Over the past few decades, Girl Scout retention rates have been on a constant decline, with membership, recruitment, and monetary funds decreasing by the year. 

An organization that has persisted over 113 years and that has made a profound impact on millions of girls’ lives seems like it would be an everlasting platform. However, trends in recent years have begun to suggest that perhaps the old time campfire songs and badges are no longer suitable — or perhaps simply no longer relatable — for many of today’s girls. Not prepared to go extinct, however, the Girl Scouts organization has made significant changes to rebrand itself as more than just a monger of cookies. 

The organization’s largest issue remains recruiting volunteers to run troops, camps, and Girl Scout councils across the nation. 

Asako Pettinger, a senior director and staff on membership recruiting at Girl Scouts Norcal, stated, “You know, volunteering takes time, and I think most families just don’t have that extra free time to devote to Girl Scout volunteering, so I think that has definitely been a challenge for our organization. Furthermore, even if parents are able to make the time, retaining older Scouts has always been an issue, as other activities begin conflicting with girls’ abilities to dedicate time to Scouting.” 

However, it’s not just parents who seem unable to make the commitment. As girls grow older, the girl scout luster has historically appeared to fade as well. Despite the numerous opportunities available to older scouts, the percentage of girls truly taking advantage of them is disappointingly low. 

Milan Alas, a web manager at Girl Scouts Norcal, explained, “I was the only girl out of my troop that ended up completing their Gold Award—and we started out with twenty-eight girls, which then declined to fourteen, and then eventually we only had six girls left. So you can kind of see… the retention rate is not great.” 

Not only is a drop in membership a hit to Girl Scout morale, but it directly affects the organization’s financial budget as well. The organization’s largest revenue stream remains cookie sales, and with fewer and fewer Scouts participating, this drop-off further limits the money flowing in. In turn, this cash flow dilemma directly undermines the organization’s ability to offer financial aid and programs for underprivileged students. 

Pettinger explained that, “We definitely experienced a decline in membership which would equate to decline in our funds and so it definitely impacted our financial standing.”

But if there’s one thing Girl Scouts are known for, it’s resilience. 

These girls — and the women behind them — won’t give up without a fight. Over the past decade, the organization has been working to acknowledge the obstacles and issues it’s been facing, and has rolled out some key changes. First, the opportunity to run a co-op troop, a setup that uses a democratic new style of leadership that is particularly appealing for busy parents, is now available for troops that are newly registering. While the Girl Scout troop model has varied by time and location, the availability of co-op troop models appears to be a strong game-changer when it comes to recruitment. 

Pettinger explains the difference between the two models: “When someone wants to start a Girl Scout troop they get to choose whether they want to start a traditional troop model, which is a leader and a co-leader, or they can start a co-op troop, which means everybody helps out.” 

It’s a Girl Scouts model for the dual-income household era.

Girl Scouts has also begun its media rebrand, pivoting from its more traditional offline platform. Initiatives like the Media Squad permit Scouts and leaders to work together to create online media sharing information about Girl Scout events, or even participate in fun trends.

Alas described one of Girl Scout’s most recent rebranding ad campaigns by explaining how “GS Norcal just rolled out an ad called the power of ‘and’ – that they’re a cheerleader AND they’re a girl scout or they’re a wrestler AND they’re a Girl Scout. And I think that that’s a big reason girls don’t stay in: they think, ‘I don’t have the time for it.’ Girls Scouts can be as big as you make it or as little as you make it.”

In a landscape of chronically over-scheduled youth, having this flexibility must come as a breath of fresh air for many.

From courage, to leadership, to crucial life skills, the Girl Scout platform has contributed to the success of its millions of members for over a century. The biggest obstacle the organization is working to overcome is a uni-dimensional perspective of what Girl Scouts has to offer, as Amanda Erb, a Girl Scouts service unit volunteer, explained.

“People think that girl scouts is just selling cookies or just doing arts and crafts and stuff, but there’s so many different things,” Erb said.

A majority of people don’t see that many community gardens, green energy initiatives, legislation proposals, coding workshops, and more are all projects carried out and spearheaded by Girl Scouts for the good of their greater community. 

Alas encompassed the voices of many Scouts in stating, “Something that always bothered me is that I’m more than just a Girl Scout cookie. I’m doing something for my community, whether that is educating girls on how to be more sustainable or, ‘hey, I’m earning badges and learning life skills.’” 

While yes, their cookies are an incredible spring treat, expanding the spotlight on voices from Scouts and leaders alike within the organization itself reveals a call for a change in the public’s perception of Girl Scouts — that they’re more than just a cookie box. 

As Lorinda Rodrigues, the director of the Mom ‘n Me camp at Girl Scouts, puts it, “Yeah, we sell cookies, but we also do so much more.”

This article was written for the Yale Daily News’ 2025 Summer Journalism Program for high school students.