Our Finances

Our several funding sources provide critical resources, opportunities, and support for our youth and volunteer members as they change the world. Learn where our funding comes from, what it provides, and how it helps sustain our trailblazing Girl Scout members and community for generations to come.

This financial information reflects only our earned income—not the countless hours and contributions from our thousands of volunteers and community members who make Girl Scouting possible.

Our last fiscal year (October 1, 2019 to September 30, 2020) was full of anomalies that hopefully only occur once in a lifetime. In many places, we include information from our fiscal year 2019 (October 1, 2018 to September 30, 2019) to provide a more complete and realistic understanding of how we fund Girl Scout experiences.

How We're Funded

What Our Funding Provides

Our Funding Goals

Numata's Numbers

On April 10, 2021, the inaugural meeting of our new webinar series, Numata's Numbers, took a close look at our finances from fiscal year 2020. Named for Mae Numata, our Board Chair from 2017 to February 2021, this series aims to uphold and build upon Mae's legacy of fostering financial transparency and education within our Girl Scout community. Chief Financial Officer Kherlen Cox walks you through the council finances and revenue streams and how they serve our youth and adult members.

How We're Funded

Our funding comes from five primary sources.

Product Program: Girl Scout Cookies and other product program sales.
Philanthropy: Charitable donations from individuals, corporations, foundations, and other partners.
Retail: Girl Scout store proceeds from badges, uniforms, gifts, supplies, and merchandise.
Program Fees: Participation fees for camp, events, and other programs.
Other: Investments and income including harvest (brush, forest), and unrelated business income.

Funding Sources	FY20 Actual		FY20 Budget		FY19 Actual
Product Program	$17,012,460	88%	$16,913,266	77%	$16,787,780	78%
Philanthropy	$1,559,884	8%	$1,925,090	9%	$2,048,325	9%
Retail	$374,334	2%	$629,507	3%	$395,437	2%
Program Fees	$120,996	1%	$2,031,607	9%	$1,617,649	7%
Other	$310,656	1%	$443,000	2%	$769,131	4%
Total	$19,378,330	100%	$21,942,470	100%	$21,618,322	100%

Product Program increased by 1.75% from 2019 to 2020, remaining relatively true to budget. Our other funding sources fell significantly short of budget in 2020.

Philanthropy 23% under budget
Retail 41% under budget
Program Fees 94% under budget
Other Income 44% under budget

What Our Funding Provides

Our expenses fall into three main categories.

Girl Scout Programming – 81%
Management & General – 13%
Fundraising – 6%

	Girl Scout Programming		Management & General		Fund Development
Funding Source	FY20	FY19	FY20	FY19	FY20	FY19
Product Program	94%	83%	97%	98%	-	-
Philanthropy	3%	5%	-	-	100%	100%
Program Fees	2%	9%	-	-	-	-
Other	1%	3%	3%	2%	-	-
Retail	-	-	-	-	-	-

Percent changes in funding from FY19 to FY20 were due primarily to...

Program Fees: lost program revenue from program closures (especially camp) due to state pandemic guidelines
Philanthropy: lost volunteer matching revenue

Because of these losses, Product Program made up a larger percentage of our revenue. Girl Scout Cookie sales were mostly complete when the pandemic began, providing similar revenue in FY19 and FY20.

Girl Scout Programming = Impact

Most of our expenses (81%) benefit Girl Scout youth and adults through direct services and support.

Management & General Fundraising help keep our services available and accessible.

Girl Scout Cookie Funding Breakdown:

Girl Scout Programming – 50%
Cost of Cookies – 24%
Troop/Individual Proceeds – 15%
- Goes directly back to Girl Scouts who participate in the Cookie Program.
Management & General – 11%

Philanthropy Funding Breakdown:

Unrestricted
- Donors don’t specify a purpose for these gifts, allowing us to fund greatest needs.
- General Operating Support – 60%
Restricted
- Donors dedicate these gifts to financial assistance, a specific program or camp, and smaller specific projects.
- Financial Assistance – 25%
- Program Funding – 13%
- Restricted Operations – 1%
- Restricted Projects < $1K – 1%

Our Funding Goals

Our strategic priorities through September 30, 2022 are…

Stability in every facet of our values-based operation, including finances, membership, programming, workforce support and organizational culture.
Relevancy from culturally responsive programming, communications, and operations that girls, families, volunteers, and staff are attracted to and resonate with.
Visibility that drives Girl Scout of western Washington culturally responsive in-person and virtual community presence through showcasing GSWW’s results to key audiences through high impact avenues.

To best serve current and future Girl Scouts, we need to work toward a more balanced mix of funding. This means maintaining strong product programs like Girl Scout Cookies while growing other slices of the pie. We look forward to working together to ensure a healthy, relevant, and sound community of Girl Scouts for generations to come.

Still have questions? Submit your input through this survey to guide our upcoming resources for understanding council finances and future webinar topics.

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