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Girl Scouts is about sharing the fun, friendship, and power of girls and women together. Any girl—from kindergarten through 12^th grade—can join Girl Scouts. Girl Scout volunteers are also a diverse group-- you may be a college volunteer working on a community action project, a parent volunteer ready for an outdoor adventure with your daughters’ group, or any responsible adult (female or male, who has passed the necessary screening process) looking to make a difference in a girl’s life.

What all members share, whether girls or adults, are the Girl Scout Promise and Law. Each member also agrees to follow safety guidelines and pay the annual membership dues of $12 (or purchase a lifetime membership for $300).

Getting Your Troop Registered

Every girl and adult involved in Girl Scouting must register as a member of the Girl Scout Movement. Girls must have written permission to join from a parent or legal guardian. Girl Scout membership is open to all girls, grades K-12, and adults who accept the Girl Scout Promise and Law. When you register you become an official member of Girl Scouts of the U.S.A. (GSUSA), the largest organization for girls in the world. Girl Scout membership dues are $12 per year. The Girl Scout membership year is October 1 through September 30. GSUSA dues include accident insurance for Girl Scout activities, which becomes effective upon registration. A limited amount of financial assistance is available for membership dues. Membership dues are sent to GSUSA headquarters in New York City to be used to provide services to members.

Troop Registration

Council policy: To register a troop/group, there must be at least 5 girls registering from more than one family. Exceptions may be made in extenuating circumstances due to the girl population of the area. This decision will be made by the CEO or designee.

Council Adult Leadership Policy

Policy: At least two (2) adults are required to register as the leadership team with each group and be present at every group meeting and activity. At least one of the registered adults must be female, not related to the other registered adults, and must be present at every group meeting and activity.

Standard: Girl Scout groups should have an active committee of registered adult members who provide support and continuity to the group.

Each troop is assigned a number by the Service Unit Registrar when the troop is organized for the first time. A troop keeps the same number from year to year.

You should register your troop as soon as possible after your receive your troop number but no later than four weeks. This gives you time to collect membership dues and registration forms from the girls and to get your troop’s registration to your Service Unit Registrar. Please don’t delay registering your troop because one or two girls have not returned their registration forms. Add these girls to your troop later.

If the troop was registered last year and you are taking over as the new leader, everything that applies to new troops applies to you, except that you have a troop number already, and you must re-register your troop before October 31 or the troop will be retired by the Service Unit Manager.

On Time Registration

If your troop registers by October 1, the girls are entitled to purchase and wear the On Time patch.

Early Bird Registration

Give your troop a head start for next year! In April, you will receive your next year’s membership registration packet. If your troop re-registers by June 15, the girls are entitled to wear the Early Bird patch. Each girl registering by June 15 will receive an Early Bird patch in August. The troop may use funds from the troop treasury (e.g., earnings from Girl Scout Product Sales) to pay for registration.

Girl Scout Service Units and Report Codes

The council is divided into five regions with many service units in each region. Your geographic area has a specific report code, which you will need when your troop registers. You can obtain this report code from your Service Unit Registrar.

The COUNCIL CODE is 583 This code is needed for the “council code” blank on your Girl Scout Membership Registration forms.

Girls at Every Grade Level

After girls join, they team up in the following grade levels:

• Girl Scout Daisy, grades K–1

• Girl Scout Brownie, grades 2–3

• Girl Scout Junior, grades 4–5

• Girl Scout Cadette, grades 6–8

• Girl Scout Senior, grades 9–10

• Girl Scout Ambassador, grades 11–12

Flexible Ways to Participate

Across the country, the Girl Scout community is hard at work on a whole new approach to make sure that everyone can participate in Girl Scouting in the ways they want to. As a volunteer, you can choose from flexible ways to participate that offer the freedom to tailor your level of involvement to fit your schedule and lifestyle. You can also volunteer behind the scenes, in your council office, helping with short-term projects such as serving on council and regional task groups, instead of volunteering directly with girls.

During the 2012 membership year (October 1, 2011 – September 30, 2012) GS-TOP will begin the transition into these flexible ways to deliver Girl Scout program. Girls will be able to choose any one, all, or some of the options—camp, events, series, troop, travel, and virtual*— within a single membership year, while you will have the option of partnering with girls throughout a membership year or committing to an opportunity for only a few weeks or months. (*Note that virtual is still in development.)

Based on external independent research and extensive surveys with thousands of council staff members from around the country, we have a good sense of which options will interest girls, based on their grade levels (see the chart below).