Circling Back Around to CircleAround

In June of 2020, GSUSA surprised the Girl Scouting world by announcing its latest endeavor called CircleAround, with most people responding with a resounding, “Huh??”  Even now, few volunteers have even heard about it or understand what exactly it is. Is it for Girl Scout volunteers?  Or…?

Here’s a little bit of history.  According to the FAQ released by GSUSA a few months later after it launched, “…in 2018, our National Board challenged the Girl Scouts of the USA Management Team to come up with an innovative new way to bring in additional revenue and strengthen our Movement’s finances.”  As a side comment, shouldn’t the National Board members be the ones who are helping to come up with ways to diversify finances? But I digress. 

So GSUSA’s idea was to launch a website aimed towards women and bring in revenue via advertisers. But wait – GSUSA is a nonprofit and therefore can’t do something along these lines.  To get around this technicality, One GS Media LLC was created as a for-profit subsidiary that is 100% wholly owned by GSUSA.  One GS Media would collect the ad revenue and then distribute it to GSUSA. Upon hearing this explanation, people continued to ask, “Huh??”  I don’t really get it either, but let’s go with it anyway.

One GS Media runs CircleAround, “a compelling, inspiring and trusted content site for women that is grounded in the values women share with powerful content tailored for women with specific messages of commonality, positivity, and usefulness.”  It’s not aimed at Girl Scout volunteers or alumnae specifically, nor does it have anything to do with our program.  But, they do say that it’s inspired by Girl Scout ideals.  I checked out some of the articles, and there’s one called “Have Fun While Staying Sober With This Lychee Fizz Mocktail.”  I had no idea what a lychee was, much less did I know that they resemble coronaviruses after seeing the picture.  Not sure if I’ll try one.

Recently, CircleAround rebranded with a new logo and look. “While GSUSA’s logo pictures a girl looking forward, CircleAround’s logo illustrates a woman looking back at the girl. This is with the understanding that inspired girls become inspiring women who then inspire girls to become inspiring women, completing the circle.”  But CircleAround rebranded a tad too late after GSUSA’s own rebrand, because our OFFICIAL logo is now a solid trefoil, not the three faces. Oh well.

Simply put, CircleAround is an independent online women’s magazine, and it attempts to make money for GSUSA via ad revenue and sponsors.  Are there any issues with this?

Well, first of all, should GSUSA really be putting time, energy, and money toward something that doesn’t match the purpose of our organization, even if it would bring in revenue for the Movement?  It personally makes me wince a little bit. Could this lead to a slippery slope in the name of money?

Speaking of money, GSUSA originally invested $2.75 million to get One GS Media and CircleAround off the ground.  On the 2021 Stewardship Report, a question arose asking how much had been spent on CircleAround through FY2021.  We were told that MRM, a media company, provided $500k worth of pro bono services. We had also devoted a total of $5.75 million, so an additional $3 million was shelled out after the initial investment.  And another million would be going toward it in FY2022.

Considering this, there are a few things I don’t understand.  Let’s refer back to the FAQ:

The website is projected to be profitable in two years, and generate significant returns by year three. Once the company is profitable, the profit will be distributed to GSUSA, and the National Board will allocate these funds for the benefit of the Girl Scout Movement. If the venture is not profitable, GSUSA will wind it down.

Even though the National Board tasked GSUSA to come up with this idea, it was still the one to approve it plus the subsequent money that’s been spent since then, so it’s on the hook in my opinion.  Here are my questions for the National Board:

1.      Based on the above statement, does this mean if CircleAround isn’t profitable after its second year (2022), you will wind it down?  Or will you give it a third year (or more)?

2.      Have you set a cap on what you’re willing to invest, and if so, what’s the maximum amount?

3.      How much has CircleAround brought in by this point?

4.      Are you counting on revenue from CircleAround to help pay off the $24 million we borrowed against our line of credit?

5.      If this fails, how will you rationalize that $6.75 million (hopefully not more) went down the drain?

No word if the National Board will be looking at other audiences if CircleAround doesn’t pan out.  Personally I think they should give CircleMeow™ a go.  In the meantime, enjoy your lychee mocktails!