scholarships

For scouts with significant financial need or hardship, the Pack Committee may elect to grant a special subsidy to that scout’s Scout Account to help them afford to participate in scouting activities.

Those requesting such a scholarship may email scholarships@pack232.com to explain their request and financial need for consideration. The Pack Treasurer, Committee Chair and Cubmaster will then review and approve or deny the scout’s request based on the need and available funds and communicate that decision to the scout’s family.

Only funds allocated in the Pack’s budget for scholarships may be awarded in a given year without special approval by the Pack Committee and are subject to those funds actually being available.

Additional Funding Guidelines

The adult leaders for individual fundraising activities must provide all funds raised to the Pack Treasurer for deposit, together with a written report detailing into which Scout Account(s) said funds are to be deposited, and in which amounts. A copy of this written report shall be provided to the Pack Committee Chair as well. Scouts and their families may not make any deposits of their personal funds to their Scout Accounts since the Pack, not the Scout/family, owns the Scout Account. Since Scouts are to be thrifty (i.e. earn their way), to qualify for Scout Subsidy, the Scout must be registered and active (i.e. participate in primary fundraiser). The Pack Committee, as part of its annual budget process, will determine the amount of Scout Subsidies, if any.

Spending Scout Account Funds

Scout Account disbursements can only be made for resident scouting events (i.e. not for Pack 232 camping trips/activities). Scouts Accounts may not be used to purchase goods (e.g. gear) or food. Exceptions to these permitted disbursements may only be approved by a consensus of the Charter Organization Representative, Pack Committee Chair, and the Cubmaster. Their decision is final. Any request for the permitted disbursement of funds from a Scout Account shall be submitted in writing by the scout’s parent or guardian to the Pack Treasurer with a copy to the Pack Committee Chair. The request shall contain directions of when to disburse, to whom to disburse, how much to disburse, as well as the purpose of the disbursement. Scouts are not required to draw down their Scout Account balance each year; Scout Accounts can accumulate funds for a future Scouting purpose.

Transferring Funds

If a scout leaves Pack 232 (e.g. transfer to another unit, age-out, etc.), funds in their Scout Account revert to the Pack’s general fund. If the departing Scout returns to Pack 232, they cannot recover their foregone funds from their Scout Account. Pack 232 advises scout families from maintaining large account balances (e.g. >$1k) unless the Scout is saving for a particular scouting event since the Scout forfeits unused Scout Account monies upon aging out / leaving the Pack. Scouts and their parents/guardians can request in writing to the Pack Treasurer with a copy to the Pack Committee Chair the transfer of funds in their Scout Account to a sibling’s individual Scout Account. Scout families may NOT transfer their Scout Account balance to another Pack 232 family’s Scout Account.

Additional Guidelines

Any dispute on Scout Accounts will be resolved by the consensus of the Charter Organization Representative, Pack Committee Chair and Cubmaster. Their decision is final. The Pack reserves the right to change any of the above rules, including ending the Scout Subsidy, eliminating any Scout Account or eliminating part or all of this policy at any time it may deem appropriate, upon majority vote of the Pack Committee.

Appendix

References

Troop 1075 Scout Account and Scout Subsidy Policy (revised 12/7/22)

Change Log

Date	Who	Change
02/02/25	Josh McWilliam	Created initial draft policy.
03/02/25	Josh McWilliam	Replied to comments with feedback from Rob P.
04/06/25	Committee	Approved Policy