May 25 2021

We’re Spending HOW Much on IT?

National Operations    6 Comments    , , ,

Recently, I fell down yet another rabbit hole, and believe it or not, I did it attempting to give GSUSA the benefit of the doubt for something I’ve railed about for years now. In a former life, I was an IT professional, so this speaks to me.  I’ve always been extremely critical of GSUSA when it comes to its IT expenses because I’ve always thought they were enormously expensive. GSUSA’s council-wide technology platform is called CEI, which stands for Customer Engagement Initiative. It’s also referred to as Volunteer Systems 2.0, but I’m going to stick with CEI since that’s what is used in later charts. Yes, there will be charts and dollar figures, so go get a cup of coffee now.

What is CEI exactly? In basic terms, it’s an IT system. It was piloted in 2014 and then slowly rolled out to councils in 2015. From a volunteer standpoint, you use it in the form of Volunteer Toolkit, gsLearn, Volunteer Systems (or MyGS), and possibly some other parts, depending on what your council has enabled. There are other backend components that council staff interact with. Its foundation is based on Salesforce, which is a customer relationship management service (among other things). GSUSA requires councils to be on CEI to fulfill their charters, but before “agreeing” to onboard CEI, councils are obligated to sign a technology agreement (aka a contract). One of the terms is that GSUSA can charge councils whatever it wants year to year. Currently, all councils are on CEI, except for two – Middle Tennessee and Farthest North – but more about that in a future post.  Continue reading

May 14 2021

If You Want Something Done Right… Membership Cards Edition

National Operations    3 Comments    , , , , , ,

Back in December, I offhandedly wrote about the membership cards found in MyGS and how they don’t print properly.  They also don’t feature the words GIRL SCOUTS anywhere.  Additionally, J-Low’s name should be listed as the Founder per the Blue Book.  That post unexpectedly went viral!  Who knew membership cards would be such a hot topic?

Soon afterward, I submitted a Customer Care ticket to GSUSA detailing the issues.  They routed it to my council who then lobbed it back to GSUSA.  I haven’t received an update about it since then.

Today, someone in our council’s UNOFFICIAL leaders Facebook group stated that she was having problems printing out membership cards and needed help.  I responded that I had notified The Powers That Be about the issue but hadn’t heard anything.  She thanked me and said she had hoped to print them off for her troop’s bridging ceremony later this month but she would just figure something else out.  Continue reading

May 4 2021

If You Can’t Beat ‘Em, Yank Their Charter

National Governance    20 Comments    , , , ,

I’ll just leave this right here:

Update from National Board and CEO

Girl Scouts of the USA (GSUSA) remains wholeheartedly committed to building girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place. GSUSA issues charters to over 100 local Girl Scout councils to bring our powerful mission to life with Girl Scouts throughout the country. The charters and our Girl Scout governing documents in the Blue Book of Basic Documents provide rights and obligations for local councils. While the chartering process is an internal Girl Scout business matter, good governance is the foundation of our organization’s ability to deliver on our mission—helping girls realize their biggest dreams and full potential. As such, GSUSA takes this process very seriously and conducts a thorough annual review of each council’s adherence to its charter obligations.  
Continue reading