Tips for selling cub scout popcorn???

[lcubs]

There has been much discussion about fundraising and going door to door, and whether or not it is work, appropriate or just an annoyance to others by people who are trying to get others to fund their children's activities.
1. Saying that sales are going door to door is not "real work" is totally inaccurate. It is hard and often thankless work for adults much less children who at times get door slammed in their faces and even yelled at (thankfully that is rare) If sales is not "real work" what is? Only Doctors (I'll accept that), lawyers who make tons of money writing and talking to win cases but only of you pay more than the opponent, bankers and wall street executives whose job it is to gamble the money that belongs to people who labor for it so they can get a percentage, and maybe teachers (but there are heated debates over whether a job that teaches future generations has much value, Really?)
2. While sports, the arts, (music, dance, theater) and other activities all have educational value and help to make well rounded people, scouts is completely different.
Scouts have to do service projects for the community in order earn their advancements. They collect food for the local food pantry, clean up trash that people throw carelessly about town, plant trees and flowers in local parks, help the elderly and bake and deliver goods to local police, fire and first aid stations just to name a few. The older scouts do projects like build benches for local parks, renovate playgrounds, help repair things for people in need of help, clean up outside storm damage, clean and repair people's homes from damage like hurricane Sandy and are trained in first aid, cpr and swimming in order to help injured people. They learn how to use tools, build and implement medical attention at the scouts in order to offer these free services. Scouts are training with the idea that when people help each other everything is better. It seems that our recent generations of "me first" and I am only worrying about myself hasn't turned out so great. We have produced a society in which a lucky few make tons of money off of the majority who toil and labor while living in poverty to make money for someone else's benefit.
3. The fundraising dollars goes towards differing the cost of pack events, and a portion also goes into the scout’s personal account as well in order to cover expenses for scouting projects and activities. They even open a college fund for boys who sell enough to qualify.
With all of this going on I fail to see how this is just a fun after school activity.

 

[ceecee]

As a former GS leader of many years, I support scouting. Also any of our school fundraisers. I wish the popcorn was a little less expensive! Maybe they were out at the booth sale we went by, but the cheapest thing was $14!!!

 

[mrsbornkuntry]

There has been much discussion about fundraising and going door to door, and whether or not it is work, appropriate or just an annoyance to others by people who are trying to get others to fund their children's activities.
1. Saying that sales are going door to door is not "real work" is totally inaccurate. It is hard and often thankless work for adults much less children who at times get door slammed in their faces and even yelled at (thankfully that is rare) If sales is not "real work" what is? Only Doctors (I'll accept that), lawyers who make tons of money writing and talking to win cases but only of you pay more than the opponent, bankers and wall street executives whose job it is to gamble the money that belongs to people who labor for it so they can get a percentage, and maybe teachers (but there are heated debates over whether a job that teaches future generations has much value, Really?)
2. While sports, the arts, (music, dance, theater) and other activities all have educational value and help to make well rounded people, scouts is completely different.
Scouts have to do service projects for the community in order earn their advancements. They collect food for the local food pantry, clean up trash that people throw carelessly about town, plant trees and flowers in local parks, help the elderly and bake and deliver goods to local police, fire and first aid stations just to name a few. The older scouts do projects like build benches for local parks, renovate playgrounds, help repair things for people in need of help, clean up outside storm damage, clean and repair people's homes from damage like hurricane Sandy and are trained in first aid, cpr and swimming in order to help injured people. They learn how to use tools, build and implement medical attention at the scouts in order to offer these free services. Scouts are training with the idea that when people help each other everything is better. It seems that our recent generations of "me first" and I am only worrying about myself hasn't turned out so great. We have produced a society in which a lucky few make tons of money off of the majority who toil and labor while living in poverty to make money for someone else's benefit.
3. The fundraising dollars goes towards differing the cost of pack events, and a portion also goes into the scout’s personal account as well in order to cover expenses for scouting projects and activities. They even open a college fund for boys who sell enough to qualify.
With all of this going on I fail to see how this is just a fun after school activity.

As for number 2., I have to disagree. That is the INTENTION of scouting and may be an accurate description for some units, I had boys in scouting for 10 years and the majority of what they did was crafts, camping and fishing. They did about one "service project" a year and nothing on the scale of the things you mentioned, even for the teens. My son ended up quitting scouting when he was a freshman because the meetings were loud and out of control and instead of finding value in them he came home stressed and confused.

To number 3., I don't even see how it would be possible to sell on a level to add to a college fund unless all you did was fundraise, or your parents were able to sell at work, you had a huge, generous family. I'm sure some kids did it, but I really wanted my sons to get more out of it than fundraising and it seemed like every parent meeting I went to (once a month) was about more fundraising events.

I'm sure there are better units than the ones in my area that my boys were involved in, actually they've been in three since we've moved (military) and sadly have had the same experience in each one. The only reason my son stuck it out as long as he did was because he wanted to get his Eagle because they kept telling him how good it was on a college application/resume. I just don't think it is the same as it used to be.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

You're kidding, right? I can think of at least two groups who are not accepted by the scouts, and they feel very judged.

Please note that certain groups are not accepted by the National Council; this view is certainly not universally held by everyone participating in scouting.

 

[aprilgail2]

wow- zombie thread. I don't buy popcorn from the scouts because its so darn expensive. One time I went to buy a tin with popcorn and chocolate and they said "20.00" I told them to keep it! I would rather buy a box or two of girl scout cookies.

 

[NinaBella]

This is budget and Disney related. I have 3 boys in scouts this year and our pack leader sent out an email today that for the "winter camp-in" they're hoping to go to Ft. Wilderness, but of course the tickets are expensive so it depends how much popcorn they sell to offset the costs (we're in NC so there's also gas to consider). We don't know that many people in this area and it's a small town so with 3 kids selling I just don't know that we're going to be able to sell that much and if my kids don't sell enough we won't be able to afford to go.

So where do you sell at? Who do you sell to? We're not doing ordering, we're supposed to take the popcorn to sell, could the boys sell some at the park while their siblings have soccer practice? I know my neighbors will buy some, but I only have 3 neighbors so that's not gonna help much. I'm not good at this stuff at all.

What worked best for my son's boy scout troop was sitting outside Publix and selling it. When we had a Blockbuster Video (now closed in our town) they use to allow us to sit outside and sell there as well. At Blockbuster we would break open a box and sell it by the pack as a box is really expensive. People were more inclined to buy one pack to go with their movie than an expensive box.


Also, when my son sold Scout Popcorn, relatives could order on-line. See if this is still an option. You may also want to write up something for your relatives (Facebook) explaining how much of the proceeds goes to the boys and that this pays for the boys camp.

We live in Tampa and Ft. Wilderness was never on our list of possible camps. I have driven around Ft. Wilderness and know where the scouts stay. It's not in the main camp area and is an open area for the boys to set up their tents, etc. My son usually went to camps in North Florida or Georgia. My DH was a Scout leader and went on all the scouting trips with the boys.

Crazy... I do see this is an old thread.

 

[Zim]

My Dad used to take my brothers to sell outside retail stores. He always coached the boys on what to say and to mind their manners. In addition to asking if they wanted to buy popcorn the boys would hold open doors, help people who needed it, etc. They were always very successful I think in part because of their behavior. They were good and people wanted to reward them.

This. The other day two little cub scouts came to my door with their mom in tow. The one practically throws the paper at me and says "What do you want?" Wow... It was a short conversation to say the least. I hope I was their first house and she did some coaching for the next one, yikes.

We have a break room where parents leave the forms for a few days. Generally you get the same people ordering from one another's kids. We have one really miserly coworker who never orders, never contributes to anything and is usually the first one in line when the office provides any free food / snacks. Ironically she is one of the highest paid employees too. But she eventually brought her own form in for some fundraiser for her daughter, not one person ordered.

 

[pls5286]

Our district uses a good portion of the popcorn sales towards a scholarship program so that every boy who wants to be in scouts can and will help cover dues, waist up uniforms, books and provide "camperships" so that the financial status of the parent does not keep the boy out of camp or other activities. I personally used these to help my son go to camp for many years, but I was always one that gave back to scouting by working staff at events like family camping and helping staff numerous Cub Scout day camps. My son would also help once he went up to Boy Scouts. Popcorn funds play a huge role in allowing all boys to do the same thing and have the same uniforms etc.

 

[undertheradar]

There has been much discussion about fundraising and going door to door, and whether or not it is work, appropriate or just an annoyance to others by people who are trying to get others to fund their children's activities.
1. Saying that sales are going door to door is not "real work" is totally inaccurate. It is hard and often thankless work for adults much less children who at times get door slammed in their faces and even yelled at (thankfully that is rare) If sales is not "real work" what is? Only Doctors (I'll accept that), lawyers who make tons of money writing and talking to win cases but only of you pay more than the opponent, bankers and wall street executives whose job it is to gamble the money that belongs to people who labor for it so they can get a percentage, and maybe teachers (but there are heated debates over whether a job that teaches future generations has much value, Really?)
2. While sports, the arts, (music, dance, theater) and other activities all have educational value and help to make well rounded people, scouts is completely different.
Scouts have to do service projects for the community in order earn their advancements. They collect food for the local food pantry, clean up trash that people throw carelessly about town, plant trees and flowers in local parks, help the elderly and bake and deliver goods to local police, fire and first aid stations just to name a few. The older scouts do projects like build benches for local parks, renovate playgrounds, help repair things for people in need of help, clean up outside storm damage, clean and repair people's homes from damage like hurricane Sandy and are trained in first aid, cpr and swimming in order to help injured people. They learn how to use tools, build and implement medical attention at the scouts in order to offer these free services. Scouts are training with the idea that when people help each other everything is better. It seems that our recent generations of "me first" and I am only worrying about myself hasn't turned out so great. We have produced a society in which a lucky few make tons of money off of the majority who toil and labor while living in poverty to make money for someone else's benefit.
3. The fundraising dollars goes towards differing the cost of pack events, and a portion also goes into the scout’s personal account as well in order to cover expenses for scouting projects and activities. They even open a college fund for boys who sell enough to qualify.
With all of this going on I fail to see how this is just a fun after school activity.

Why bump an almost 2 year old inactive thread?