Stale Cookies: Girl Scouts Dump Aged Staff In Attempt To "Youthanize"

Plummeting membership, onerous liabilities, fraught collaborations, and rebellious

chapters continue to plague the Girl Scouts Of America (GSUSA) and their latest CEO Anna Maria Chávez. Having just celebrated their 100th anniversary, the organization grapples with a tangled set of financial and image problems leading to accelerating decay to an iconic American institution.

The fiscal picture has become so dire that the national headquarters slashed 85 positions....over 25% of their 326 employees. Factors in the move were not only to reduce head count, but also to modernize the organization by offering buyouts to 45 employees aged 55 and older.

Girl Scouts of America has struggled in past decade to remain relevant in the face of societal changes. But some attempts to modernize have backfired,  such as its partnership with Planned Parenthood in order to provide sex education materials to Girl Scout chapters. While GSUSA has tried to downplay such allegations, critics point to a 2004 video of former CEO Kathy Cloninger admitting on the Today Show saying: “We partner with many organizations. We have relationships with our church communities, with YWCAs, and with Planned Parenthood organizations across the country, to bring information-based sex education programs to girls.” Shortly thereafter came the precipitous decline in Girl Scout membership, now down over 20% in the past decade.

The decay in membership has exacerbated an already shaky pension system. Much like public school districts, generous promises coupled with declining revenues have forced GSUSA to raise pension contributions of local districts by 200-300%. The pushback by local chapters has moved to the courts where the Middle Tennessee chapter accused the national office of various breaches of fiduciary duty and financial mismanagement.

Such high profile actions have drawn the attention of Congress. One congressman called for an inquiry by the House Ways and Means Committee into the pension liabilities and the sale of camps. "I am worried that America's Girl Scouts are now selling cookies to fund pension plans instead of camping," wrote Rep. Bruce Braley, (D-Iowa), in a letter to the committee chairman.

Indeed, the shaky fiscal picture of national headquarters is resulting in greater pressure upon local chapters to bring in the revenue. This is generating dissent among parents. As one parent put it

Speaking as former Troop Leader, parents were frustrated by the high percentage of proceeds the Girl Scout franchise took from the Troops total cookie sales. In addition, the Troop had to buy the cookies in advance and got stuck with dozens of cases of cookies that did not sell during the allotted time. So for many Troops the cookie sale became a never ending fundraising campaign for busy working parents.

Despite the controversy, Girl Scouts retain a loyalty from parents.

"I care so much about this organization, and that's why I hate to see it pulled down," said Suellen Nelles, CEO of a local council based in Fairbanks, Alaska. "We have leadership at the top who are toxic to this organization and need to go."

Why Nonprofits Must Get Behind Pension Reform....NOW



Pennsylvania's Pension Bomb

On the day Gov. Scott Walker handily defeated the recall effort in Wisconsin, two cities in California also voted to rein in the growing Pension Monster which is eating public budget.  Voters in San Jose, CA provided a landslide victory (70%) to Measure B, a proposal to trim current and future pension obligations. 

You've heard me talk frequently about the enormous fiscal black hole which is Pennsylvania's Pension Bomb.  For example, while people in progressive circles howl about 'cuts' to education, the fact is that the state and local schools will be spending $500 million more this year....it's just that 95% of that new money is going into pay for retired teachers.....leaving just a paltry 5% for the kids.

One of the truly puzzling aspects of the battle in Wisconsin was how many nonprofits got involved...on the side of the status quo!  What's baffling is how these nonprofits lined up with a special interest which was trying to lock in the largest piece of the pie for its members.  So as that pie shrinks in the Age of Austerity, it would be the nonprofits who would be forced to shoulder the budget shortfalls, staff cuts, and eventual closure.

In the current Chronicle of Philanthropy,  William Schambra has a devastating piece asking why nonprofits support the gilded pay/benefit/pension packages of public worker unions which are crowding out spending on basic human services.  He relates:

The June elections in California and Wisconsin made clear that the public is increasingly disinclined to support an expansive government if that means not compassionate provision for the poor but rather the transfer of scarce dollars from the pockets of hard-pressed taxpayers directly into the health and retirement accounts of comfortable government workers.  Foundations and nonprofits would serve their noblest cause in the most politically savvy fashion by challenging the grip of labor unions on the progressive agenda.

 Which raises the fundamental question: Why are progressive nonprofits lining up in support of an effort which will ultimately lead to their own doom?