Scouts may be thrifty, but some leaders are well paid

Mike Plowman, finance director for that council, said, "If there's a new quota, so to speak, it is: reach every home in your boundary. That is because we've discovered through the years that we contact 30 percent of households, which to us is unacceptable because we feel like everybody deserves the opportunity to give."

Moore said he has been around Friends of Scouting drives "all my life, but this is different" using the LDS Church to attempt to contact every household in Utah.

"We have a tremendous blessing that comes to us because of the great relationship with the LDS Church," he said. "We are done (with Friends of Scouting) before most councils in America have even started their campaign."

Fund raising vs. services

Nationally, about 83 percent of spending by Boy Scout councils goes to programs and services for Scouts. Two of the three Utah councils spent less than average, according to 2005 disclosures.

The Ogden-based council spent 78.5 percent of its money on services (ranking 246 out of the 294 evaluated). The Orem-based council spent 81 percent (ranking 205th). And the Great Salt Lake Council matched the national average at 83 percent (ranking 160th).

Also nationally, about 8 percent of spending by local councils goes for fund raising. But again, two of three councils in Utah spent much more than that.

The Ogden-based Trapper Trails Council spent 15 percent on fund raising (12th highest in the nation), and the Great Salt Lake Council spends 11.4 percent (35th highest in the nation). The Orem-based Utah National Parks Council spends 5.3 percent, or less than average.

All three Utah councils said they made errors in 2005 reporting that made it appear they spent more on fund raising and less on services than they actually did. They said later studies on how employees divide their time showed they should have attributed less of their salaries to fund raising and management and more to services.

But all three also say they are conducting major fund-raising efforts, in part to help buy or develop new camps — which explains some of the higher fund-raising costs.

"We're able to serve less than 30 percent of our membership at summer camp," Moore said of the Great Salt Lake Council, meaning most of its units must go to camps run by other councils or strike out on their own. "We need to get our hands on properties that will allow us to serve more kids."

Baird at the Orem-based council said he figures camps it owns can serve between 25 percent and 40 percent of its Scouts. "It's woefully inadequate."

He said even when property has been donated, his council has had trouble raising enough just to develop it. "We had a substantial donation for a camp of 600 acres several years ago," he said. "We still don't have it opened to regular camp use ... because we lack the development capital to finish that camp."