Marianne Mitchell
s759566@aix2.uottawa.ca
Guider 167th Nepean 'Andover' Rangers
My question to you is why do Guiders have to pay registration fees?
Guider pay registration fees because they are not only volunteering to
help girls, they are also joining a National organisation (with Worldwide
links!), and gaining all the benefits and opportunities associated with
that membership. Some of these benefits include the Canadian Guider,
travel opportunities, trainings (many of which are subsidized by various
Guiding levels), great contacts and connections around the country and
the world, and even simply the prestige of being able to put 'Member of
Girl Guides of Canada' on your resume!
The breakdown of fees are:
$17.00 national
$5.50 area
$1.00 division
$2.50 district
$2.00 unit
If you feel this breakdown doesn't give the unit enough money, and
District and/or Division can't afford to pass more money down to the
units, then make a request to Area that they revise their budget to pass
more money down to the Divisions, so that more will end up going to the
girls. I don't remember the exact breakdown in our Division this year,
but I know that the Division chose to pass an extra dollar down to the
Districts with a recommendation that it be passed on to the units.
Shouldn't their registration be used to curve these costs?
If you don't have enough money at the beginning of the year to cover
start up costs (patrol emblems, enrolment pins, etc) then maybe not
enough money is being budgeted to be left in the unit at the close of the
previous Guiding year. Try selling a few more cartons of cookies in the
spring and set aside some extra $ to be left in your account in June to
cover the start-up costs in Sept. As to needing money in the fall for
trips, etc. there is always the minty cookie campaign. If you don't
want the hassle of having your girls sell door-to-door, arrange to sell
cookies in a local mall, grocery store, craft sale, or community event.
(My Rangers are going to do this this year).
You could also have your District or Division plan an annual
fundraiser, with proceeds either going to th eunits or split between the
units and the District or Division.
And don't forget that you may also have income from unit dues!
Apart from cookies, dues are the biggest source of income in our Ranger
unit. We have the girls choose teh amount every year (its been $10 for
about 7 years now), and they pay up front in September. 12 girls X $10
equals $120 -- plenty of money to cover insignia and a few small events!
I hope I've provided you with some solutions to your problem ... I know
it isn't easy, and the registration fees can be a huge chunk of money in
September. But then I look at it this way -- for a $28 registration fee
I can be a Guider (with all its privileges, etc) for a whole year, plus
by the time many of my trainings or activities are subsidized I have
saved myself money! For example, my registration this year may cost $28
but I have already been to a weekend training which cost $90, for which I
was reimbursed the entire amount! Granted, I will be using my newly
acquired skills for the benefit of Guiding, but I will also have them for
the rest of my life, in whatever else I do. So a month into the guiding
year I'm already ahead of the game!