What is the purpose of a ‘Congressional Charter’? What benefits derive from such a Charter?
The BSA holds a Congressional charter under Title 36 of the United States Code,which means that it is one of the comparatively rare "Title 36" corporations in the United States. The 1916 statute of incorporation established this institution amongst a small number of other patriotic and national organizations which are similarly chartered,such as the Girl Scouts of the USA, the American Legion, the Red Cross, Major League Baseball, and the National Academy of Sciences. The federal incorporation was originally construed primarily as an honor, however it does grant the chartered organization some special privileges and rights, including freedom from antitrust and monopoly regulation, and complete control over the organization's symbols and insignia. As example, outside of the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, no other youth organizations may use the term "scouts" or "scouting" in their name. The special recognition neither implies nor accords Congress any special control over the BSA, which remains free to function independently.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congressional_charter
A Congressional charter is a law passed by the United States Congress that states the mission, authority and activities of a group. Congress issued federal charters from 1791 until 1992 under Title 36 of the United States Code.
The relationship between Congress and the organization is largely a symbolic honorific giving the organization the aura of being "officially" sanctioned by the U.S. government. However, Congress does not oversee or supervise organizations with the charter (other than receiving a yearly financial statement). Amid dissatisfaction with the system, the subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee decided not to consider applications for further charters in 1992, though several were still granted thereafter.
… These mostly honorific charters tend "to provide an 'official' imprimatur to their activities, and to that extent it may provide them prestige and indirect financial benefit." Groups that fall into this group are usually veterans’ groups, fraternal groups or youth groups like the USO, the Girl Scouts of the USA or the Boy Scouts of America (charter approved on June 15, 1916) Congress has chartered about 100 fraternal or patriotic groups.
If memory serves me correctly, it provides BSA with the exclusive rights to use the term "scouting".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congressional_charter
A Congressional charter is a law passed by the United States Congress that states the mission, authority and activities of a group. Congress issued federal charters from 1791 until 1992 under Title 36 of the United States Code.
The relationship between Congress and the organization is largely a symbolic honorific giving the organization the aura of being "officially" sanctioned by the U.S. government. However, Congress does not oversee or supervise organizations with the charter (other than receiving a yearly financial statement). Amid dissatisfaction with the system, the subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee decided not to consider applications for further charters in 1992, though several were still granted thereafter.
… These mostly honorific charters tend "to provide an 'official' imprimatur to their activities, and to that extent it may provide them prestige and indirect financial benefit." Groups that fall into this group are usually veterans’ groups, fraternal groups or youth groups like the USO, the Girl Scouts of the USA or the Boy Scouts of America (charter approved on June 15, 1916) Congress has chartered about 100 fraternal or patriotic groups.
If memory serves me correctly, it provides BSA with the exclusive rights to use the term "scouting".