Reversing the Membership Decline in Girl Scouts

[Anonymous]

If you are a Girl Scout leader or a former Girl Scout, and have been wondering what has been going on with Girl Scouting in the past decad and how it has changed so much, please read and share this paper:

http://gsmembersupportersurvey.weebly.com/uploads/2/0/8/8/20881952/white_paper_2015.pdf

It was written by the long time CEO of the Farthest North Girl Scout Council and has been sent to the board of directors of GSUSA. We need national support from Girl Scouts on this issue.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for posting that. It was an interesting lead. Has it been posted to the Nation's Capital Rallyhood?

[Anonymous]

I only skimmed this, but I agree that the journeys and badge materials are terrible. There is also a ridiculous amount of paperwork and growing emphasis on things that help the council but offer minimal benefit to the girls--requiring troops to participate in fall product sales before doing any other fundraising and in order to become an honor troop, e.g. This is my fifth year leading a troop, and I struggle more every year to find things related to the Girl Scout program that the girls want to do and are worth doing, given all the other demands on their time. Mostly we do community service, and I try to expose them to outdoor activities they might not try on their own. Basically we've been able to carry on by minimizing the number of "official" Girl Scout activities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I only skimmed this, but I agree that the journeys and badge materials are terrible. There is also a ridiculous amount of paperwork and growing emphasis on things that help the council but offer minimal benefit to the girls--requiring troops to participate in fall product sales before doing any other fundraising and in order to become an honor troop, e.g. This is my fifth year leading a troop, and I struggle more every year to find things related to the Girl Scout program that the girls want to do and are worth doing, given all the other demands on their time. Mostly we do community service, and I try to expose them to outdoor activities they might not try on their own. Basically we've been able to carry on by minimizing the number of "official" Girl Scout activities.

Same. The program has really lost its way. We're doing what we can to minimize the parts that make no sense to traditional scouting.

[Anonymous]

Yes, less about selling cookies, more about camping.

Unfortunately GS have sold off some of the most beautiful of their camps to developers. Their leadership sucks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I only skimmed this, but I agree that the journeys and badge materials are terrible. There is also a ridiculous amount of paperwork and growing emphasis on things that help the council but offer minimal benefit to the girls--requiring troops to participate in fall product sales before doing any other fundraising and in order to become an honor troop, e.g. This is my fifth year leading a troop, and I struggle more every year to find things related to the Girl Scout program that the girls want to do and are worth doing, given all the other demands on their time. Mostly we do community service, and I try to expose them to outdoor activities they might not try on their own. Basically we've been able to carry on by minimizing the number of "official" Girl Scout activities.

I could have written this post.

I haven't been on board since they took out almost all of the outdoor activity badges, and replaced it with talking about your feelings and working together. They work together when they're doing community service and outdoor activities. I dislike the journey prerequisite for bronze/silver/gold awards.

[Anonymous]

But can we all agree that it's a better organization than the Boy Scouts?

[Anonymous]

I agree that the transformation of GSA into little more than a training program for the next generation of direct sales drones (Stella and Dot, Younique, Young Living, etc) is regrettable. But I think even that might not have hurt them as much had they not driven conservative Christian families away with their Planned Parenthood affiliation. (After all, half the conservative Christians I know LOVE that direct sales shit. But they do not love PP.)

[Anonymous]

GSUSA is better on non-discrimination, but the Boy Scout program seems stronger.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:But can we all agree that it's a better organization than the Boy Scouts?

No.

I have boys in boy scouts (no daughters) but from what I see above, it doesn't sound better. My sons have not experienced any pressure to sell things/fund raise. There is a camping outing at least once a month.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I agree that the transformation of GSA into little more than a training program for the next generation of direct sales drones (Stella and Dot, Younique, Young Living, etc) is regrettable.

This is the problem in a nutshell.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But can we all agree that it's a better organization than the Boy Scouts?

No.

I have boys in boy scouts (no daughters) but from what I see above, it doesn't sound better. My sons have not experienced any pressure to sell things/fund raise. There is a camping outing at least once a month.

Popcorn anyone??? Mulch in the springtime?? Boy Scouts in this area are just as cash happy as the Girls Scouts.

Both scouting organizations are becoming tiresome with their fundraising. I admit that I was a bit taken back a few evenings ago when the doorbell rang and I found a young girl scout out selling chocolates at 8 pm. Yes, her mother was with her but really? I even asked about the fundraiser as I was used to cookies in the late winter / spring. The mother stated that the girl had to sell a certain amount of chocolates in the fall to even be considered to sell cookies in the winter. What??? If that's true, that's absolutely crazy and a far, far cry from the scouting organizations in which I participated as a kid.

[Anonymous]

I'm a new Brownie leader and I find the entire thing totally inscrutable. There are all these Journeys and guides, but they're organized terribly and we can't figure out what the requirements are for any of the badges the girls want to earn. PLUS - all the paperwork and everything else that everyone has to do. It all seems so needlessly complicated and I know we're missing probably half of what we're supposed to be doing. (Don't even get me started on fall sales - totally ridiculous - no way we're doing that).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But can we all agree that it's a better organization than the Boy Scouts?

No.

I have boys in boy scouts (no daughters) but from what I see above, it doesn't sound better. My sons have not experienced any pressure to sell things/fund raise. There is a camping outing at least once a month.

Agree. There are a lot of outdoors activity and service oriented badges. Hikes, camping, community projects, etc.

I wasn't a fan of Boy Scouts because of the controversy that surrounded the organization, but my kid really wanted to try it out. I let him and it's been great. The organizational issues didn't effect individual packs. There are some great parents and kids and most of us have widely different views than the organization had. Plus all that seems to be turning now too, so we'll see how it goes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But can we all agree that it's a better organization than the Boy Scouts?

No.

I have boys in boy scouts (no daughters) but from what I see above, it doesn't sound better. My sons have not experienced any pressure to sell things/fund raise. There is a camping outing at least once a month.

Popcorn anyone??? Mulch in the springtime?? Boy Scouts in this area are just as cash happy as the Girls Scouts.

Both scouting organizations are becoming tiresome with their fundraising. I admit that I was a bit taken back a few evenings ago when the doorbell rang and I found a young girl scout out selling chocolates at 8 pm. Yes, her mother was with her but really? I even asked about the fundraiser as I was used to cookies in the late winter / spring. The mother stated that the girl had to sell a certain amount of chocolates in the fall to even be considered to sell cookies in the winter. What??? If that's true, that's absolutely crazy and a far, far cry from the scouting organizations in which I participated as a kid.

I think the bolded is the difference in the groups. Cub scouts sales weren't mandatory though encouraged. The money went back to the pack to use towards outings or camps for the boys. There wasn't a number that they had to sell for some sort of pack advancement.