To find out all of the ins and outs of managing troop dues, money-earning projects, in-kind donations, contributions from families, or other funding-related opportunities, go to Options for Funding
Contributions From Families
Girl Scouts of Northern California (GSNorCal) is a non-profit organization, and as such, donations to GSNorCal must benefit our collective mission and not provide a private benefit to a specific individual girl. Pass-through donations for troops must go into the troop treasury and be used for the benefit of all girls in the troop. If the troop has decided, by a democratic process, to support an individual girl’s Gold Award project, then pass-through donations to the troop may be used to support an approved Gold Award project based on the approved budget for that project. For questions about donations to troops, please contact: Info@gsnorcal.org
Family Donations
Girls and their families should be part of the decision regarding financial contributions from families, rather than be assessed an amount decided on by the troop leader or adult leadership team. Care should be taken to ensure that the amount chosen is affordable by all families and that everyone understands that these donations are optional. Girl Scouting should be an activity that is affordable for all girls in the troops.
Encourage girls to designate a portion of their troop treasury for the annual national membership dues of the members. This practice enables girls to meet membership dues and lessens the potential burden to members.
Remember that charging girls and their families for opting out of participating in product program, other troop activities, and/or volunteering for the troop are not allowed.
Dues
It’s a great idea to have the girls pay dues. Families often think it’s easier to just give a flat amount at the beginning of the year, however, collecting dues offer some great benefits to the girls:
- They can do special chores at home to earn the money.
- They have to remember to bring the dues and keep track of the money (good to have them practice that before they get older and have to carry larger amounts).
- They can take turns being “treasurer”—they have to collect the money and count it up to make sure it balances.
- Handling money and building financial literacy skills is part of our Girl Scout program.
Here’s a fun idea: Start out every meeting with clothespins marked with girls’ names attached around the rim of a large can. As the girls enter, they attach their clothespin to their dues and drop it into the can. If a girl forgot her dues, then she just drops the empty clothespin in the can. If a clothespin is left attached to the can, that girl is absent. Marking attendance/dues is easy for the girls!
Money-Earning Basics & Money-Earning Projects
Money-Earning Basics
Girls have big dreams, and we want to support those goals financially when possible. To understand the basics of earning money outside of product program, please go to Money Earning Basics
Money-Earning Projects: Approval Required
When girls are ready to start planning their money-earning endeavors, please see Money-Earning Projects: Approval Require
Collaborations with Sponsors & Other Organizations
For all of the information you need to know about collaborating with sponsors and other organizations, go to Collaborating with Sponsors & Other Organizations.