Your financial investment, plus your time and talent, is among the greatest gifts you can give. Take a moment to make an investment in our community’s future and help ensure the continued legacy of the Greater Tampa Bay Area Council, Boy Scouts of America.
Consider all of the benefits that Scouting has brought to our community.
Will you help fund the next Century of Scouting?
Direction
Throughout the year, the Greater Tampa Bay Area Council provides resources for youth and adult training, advancements and programs. Scouts have the opportunity to experience activities such as canoeing, climbing, fishing, swimming, zip lining, learning about STEM careers and shooting sports year-round.
We also have more than 230 Charter Organizations that partner with us to provide families with as much access as possible to the positive youth development program that is Scouting…
Service
Your investment enables Scouts to accomplish countless good turn projects throughout the year, such as landscaping at local parks and churches, clean up and recycle programs, food and clothing drives, and much more. The Council records more than 81,750 local community service hours annually.
Program
Scouting offers life-changing experiences youth cannot get anywhere else. Scouting makes the most of the little time parents have to positively impact their children. Friends of Scouting provides the funds needed to deliver a strong program for more than 14,559 local youth.
Camp
Camp is all about fun and learning. Your support helps provide camp staff and maintain our council camp facilities to rank among the best. Scouts learn by doing and encountering new ways to achieve. Council camps are updated each year with exciting new programs for the enjoyment of local Scouts and families. Friends of Scouting dollars are a vital part of operating and maintaining the five camp properties of the Greater Tampa Bay Area Council. Together, these camps offer 7,410 acres of outdoor education.
About Friends of Scouting
Family Friends of Scouting
Friends of Scouting is an opportunity for families, friends, alumni, business and community organizations to support Scouting. Help us provide the resources necessary to make sure every youth can benefit from Scouting’s fun, exciting, adventure-filled activities that foster character, honesty, respect and lifelong values.
The $60 annual Scouting registration fee goes directly to the national office of the Boy Scouts of America. If a Scout unit collects dues, that money stays with the unit to help pay for supplies, advancements and other activities.
None of that money helps the Greater Tampa Bay Area Council. In order to keep Scouting affordable for all youth, the council runs an annual Friends of Scouting fundraising campaign.
Friends of Scouting helps:
- Recruit and train youth and leaders
- Provide assistance with registration, uniforms, camp and activity fees to those in need
- Keep our camps and activities affordable
- Enhance programs and facilities
- Provide communication tools for volunteer leaders
Friends of Scouting contributions provide approximately 30% of the support the council receives each year. The success of Scouting depends on those who support it. Please help Scouting provide the resources necessary to make sure every youth can benefit from Scouting’s fun, exciting, adventure-filled activities that foster character, honesty, respect and lifelong values. Your generous tax-deductible gift to the Boy Scouts of America provides direct funding for educational initiatives and active learning that program fees alone do not cover – it is a statement about your belief in Scouting, our programs and our properties, and in our belief in educating the entire mind of the young people.
Company Matching Gifts
Many corporations match employee contributions made to the Boy Scouts. Local companies such as Walmart, Progressive Insurance, Liberty Mutual, Morgan Stanley, State Farm, Target, and Travelers Insurance all contribute matching gifts, doubling or even tripling your donation.
Companies with Volunteer Grants
Numerous local companies, such as Walmart, Duke Energy and Disney, recognize volunteer time through the donation of cash grants to non-profits in which their employees volunteer. This means that for each hour of volunteer time, employers donate funds to support the Greater Tampa Bay Area Area Council, Boy Scouts of America. Volunteer time is money with volunteer grants.
Harris Interactive Survey
The Boy Scouts of America commissioned Harris Interactive to conduct the Values of Americans study to examine the ethics and character of Americans young and old, and to see if values have changed over time. The Boy Scouts also wanted to determine how Scouting has influenced the values of adults over their lifetimes and the lives youth members. Scouting has touched the lives of many youth and adults across America.
More than one in 10 boys (11 percent) in the United States is currently a Scout, and an additional 23 percent have been Scouts at some point in their lives. Boys who are or were Scouts have been in the program for an average of nearly five years. By the time boys reach adulthood, 54 percent have been in a Scouting program at some time in their youth. On average, men were youth members of a Scouting program for four years; however, 42 percent stayed in Scouting for five or more years.
We look forward to seeing the same positive numbers as more and more girls become members of Scouts BSA.
Will you help fund the next Century of Scouting?
The Greater Tampa Bay Area Council is a 5013C Non-profit organization. (Greater Tampa Bay Area Council, Inc., Boy Scouts of America Tax ID 59-0637815)