Core Strategy

For nearly two years now, staff and volunteers nationwide have heard about Girls Scouts' new wide-ranging Core Business Strategy. The realignment of councils is the first piece of the Core Strategy to be rolled out to Girl Scout councils, and it's what now pulls at members' heartstrings. The strategy feedback e-mail at GSUSA's New York headquarters has received letters from California, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and many states in between, all asking, Why must we realign? Why can't we keep our current jurisdictions?

Moving to a system of high-capacity councils may seem, to some, like a rather tough move. But the drawing of new council boundaries is being done to best serve girls. As Julie Murphy, GSUSA's Senior Director of Strategy, says, "The realignment of councils is one piece of a much larger picture called the Core Business Strategy."

The Core Strategy can be thought of a multilayered foundation that is being poured section by section to ensure that Girl Scouting remains relevant and viable for decades to come.

In today's fast-paced, jam-packed world, both children and adults have a myriad of activities competing for their attention. Ours is a time when nonprofit organizations stay successful only by keeping in tune with what's happening around them and constantly looking ahead for new opportunities. The past decade's nationwide explosion of nonprofits, coupled with a string of recent global disasters, has led to fierce competition for funding, members and media coverage. Failure to take the necessary steps to remain competitive can mean that a once-thriving organization suddenly finds itself on the sidelines.

GSUSA's mission and promise to girls are far too important to be marginalized. Yet a hard look at our organization showed that membership was lagging, particularly with older girls; our volunteer system, created in the early 1950s, was outdated; our program model needed to focus on specific outcomes for girls; and our mission statement required fine-tuning.

After much research, GSUSA's leadership concluded that mere tweaking to correct a few key issues wasn't enough. The Girl Scout brand needed a makeover. The aim is to turn Girl Scouts into an outward-looking, globally focused, risk-taking organization known for swift and nimble decision-making. And for that, a total transformation is necessary.

As the first step in that transformation, GSUSA needed to develop strategic priorities that would underpin its future vision for Girl Scouts.

National and local leadership came up with five strategic priorities (see list at left). To achieve success with all of them, the organization must first have a solid foundation, and that led to a need for robust, high-capacity councils. That is why realignment became the first order of business. Before Girl Scouts can achieve its priorities, it first needs the infrastructure and resources in place to support them.

The timeline for the Core Strategy stretches out over several years, well into 2009. In the end, the success of the Girl Scout Core Business Strategy means that all the pieces of the Core Strategy picture truly come together and support each other:

•New high-capacity councils rollout a terrific, new volunteerism system and an inspiring program model.
•The Girl Scout brand campaign shows the world the real benefit Girl Scouting brings to girls, and Girl Scouts, in turn, attracts a diverse and ever-growing membership.
•The organization's democratic governance system proves responsive and flexible.
•Donors come knocking at our door, eager to team with a relevant brand that delivers on its promise.

In short, the success of our Core Business Strategy will mean that our rich and historic organization is also a nimble and contemporary one that is the pride of every member — and, as Senior Director of Strategy Julie Murphy likes to say, "the envy of the nonprofit world."

Next: GSUSA's MarComm Network: The Vital Role of Councils