As of this writing, contributions are about $3,900. If you have been following this blog and waiting to see if I would cross the finish line – I did! Please consider making a contribution today. If you made a contribution early on, it’s okay to make another one! In the coming months I will report on how the funds are being used. Come on, don’t just read about it – be a part of it!

Below is an excerpt from an article in LEADER Magazine, April 1968, that I and other Girl Scout volunteers have heard probably hundreds of times and which continues to chill and inspire me:

WHAT IS A GIRL?

She is the person who is going to carry on what you have started in this world.

She is going to sit where you are sitting and, when you are gone, attend to those things which you think are so important…

She is going to have a voice in your churches, your schools, your Girl Scout activities, universities and corporations.

She is going to be in charge of your woods and your forests and your natural resources.

How she pursues a full and rewarding life depends on the direction she is learning now…All your work is going to be judged, praised and condemned by her.

Her future is in your hands, but your reputation and your future are also in her hands. So…it is well to pay her some attention and give her some of your time.

What do you think? Feel like supporting the girls of North Carolina?

I’ve blogged before about what my Boy Scout troop does for a fundraiser and what I’ve seen from places like the Girl Scouts in New Jersey. Here is another fundraiser for Arizona Scouts, but after you read about what they’re doing I want to tell you what the new head of fundraising for the Girl Scouts of Greater Los Angeles told me a few weeks ago. 

KINGMAN – The 4th Annual Boy Scouts of America Troop 19 Golf Tournament starts at 8 a.m. May 2 at Cerbat Cliffs Golf Course.

Entry fee for the four-player scramble is $70 a person. The price includes golf and lunch as well as chances for closest to the pin and long drive awards. A number of items will be raffled and a skins game will be held. Prizes will be awarded for both low gross and low net teams. Registration deadline is Friday.

Proceeds benefit BSA Troop 19. For more information, call (928) 753-7752 or send at e-mail to kingmantroop19@yahoo.com.

I spoke to the VP in charge of fundraising for the Girl Scouts of Greater Los Angeles. Man I wish I had a pen that night so I could have remembered everyone’s names and positions. Anyway, I talked to her about some of these stories and how people were making tons of money on these events. She told me that she’s done fundraising for many years and that the best way for fundraising is direct funding from foundations, companies, and wealthy individuals. She’s been in the world of non-profit fundraising, very successfully, and says the drawback of event fundraising is you spend too much of your take on the event and personnel putting it together so your actual final profit going to your organization is minor compared to the direct grants route.

So, just thought I’d share what our professionals are saying about these kinds of events. Still, I think a gold tournament would be fun. I’m still holding out for the skeet shoot, though.

I don’t think foundation grants are available to individual troops, though. Well, at least Starbucks didn’t go for my proposal for my GSUSA troop’s trip to Washington D.C. Might need to keep the bake sales in mind for that sort of thing.

It was then referred to the the House Committee on Financial Services which is currently still dealing with some sort of small blip in the economy or something. I guess we need to actually confirm Timothy Geithner as our new SecTres and something tells me he’s got bigger crops to pick that a bunch of Daisy mementos.

I don’t know how long these things take, although I recall the BSA coin legislation taking its own sweet time making it through the process. Still 2012 is just around the corner and this bill should be a no brainer for everyone to support.

Please join us and other friends in our community who enjoy the shotgun shooting sports to directly benefit youth in the Boy Scout program. Be part of the action by registering to participate in Triple Clays Fun Shoot or by becoming a corporate sponsor of this fun event.
Participation is limited to 150 shooters. OFFICIAL REGISTRATION BEGINS JANUARY 9, 2009.

Competitors will shoot 100 targets: 50 sporting clays, 25 skeet and 25
trap. All levels of shooters are invited, from beginners to experts. Since the scoring will be based on the Lewis Class system, all shooters
have a chance to win prizes. Awards will be presented to our top teams and also to individual competitors in 3 levels of competition. Details of the event are as follows:

Saturday, March 28, 2009
Triple Clays Fun Shoot
In support of Boy Scouts of America, Western LA County Council
Triple B Clays Shotgun Sports Park
60 Freeway at Rosemead in South El Monte

The cost of the event is $195 per individual participant or $975 for a
5-person team. Included in the cost, shooters will receive 100 12 gauge shotgun shells to use at the event, a continental breakfast in the morning, lunch, a Fun Shoot t-shirt and hat, and one raffle ticket for entry in our drawing to win a Benelli Supersport 12 gauge Shotgun.

You may bring your own shotgun or rent one from Triple B Clays. Don’t
forget to bring ear and eye protection, and a vest or bag for your
shells. These items are for sale at Triple B Clays if you need them.

Guns, ammunition, shooting accessories and other valuable items will be given away as prizes at a raffle or awarded to the highest bidders at a live auction and silent auction.

Hoo-boy. I don’t have the Benjamins for this kind of event. Funny, though, I tried to talk my troop’s shooting sports advisors into doing a shooting fundraiser and they thought the council wouldn’t go for it. Less than a month later the council anounces this. I guess they’re okay with it.

Lewis Class? LOL. Don’t come in second place! Oooh. The Benelli is pretty.

They came from all over the globe, just to say they did it. Hundreds of thrill seekers leaped into Lake Minnetonka New Year’s morning, for the 19th annual Polar Plunge. Organizers say 388 people registered to take the plunge this year, far above last year’s record of 298. Hundreds more showed up and registered Thursday morning. In all, 908 people jumped into frigid Lake Minnetonka to welcome 2009.

Among them, Cub Scout Pack 116 from Princeton, Minnesota. The boys recently learned their assistant cub master, Dar Durant, had been diagnosed with cancer, so they took pledges, collected money, and jumped into the lake. The money raised will go to help the family.

Plunge organizers say people from Canada, England, Iran, and Jamaica registered to take the annual dip this year.

He even has a link to the original story with video of the cubs jumping in. What brave little guys!

Judith Chapman, who plays Gloria Fisher Abbott on “The Young and The Restless,” will be appearing at Girl Scouts of San Gorgonio Council’s 2nd Annual Smart Cookie Chef’s Challenge and Holiday Silent Auction on Sunday, December 7 from 2-5 p.m., at the Renaissance Esmeralda Resort and Spa in Indian Wells, 4400 Indian Wells Lane.

Chapman has a special tie to the Girl Scouts of San Gorgonio Council, as her co-star, Erin Sanders, who plays Eden, is a member of the Council. Chapman was selected as the Smart Cookie honorary chairwoman due to her dedicated involvement in the Low Desert community.
…
Area chefs will prepare delicious creations highlighting specific Girl Scout Cookies, judged by a panel of local culinary experts and media, including Donna Curran: Palm Springs Life Food Editor, Ellen Snieder: President of Palm Springs Chapter of Les Dames D’ Escoffier, Sue Rappaport: Columnist, The Desert Sun and Cherine Fanning: Vice President of Palm Springs Chapter of Les Dames D’ Escoffier.

General admission is $50 and includes a reception style sampling of chef creations along with beverages. V.I.P. admission is $150 and includes a champagne bar, reserved seating and the opportunity to meet featured chefs. A holiday silent auction is available to all guests.

Oh, look at that. I seem to have left my wallet in my other economic era. You’ll have to let me know what they did with the Do-Si-Do’s.

Under the cover of darkness, guilt-stricken scavengers have returned some boxes of popcorn and candy to the Piedmont home of a Boy Scout leader after snatching the goodies off Interstate 90 Friday.
…
After local media reported the incident and the Scouts’ no-questions-asked return policy, donations and offers of help poured into the Boy Scouts’ Black Hills Area Council’s office in Rapid City.

But some of the highway scavengers had other ideas, and headed toward Jerzak’s home in Piedmont.
…
Individuals, and other Scout units and organizations have pitched into to help the Scout unit replace the food. Bethel estimated over $800 of the bill is now covered, and he expects more donations to come in. An organization offered to cover the difference if the Scouts come up short.

Thank heavens for conciences and charity. It looks like these guys are not going to have a major disaster. Maybe they can even sell their product now and make some money for the pack which was the point of getting the popcorn in the first place. Let’s hope so.

To top off a beautiful fall day, full of golf and festivities at the North Hempstead Country Club in Upper Brookville, the golf outing raised more than $100,000!
…
The day began with golfers participating in the open driving range and putting green. Brunch was served at 10 a.m. followed by a shotgun start and an on-course lunch. After golf was complete, attendees relaxed and networked at the cocktail reception. Many attendees walked away with gifts from raffles prizes, silent auction items, and hole-in-one prizes.

Proceeds from the golf outing will be used to support the Girl Scouts of Nassau County’s Financial Assistance Program. The program works to eliminate financial barriers to Girl Scouts who wish to participate in all aspects of Scouting. Financial aid is available to girls in need to help them purchase uniforms, attend camp, travel, and participate in all Girl Scouting activities.

I got excited when they said shotgun start, but then realized this was Girl Scouts, not Boy Scouts. Finding a way for girls of all income levels to participate in the full program is a great idea. Congratulations to Girl Scouts of Nassau County.

LaGarde, a leader in cutting-edge e-commerce solutions for more than 12 years, shows that it always pays to “be prepared,” as their client, Weaver Popcorn, the main supplier for the Boy Scouts of America fundraising initiatives, has seen online popcorn sales rise 700 percent since they began putting the Scouts on the web. To facilitate this, Weaver recently replaced their existing e-commerce solution, with LaGarde’s Phoenix e-commerce system, and then rebuilt the Boy Scout’s fundraising website.
…
LaGarde’s Phoenix platform enables the Boy Scouts to import their contacts from their email software and send a marketing message from the Weaver Popcorn site. Also, while there were previously substantial fundraising periods, potential donors can now go online at any time to reorder. You’ll still see scouts outside your local stores and the familiar knock of a young boy asking you to buy popcorn, but if you know a scout, you may be getting an email as well.

700%!!! Um, hello Girl Scouts. I’ve heard about this great way to sell online so that we can get rid of our old no internet selling policy. Really, you should listen.

The 11th annual Juliette Low Golf Classic is scheduled for Monday, Oct. 20 at the Shackamaxon Golf and Country Club in Scotch Plains.

Breakfast and registration will begin at 8:30 a.m., followed by a 10:30 a.m. shotgun start. Hole-in-one prizes and recognition for longest drive and closest to the pin are offered.
The day will also feature a women’s golf clinic for new and experienced golfers from 1:30-3:30 p.m., with prizes awarded in various categories.

A cocktail hour begins at 4 p.m., with a dinner reception slated for 5 p.m. Prior to dinner, guests can participate in a silent auction.

Fees are $350 and $1,400, respectively. A variety of sponsorship opportunities are available for $125-$10,000.
All proceeds from the event will benefit the Girl Scouts.
For more information, visit www.gshnj.org or call Ross Blacker at (908) 232-3236 ext. 1209, Marion McCarthy at (973) 746-8200, Ext. 136, or Regis Donovan at (908) 725-1226, Ext. 117.

Excuse me, I have to go call Ross and Marion and Regis to figure out how I can get people to fork out $1,400 and $10,000 at a time. One of my Girl Scout dads use to be a greens keeper. I know a guy who organizes golf events. There’s a country club nearby. There’s got to be a way I can get something like this going in a town the size of Los Angeles, right?