Money is required to maintain a good scout program. The cost of campsites, merit badge materials, equipment, transportation, and council fees quickly add up. Boy Scout troop fundraisers are not only important to raising money, but they can also be a wonderful learning experience for scouts in financial education, salesmanship, goal setting, and community service. These are boy scout troop fundraising ideas that have proven successful in fundraising.
The Popcorn Fundraiser: Make It Work Harder
The most popular scout fundraiser, and one of the most profitable, is the BSA popcorn fundraiser. With these scout popcorn fundraiser tips working, a troop’s overall participation and earnings can be greatly enhanced. Personal outreach (door-to-door sales) is the most important part of increasing popcorn sales, and the effectiveness of the sales method is significantly better than selling online. Give each scout a mission, a sales script, and a follow-up card. Participation and results are so much higher if troops hold a popcorn leaderboard and reward top sellers.
Car Washes: High Visibility, High Return
If the car wash is done correctly and is situated in the busier area of town, then it can make a lot of money on a Saturday morning. Cooperate with a local business that would allow the use of its parking lot (gas stations, grocery stores, and hardware stores are generally good choices, and if you are offering a small percentage of the proceeds for goodwill, you are likely to get their approval. Post on neighborhood social media groups and NextDoor at least two weeks before the event. A uniformed scouts creates goodwill and attracts generous tips from the community. These events are also great examples of creative scout fundraisers.
Scout-a-Rama and Community Events
Booth rentals at community festivals, farmers markets, scout and school carnivals provide troops with high visibility and a built-in audience. Provide an activity (knot tying demonstration, fire starting challenge, first aid skills demonstration, etc.) with the merchandise or baked goods. These events have two purposes—both raising money and recruiting new scouts from the families that walk through the doors.
Service Auction: Sell Skills, Not Products
The idea of a scout service auction is a novel fundraising idea that doesn’t involve any initial inventory expense. Community members place bids on the services offered by scouts, such as lawn mowing, leaf raking, car washing, painting, grocery runs for seniors, etc. It’s a great idea; parents and neighbors appreciate it, and scouts learn work ethic and professional accountability all the while. Use a Google Form to host an online auction, or use the night of a troop meeting and make it open to families! This method can be particularly helpful when you are learning how to fundraise for scout camp.
Building a Year-Round Fundraising Calendar
The most successful troops don’t “react” to fundraising; they take action by creating a fundraising schedule for a year ahead of time and then following it. Good budget planning by the troop leader will help him to schedule 2-3 fundraising events/campaigns throughout the calendar and link each to a certain need or goal (summer camp fees, equipment upgrades, or high adventure trip deposits) and communicate the goals to scouts and parents early. The more scouts know about what they’re raising money for, the more they participate and the more motivated they are.
Teaching Financial Literacy Through Fundraising
All fundraisers are financial education opportunities. Have scouts record their own sales and compute the percent of the goal reached, and explain how troop money is used. Scouts are not involved in the fine details of budgeting and making decisions about money, but with simple questions like “How much does summer camp cost per person?” and “What percentage does the council keep of popcorn sales?” they learn financial skills that are the basis of the thrifty point of the Scout Law.