Costs and Obligations

Pack 104 strives to be up front and honest about the costs of Scouting - both the financial and time costs. Cub Scouts is not a babysitting service. It is an investment by a family in their kids' future that brings both awesome opportunities at a low cost and skills that will benefit them for the rest of their lives. This investment means active involvement by the parents and helping ensure the Pack is financially sound. The financial costs can be broken down into three categories: dues, fundraising obligation, and additional costs.

Dues

• Why do we collect dues? Dues covers the costs associated with an individual Scout such as:
  • BSA membership.
  • The average per Scout cost of award patches, belt loops, pins, etc.
  • Pinewood Derby car.
  • Pack T-shirt (one time).
• When are dues due? Dues are due by the November Pack meeting each year and cover the following calendar year (e.g. dues paid mid November 2019 will cover the Scout's participation for all of calendar year 2020).
• How much are dues? Pack 104 dues are $100 per year for most Scouts.
  • For those in their Arrow of Light (second year Webelos), dues are $75 which is still a full year of BSA membership (transferable to a Scouts BSA Troop), but a shorter time for awards.
  • For military families who have orders, dues may similarly be reduced based on the portion of the year they will be in Pack 104.
• What if $100 seems like a lot? Pack 104 does not explicitly have need based scholarships available, but we can work with families to establish payment plans to pay dues over the course of the year. It works out to be less than $10 a month.

Fundraising Obligation

• Why do we have a fundraising obligation? In addition to the items that can be associated with individual Scouts that are covered by dues, there are additional Pack costs that need to be funded such as:
  • Pack and Den supply budgets.
  • Campsite costs for fall and spring family campouts (including parents and siblings).
  • Food and supplies such as paper plates, plasticware, and cups for Pack-wide events like the Saturday dinner at campouts and the holiday party.
  • Adult leader registration and training. Having registered and trained adult leaders is critical to the success of the Pack. However, it is not reasonable to ask people to both give their time and to pay fees on top of that, so the Pack covers the cost.
  • Special awards and prizes (e.g. Pinewood Derby trophies).
• When is the fundraising obligation to be fulfilled? Like dues, the fundraising obligation is expected to be met by the November Pack meeting. New families are excused from the fundraising obligation for the first year, but are strongly encouraged to participate and help make the Pack strong. The better participation we get in our fundraisers, the lower we can set the fundraising obligation and dues.
• How much is the fundraising obligation? These non-specific costs average out to roughly $150 per Scout. Therefore we ask that each Scout and his/her family bring $150 into the Pack - each Scout's fair share.
• How do we meet the fundraising obligation? There are various ways to meet this fundraising obligation:
  • It can be met by direct payment of $150, by fundraising product sales (e.g. $150 in Pack-earned value generally corresponds to about $500 in popcorn/peanut sales), or a combination of the two.
  • We strongly encourage families to participate in our Pack fundraisers. Participation in these fundraisers not only presents the opportunity to cover the fundraising obligation, but sales above and beyond this obligation are an opportunity to also cover dues obligations. Yes - it is possible for families to pay nothing out of pocket in dues or fundraising obligation.

Additional Costs

• Besides the dues and fundraising obligation, what other costs are there? There are a few additional costs which each family may need to cover:
  • Each Scout will need the following essential Scout uniform items:
    • Class A uniform shirt
    • Rank neckerchief and slide (except Lions)
    • Council shoulder patch
    • Red 104 numerals
    • World Crest emblem
    • Webelos colors and shoulder loops (Webelos/AOL only)
  • It is recommended that each Scout also have the following:
    • Scout handbook for the rank (requirements are available online and official records are kept in Scoutbook, but the handbook provides useful information for completing each requirement)
    • Scout uniform belt
    • Rank cap
  • Optional Scout uniform items:
    • Scout shorts/pants
    • Scout socks
  • Optional activities such as District / Council events such as summer camp or day camp
  • Additional Pinewood Derby kits, raingutter regatta kits, or space derby kits
• Is there any way around some of these additional costs? The Pack tries to facilitate collecting and giving away hand-me-down uniform pieces as they are available.