2018-2019 Early Bird Registration

Troop Leader Guidelines

The Early Bird gets the worm! Kuddos to all! Let’s start planning now for an incredible 2019!

As you may know, our membership year runs from October 1st to September 30th, and troops who “Early Bird” by registering for the upcoming 2019 membership year can earn some great incentives!

The Early Bird campaign is April 1-June 15, 2018.

What is Early Bird? Early Bird is the process of registering now for the upcoming membership year - 2018-2019. This is a chance to celebrate what girls have done and get everyone excited for the next Girl Scout year!

This year, Early Bird is all ON-LINE! NO PACKETS! Why you ask? All your resources for Early Bird registration can be found on the GSSSC website.

The following is a reference guideline as troops register for the upcoming 2018-2019 Girl Scout membership year. Please take the time to actively discuss plans for next year with the girls and who will be continuing. Be sure to communicate to the membership team if the troop will not be continuing. We want to make sure all the girls get an opportunity to continue in Girl Scouting. This information is valuable as the Troop Annual Report is completed and will greatly assist in ensuring that all girls have a place in Girl Scouts for the coming year!

INCENTIVES!

By registering early, before the June 15th deadline, girls can earn the Early Bird patch (see patch design on top of page), troops can receive an adult or girl 2019 membership and contribute to the Service Unit incentives and have their 2019 membership completed before the craziness of back to school and fall activities.

Everyone likes an incentive! Being an Early Bird who gets the worm means:

  • Girl Level: As always, girls can earn a special Early Bird patch! (see design on top of page)
  • Troop Level: Troops (with a minimum of 5 girls*) who have TWO approved registered adults and are in the first 100 troops registering will be eligible to receive aNEW adult ORNEW girl 2019 membership. *Exceptions will be made for Senior and Ambassador Girl Scout troops who may have less than 5 girls but must be open to taking more girls in their troop on the opportunity catalog.
  • Service Unit Level: Each Service Unit can earn $2 per girl for each girl registering during the Early Bird campaign (April 1-June 15, 2018) and $1 per girl for each girl registering after (June 16 –September 30, 2018) for the coming 2019 membership year. And, to further add to the fun, we’re offering $1 per troopfor every troop that has a minimum ofTWO approved adults and their girls registered during the Early Bird timeframe (April 1-June 15, 2018). The more troops in the Service Unit that register during Early Bird, the more Service Units can earn!

Opportunity Catalog:

Have you heard of the Opportunity Catalog? It is an online listing of available troops through our Silver Sage Council website. The catalog makes it easy for new and returning members to find a troop that best fits their needs and makes Girl Scouts accessible to everyone! If a troop is interested in taking additionalgirls, the troop’s information will be displayed in the catalog until the desired number of girls is reached. When a new girl or volunteer joins a troop, the troop leader receives an email notification. Troop leaders will then reach out to this new girl or volunteer as soon as possible to welcome them to the troop and provide them with any important information. To be displayed in the Opportunity Catalog, please contact us at or at(208)377-2011.

On line Early Bird resources:

On the GSSSC website, under “Volunteer/Early Bird/Resources” find:

  • Troop Leader Guidelines
  • 2018 -2019 Registration Tips -Online and Paper
  • Membership Summary and Girl and Adult Registration forms
  • Early Bird Bash! Ideas
  • Health History form
  • Financial Aid form
  • Cookie Dough Reimbursement to Troop for Online Girl Membership Registration
  • Troop Annual Report (completed and submitted to Service Unit Manager or completed on line by May 31)

On the MyGS tab -under Member Profile, troops will find:

  • Troop Rosters
  • Troop Renewal

On the My GS tab -under Volunteer Toolkit (VTK), troops will find:

  • Troop Annual Report(completed and submitted to Service Unit Manager or completed on line by May 31, 2018)

Membership Registration Preparation Guidelines:

Online Registration

  • Encourage parents to go online to register themselves and their girls through their MyGS portal. As a Troop Leader, you will be able to log into your own MY GS portal and monitor your troop roster.
  • Online registration is quick and easy! Common questions that arise as people begin online registration are:
  • Where can I register online?
  • Look for the orange MY GS tab.
  • What’s my username and password?
  • What email did I use?
  • How exactly did I input my name (i.e. Kathryn versus Katie)
  • It’s telling me I already exist in the system and I can’t renew my membership?
  • For these question, please contact the Membership Support Team via phone at (208) 377-2011 or via email at

Completing Registration Forms

  • We strongly encourage to register on line instead of using paper registration forms. Exception is registrations for girls needing financial assistance.
  • Review the Registration Tips and feel free to forward these tips to your volunteers and parents.

Membership Registration Summary Form

  • If registering with paper, please attach a Membership Registration Summary with your registrations for easy tracking.

Health History Form

  • While you are discussing registrations with parents, it is a good time to also have them review their girl’s Health History form and make any updates as needed. Remember, Health History forms are kept by the Troop Leader for their use throughout the year. Do not turn them into the Council office.

Financial Aid Form

  • If any of your girls’ parents/guardians wish to apply for Financial Aid to cover part or all of the cost of their girl’s registration, your first step is to see if you have Troop Account or Service Unit Account funds to help pay for this.
  • If not, provide the Financial Aid form to the parents/guardians and request that they return it into you with their girl’s paper registration form. Make sure that the Financial Aid form is filled out completely and the reason for requesting Financial Aid is clearly explained. Incomplete requests for Financial Aid will not be acceptedand will not be granted.
  • Financial Aid form is available on
  • PLEASE NOTE:Financial Aid is available for girls only, NOT for adults.

Graduating Ambassadors

  • If you have any 12th grade Ambassadors, let them know that they will receive registration information in the mail from GSUSA.

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