Back to the Future: About 2008 and Membership Dues
National Governance, Opinions 9 Comments 
2017 NCS, back to the future, blue book, comics, delegate, farthest north council, governance, gsusa, membership dues, memes, national board, national convention, national council, OFFICIAL scarf, roberts rules, time travel
In April’s post titled Surveys, Rogues, and Signs, I mentioned the Farthest North Council’s lawsuit vs. GSUSA over the 2017-2018 membership increase from $15 to $25. At that time, I was under the impression that the National Council (delegates) had turned over authority to raise membership dues to the National Board during the 2008 National Convention. I made a sarcastic comment as well. I’d like to apologize for that comment, because after reviewing the 2008 proposal (#4 to be exact) and what is stated in the Blue Book, the National Council did in fact NOT give that power away. In fact, it is my opinion that the National Board overstepped its bounds in 2016 and was not and still is not authorized to increase dues.
First, what is the Blue Book? As stated on the GSUSA website, “The 2017 edition of our Blue Book of Basic Documents contains important information and source documents, including the Constitution of Girl Scouts of the United States of America, bylaws, policies, credentials criteria and standards for councils, our Congressional Charter, and more.” By the way, did you know there was a 2017 edition? I sure didn’t, so obviously more changes were made since the 2014 Session.
So what exactly is in the Blue Book?
- Congressional Charter – Per USLegal.com, “A congressional charter is a law passed by the U.S. Congress describing the purpose, authority, and actions of an organization or an agency.” Congress does not supervise and leaves that up to the organization per their constitution and bylaws.
- Constitution – Per Robert’s Rules of Order 11th Edition, “In general, the constitution or the bylaws – or both – of a society are the documents that contain its own basic rules relating principally to itself as an organization, rather than the parliamentary procedure that it follows.” In other words, these are the hard and steadfast rules that an organization has to follow. What’s in print is what goes – not what’s discussed in a session.
- Bylaws – Usually organizations do not have a constitution – only bylaws. In GSUSA’s case, the bylaws go into more detail than the Constitution. However, a constitution always supersedes bylaws per Robert’s Rules. So if there’s conflicting authorization between the constitution and the bylaws, the constitution trumps the bylaws.
- Policies – From Business Dictionary, “A set of policies are principles, rules, and guidelines formulated or adopted by an organization to reach its long-term goals and typically published in a booklet or other form that is widely accessible.”
- Credentials – These are the requirements for certificates of membership, local council charters, and all other credentials. It also includes procedures for council charters.
Now that we got that out of the way, let’s move on to where membership dues amounts are listed and how they are established according to the Blue Book. They are found on pg. 26 under the Membership Dues and Procedures for Registration section of the Credentials:
⋅ New members of Girl Scout troops/groups, both girls and adults, pay $15* when they initially become members of the Movement.
⋅ Continuing members of Girl Scout troops/groups, both girls and adults, pay $15* when they renew their membership at the beginning of each membership year.
⋅ Nontroop-affiliated girl and adult members on both local council and national levels also pay $15* dues each membership year.
⋅ Lifetime members pay 25 times the annual membership dues at the time they become lifetime members.
The asterisk refers to the bottom of pg. 26: * By action taken by the National Board of Directors on January 21, 2016, Girl Scout annual membership dues are raised to $25, effective with the 2018 membership year, beginning October 1, 2017.
So the next question is – who has the authority to modify the Credentials? Per Article VIII/Credentials of the Constitution (pg. 10), it’s the National Council (emphasis added):
REQUIREMENTS
1. The National Council shall establish requirements for certificates of membership, local council charters, and all other credentials.
ADMINISTRATION
2. The National Board of Directors shall administer the requirements for the credentials established by the National Council, and may establish standards and issue standards, procedures, and interpretations regarding such requirements provided such standards, procedures, and interpretations are consistent with the requirements established by the National Council.
ISSUANCE REVOCATION
3. The National Board of Directors, in its sole discretion, shall have the power to issue these credentials subject to the requirements established by the National Council, and to revoke them when, in its opinion, the terms and conditions thereof or requirements therefore are being violated or when the best interests of Girl Scouting are not being furthered.
Addendum 7/3/17: I forgot one from Article V/Sessions of the National Council (pg. 8):
2. The National Council at its sessions shall hold elections, amend the Constitution, establish requirements for credentials, and shall determine the general lines of policy of the Girl Scout Movement and program by considering and acting upon proposals directed toward the fostering and improvement of Girl Scouting, by receiving and acting upon reports of its National Board of Directors, and by giving guidance to the National Board upon general lines of direction of the Movement and program.
And from the Bylaws Article VIII/Blue Book of Basic Documents:
A Blue Book of Basic Documents shall be published and distributed, which shall contain the Congressional Charter, the Constitution and Bylaws, requirements for credentials as established by the National Council, and such other material as the National Board shall direct.
But who and what is the National Council? The Constitution defines it in Article IV/The National Council (pg. 7):
1. The membership of this corporation shall consist of the members of the National Council of Girl Scouts of the United States of America, and the corporation in meeting assembled shall be known as the National Council.
AND
a. delegates elected by Girl Scout councils who are registered through such local councils;
b. delegates from USA Girl Scouts Overseas;
c. members of the National Board of Directors;
d. members of the National Board Development Committee;
e. Past Presidents of Girl Scouts of the United States of America; and
f. such other persons as may be elected by the National Council.
And who and what is the National Board of Directors? It is comprised of these people (look at all those OFFICIAL scarves!). If you don’t know what a board of directors does, read this (but alas, the people in the picture are not wearing OFFICIAL scarves).
Got it? Now let’s get in our Delorean and travel back to 2008! It seems like just yesterday, but can you believe it was almost 10 years ago? I didn’t start as a volunteer until 2010, so this was before my time. At the 2008 National Convention, six proposals were submitted. We will look at Proposal Number 4.
Long story short, Proposal 4 was a constitutional amendment of Article V in Section 5 to allow for electronic voting instead of paper ballots when voting for dues and elections. This passed BUT with an additional amendment to the proposal. So instead of this passing:
Article V – Sessions of the National Council
5. Each member present in person at the National Council shall be entitled to one (1) vote. All matters shall be determined by a majority vote of the members present and voting, unless otherwise provided by this Constitution.
It now reads (emphasis added):
Article V – Sessions of the National Council
5. Each member present in person at the National Council shall be entitled to one (1) vote. Decision on annual membership dues shall require a majority of votes cast. All matters shall be determined by a majority vote of the members present and voting, unless otherwise provided by this Constitution.
Pretty straight forward, right? Well, if you read the proposal all the way through and the National Board’s rationale for it, there’s something additional stuck in there about dues. Not the voting about dues (which is what the amendment is regarding), but the dues themselves. The National Board tries to assert its authority right off the bat in its rationale (pg. 2 under Dues header):
“The Congressional Charter and Article X of the GSUSA Constitution vest the authority to manage the affairs of the corporation with the National Board of Directors between National Council Sessions.”
Well, yes, but only up to a point, and we’ll get to that in a second. Then the rationale goes into why the National Board should be the one to set the amount of dues because it has fiduciary responsibility, Boy Scouts and AARP do it this way, etc. etc.
The National Board quotes the Congressional Charter as proof of its authority to raise membership dues:
“The Congressional Charter provides, in Section 80303(b)(1), that the Board has the authority to act on behalf of the National Council. “To the extent provided in the constitution and bylaws, the board of directors shall have the powers of the Council and manage the activities of the corporation between meetings of the Council.”
Sure – but the key phrase is “to the extent provided in the constitution and bylaws.” This means the Board has authority but only within the boundaries that are established in the constitution and bylaws. In other words, the National Board can act on the behalf of the National Council when the constitution and bylaws specifically GIVES it that power. So let’s look at the constitution and see what it says about this!
In its rationale, the National Board speaks about the actual cost of the membership dues. And where are those costs found? As stated earlier, they are found in the Credentials section of the Blue Book. And what powers do the National Council and the National Board have when it comes to the Credentials? Let’s review (emphasis added again):
REQUIREMENTS
1. The National Council shall establish requirements for certificates of membership, local council charters, and all other credentials.
ADMINISTRATION
2. The National Board of Directors shall administer the requirements for the credentials established by the National Council, and may establish standards and issue standards, procedures, and interpretations regarding such requirements provided such standards, procedures, and interpretations are consistent with the requirements established by the National Council.
ISSUANCE REVOCATION
3. The National Board of Directors, in its sole discretion, shall have the power to issue these credentials subject to the requirements established by the National Council, and to revoke them when, in its opinion, the terms and conditions thereof or requirements therefore are being violated or when the best interests of Girl Scouting are not being furthered.
This means that only the National Council can amend the Credentials and therefore the amount of membership dues.
The rationale also states that Article X of the GSUSA Constitution gives the National Board the same authority as the National Council. If you review Article X (pg. 11), the only mention I can find where the National Board can act on behalf of the Council is in the event of an emergency (Section 6):
6. In the event of an emergency which makes it impossible for the National Council to meet, all the powers of the National Council, except the conducting of elections, shall, to the extent permissible by law, be automatically conferred on the National Board of Directors until such time as a session of the National Council can be held.
And when the membership dues were raised to $25, I don’t remember hearing anything about an emergency (be sure to also read “But What If There’s an Emergency?”). So maybe what was stuck in the 2008 Proposal 4 was a foot in the door?
But wait, you say! We discussed something about this at the 2011 and 2014 National Conventions! Nothing in the passed proposals from those two years modified or amended Article VIII/Credentials in the Constitution, and therefore, the National Council retains the authority for the cost of membership dues. What was discussed is moot, because legally you have to go by what’s within the four corners of the document.
So based on what I have presented, the National Board of Directors did not have the authority to raise membership dues to $25 in 2016. This and $2.04 will get you a cup of coffee at Panera Bread.
Thoughts? Comments? I’d like to hear from you especially if you’ve got a different interpretation. I don’t know if this is the basis of the Farthest North Council’s lawsuit. Keep in mind that it’s not the amount of the membership dues that I have an issue with ($25 is still a good deal IMO) – it’s that I feel the National Board acted when it did not have the authority to do. If we raise membership dues, OK, but let’s go about it the right way because not following our governance documents can and will lead to a slippery slope.
Addendum 7/9/17: Be sure to continue on to the next blog post in the series called The Lifetime Membership Dues Amendment Contradiction.
Updated 7/27/17 to correct the broken link to the Blue Book on the GSUSA website.
Also, the cost of lifetime membership did NOT increase to $625. I just got my lifetime membership as my birthday & Mother’s Day gift this year. I thought that I had missed my opportunity last September, but we were still able to do it on the web site in May.
So something is definitely screwy. I was guessing that it was that the 2008 action had given National the right to raise regular membership dues but not lifetime, but since the bylaws & constitution have a multiplier not an amount, they should be charging $625 for lifetime.
Yes, I agree something is screwy, but maybe not what you think. The 2017 Lifetime Membership Dues proposal (from the National Board) requests the Council to amend the Credentials of the Blue Book regarding the Lifetime Membership criteria. But here’s the thing – the Board claims to have the power to modify membership dues amounts (which are n the Credentials), but yet it is requesting the National Council to amend the same section. Either it has the power or it doesn’t. The Board is contradicting itself when it changed one part of the Credentials (the amount of membership dues), but then put forth a proposal requesting the Council to change the lifetime membership criteria in the next bulletpoint down. Does that make sense? I ought to write a separate blog post on this.
GS-Amy, I Believe that a SECOND blog would help explain it for many people.
I agree with you that something was not accomplished correctly at the last three National Council Sessions.
I wonder just how many of the the National Board Members have actually READ and understand the Blue Book of Basic Documents; let alone how many delegates at ALL levels of the organization, National and Councils have read it too!
I’ll put one up in the next few days once I sit down with that particular proposal and map it all out to make sure I don’t leave out anything. Governance documents and their structure are not easy to figure out and pretty dry stuff (aka boring) to study. Honestly, I wouldn’t be knowledgeable about it except that I had to educate myself as a SU delegate when our council had a bylaw amendment issue last year. Even though I’m not a nat’l council delegate, I hope this is helpful to those that are.
Amy, this is a very timely and well thought out post. While I am outside the mainstream and actually like governance, I cannot find a flaw in your logic or that of the lawsuit. Article 5/Para 5 of the constitution is awkward and seems to have been approved as an amendment from the floor of an amendment but clearly states a duty of the National Council is to vote on dues. I can find no where else in the governing documents that gives voting on dues the authority to the board. The board has the authority to administer not change. The board has the authority to change the bylaws in line with the constitution but not the constitution and if the board is asking for a change in the blue book policies on lifetime, why did it not for regular? CONUNDRUM. Except for in a declared (by GSUSA) emergency the board does not have the power. Sing that song. Even in a state of national or international emergency, it says the CEO and board chair can fund raise so perhaps that would include raising dues. Absent the definition and declaration of emergency, I think the National Council has to ask for a re-set of the annual dues and the 18 month membership and its dues also be put on the table. Our board is made up of very smart people – perhaps there was just a rush in a board meeting to get this through and no one really checks. Or we are off base in our understanding. But with a council suing national, well, I’m wondering. Seriously – why can the Boy Scouts do a prorated dues structre at $24 a year or $2 a month if a scout/er joins during an “off” month (as in not in the month of the annual dues due date)? It’s simply a simple transaction. Sorry, I can’t come up a contrarian on this one.
Cheryl, I have a completely different suggestion for how to run dues and membership. Getting registrations done turns into a major hassle for troop leaders, and having everybody renew at different times is a royal pain. When I’m still hounding parents in November I don’t think that we should be rewarding them by giving them a price break when the girl has been coming to meetings and other activities while lapsed.
I had a girl decide to quit Girl Scouts during her sophomore year in high school. The July of the year following her junior year we were planning a troop camping trip and she asked if she could pay her dues and be a girl scout again. I told her it was not “again” but “still” and she came along and then was active her senior year, was on camp staff the summer after high school, and got a lifetime membership at the 1/2-price rate. So under our current rules, she was a Girl Scout for 13 years of daisy through ambassador and her hiatus from scouts doesn’t count.
So here’s my plan:
1) Every membership ends on September 30.
2) Renewing members are simply continuing, and on September 30 they roll over to the next year.
3) When a new member joins, if the signup date is between August 1 & December 31, the membership expires on September 30 of the following year. If the signup is between January 1 & July 31, the membership expires the same year.
4) A lapsed member has until July 31 to renew. If renewal happens in time, the membership is retroactive to the previous October 1, and the member is considered to have been continuing. Renewing August 1 or later follows the rules for new members and the gap years don’t count.
— Continuing members are expected to renew during spring registration, as this is courteous to girls and volunteers planning activities.
— New members could have their first Girl Scout year be as long as 14 months (if they register on August 1) or 2 months (if they register on July 31). This solves the issues of whether girls recruited in August & September as school starts are members before October 1.
— A member who registers on or before July 31 is considered to have been a member for the entire year, when it comes to earning membership stars, years-in-service pine, etc.
— The price is the same, so that there are no perverse incentives for people to delay registration for a few months to get a lower prorated rate.
That’s my plan… We’ve gone horseback riding & camping the last weekend in September and had to pay double registration fees for girls and adults that we had just recruited, and it discourages recruitment…
One glaring issue with your scenario is that some councils have reasons to start the GS year in August or September. For instance, GSCM has the earliest cookie season in GSUSA — girls begin selling around September 13th (give or take a few days depending on the calendar). We have girls join in July or early August to have a place in a troop and most troops do back to troop meetings the first week that school returns (which in past years has as early as 3rd week in August). There is no way to have a girl who joins in July (we usually have recruitment booths at the first week of July Heritage fair) and doesn’t participate in any troop activities until the first week of school, should have to pay again on October 1st.
Yes, it was apparently considered an emergency to raise the dues. I cannot find anything in the Blue Book that identifies what constitutes an emergency, so that is the Catch 22. But under Emergency Powers, it does say “Action taken but the National Board of Directors under these emergency powers shall be reported to the National Council at its next session”. Since no delegates were asked to come to a meeting between Council sessions, they will need to show us why it needed to happen so quickly, which will probably happen during the financial report. We all need to listen and watch carefully…
Until I see proof that an emergency was declared (and I’ve been told by multiple sources that one wasn’t), I’m marking this down as another word of mouth rumor. There is a lot of this and that was discussed but not much in the way of actual proof. I also don’t think the Farthest North Council would go to the extent of filing a lawsuit against GSUSA if they could easily explain it away with the emergency excuse.
I think it’s highly advisable that a proposal adding a clause in the bylaws that explicitly states what an emergency entails and what the procedure is when one is declared be submitted for the 2020 Convention.