non profit organization funds, boy scout troops use of requirement payments and deposit into general fund

Yes, it's legal unless they said that the payment would be exclusively used for campout expenses. Nonprofit organization are, generally speaking, allowed to make profits on any of their activities. Speaking very generally, the rules concerning profits are: (a) any unrelated income is taxable, (b) too much unrelated income could clobber the tax exempt status, and (c) no surplus money or any other assets can be distributed to anyone other than in furtherance of the exempt purposes of the organization. The most sophisticated and businesslike nonprofit organizations insist that nearly everything they do must be profitable. Some of them call it something other than profit, such as surplus or overhead contribution or something, but no matter what you call it, it's legal.

This answer must not be relied on as legal advice for the reasons posted here: http://mcgyverdisclaimer.blogspot.com . And I am not your attorney.

David

That's the problem with these forum / Q&A formats. Often both questions and answers are too simplistic. And, like it or not, legal issues more often than not, are not simple. There are a lot of details I would like to know about this before trying to address a "yes or no" answer to it. From the perspective of the Boy Scout Troop, it may be a practical matter of trust, also. What were the fees paid for the campout "advertised" to be? What is the troop doing with the excess funds? Details are so important in these issues.

I agree that answers to many questions, including this one, may be contingent on many variables. Generally, if the payments represented a fee to attend, the campout, there is no prohibition applicable to a 501(c)(3) organization against making a profit from the activity or event. There may, however, be a problem if the organization represented that the payments would only be used on the campout. It seems doubtful on this level (presumably, very modest amounts were involved) that anyone would complain.