Fundraising beyond Cookies
Many troops want to travel, do more expensive field trips, or have low income families who can't afford dues. Therefore fundraising is necessary...
Nut/Mag sale usually doesn't pull in that much (ours is in the fall). In a lot of the country it is immediately after the scout year starts and every school is doing some kind of fundraising so sales are not that great.
Cookie sale does do well but for most it is in the Jan-Mar time frame and you don't see the money until End of March.
We should all know by now that we are not allowed to fundraise for a third party (ex-31, Tupperware, Yankee Candle, MaryKay, Party Lite, ETC.)
You can hold garage sales, bake sales and the like. But I have found the best thing is to do badge workshops, Journey in a day and themed camps.
I think a badge workshop or other themed day is the best place to start. CSA age girls can plan and run activities. You figure out your cost and add 3-5$ per girl attending. I also recommend having them bring their own sack lunch and only providing a snack. Be thrifty in your supplies purchasing, look for sales do buy brand name, etc.
The same could be done for a themed party. I know a troop who does a Princess Tea Party every year and has gone overseas with their profits. You could do a Halloween party, Bingo night, Holiday party, She and Me, He and Me, or even a moms night out or holiday shopping babysitting service.
After that you can try to do a Journey in a day. These are popular because they are time consuming and take a great deal of meeting time. Troops are willing to pay to get it done in a day. Do the same with figuring costs but I would add at least $5 per girl onto your costs.
Then there are themed camps, much more planning and time involved and you need the right space to do them. It is harder to do a princess theme at a rustic camp. You can read about the wonderful space I have at my disposal for these in the "Camp" post.
I had 7 girls earn $5500 in one year to take 10 total people to Disney World for a week. We did a journey in a day for Daisies, Bingo night, Leader-Daughter camp and many themed camps.
In the last few years we have done Camp themes of: Frozen, Tangled, Hunger games (one for each movie), Hogwarts, Pi camp (March 14 weekend), Luau, this year will be Star Wars and next year I am thinking Zombie or ScoutCon (Comic Con theme).
I also sold off a bunch of retired badges and random patches we had around. I had a LOT of retired badges and made the troop about $1000 just on those. Many leaders have started crafting things and selling them. Many have written patch programs, designed the patch, had it made and sold them. I am currently planning a Pokemon Go CSA IP badge which will go on sale in the next month or so.
I have had many requests to send my camp plans to people. But with all the work I did on them, I will be putting them up as a paid download to raise funds for our next trip. They will include all info needed, schedules, Craft info, etc.
My girls are thinking Universal Orlando or Atlanta Aquarium overnight for their next trip. Our troop also takes high school seniors to a 'end of scouts' trip. The 9th graders are the next group and they are discussing a Disney Cruise which is over $1000 a person so they will be working hard.
