Tech Forum

Is ok to send out a letter within your ward boundaries requesting donations to the Scouts for funding a specific activity within a ward?

farwest wrote:Is ok to send out a letter within your ward boundaries requesting donations to the Scouts for funding a specific activity within a ward?

No. See Handbook 2, section 8.13.7, which says: "Funding for Aaronic Priesthood activities, including Scouting activities where they are authorized by the Church, should come from the ward budget." There is an exception mentioned for an annual camp, but donations are not mentioned as a source of funding there, and are certainly prohibited in other sections of the Handbook.

No from me as well. Similar wording but in more detail can also be found in section 13.6.8 in HB 2. It does mention the fundraising activity should provide a meaningful value or service. Perhaps a stretch, but it does also prohibits door-to-door sales. A letter going to everyone might be construed as door-to-door and is likely not to provide meaningful value or service.

Donations to supplement budget funds are never allowed.

farwest wrote:Is ok to send out a letter within your ward boundaries requesting donations to the Scouts for funding a specific activity within a ward?

The posters know, and the question is specifically about funding a "specific activity," but just to be sure all the other readers are aware...we are making a big distinction between a donation to your ward FOR scouts, and not a "Friends of Scouting" drive, of course, which is a donation directly to the scouts, but collected BY YOUR WARD. It is customary to send out a letter and solicit dontations from your ward for your annual "Friends of Scouting" drive, and the church encourages "Friends of Scouting" donations.

(We've had some confusion about this recently in our area)

farwest wrote:Is ok to send out a letter within your ward boundaries requesting donations to the Scouts for funding a specific activity within a ward?

Other have mentioned the Church's take on this (answer: no). The BSA prohibits this kind of fundraising activity as well. From the Unit Money-Earning Application, which you have to submit to your local council at least 2 weeks before any non-council-coordinated money-earning projects: "At no time are units permitted to solicit contributions for unit programs." (emphasis theirs) And from the BSA Rules & Regulations: “Youth members shall not be permitted to serve as solicitors of money for their chartered organizations, for the local council, or in support of other organizations. Adult and youth members shall not be permitted to serve as solicitors of money in support of personal or unit participation in local, national, or international events.”

Scouts don't solicit monetary donations. Period. Not as fundraising, not for Friends of Scouting, not for Eagle projects, nothing. Adult members can solicit for Friends of Scouting (which goes to the council, not the unit), but that's it.

Should go without mentioning but I still see many units with AMFA:Friends of Scouting accounts. This is not right.

wrigjef wrote:Should go without mentioning but I still see many units with AMFA:Friends of Scouting accounts. This is not right.

There was even an MLS message sent out sometime in the past 6 months or so addressing this faulty practice.

If having an AMFA:Friends of Scouting account is "not right", then where do I put CASH donations to FOS or the portion of a check donation received in a members Tithes and Offerings envelope that is directed to the Friends of Scouting during the FOS drive?
If the member does what is intended and writes a separate check to the BSA, then we can just bundle the checks and forward them to the Stake or directly to the BSA. But if they donate cash, or split one Tithing check with a portion going to FOS, then the best option I know of is to enter the FOS donation with the Tithes and Offerings batch, and enter the FOS donation in the AMFA:Friends of Scouting account. Then print a report and write a check to the BSA to zero the account. Better ideas welcome.

We just send the cash and checks directly to the Stake FOS rep. If someone writes one check with tithing and FOS donations, we ask the donor to re-write it into two donations. None of the FOS funds go through our ward accounting system.

rontilby wrote:If having an AMFA:Friends of Scouting account is "not right", then where do I put CASH donations to FOS or the portion of a check donation received in a members Tithes and Offerings envelope that is directed to the Friends of Scouting during the FOS drive?

The MLS message on this topic is quoted in the first post of the thread Depositing Checks Made to Scouts. There you will read that you are not to FOS funds are not to be put in the ward account, even temporarily. If a donor tries to combine a FOS donation with tithing, then you are to return the check to the donor and request that they write separate checks.

As for cash given for FOS, that has nothing to do with the Church. I assume that the local scout council has a set of policies for handling cash (or whether cash can be accepted). Follow those procedures, but don't involve the Church account. You don't need to worry about any Church policies on handling cash, because this is not a Church fundraising activity. Follow the procedures from the scouting organization.