Popcorn (and Peanuts!) ’23
This Page is a Living Document
- Please read all the way to the bottom; there are important policies and dates sprinkled throughout.
- There are a handful of meaningful changes from last year.
- Updates will be posted regularly during popcorn season.
- Please come back to this page often (and refresh your browser when you do).
- If you have questions or concerns, please ask.
Importance of Popcorn
The annual Popcorn sale is essential to the financial well-being of our Troop. Popcorn funds about half of our annual operating costs.
Popcorn is what buys
- cool things like Scout Rank and Merit Badge patches,
- fun things like new tents and camp stoves and
- important things like new tires and brakes for Claire, the scout bus that we own and maintain.
The popcorn sale has an immediate impact — for every $1.00 of top line revenue, Troop 934 automatically keeps about 35 cents. Another 30 cents of every dollar stays here in the council, indirectly benefiting our scouts — for example, by funding upgrades and annual upkeep at Camp Raven Knob.
2022’s Popcorn Sale funded a significant portion of our new troop trailer.
Troop Goal + Individual Scout Quota
Just as we did in 2022, Troop 934’s Top-Line sales goal is to exceed $30,000.00.
Just as it was in 2022, our per scout quota is $600.00 of sales per scout. This number was achieved through simple math: We have approximately 50 active scouts; $30,000.00 / 50 = $600.00.
$600.00 may sound like a lot, but in reality, it is 8-10 (sometimes fewer) individual transactions. History says that many scouts will easily sell 2x the number and a few scouts will sell 4x or even 6x the number.
As was done in the past, in January we will provide a meaningful discount on the Troop portion of annual dues to Scouts who meet their quota.
Camp Master’s Popcorn and Whitley’s Peanuts
New for 2023, Old Hickory Council has expanded the popcorn sale to include a wide selection of salted and seasoned Virginia peanuts from Whitley’s Peanut Factory.
The popcorn vendor is the same as 2022 — Camp Master’s Popcorn. Old Hickory Council has replaced some of the nuts previously available from Camp Master’s with new flavors of popcorn and has added a 30oz. bulk jar of uncooked/unpopped purple popcorn.
Selling Methods
Just as we did in 2022, Troop 934 and the Troop 934 Scouts will meet the goals through a combination of
- Traditional/Door-to-Door Sales
- Wagon Sales
- Show-and-Sell (Storefront) Sales
- Online Sales
Traditional/Door-to-Door Sales
Traditional sales are where the Scout walks the neighborhood (in his Class A uniform!) taking orders and payment in October. In mid-November there is a distribution and the Scout (with the parent’s help) delivers the popcorn to his popcorn buyers.
IMPORTANT: The Camp Masters website has a tool for self-reporting popcorn sales, and several Cub Scout Packs in our city require the parents to enter the orders into the website. We do not yet know if Whitley’s Peanuts will also have a self-reporting tool. REGARDLESS, AT THIS TIME TROOP 934 DOES NOT WANT SCOUTS/PARENTS TO ENTER POPCORN ORDERS INDIVIDUALLY. We are trying to make sure 100% of the popcorn and peanuts we purchase for Show-and-Sell are sold (and our cash recovered); we carefully manage the Troop’s Traditional order to make this happen.
Key dates for Traditional/Door-to-Door Sales
- Mon, 21st Aug — Popcorn Order Form Distribution During Welcome Back Picnic
- Mon, 28th Aug — Parent and Scout Popcorn Information Session the first regular Monday Meeting
- Mon, 4th Sept — Labor Day Holiday (No Monday Meeting)
- Mon, 11th Sept — 1st order submission/payment collection + Raffle @ the Court of Honor
- Mon, 18th Sept — 2nd order submission/payment collection + Raffle @ regular Monday meeting
- Mon, 25th Sept — 3rd order submission/payment collection + Raffle @ regular Monday meeting
- Mon, 2rd Oct — 4th order submission/payment collection + Raffle @ regular Monday meeting
- Mon, 9th Oct — Final order submission/payment collection + Raffle @ at regular Monday meeting
- Wed/Thur, 8th/9th Nov — Troop pickup of popcorn from OHC / Scouts pickup popcorn from T934
- Thereafter — Popcorn distribution to buyers by Scouts
Wagon Sales
Wagon Sales are where a Scout has an inventory of popcorn in his “wagon” as he walks door to door in the neighborhood (in his Class A uniform!). Instead of taking orders in early September for delivery in late November, a Scout is able to immediately hand a neighbor his or her popcorn (in exchange for cash) on the spot.
- Wagon Sales mean that Scouts (and Parents) do not have to chase deliveries into December and can be done with popcorn in early October.
- Wagon Sales do bear some financial risk to the parents, who are liable to the troop for the full sales value of the popcorn ordered.
- Wagon Sales can guarantee the Scout meets the individual quota (in other words, if you are going to commit to a Wagon, make sure your Wagon has at least $600.00 in it).
The 2023 Wagon Sale order form is here. A parent must sign the form (or acknowledge in an email) that s/he understands the financial liability. Wagon Sale commitments are due to the Troop no later than 8pm on Monday, 14th August. Old Hickory Council is driving this timeline. Sorry, but once this date has passed the opportunity for Wagon Sales has passed.
Show-and-Sell (Storefront) Sales
Show-and-Sells are where a couple of scouts (typically 2 or sometimes 3 at a time, in half-day shifts) and adult leaders or parents (at least 1 but preferably 2, again in half-day shifts) man a table in front of a local retailer such as a Harris Teeter or Ace Hardware store and sell (rather than take orders for) popcorn. Troop 934 takes a substantial amount of risk here in that we must buy a substantial amount of inventory for these sales, so it is essential each event is a success.
Please note there is no limit to the number of Show-and-Sell shifts a Scout or Adult Leader can volunteer for; however, each registration should immediately be treated as a firm commitment as your choices impact the availability of shifts for other Scouts and Leaders.
Show-and-Sells work best when we have a mix of ages — a single mid-level or older scout leading two younger scouts is ideal. A show-and-sale is a Class A (full uniform) event.
As was done in 2022, Total Sales/Donations for the day (morning and afternoon) will be combined and then divided equally between that day’s participating scouts to count toward each individual scout’s quota.
A Sign-up Genius with the Show-and-Sell schedule is being posted here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090E4DADA828A5FA7-storefront#/
Online Sales
Online sales can be an excellent option for scouts with friends and family in other states. Basically, the scout emails a link, the customer inputs an order and pays via credit card and the popcorn vendor ships the product direct to the buyer. The selection is different (chocolate melts during shipment, so no chocolate) and the per unit pricing is higher (shipping and handling). There is even a Facebook integration. You do have to have a base level of technical know-how to follow the account set-up and linking instructions, but a popcorn team member can help you with this.
Online Sales are already active (they began in mid-Summer 2023) and will run roughly through the end of Traditional sales.
Online sales are only available for Camp Master’s Popcorn; Whitley’s Peanuts does not have online sales capability.
VERY IMPORTANT: If you are going to pursue online sales please confirm your Camp Masters account is properly configured and connected to Troop 934 in the Old Hickory Council. We had a couple of instances in 2022 where credit for the sales either went to MTUMC’s Pack 934 or to a random troop in another state — in all of these cases the individual Scouts got no credit towards individual quota sales as Troop 934 got no credit (or cash) from the Old Hickory Council for the Scout’s sale. This is NOT something we can fix on the back end.
Donations
Invariably, a neighbor will want to make a small (or sometimes large) donation to the Troop but refuse to actually order/buy popcorn. This happens every year during Traditional/Wagon Sales and is actually a high percentage of our total proceeds during Show-and-Sell (Storefront) events. Please accept the donation!!!
Donations count towards the Scout’s individual quota.
- For Show-and-Sell, the donation will be mixed with the rest of the day’s proceeds and split evenly among the participating scouts.
- For Traditional/Wagon Sales, co-mingle the cash or check with the rest of the of the weekly remittance and make a note on the order form “Donation — No popcorn ordered.”
Method of Payment
Remitting Funds to Troop 934
A personal check payable to “Troop 934” is the preferred method of remitting payment to Troop 934. Cash is absolutely not a preferred method of payment for popcorn. There are four reasons
- Cash can (and does) get lost on its way to being turned in on a Monday night (the parent is liable).
- Cash creates a large bookkeeping headache for our volunteers.
- Cash presents risk of loss if we don’t get it deposited right away (the volunteer is liable).
- Banks charge us a fee when we deposit a significant level of cash.
Therefore, we ask that parents deposit any cash collected during Door-to-Door into their personal account and then write a single check each week to “Troop 934”. Please do NOT make the check payable to “Old Hickory Council” and certainly not to an individual.
Finally, each and every time a Sount or Parent turns in popcorn money s/her should be sure to GET A PAPER RECEIPT. At least twice every year a mysterious $100 bill appears at the end of a meeting and we have NO IDEA where to apply it — if the receipt book is gone WAIT UNTIL NEXT WEEK.
Collecting Funds from Popcorn Buyers
On the other hand, Scouts are welcome to accept cash during Door-to-Door sales. In fact, cash is actually preferable here because it reduces the risk of returned check fees. That said, if Mrs. Jones insists on writing a personal check, please have her make it out to “Troop 934.”
HOWEVER – please make sure Troop 934 is listed as payee and the check is signed, dated, and has the amount in both numbers and words. Every year a handful of checks are collected that the bank cannot honor, creating expense/headache for both parents and the troop.
New for 2023 — Camp Masters (the company behind the popcorn sale) has introduced an app that will allow scouts to take credit cards during door-to-door sales. How this app works is not something we have explored — yet. VERY IMPORTANT: If you are going to use this method please confirm your Camp Masters account is properly configured and connected to Troop 934 in the Old Hickory Council. We cannot fix a misconfigured account on the back end!!!
Raffle Prizes
To maintain interest and engagement we will be awarding prizes each week in a raffle format to scouts who turn in incremental sales. It is therefore important during September and October to get to the Monday meeting early and immediately update your running sales total with the popcorn team. Online sales will count but the weekly cutoff will be noon rather than 7pm. Parents — expect the weekly scout meetings to last 30-35 minutes longer than usual during popcorn season.
The format of the raffle is simple: Each scout who qualifies will have his name put on a raffle ticket and into the hat. Each week there will be a few camping-related items on the table such as ENO hammocks, sleeping pads, and Gerber knives. Three tickets will be drawn and the scouts will line up in order drawn. The LAST ticket drawn gets the FIRST choice and the FIRST ticket drawn gets the LAST choice.
- The first raffle will be at the conclusion of the Court of Honor on Monday 11th Sept. Any scout who reports any amount of popcorn (including any scout who puts in a Wagon order) will be given a ticket.
- Tickets for weeks 2 through 5 will be awarded when the scout meets or exceeds $100.00 of incremental sales since his last order update.
Based on feedback from the Scouts themselves, for 2023 we will be reducing the quantity and increasing the quality (i.e., cost value) of the raffle prizes.