I know it’s hard to believe, but it’s time to start thinking about next year! Of course, that means your Annual Program Planning and Budget Conference. Before we discuss how we accomplish this, maybe we should talk about some common mistakes we make.
I believe our first misstep is forgetting who we’re planning for. Whether it’s for Cubs, Scouts or Venturers, we need to plan age appropriate activities and trips. Our second problem is not talking to the youth about what they want to do. Every level of Scouting should have input into the schedule. Venturers plan and execute their schedule with advice from the adults. Scouts should plan and help research their activities. Cubs and their families should be asked what they enjoy doing, and parents should help plan the activities.
Now on to the planning! We start by getting a list of possible activities together. We then need to gather reference materials, such as calendars from schools, church, sponsoring organization, District & Council, etc. We also need the appropriate program resource guide for your type of unit, and past calendars. We now sit down and have our planning conference. Some units have a weekend session at a cabin somewhere; others schedule it at their sponsoring organization. Where ever you do it, be sure there are no distractions. If you bring cubs along, have a designated adult to keep them busy while you are working. Be sure to plan a calendar and not just a list of things to do. Include monthly themes, and who will be responsible for the first two or three months.
Now that we have a calendar, we need one more thing, a budget. Too many units stop before having a budget, and half way through the year, they are scrambling because they’re out of money. There is a fantastic resource available at the Scout Shop called “Funding Your Unit’s Program”, it costs $1.99 and has budget worksheets, money earning applications and more.
We need to look at all aspects of our units, and decide where we need to spend. What equipment needs repair or replacement? How much will we need for awards? What will our calendar cost us? Recharter costs? Training fees?
Now we look at where the money is coming from. Dues, popcorn sale, etc. We plug all this information into a budget worksheet and we now know where we stand and what we have to tweak.
Lastly, we need to remember that these are “living” documents. What that means is, things change, and we need to look at and update them through out the year. I hope this helps everyone have a more enjoyable scouting experience.