The Building Beyond Tomorrow campaign launches today, and it was born out of the COVID-19 pandemic. The original pandemic-driven need is gone, but we can still feel its mark.
Think about your favorite restaurant: there’s a good chance that its hours and menu are still limited compared to what it offered pre-COVID, but the prices are higher. You’re left paying more for less access and fewer options. This is not a fate we’re willing to accept at Girl Scouts.
Girl Scouting is vital. Throughout the upheaval of the past three years, we have remained dedicated to presenting a wide range of programming to as many Girl Scouts as possible. We don’t believe in cutting our offerings. We do believe in keeping our fees accessible, bringing Girl Scouting to girls through Community Engagement and Mobile Vehicle programs, and offering financial assistance to any Girl Scout that needs it. These are commitments the Building Beyond Tomorrow campaign was created to support.
To illustrate why these things are so important, we talked to various members—girls, volunteers, parents—about the importance of their Girl Scouting experience. We asked them three things:
1. What have you gotten from your experience as a Girl Scout?
2. How would your life be different without Girl Scouts?
3. Why should people donate?
“I’ve gotten to do a lot of things that I would have never done if I wasn’t a Girl Scout.”
The answers to the first question—what have you gotten from your experiences—were highly varied, proving the value of expansive program options. Girls talked about improved speech and social skills, a newfound passion for robotics, previously unimagined travel opportunities, outdoor skills, and a leg up on college applications. Adults mentioned developing their own leadership skills, watching girls grow into leaders, and seeing girls tackle challenges they never thought they would.
“I’ve got some really good friends that have come out of Girl Scouts. So not only have my girls made friends, but one of my new co-leaders is my best friend.”
For the second question—how would life be different without Girl Scouts—most respondents didn’t talk about missing out on those skills if they hadn’t been a Girl Scout; girls and adults referenced the friendships they made through Girl Scouts. They spoke of friendships that brought them out of their shell, that lasted across multiple moves—deep, long-lasting, and life-changing friendships.
“If you donate to Girl Scouts, then you give other girls the opportunity to do more fun things and to learn more and to have the experiences that I had.”
For the last question, why people should donate, the answer was almost unanimous. For them, the most important reason to support Girl Scouts was to ensure more girls could be Girl Scouts. They want as many girls as possible to share some of the experiences and enjoy the benefits that have meant so much to them.
Building Beyond Tomorrow is only one week this year, beginning today and ending Sunday, August 13. If you, like the many Girl Scouts we spoke with, experienced new opportunities, learned new skills, or developed new friendships through Girl Scouting, I hope you’ll consider donating to give the same experiences to the next generation. When you help them build beyond tomorrow, you give them a world of expanded possibilities.
