Fund Raising and 
Virtual Accounts Policy

Definitions:
Fund Raising:
Any organised activity from which the Explorer Unit gains income or revenue.
Virtual Account (V/Acc):
Money held in the Fundraising Bank Account that has been "earned" by individuals within the Unit.

Fund Raising
All Explorers are invited to attend Explorer Fund Raising activities and events to help the Unit raise funds for it's day to day operations (our Explorer Web site, the Wireless Broadband at Paddicks Patch, equipment repairs and general upkeep of the Pods), as well as to help us reduce your costs on major Expeditions and selected specialty Camps such as Gilwell Winter Camp, Gilwell 24 and Moots.

Fund raising events are advertised on the web: http://www.loddonexplorers.co.uk/scheduling.htm

Explorers are expected to watch for upcoming and future Fund Raising events on that web page.

For any Fund Raising event an Explorer wants to attend, an email request must be sent asking to be added to the Team for that event.

Fund Raising Teams are usually limited in size based on transport and sensible numbers required for an event, but some, such as Stonor, require very large numbers and are often defined as "Mandatory".

Fund Raising gives all Explorers the chance to earn spending money into their own personal V/Acc.

Earning money to go into your Virtual Account:
The total net earnings (net profit after deduction of costs) from each Fund Raising activity are divided with 50% going direct to the Unit General Funds and the remaining 50% shared as "wages" between all participants and placed automatically into each participants personal V/Acc.

The 50% "wages" are divided up equally and proportionately among all participants and by agreement with those participants, depending on the activity, duration and personal involvement.

For some activities the wages division will be done by the total hours worked vs total hours for the whole fund raiser. For others it is a more simple division of the activity into logical and equal "chunks".

As a rule we try and aim for £5 an hour per person, or better. However, on larger and more complex fund raisers, like Stonor Park over 4 days, typically each participant earns up to £70 into their V/Acc, but this also includes 3 nights free camping and all the food, and lots of fun! So usually very popular.

Simple Example:
Hire of 30x15 Marquee for £200    Team: 4 participants (including the Leaders) total wages = £100
    Four partial activities:
        Pack kit from Stores into trailer, Erect Marquee, Strike Marquee, re-Pack kit back into Stores.
    Division of profits:
        If all participants take part in all four parts of the activity, each V/Acc will be credited with £25
        If 2 participants only attend the first 2 parts, then, by agreement they will each earn £12.50
        If 2 backup participants step in to assist on the 2nd 2 parts they too get £12.50.
        If the original 2 participants remain for the 2nd 2 parts, they will earn £37.50 into their V/Accs

Spending money from your Virtual Account:
V/Acc money is designed to allow Explorer Scouts to have a fund of available money for use on any Scouting Activity without having to ask their parents on each occasion to pay for it. These activities typically include: Camps, Expeditions, Meeting Nights, Swimming & Bowling Nights, even Subs.

Leaders also have discretion to allow Explorers to use their V/Acc money to purchase suitable and "approved" products or activities that have some definite outdoor adventurous theme, such as hiking or climbing  boots, tents, "camel backs", mountain clothing, safety wear for Mountaineering and Climbing, basic bike helmets and lights, canoing buoyancy aids and any item that seems reasonable in the Explorers safe pursuit of exciting and adventurous outdoor activities.

The V/Acc money is never payable in cash, cheque or bank transfer without a receipt for the approved item or activity being funded, being produced. Our usual practice is to purchase the item on behalf of the Explorer using the Explorer Scout Fundraising Account so that all Explorer V/Acc purchases can be checked and approved and fully accounted for in our records.

Checking the Balance & Spending from your Virtual Account
Your V/Acc lifetime earnings, lifetime spending totals and current balance are visible on the Scheduling  page of the Fundraising Web Page: http://www.loddonexplorers.co.uk/scheduling.htm
Your current V/Acc balance is also visible on many other web pages where it is useful to display it.

Your lifetime V/Acc spending details, any ad-hoc earnings, such as personal grants for Expeditions, and any personal fund-raising money "banked" are all listed in your personal V/Acc bank statement: http://www.loddonexplorers.co.uk/explorer_virtual_accounts.htm

Any inaccuracies,omissions and mistakes will be corrected in the Scout way when reported.

Explorers must inform the leaders of any Fundraising activity attended but not showing on the Web.