Begin with a PLAN:  Every Scouting unit should have an annual program planning during the summer months.  This is a meeting where the unit leaders and parents with input from their boys put together a program calendar and plan for the upcoming year.  The unit should plan for thinks like: Mom and Me or Dad N Lad, Summer Camp or Day Camp, monthly or weekly meetings, go see it activities, Blue and Gold Banquets or Courts of Honor, Pack Campouts or monthly Troop Campouts, Leadership Training such as Leader Specific Training and Woodbadge, Boy Scout Leadership Training such as NYLT, badges and recognition items, and any other activity your unit might participate in.

Build a Unit Budget:  Use the program plan for the year and assign a per boy cost to each activity.  Multiply that by the number of boys and you can determine what the actual cost to operate your unit for the year and the actual cost per boy in the unit.  Based on 31% commission to the unit, you can determine a sales goal for the unit and the boys.

Share This Information:  Information is power and sharing information empowers families.  Have your unit commit to the sale and share the program plan and budget with every family in your unit at a Popcorn Kick Off Meeting.  If you share with parents why their family should participate in a fundraiser for their unit, they will be more inclined to support their child and their child's program.

Participate in a Blitz Day:  Each District in the East Texas Area Council will be hosting a Blitz Day this fall.  A Blitz Day is a coordinated activity where all boys in the unit blanket a predetermined area of your community all at once.  The boys spread out through an area of town and sell, sell, sell.  At the end of the Blitz, all of the boys will gather and the unit will celebrate the accomplishments of the boys.  It is possible for the unit to raise over half of its goal in just one day!

For more information on the Ideal year of Scouting or on the Popcorn Sale, contact you District Popcorn Kernel.