Girl Scouts earning their way to Disney!

[CRdisMom]

Go girls!!!

 

[TinaLala]

Omg got a call from travel agent today to book hotel suites. Can I tell you I freaked out!! Made it so real all of a sudden.

Today I'm patiently waiting for answer from a group that I requested funding for the photo memory maker, mickey ears and a personalized tshirt for the day of our yes program.

I'm not very good at waiting!!

 

[RustManFan]

My troop raised money for a trip to Montreal when I was in high school. One thing that the leaders did was keep track of which scouts worked for each fund raising project.... if you didn't earn your fair share you stayed home.

 

[RustManFan]

and they are scouts.... I would have done FW tent camping and not gone with hotel suites. scouts aren't what they used to be I guess!

 

[TinaLala]

and they are scouts.... I would have done FW tent camping and not gone with hotel suites. scouts aren't what they used to be I guess!

I agree with going to FW, but the cost of my hotel was less than a stay at FW and renting camping gear.

 

[TinaLala]

Ok, now that I've stopped hyperventilating and can talk, I booked our hotel stay today! Hooray!! Freaking out...how the heck am I going to get to October when I'm freaking out in December ?


Plus I was able to lock in the Photo Memory maker at the $149.99 price before it jumps $20 tomorrow!

 

[TinaLala]

My troop raised money for a trip to Montreal when I was in high school. One thing that the leaders did was keep track of which scouts worked for each fund raising project.... if you didn't earn your fair share you stayed home.

I do keep an allocation by scout by fundraising event! Definitely. Those scouts who don't earn their amount will have to come up with the money another way. The contract I made is clear if they don't come up with the money they don't go and any money earned by scout reverts back to troop. We've budgeted fundraisers that would make more then the budgeted amount, but you can't earn what you don't attend!!

 

[TinaLala]

Update - so last month a few scouts presented in front of a board asking for a donation for our trip. Well at our meeting this week a board member came to present us with our donation. Although it wasn't the full amount we had asked for, it is a donation given based on our hard work so far and the troops passion for what they will gain by attending the trip. It was great to see the troop not being selfish but very excited for the donation. They decided to use the funds toward the photo memory maker (which my amazing travel agent was able to lock in the $149 price before it increased!) and Mickey ears (which I was able to purchase at a bulk discount and another 15% off!). We are so grateful for the donation! Just submitted a few grant proposals. Hoping I'll have the funds for flights by February. Fingers crossed they continue to reduce by then!!

This weekend we have a craft fair. Fundraising to the max

 

[TinaLala]

Update - so today we had a craft fair and did reasonably well. The weather didn't help much but it's a step closer!!

 

[Shanna-like-Banana]

Our girls are working like busy bees also.

our 4th annual daughters and d.a.d.s ( designated adult date) is next wknd.

our numbers this year are the lowest they've ever been, so the girls are going back and re-emailing the troops they haven't heard from.

Plus, my co & I took them to Sams today to purchase the snacks.

I love my girls, I really do. but after spending 1 1/2 hrs in Sams club with 6, 12-14 yr old girls . . . . . . .

 

[pednurse]

Our troop (7th graders) has decided to start planning/fundraising for a trip to WDW! They've been together since 1st grade, although our numbers have dropped radically since they started middle school. They've always been a troop that has donated time & money to charity organizations & have only done activities close to home, so this will be a big thing for them. Reading through this thread for lots of ideas!

 

[TinaLala]

Our troop (7th graders) has decided to start planning/fundraising for a trip to WDW! They've been together since 1st grade, although our numbers have dropped radically since they started middle school. They've always been a troop that has donated time & money to charity organizations & have only done activities close to home, so this will be a big thing for them. Reading through this thread for lots of ideas!

Pednurse that is awesome! This seems to be a great age (my scout is 7th graders too and will just start 8th grade when we go). They have a lot of ideas and insight about their interests so it's been fun planning with them. Plus since they've been together for a long time (most of my troop since 2nd grade) the idea of rooming together is very exciting. One scout even said, 'it will be like we're practicing for college!' It was very sweet.

I highly recommend you plan out one Disney meeting pre month. I think ShanaBana told me that. As we get closer to things I plan the month before, ex April is our ADR booking month so March we will talk/vote about dining. They've already decided to make duct tape autograph books and their own luggage tags, which we will do a month or two before.

Also think about visiting the airport. After 9/11 you can't get a tour, but walking around the airport, watching baggage claim, security, planes take off, etc is very exciting a month or two before the trip regardless if they've flown before.

Check out DisneyYouth channel on YouTube - full videos of each YES program, just be sure to skip thru the high school ones. Totally helped us pick our program. Check prerequisite too - you have to attend LaNouba before you do that program.

 

[pednurse]

Thanks for all the info! The girls are very excited. As are us leaders. Lol My daughter & I are the Disney "experts," having been several times, most recently Oct 2013 for a mom/daughter trip. We used the MagicBands during the testing period, so we've already shown those to the troop, getting them even more excited. 1 month until we can sell cookies here....so lots of excitement to get them motivated to sell, sell, sell. Then to plan more fundraising to be able to cover the entire costs of the trip!

 

[TinaLala]

Thanks for all the info! The girls are very excited. As are us leaders. Lol My daughter & I are the Disney "experts," having been several times, most recently Oct 2013 for a mom/daughter trip. We used the MagicBands during the testing period, so we've already shown those to the troop, getting them even more excited. 1 month until we can sell cookies here....so lots of excitement to get them motivated to sell, sell, sell. Then to plan more fundraising to be able to cover the entire costs of the trip!

We start selling cookies next week. Since most of my scouts have sisters in other troops they gave very low personal goals which was disappointing. Hopefully our booth sales will workout. We made a full list of fundraisers and submitted it to SUm and Council for approval all at once instead of paperwork for each individual event.

When I booked hotel and. Right confirmation in, the troop exploded! Made it very real.

Oh, make sure you map out your when deposits are due. Ensure you have fundraisers stacked enough to fund by the due dates. Flights are due for me in Feb and I need over $5000. I think we will have it, but I should have planned better.

 

[TinaLala]

Troop ran a babysitting event last night! Wasn't perfect, but a success nonetheless. Lots of disney talk during our sleepover.

 

[TinaLala]

Booked our flights!! So excited! Booked thru JetBlue and got group contract so deposit was only $50 per person instead of having to pay entire flight cost! Huge! Signed, submitted contract and called and made deposit! Then I picked our seats! Awesome!

 

[Shanna-like-Banana]

awesome !

We are in full cookie mode right now. Cases get delivered to my house next week and then booths start on Friday night. Then it was be 20 hours a weekend at booths !

Our girls decided last night that they will be planning a cruise instead of a Disney trip. little sad, little happy, maybe they'll pick the best of both and do a Disney cruise ?

 

[TinaLala]

Shanna a cruise would be fun! My eldest Senior troop elected a cruise last month. Sounds like Bahamas or Bermuda

 

[caselaw3]

we have just finished our initial sales for our daisy scout cookies - we sold about 1400 boxes which I think is pretty good for 13 kindergarten girls in a small town -
my big question for you guys - about how much does a trip like this cost? I figure we need to start saving now so that when the time comes in 10 years, lol we are not overwhelmed....
thanks for your input and I have loved reading all of your posts about the trips, the fund raising, the planning - this is awesome!

 

[houstonmomof3]

I just came upon this thread. What a great idea. On one hand we have talked about saving up and doing a big trip when the girls are older, but on the other hand, my co-leader and I feel like the girls work so hard, they should be able to use some of that money now for activities. Girls move, might leave the troop, etc.

Our council is very strict and we agree with the policy of not splitting up the money either. We a troop so what money we make is shared equally among the girls. Some girls sell hundreds of boxes of cookies (like mine), some sell only a handful, but it all goes in one pot and we don't keep track of how much each person sold.

But that's beside the point. How do you all budget? What percentage of fundraising do you save for a trip and what percentage you you use for expenses and activities?