Now that you have determined that your service unit is using this event as a money making event you need to work up a preliminary budget, keeping in mind that profit is your goal. As any good Girl Scout you want to keep the cost seemingly low. You will also need to determine when would be the best time to have this event. When is the profit going to be used and why? I would suggest that if you are having this event for profit, that it be held early in the year, this way the profit we be available to use during the entire year. Below is an example of a budget that will make you a profit

Preliminary Budget for Profitable Father/Daughter Event
(Perspective Girls that can be served 500, use 80% of that number & add 90% of that number for dads that will attend. Keep in mind that some dads will bring two or more girls)

INCOME

EXPENSES

This is not a bad profit. Keep in mind this depends completely on the support you can get from the people that will be paid for this event as well as with the cost of the products you will need for this event. You will have to buy Polaroid film in bulk and you will have to find a business that will give it to you at a discount. This is one expense that could go up, so keep that in mind when preparing your preliminary budget. Also a D.J. might cost more, but normally you should have no problem finding a D.J. willing to do it for the Girl Scouts for $300.00, since the hours are normally shorter than his normal jobs. Snacks should be the easiest to get donated or at least get some sort of discount because you are buying in bulk. You can even cut this cost by having each troop bring a dessert to share to help with the expense. Decorations can easily come in under budget. By having each of the girls that is attending make some sort of decoration that fits the theme, heart with dad/daughter name on it, 45 LP with names on it, etc. Of course you will have to add to these but it will help save you some money. Also remember to make you back drop for the picture booth part of your decorations. Prizes can be cheap. Especially if you give out certificates for 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd place, etc. Buttons are also pretty inexpensive to make if you know someone who has a button machine. One of the prizes we gave out which normally was donated were movie tickets. It is a great prize and both the dad and the daughter love them.

There are several other ways to look at this budget. You could charge $1.00 per girl for corsages. We had a work party and made up a bunch and then sold them at the event. Cost to us was about $.50 per girl. You could also call someone like Coca Cola or Pepsi and bring in a fountain machine. If they are not willing to donate this free of charge, then it cost about $.20 a cup, which includes the cost of the cups and ice. However you can normally get the cups and ice donated, making the cost of the drink $.10 per cup. Now there are two thoughts here. One is you can charge $.25 to $.50 per drink and make a profit, or use the money you make off of the cokes to up the amount that was going to be allowed for snacks. This could enable you to serve a hot dog dinner, etc.

When sending out your flyer for this event, make sure to let the father know what will be available for sale at the event, such as the post office, picture, etc.)

In closing when doing an event that a profit is your objective, it is important that you justify the reason for the profit. Girl Scouts should never be known as a profit making organization. You must always put the girls first. So with this in mind make sure that an accounting on how this money is to be used is put into place immediately. Letting your leaders know from the very beginning that this event is being held to make a profit and sharing with them the reason is very important. By doing this they will be supportive, when they are fielding questions from fathers as to what this money is being used for. Also be sure that you make arrangements to provide financial aid for any girl/father who might need it. No one should be turned away because they could not afford it. That is why it is always wise to build in a Misc. Expense in your preliminary budget to help cover that request.

BEING HELD AS A RETENTION TOOL

If this event is being used as a retention tool, then I would suggest that you hold this event in the spring. You want it to be a very memorable event. The cost should be minimal, only charging what you have to, to meet expenses. To be able to determine the cost of this event your committee will need to determine up front what expenses you will incur. Remember to keep in mind that financial aid should still be included as an expense. You could work off of the preliminary budget that can be found under "Making a Profit" as a guide to set up the budget for this event. The question that come to mind when having this kind of event:

How will this help retention?

Having a memorable end of the year event can only strengthen their love for the organization. At the event you could announce that you would like for any girls who would like to sit on a girl planning board for the next F/D event to see the lady in the back of the room. By doing this they have committed to another year, hopefully. This event will also give you the opportunity to announce any activities that the SU might already know that they would be having next year.

BEING HELD AS A RECRUITMENT TOOL

If this event were being held as a recruitment tool then I would suggest that you hold this event as early in the year as possible. Pull out all the sparkles and glitz you can. Themes for this type of event should follow the Girl Scout Theme. As said in the "retention tool" event, the cost should be minimal. The questions that come to mind when having this kind of event:

How will this help recruitment?
By holding this event at the beginning of the year this will allow existing girls to invite a friend and her dad. If they have a good time, then you might be able to add the girl to a troop and possible motivate her dad to sign up for some sort of parent help position. This is also a good time to let the dad’s know what position that might consider holding in their daughter’s existing troop.

If new people attend they will not be registered as a girl scout?

You will have to check with your council, but in most councils a person is covered by Girl Scout Insurance for one activity/event. After that they must registered.