Most of Boy Scouting operates at the Council level. The U.S. is split geographically like a jigsaw puzzle and there are slightly over 300 BSA "Councils", each of which owns BSA reservations/camps, provides programs for youth and adults (from weekend camp-o-rees, to extended high adventure trips, to COPE, sailing, shooting sports, and youth training weekends, to adult training weekends, and other programs).
Some of these programs are administered Council-wide and others through subunits called Districts, down to the units (packs, troops, crews, teams, ships).
A part of a Council's financial support comes from its Friends of Scouting campaign, but a large portion comes from corporate support within the Council.
There are only three Scout Councils in Utah, two in Nevada, and two in Arizona (the Greater Salt Lake Council is huge). The percentage of the funding of those Councils that come from LDS families, LDS Scout leaders, and LDS-owned or -controlled community businesses likely ranges from most to virtually all. In those Councils, and places like the Cascade Pacific Council in Oregon, you'll find a major LDS influence.
But the eight Councils in Florida (remember that there are over 300 Councils in the U.S.)? They don't operate based on LDS funds. Councils don't support each other financially and do the math. If LDS Scouts make up 12% or so of Scouts in the US (just a bit more than Methodists), and they're highly, highly concentrated in the intermountain west (Utah, Arizona, Idaho, Nevada, Colorado), in Councils where they may make up 50-90% of the Scouts, there are going to be 250 Councils where LDS Scouts make up a tiny, tiny percentage of the Scouts.
So if I were standing in Utah or Nevada and that was my experience in Scouting - I'd say "if the LDS left Scouting, it would collapse." I'd also say "Scouting gets all of its money from the LDS."
But if you've kicked the tires at the Regional and National level, you know that LDS Scouting is a valuable part of Scouting, but that Scouting would continue if the LDS withdraw.
. Look at the number of Councils outside the western region, consider the millions of boys (and girls in Venturing), the number of Scouters involved in those Councils, and try to reconcile the thought that withdrawal of the LDS would collapse the BSA.
You make some very fine points, and I agree with this post. I would just add that I didn’t say a lack of “Latter-day Saint” involvement with the BSA would collapse the BSA, I said:
“If the BSA was to ever to take up the homosexual agenda, they would rapidly hemorrhage scouts and funding. You can bank on that.”
Because my reply (and follow up) about funding and what I had heard were addressing a specific post, and I then ended with my broader point concerning the thread’s topic, I understand how it might seem like I meant that one would be direct result of the other, and apologize. I didn’t mean that. But I most certainly still stand by what I said, which is that if the BSA were to take up the homosexual agenda, they’d lose scouts across the board, regardless of religion and geographic region. No sane or rational person would ever let their child without supervision (one could argue with supervision, but I don’t think all homosexuals are proverbial “boogymen”) on an overnighter with one (or more, the horror!) homosexual adult males out in the wilderness. I cannot even imagine the thought. I remember there was a big flap in my troop because I sometimes shared a tent with my uncles at times (and initially cousin, but later my cousin became an adult, as he was 5 years older, and thus no longer a scout).
Some of the other scout leaders didn’t like the idea because it wasn’t my own father (even though they were still family!), I can only imagine their reaction to a homosexual leader. That’s the thrust of what I was saying.