Girl Scouts Challenges Consumers to Invest in Girls

In the past decade, the concept of "girl power" has been parroted with abandon, yet actual financial support is often severely lacking—and greatly needed. With ToGetHerThere: The Girl Scout Challenge, Girl Scouts is shining a light on the lack of funding and donations dedicated to girls and their leadership potential. The campaign represents the next iteration of Girl Scouts' historic ToGetHerThere fundraising drive—the largest philanthropic effort in the world for girls. Beginning today through December 2, Girl Scouts will lift up the real-life, awe-inspiring stories of Girl Scouts across the country who take the lead and create positive change in their communities.

"As the world's largest leadership organization for girls, at Girl Scouts we know that when you invest in girls, they have the power to create meaningful change in the world," said interim GSUSA CEO Sylvia Acevedo. "While many brands have supported the notion of championing 'girl power' in recent years, there has been little action in the form of financial endowments—shockingly, less than 8 cents of every dollar granted by U.S. foundations goes toward addressing girls and issues relevant to them. And unleashing girls' potential and developing their leadership skills is essential if they are to thrive in the 21st century. So as we enter this season of giving, we're challenging everyone to join us by investing in girls, the change-makers and trailblazers of our collective future."

Ensuring that girls have access to quality leadership development opportunities results in a host of benefits to society, including more secure families and communities, less poverty, and greater equality. Indeed, studies have consistently shown that one of the most effective ways to boost a nation's economic output, enhance productivity, and improve the overall vibrancy of society is to invest in the leadership capabilities of girls and women. And throughout the last century, the Girl Scout experience has been a prominent way by which girls have forged their unique leadership paths, with Girl Scout alumnae excelling as astronauts and business owners, stay-at-home moms and politicians, world-renowned actresses and athletes, and beyond.

ToGetHerThere: The Girl Scout Challenge invites small-dollar donations at www.girlscouts.org/investingirls or by texting "InvestInGirls" to 41444, allowing those who give to support the Girl Scout Movement and contribute to the skill-building and leadership development of girls everywhere. Each donation to Girl Scouts enables the organization and its 112 local councils to continue providing impactful, transformative, girl-led programming that combines STEM, the outdoors, life skills, entrepreneurship, and civic engagement.

Leading up to the giving campaign, Girl Scouts from all walks of life have been sharing accounts of how they build a better world. Whether harvesting community gardens they planted for food banks, initiating programs to combat bullying in schools, cleaning local streams for future generations, or using their STEM skills to assist those with disabilities, girls, through Girl Scouts, activate their inner G.I.R.L. (Go-getter, Innovator, Risk-taker, Leader)^™ and make a demonstrable difference in the world. GSUSA will use the information supplied by girls to measure "girl power," revealing, on Giving Tuesday—a worldwide day of giving powered by social media and collaboration—preliminary data regarding the social impact Girl Scouts have on their communities and the world.

"Creating a supportive environment for girls to develop and strengthen their leadership abilities is imperative, and through our Girl Scout programming, we enhance and reinforce what girls learn in school, empowering them to evolve into formidable leaders in their own lives and beyond," said Andrea Bastiani Archibald, PhD, chief girl expert at GSUSA. "At Girl Scouts, we believe shining a light on what our girls do every day as global change agents will inspire more girls to join our ranks, realize their potential, embrace challenges, and make a positive change in the world."

The future of our global economic landscape depends largely on the status of the world's girls and women. Now, through ToGetHerThere: The Girl Scout Challenge, GSUSA is bringing people together to fund the future of girls, investing in their leadership potential for the advancement of our world. Donate today at www.girlscouts.org/investingirls.

We're Girl Scouts of the USA
We're 2.7 million strong—1.9 million girls and 800,000 adults who believe girls can change the world. It began over 100 years ago with one woman, Girl Scouts' founder Juliette Gordon "Daisy" Low, who believed in the power of every girl. She organized the first Girl Scout troop on March 12, 1912, in Savannah, Georgia, and every year since, we've made her vision a reality, helping girls discover their strengths, passions, and talents. Today we continue the Girl Scout mission of building girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place. We're the preeminent leadership development organization for girls. And with programs for girls from coast to coast and across the globe, Girl Scouts offers every girl a chance to do something amazing. To volunteer, reconnect, donate, or join, visit www.girlscouts.org.

About ToGetHerThere: The Girl Scout Challenge
The ToGetHerThere campaign originated in 2010 as the largest fundraising campaign for girls in history, with a goal of $1 billion by 2020, in the interest of empowering girls to reach their fullest potential and build a better world. ToGetHerThere: The Girl Scout Challenge, spotlighting Girl Scouts who are making demonstrable difference in the world, brings a new dimension to the campaign and represents the first national small-dollar donation platform with a mobile giving option for Girl Scouts of the USA and its affiliated councils. This two-part campaign consists of a girl-facing website and separate fundraising website, with Girl Scouts challenged to share how they give back to build a better world, and potential donors exposed to girls' powerful Take Action projects and challenged to invest in Girl Scouts who take the lead to make the world a better place. To learn more about ToGetHerThere: The Girl Scout Challenge or invest in girls, please visit www.girlscouts.org/investingirls.

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SOURCE Girl Scouts of the USA

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