Fundraising Policies & Procedures
Fundraising Policies & Procedures
Fundraising Policies & Procedures
asset •
unrestricted • indirect support • asset • project sales • debit • temporarily restricted • capital campaign • special event • liability • accounts payable •
general ledger • direct support • permanently restricted • expense • accrual • revenue • credit • depreciation • unrestricted • net asset • indirect
support • asset • project sales • temporarily restricted • asset • capital campaign • special event • accounts payable • general ledger • direct support •
debit • permanently restricted • expense • accrual • revenue • credit • depreciation • unrestricted • net asset •indirect support • asset • project sales •
debit • credit • temporarily restricted • capital campaign • liability • special event • accounts payable • general ledger • direct support • accrual •
credit • permanently restricted • expense • accrual • revenue • depreciation • unrestricted • net asset • liability • asset • indirect support • project
sales • temporarily restricted • capital campaign • special event • accounts payable • credit • general ledger • direct support • debit • permanently
restricted • expense • accrual • revenue • credit • depreciation • debit • unrestricted • net asset • indirect support • project sales • temporarily
restricted • capital campaign • debit • accounts payable • general ledger • direct support • debit • accounts payable • debit • general ledger • direct
support • expense • accrual • asset • permanently restricted • revenue • debit • credit • depreciation • unrestricted • net asset • indirect support •
project sales • debit • temporarily restricted • asset • capital campaign • liability • special event • net asset • accounts payable • credit • ledger •
direct support • permanently restricted • expense • accrual • revenue • credit • depreciation • unrestricted • asset • net asset • indirect support • asset •
project sales • expense • asset • temporarily restricted • capital campaign • liability • debit • accounts payable • general ledger • direct support •
permanently restricted • expense • accrual • revenue • depreciation • unrestricted • net asset • indirect support • asset • project sales • liability •
temporarily restricted • debit • capital campaign • special event • accounts payable • general ledger • direct support • debit • permanently restricted
expense • accrual • credit • accounts payable • general ledger • direct support • debit • expense • permanently restricted • accrual • revenue • net
asset • credit • depreciation • unrestricted • indirect support • asset • project sales • debit • temporarily restricted • capital campaign • expense •
special event • liability • accounts payable • general ledger • direct support • permanently restricted • accrual • revenue • credit • depreciation •
unrestricted • net asset • indirect support • asset • project sales • temporarily restricted • asset • capital campaign • special event • debit • accounts
payable • general ledger • direct support • permanently restricted • expense • revenue • credit • depreciation • unrestricted • net asset • accrual •
indirect support • asset • project sales • debit • credit • temporarily restricted • capital campaign • liability • special event • accounts payable •
general ledger • direct support • accrual • credit • permanently restricted • expense • accrual • revenue • depreciation • unrestricted • net asset •
liability • asset • indirect support • project sales • temporarily restricted • capital campaign • special event • accounts payable • credit • general
ledger • direct support • debit • permanently restricted • expense • accrual • revenue • credit • depreciation • debit • unrestricted • net asset •
indirect support • project sales • temporarily restricted • capital campaign • debit • accounts payable • general ledger • direct support • debit •
accounts payable • debit • general ledger • direct support • expense • accrual • asset • permanently restricted • revenue • debit • credit •
depreciation • unrestricted • net asset • indirect support • project sales • debit • temporarily restricted • asset • capital campaign • liability • special
event • net asset • accounts payable • credit • ledger • direct support • permanently restricted • expense • accrual • revenue • credit • depreciation •
debit • accounts payable • general ledger • direct support • permanently restricted • expense • accrual • revenue • depreciation • unrestricted • net
PROCEDURES MANUAL
asset • indirect support • asset • project sales • liability • temporarily restricted • debit • capital campaign • special event • accounts payable •
general ledger • direct support • debit • permanently restricted • expense • accrual • credit • project sales • liability • special event • asset •
CONTENTS
Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 1
Appendix .............................................................................................................................12
Appendix A―Council Product Sales Recognition and Critique Meeting Agenda ..............13
Appendix B―Typical Council Product Sales Timetable ...................................................14
• Cultivating potential donors for major giving through special events, projects sales,
and capital gifts
• Offering donors special planned giving vehicles such as outright gifts, bequests, gift
annuities, pooled funds, life insurance gifts, and various types of charitable trusts
Most councils follow such a fundraising plan, and most of their income comes from United
Way, Friends of Scouting, fundraising dinners, camping, special events, and direct mail
solicitations. Through these traditional sources, councils have developed a stable base of
support. To broaden this base, councils have turned to product sales and sponsored events.
Most of these events successfully bring additional operating income to councils.
In 1983, the BSA’s National Executive Board broadened its finance policies related to
council fundraising. The board’s intent was to provide councils with ways to supplement their
basic fundraising programs, not to provide alternatives to traditional support. In 2010, a
Product Sales and Commercialism Taskforce was convened to review policies. As a result
of their work, the National Executive Board took action in 2011 to revise the Bylaws and
Rules and Regulations related to fundraising and contributions.
• Local councils must comply with the terms of the BSA Charter, Bylaws, and Rules
and Regulations, and with local and state laws. Councils are responsible to conduct,
supervise, control, and approve fundraising activities that might involve youth
members and/or the sale of products to generate income for councils and units.
• The National Council wants local councils to have autonomy for making decisions
related to fundraising methods that are consistent with the principles, standards,
policies, and the good name of the Boy Scouts of America.
• These activities are not “easy money.” Staff and volunteer time must be valued and
weighed against time away from council, district, and unit activities.
For all these reasons, fundraising projects can have a short-term positive effect on council
cash flow, but a long-range negative effect on council budgeting. This publication will help
local councils interpret these policies, and will offer guidelines and examples of acceptable
promotions and activities.
The Finance Impact Department appreciates the effort of local council staff and volunteers
to provide fundraising activities based on safe, ethical, and accepted principles consistent
with the Rules and Regulations of the Boy Scouts of America.
For that reason―and to safeguard the integrity of the BSA―ten guidelines were developed
to address commercialism, sales, and promotional policies. They will help you guard against
the unlawful use of the name, logos, uniforms, and other symbols that directly represent the
good name of the Boy Scouts of America. These guidelines will help your council plan
product sales, solicit advertising, and provide a special service to unit leaders and youth
members. It is up to you to ensure that these are also consistent with the values and
standards of Scouting and your chartered organizations, and that all offered goods and
services can stand alone on their own value and reputation.
3. The price of the product, advertising, or service should reflect its fair market value.
4. A local council may not enter into any business relationship or contract that uses the
BSA logo, insignia, common usage terms, or descriptive marks relating to Scouting
unless the relationship or contract conforms to currently accepted procedures and
guidelines as established by the National Council, BSA. The contract or relationship
must avoid endorsement of any commercial product or venture. The right to permit
the use of the BSA’s proprietary indicia relating to commercial products and ventures
resides solely with the National Council.
b. What a council cannot do—A council cannot authorize any company to put
the BSA name, logo, insignia, etc., on its product, unless permission has
been granted by the National Council.
a. Cards must be secured from a vendor that has received an appropriate licensing
agreement from Supply Group to use marks and logos.
b. Messaging on the card should not imply direct benefit to the seller.
c. Councils should take particular care to select advertisers on the card that reflect
the values of the Boy Scouts of America and ensure that no implied endorsement
of the advertiser or “quid pro quo” arrangement is allowed.
6. Advertisers are allowed to “salute” and/or “congratulate” the Boy Scouts, and the
BSA logo may be used in this type of advertising, but not on products. (This form of
advertising is usually used for distinguished citizen award luncheons or dinners,
Scout shows, and golf tournaments.)
7. The advertisement of a product for sale based on proposed gift, return, commission,
or rebate back to a local council is not permitted.
8. The local council’s executive board may allow the use of uniforms in a council-wide
product sale or event. The use of uniformed Scouts in any other advertising of a
commercial product or business is not permitted.
9. BSA membership lists (including unit, district, and council registration; financial
supporters; and any others associated with Scouting) cannot be used for commercial
or any other unauthorized purpose. The names and information on these records are
strictly confidential and cannot be sold or shared with the public.
10. The vendor of a commercial product must provide a certificate of commercial liability
insurance naming the local council as being additionally insured in the amounts
currently recommended by the Risk Management Service of the national office.
Whenever a unit is planning a money-earning project, use this checklist as your guide. If you
can answer yes to each of the following questions, it’s likely that your project will be
approved. Reproduce the following checklist and complete it for each proposed project.
There should be a real need for earning money based on your unit’s program. We
should not engage in special money-earning projects merely because someone has
offered us an attractive plan. Individual youth members are expected to earn their
own way. The unit’s needs should exceed the normal budget items covered by dues.
2. Do your plan and corresponding dates avoid competition with money-raising efforts
and policies of other units, your chartered organization, your local council, and the
United Way? ____ YES ____ NO
Check with your chartered organization representative to make certain that your
chartered organization agrees on the dates. The chartered organization
representative also can clear the other dates by calling the council service center.
3. Does your plan comply with local ordinances, avoid any association with gambling,
and is it consistent with the ideals and purposes of the Boy Scouts of America? ____
YES ____ NO
Money-raising projects that include the sale of raffle tickets or other “games of
chance” violate this policy. This includes any activity where value is not guaranteed
by purchasing a ticket. For example, cake raffles are not allowed but cake auctions
are OK.
Teaching youth members to become self-reliant and earn their own way is an
important part of training our youth members. The official uniform is intended to be
worn primarily for use in connection with Scouting activities. However, the executive
board of the local council may authorize wearing the uniform in connection with
council-sponsored product sales programs.
5. If tickets are sold for a function other than a Scouting event, will they be sold by
youth members as individuals without depending on the name or goodwill of
Scouting to make this sale possible? ____ YES ____ NO
Youth members in uniform in the name of Scouting may sell tickets for such things
as pack shows, troop suppers, circuses, expositions, and similar Scouting events.
6. Even if sales are limited to parents and friends, will buyers get their money’s worth
from any function they attend or goods and services they receive from your unit?
____ YES ____ NO
Again, this is the principle of value received—a sale standing on its own merit—so
the recipients are not in any way “subsidizing” either Scouting or the member. Youth
members must learn to pay their own way and honestly earn the money to do it. You
cannot permit anyone to use the good name of Scouting to sell a product.
7. If a project is planned for a particular area, do you respect the right of other Scouting
units in the same neighborhood? ____ YES ____ NO
It is a courtesy to check with neighboring units or the local council service center to
coordinate the time of your project and to see that you aren’t covering their territory.
Your unit commissioner or service team member can help you with this.
8. Is it reasonably certain that people who offer similar goods or services will not be
unduly affected as a result of your unit’s plan? ____ YES ____ NO
Your unit should neither sell nor offer services that may significantly damage
someone’s livelihood. If possible, check with the people who could be affected.
Because of Scouting’s good reputation, customers rarely question the quality or price
of a product. Unchecked, a Scouting unit could become much more interested in
commercial interests than its true purpose of character building and citizenship
training.
10. If any contracts are to be signed by your unit, will they be signed by an individual
without reference to the Boy Scouts of America, and in no way appear to bind the
local council, the BSA, or the chartered organization to any agreement of financial
responsibility? ____ YES ____ NO
Before any person in your unit signs a contract, he or she must make sure the venture is
legitimate and worthy. If a contract is signed, he or she is personally responsible. A contract
cannot be signed on behalf of the local council or the Boy Scouts of America, nor may an
individual bind the chartered organization without its written authorization. If you are not
sure, check with your local council service center for help.
Fundraising
Bylaws of the Boy Scouts of America Article XI, Section 1, Clause 3: Youth members
may sell products as part of an approved fundraising project if (i) the nature of the product is
consistent with the values and purpose of the Corporation; (ii) the value of the product is
commensurate with the price at which it is offered; and (iii) it is in accordance with the
Bylaws and Rules and Regulations of the Corporation. Furthermore, any product that is sold
or offered for sale as a part of an approved fundraising project and bears any emblems,
logos, brands, or other designating marks associated with the Boy Scouts of America must
be manufactured by a BSA licensee authorized by the Corporation to use such designating
marks in that manner on those specific products. No youth member shall engage in such
sales of products for more than 12 total weeks during any one 12-month period. (Added
10/12/2011)
Advertising
Rules and Regulations of the Boy Scouts of America, Article IX, Section 2, Clause 5:
(a) Advertisements for placement in Scouting publications and other media, in addition
to meeting the standards in general use by publishers of high-grade periodicals and
other advertising media, must:
(2) Merit the purchase price of the article or service offered in the advertisement.
Commercialism
Rules and Regulations of the Boy Scouts of America, Article IX, Section 2, Clause 7:
(a) No member of the Boy Scouts of America, chartered unit, chartered organization,
chartered local council, or any officer or representative of the Boy Scouts of America
shall have the right to enter into a contract or relationship of a commercial character
directly involving or obligating the National Council, Boy Scouts of America, or that
uses the seal, emblems, badges, descriptive and designating marks, or words or
phrases associated with or referring to the Boy Scouts of America unless duly
authorized by the National Executive Board.
(b) (1) A local council may not grant permission, whether verbally or in writing, to any
third party for the use of any logo, insignia, terms in common usage, or
descriptive marks relating to Scouting unless that third party is at that time
authorized in writing by the National Council to use the designating marks in the
manner requested by the local council. Any use of a Boy Scouts of America
designating mark by a local council must avoid appearing to be an endorsement
of any commercial product or venture except for Corporate Sponsorships entered
into by the National Council, Boy Scouts of America.
(c) Subject to these Rules and Regulations and the Bylaws of the Boy Scouts of
America, chartered organizations, unit leaders, or youth members shall not be
restricted from earning money to participate in Scouting, provided that all approved
procedures for doing so are followed, including prior approval by the governing local
council. (Revised 10/12/2011)
Pyramid Sales
Rules and Regulations of the Boy Scouts of America, Article XI, Section 1, Clause 1:
(h) Pyramid Sales, Multilevel Marketing. Any fundraising projects on a unit, council, or
national basis which are in the nature of pyramid sales or multilevel marketing are not
permitted.
Product Sales
Rules and Regulations of the Boy Scouts of America, Article XI, Section 1, Clause 1:
(f) The National Council will not engage in a product sale at the national level.
Bylaws of the Boy Scouts of America, Article X, Section 1, Clause 2: Subject to the
Rules and Regulations of the Boy Scouts of America, the corporation shall control the
raising and expenditure of all funds for local Scouting work within the territory of the
corporation. The necessary expenses of the corporation shall be met by funds secured by
solicitation or otherwise in accordance with the Rules and Regulations of the Boy Scouts of
America pertaining to the raising of funds for Scouting purposes.
Bylaws of the Boy Scouts of America, Article X, Section 1, Clause 3: Neither the
Corporation nor any unit under its jurisdiction shall have any authority to bind the Boy
Scouts of America to any financial obligation whatever.
Suggested Agenda
Time Item Responsible
(Hold separate meetings to review and discuss success and problems of the major elements of the
program)
Council plan and support Council Chairman
Public relations and communication Committee Chairman
Ordering, warehousing, distribution, and delivery Committee Chairman
Recognition plan and incentives Committee Chairman
District plan and support District Chairmen
Organization
Units’ reaction—why they did or did not participate
Recognition
Timetable
30 min. Reports from the critique groups and discussion to Committee Chairman
develop suggestions for improvement
5 min. Closing remarks Council Chairman
Adjournment (All reports are to be in written form for compiling and are to be redistributed to
key leadership within 10 days of this meeting.)