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Who Pays for Scouting?

Youth
Assisted by their parents or guardians, scouts in Cub Scouting, Scouts BSA, and Venturing pay their share from personal savings and through participation in money-earning projects. Members buy their own uniforms, handbooks, and personal equipment, and they pay their own camp fees.

Units
Weekly or monthly dues and funds from approved money-earning projects meet expenses for supplies and activities in the Cub Scout pack, Scouts BSA troop, and Venturing crew. These monies help pay for camping equipment, registration fees, Boys' Life magazine, uniform insignia, special activities, and program materials. Units are strongly encouraged to create individual youth accounts that allow members to save for events and programs.insignia, special activities, and program materials.

Chartered Organizations
Each chartered organization using the Scouting program provides a meeting place and adult volunteer leadership for its BSA unit(s). The chartered organization and local council must approve
unit money-earning projects before the launch of the project.

The Council
Financial resources for the local council (the local nonprofit corporation chartered by the National Council) come from an annual Friends of Scouting campaign, local United Ways, foundation grants, special events, project sales, investment income, trust funds, bequests, and gifts of real and personal property.

These funds provide for professional staff supervision, organization of new Scouting units, service for existing units, training of volunteer leaders, and maintenance of council camps. They also finance the operation of the local council service center, where volunteer leaders can obtain literature, insignia, advancement badges, and other items vital to the program. In addition, the service center maintains advancement and membership records.

National Council
Funds to support the national organization of the Boy Scouts of America come from registration fees, local council service fees, investment income, Scouting and Boys' Life magazines, sale of uniforms and equipment, and contributions from individuals. These monies help to deliver the program of the BSA to chartered organizations that use the Scouting program to meet the needs of their youth.

The National Boy Scouts of America Foundation also provides funding for both local council needs and national organization initiatives. Most of this funding comes from specifically designated gifts made to the foundation by individuals, corporations, and other foundations.