Fees, Finance, & Applications

Fee Structure

The scouting fee model is a little complicated, so we like to explain this for new Scout families to give them a better understanding of how it works.  If the cost of registration causes you some hesitation or anxiety, feel free to skip below to the financial support section.

Scouting America (SA, formerly Boy Scouts of America) as an organization, has three different levels that collect fees. Each scout contributes fees to all three layers each year, and fees fund the level to which they are contributed.

1. 1.  SA is a national organization.  The first level of registration fees fund SA nationally.

      • You and your scout will benefit from national resources, such as leader training or handbook production

      • This fee is collected as part of your annual registration through the https://my.scouting.org/ website.

      • It is a 12 month registration renewed on the anniversary of your initial registration.

      • This fee is $85 per year as of December 2024.

   2.  The national organization is then divided into councils, typically covering one or more counties; council fees fund the council.  Our local council is the Chief Seattle Council.

      • You and your scout benefit from our council properties, council activities such as camps, adult leader training, and many other things.

      • This fee is collected as part of your annual registration through the https://my.scouting.org/ website.

      • It is a 12 month registration renewed on the anniversary of your initial registration.

      • This fee is $30 per year as of December 2024.

   3.  The final division is into individual units.  The elementary school level unit (K-5) is called a pack, which collect annual Pack dues.  We’ll discuss pack finances later.  Our dues contribute toward the base operation of the pack

      • Dues cover the base operation of our pack including recharter (pack registration), patches & awards, and adult leader registration.

      • You will be asked to pay Pack 584 dues for the CURRENT Scout year to the Pack Treasurer when you join.

      • Pack dues are collected on the academic year (September – August)

      • We offer a group rate on dues in a family

        1.  First child: $60/year

        2.  Second child: $45/year

        3.  Third and subsequent children: $40/year

      • Dues can be prorated on a case-by-case basis

All levels set their fees at a level of fiscal prudence – the minimum level to not run a deficit and ensure the level is able to carry out the scouting activities. Pack 584 is responsible for setting and collecting its own Pack dues. National and Council fees are set independently, and we can only provide you with the relevant information – we do not set them.

Pack 584 is run by volunteers; none are paid. This means that the annual dues you pay to the pack go directly into activities to support your child’s development. The cubmaster, assistant cubmaster, den leaders, committee chair, treasurer, charter org representative, and all other adult leaders are all volunteers. They each contribute countless hours of their time for free to help the pack run. If you have any questions, reach out to our New Member Coordinator.

Fee Collection

SA annual fees (the National and Council ones) are $130 total per scout ($85 for National, $30 for Council, and optionally $15 for Scout Life magazine – a monthly publication).  Initially as part of online registration, and then every 12 months when you renew your registration.

Pack dues and all other event fees are collected by the Pack Treasurer.  Pack dues are collected in September on the academic year (September – August).

There are two ways to pay pack dues & fees.  You can pay by check hand delivered or mailed to the Pack Treasurer, or to the pack Venmo account.  If you choose to pay via Venmo, know that the pack is charged 2% of the transaction and we’d appreciate it if you would add 2% to your payment.

Event Fees

We strive to be an active pack and ensure that there is at least one pack-wide event per month.  We also encourage the dens to have some den specific events.  The pack-wide events are either pack sponsored, or council sponsored.

Council Sponsored Events

As a pack, we participate in two council sponsored events each year: Winter Camp at Camp Sheppard (usually in late January), and Summer Resident Camp at Camp Edward (usually in early August).  The council does all registration through online through Tentaroo.

There are two ways to register for these events: individual registration & pack registration.  To help ensure spots (camp often sells out) and for our families to attend together, the pack often pre-registers for some spots.  However, we can’t perfectly predict how many people will attend a given camp each year.  If there are no remaining pack spots, you can register yourself and your scout for camps individually (or as a family).  If you indicate in your individual registration that you are with Pack 584, they will group you with other attendees from the pack at the camp itself.

If you are grabbing a pack reserved spot for a council event, you’ll learn about the payment schedule and get reminders from the Treasurer or Coordinating Adult.

If you registered individually on Tentaroo, then you pay the council directly.

Pack Events

Many of our monthly pack-wide events are organized through our pack: our fall & spring family camp outs, monthly field trips, and other events.  While these events are planned with the registered scouts in mind, we encourage families to attend.  While we subsidize the cost of scouts attending as part of our pack financial plan, we ask your understanding that families cover the cost of additional people attending.  The presence of fees and fee schedule are communicated as part of event advertising.

Financial Support

Pack 584 wants every child to experience the fun of Cub Scouting. We understand that the cost of joining Cub Scouting can be surprising; a scout is Thrifty, and we do our best to ensure the program is financially responsible. If your family anticipates any difficulty with the joining fees, event fees, or with things like the uniform, patches, or handbook, please contact the Committee Chair or the Cubmaster (see the Contacts Page) to confidentially discuss the availability of Pack and/or Council support. It is the express policy of Pack 584 that no child will be denied the benefits of Cub Scouting simply because of financial reasons.  Both the council and Pack 584 include support for families experiencing financial difficulty in their financial plans.  Please don’t let cost be the reason you don’t join scouting.

Applications

Youth Applications

For a child to officially join Pack 584 and start earning adventures towards their next rank, an application must be submitted through beascout.org.  Upon completion of the youth application, the pack leadership is notified, your child will be assigned to the appropriate den, and you’ll receive an email connecting you with the den leader for your den.  As part of a youth application, you will be asked to create an adult account on my.scouting.org.  Each person in scouting has an individual account at my.scouting.org with adults and youth being linked as appropriate.  This is the easiest way scouting has found to handle the many ways in which families can be organized.  If you have any questions, reach out to our New Member Coordinator.

Adult Applications - Den Leaders and Committee Members

For an adult to officially join Pack 584 as a Den Leader or other registered Adult Volunteer (aka Scouter), they must: (1) complete the official adult application form on beascout.org (similar to youth registration), and (2) submit to a background check.  Adult registration is covered as part of the pack budget, so please remit a copy of your registration fee to the Pack Treasurer for reimbursement.

NOTE: All registered adults volunteers are required to complete the online Youth Protection (YP) training and are strongly encouraged to complete their position specific training, both can be found at my.scouting.org.

Pack Finances

Pack 584 finances can be thought of as a three-tiered plan.  At the base tier is the basic operation of the pack.  The middle tier are the marquee events, the events that people think of when they think of Cub Scouting.  The bonus tier are the bonus events and activities that can make cub scouting all the more fun.  In each section below, the revenue sources and expenses & events are identified for that tier.

Base Tier

The base tier covers the things we need to be an entity called a pack.  They include:

• Pack recharter (the unit needs to be registered, too)

• Advancement patches, pins, and belt loops

• Adult leader registration

• Recruitment events

These expenses are covered entirely by pack dues.

Middle Tier

The middle tier covers the marquee events we hold every year.  These events are often what people think of when they think of Cub Scouting.  These events & activities include:

• Pinewood Derby

• Blue & Gold Banquet

• Crossover Ceremony for our 5th graders moving on to Scouts BSA (i.e. a troop)

• Fall & Spring Family Campouts

• Bothell 4th of July Parade

• Adult leader training

These events & activities are covered or subsidized by unit level fundraising; typically Pack 584 has done wreath sales in November as a unit fundraiser. 

Bonus Tier

This is a collection of events and activities that are unique to Pack 584.  These are often field trips, but can also be weekend excursions.  The cost of attendance for scouts is subsidized by the revenue in this tier.  Also included in the bonus tier are quality of life enhancements such as our Coffee Chair, who has coffee ready for campouts and morning pack meetings, and financial support for supplies for den or pack activities.

Examples of our bonus events (past, planned, and aspirational) are:

• Pack Planning at the Northshore YMCA in Bothell (with childcare)

• Wooden Boat Museum in Seattle

• Bellevue Botanical Gardens in Bellevue

• Corn Maze in Woodinville

• Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett

• MoPop in Seattle

• Zoo Snooze at the Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium

• Submarine Sleepover in Bremerton

These bonus events, financial need support, pack & den activities, are funded out of partnership with the Concerned Northshore Parents for Scouting (CPG), a 501(c)3 not for profit charity organization, based in Kenmore, WA that supports scouting and scouting units in the “North Shore” of Lake Washington.  As they are a 501(c)3, they can receive charitable donations.  Several of our families work at companies (e.g. Microsoft, Boeing, Southwest) that match volunteer time with corporate giving.  Through donations and volunteer matching, the CPG is able to support our pack to offer great programming.