How Much Does Girl Scouts Cost, and How Should We Pay?

Girl Scouts is a multi-level organization that has councils all over the USA and on military bases overseas.  It  is headed by a  national organization--Girl Scouts USA---which sets direction, develops programming, does research and otherwise handles high-level big picture items.  GSUSA is headquartered in New York City and is staffed by paid professionals. 

Under GSUSA are separately incorporated councils, which are local non-profits that own and operate Girl Scout camps or other properties and which recruit, train and support adult volunteers and girls.  Councils also have paid  professional staff. Most Girl Scout programming is led by volunteers who serve the object of the organization--the girls.  

One thing you hear over and over again is "Why does Girl Scout stuff cost so much?".  You can buy fun patches for under a dollar each; Girl Scout badges are $3.00.  Does GSUSA have trouble controlling the cost of embroidered cloth?  I doubt it.  The reason those badges cost so much is that GSUSA uses the money to support themselves.  

How Much Does GSUSA Cost?

To learn about the finances of GSUSA, or other non-profits, you can look at Guidestar.com.  Financials are also available on the website of GSUSA.  

Income

Looking at the audited financial statement for 2019, we find that GSUSA breaks down their income as follows:

• Membership dues:  $55,762,000, down from $57,871,000 in 2018
• Gross profit on GS Merchandise:  $23,816,000, down from $25,037,000 in 2018
• Royalty income:  $9,386,000, up from $8,400,000 in 2018
• Gift, grants and bequests:  $17,497,000, up from $16,560,000 in 2018
• Training/meeting revenue:  $5,156,000, down from $7,075,000 in 2018
• Investment income allocation:  $7,161,000, up from $6,528,000 in 2018
• Software Maintenance:  $5,820,000, up from $5,500,000 in 2018
• Other:  $1,269,000 down from $1,441,000 in 2018.  
• Total income:  $125,867,000, down from $128,412,000 in 2018

Expenses

On the top page of the financial reports, GSUSA reports expenses by categories related to purpose of the organization--like council services, or program development.  You have to dig deeper to find categories like salaries or advertising.  The categories used are:

• Comprehensive council support  $39,209,000, down from $44,948,000 in 2018
• Girl program development and adult learning opportunities $50,001,000, up from $44,681,000 
• Brand promotion and external engagement:  $27,052,000, up from $22,806,000 in 2018
• Fundraising: $5,089,000, up from $3,737,000 in 2018
• Management in general, $9,840,000, down from $9,946,000 in 2018.
• Total Expenses: $131,191,000, up from $126,118,000 in 2018. 

There were also some nonoperating revenue, gains and losses, dealing mostly with endowments, pensions, etc. .  However, if you look at the bottom line above, in 2019, GSUSA spent more money than it took in.

What is My Share of GSUSA's Expenses and Income

In October 2018, GSUSA said there were 1.8 million girl members of Girl Scouts.  That means the per girl expense to run GSUSA was $72.88,  Part was funded by girl dues, part by adult dues and part by other things. If you subtract dues income from total expense and divide by 1.8 million, you get $41.90  per girl that GSUSA has to get from non-dues sources.  

One of those non-dues sources is sales of merchandise.  That averages out to $13.23 per girl member.  

People complain when they see GS Cookie branded products like yogurt or dog treats.  However, revenue from such deals provided $5.21 per girl in revenue to GSUSA. 

Having the cost of Girl Scouting covered by donations is usually seen as a good thing, and donations are about $9.72 per person.  

How Does GSUSA Compare to Other Groups?

BSA

According to their 2019 Annual Report, BSA had 2.1 million youth members. Their total expenses were $460,456,000 or an average of $219.26 per youth member.  Compared to BSA, GSUSA's expenses are far lower, but it is my understanding that BSA (the national organization) owns and operates more youth-serving properties than does GSUSA.  If that understanding is correct, a large part of the cost of operating those facilities is probably re-captured via fees to use them, but I have not researched BSA's breakdown of revenue and expenses.  

AHG

American Heritage Girls is an explicitly Christian scout-like group in which a national organization provides programming materials and standards for local church-chartered groups.  According to their Annual Report,  they have 52,597 members and last year's budget was $63.37 per member  (I can't tell if adults are "members" or if "members" just refers to girls.  If it refers to girls, then their cost is about $9.00 per girl less than GSUSA.  However, GSUSA owns and operates the Macy Center and some properties in Savannah, GA.  Also, as an older organization, GSUSA, like many older businesses, is saddled with legacy pension costs.  On the other hand, AHG troops' liability insurance is through their national group, not through the local council, as provided for by GSUSA.  All things considered, it appears that AHG has lower national costs per girl than GSUSA does.  However, as noted in an earlier post, the amount charged directly to the girls is higher. 

How Should We Pay Our Share?

About two years ago, I compared the costs  to a family for a girl to belong to Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts and American Heritage Girls and found Girl Scouts to be the least expensive option, before local costs such as the price of meeting supplies or outings were considered.  I also noted that for all the complaining you hear about how little cookie money the girls get, in fact, cookies cover much of the costs for many troops.  

I recently received a survey from GSUSA which basically asked me how they should nickel and dime me for program materials.  The Girls Guide to Girl Scouting is being discontinued, probably because it never really became a GIRLS Guide, but has always been more of a leader's guide.  GSUSA wanted to know if I wanted to download badge inserts for $0.99 each.  My first thought was to complain, but on the other hand those inserts really are a luxury at this point.  Our membership fee gets us access to VTK plans for badges and Journeys.  Google brings even more ideas.  Would I pay $0.99 to download a badge insert?  No--I have the GGGS (which I'll be glad to pass on to another leader when I'm done with it) and that's enough, but I don't think the charge is unreasonable if people actually want the insert.

It is easy for me to sit here and say that GSUSA needs to reduce its cost of operations, and like most other corporate organizations, I'm sure there are things on which they spend money that would make me raise my eyebrows if I had an exact expense breakdown.  However, our costs are clearly in line with similar organizations, and you can't expect an idealistic low-paid 20-something to have the know-how and experience to run an organization the size of GSUSA.  Considering that we have trouble keeping CEOs for more than a few years, I doubt we are overpaying them.  

I'm sure GSUSA is taking a huge financial hit this year, a hit that I'm sure will continue long-term, if we ever recover from it.  The fewer members we have the more the relatively inflexible costs consume per girl.  Having to compete with BSA for members means needing to allocate more money to marketing, or risk losing even more girls.   

How Would I Price Things?

I think it would be wonderful if GSUSA could be financed 100% by donations from other people--but I know that's not realistic.  Most of their money has to come from me and other members of the organization.  

To me, the trick is to maximize revenue from those who can afford it and to minimize barriers to participation by those who are unable to pay their share.  To that end, I would suggest raising girl dues slightly, say to $30 to $35, and lowering adult dues to $10 or so.  The majority of members are girls, and when adult dues were only $15, adding a parent membership wasn't that big a deal.  Now, in order to use that parent membership, the parent must also pay for a background check, for a total cost of $35 to $40 just to help out on a camping trip or similar.  I've found it to be a dealbreaker for some. 

As far as the price of publications and branded merchandise, I have no problem with GSUSA charging whatever they think the market will bear, as, at this time, I believe that stuff is optional--it may be nice to have but a troop can function on VTK and girls don't need GS branded leggings.  

I would like to see the cost of the sash and necessary insignia and badges kept low. These items identify us as a group and are required in some areas to participate in public events as Girl Scouts.  I have no problem with higher prices for the vest, scarf or other accessories being set at whatever the market will bear. 

How do you think GSUSA should get the money it needs to operate?