Our Questions About GSUSA’s National Property Strategy

GSUSA is implementing a movement wide property strategy, and it is doing it without significant input from members.  In May 2019, the GSUSA National Board approved property strategy priorities and hired Anne Smith to the new role of Vice President of Property Strategy.  In October 2019, GSUSA executed a contract with commercial real estate advisory firm Newmark Knight Frank (NKF).  But for members of GSUSA, a national non-profit whose constitution states that “The ultimate responsibility for the Girl Scout Movement rests with its members,” there has been no movement-wide discussion, survey, or other means of member input into this new national property strategy.

This lack of discussion is not due to lack of interest or lack of attempts by the membership to open a two-way dialogue with GSUSA.  Last year, both the Kentuckiana and Connecticut councils submitted proposals (found here and here) for a national property strategy as a discussion topic for the 2020 National Council Session.  At least 20 councils supported the Kentuckiana proposal, demonstrating that councils representing hundreds of thousands of members thought this was an issue of sufficient significance that deserved the attention of the NCS so the National Council could fulfill its duty of “giving guidance to the National Board upon general lines of direction of the Movement and program.”  As councils discussed this proposed discussion topic, a National Delegate survey was posted this past July in the GSUSA National Delegate website asking for input for potential proposals.  However, none of the questions referenced properties and whether or not there would be interest in this subject as a discussion topic. The National Board did not select either one of the property related proposals and instead elected to go with one submitted by the “G-Team” and governance interns called “Girl Speak Out” rather than either consult with delegates or respond to the councils who went through the appropriate constitutional process to bring an item to the National Council for discussion. Instead, GSUSA apparently thinks an “advisory committee” with members from 10 councils is sufficient to substitute for a Movement-wide means of discussion.

According to the memo released with the Early Alert for the 2020 National Council Session, GSUSA described its strategy and work with NKF as such:

… GSUSA, in collaboration with councils, has already been undertaking Movement-wide work to analyze many of the questions raised by this topic. The property strategies work focuses on helping councils build their capacity to manage and leverage properties and establish a legacy of stewardship for properties to better support and deliver our program to girls. In 2019, GSUSA hired a full-time vice president for property strategy to lead this effort with guidance from a Property Strategy Advisory Committee, which includes members from ten councils.

GSUSA also engaged a national real estate advisory company to guide us in this work. Working in partnership with GSUSA and councils, the company is analyzing council data to evaluate properties by region, program, and function and identify target areas where improved properties can increase both property use and membership. The work includes an initial baseline analysis, such as the identification of opportunities to improve facilities, management, and use. Then, based on those findings, the advisory company will make recommendations. Each council will continue to make long-term strategic plans for the properties it owns.

We began gathering and analyzing data in December 2019. As of February 1, 2020, 88 councils had provided their data, with an additional 14 expected to participate. The baseline analysis for each council, which is projected to be complete in March 2020, will analyze council data using mapping software to show relationships and patterns. The analysis will chart properties against existing membership bases, demographic trends, access to partners, and other mission-critical criteria. Additional information about the findings and next steps will continue to be communicated.

From this, we conclude that GSUSA does not yet recognize that IF it values democratic processes, it should consult with the membership on this important question, but instead, it apparently thinks that one-way communication “about findings and next steps” is sufficient.

So what does this mean for our councils’ properties and how they are viewed by our national organization? Unfortunately, there have been a number of councils liquidating their properties in the past several years, with Southern Illinois as the most recent council announcing that they are selling ALL four of their remaining camps.  You can read the announcement from the Southern Illinois CEO here:  https://www.gsofsi.org/en/about-girl-scouts/news/2020/from_the_desk_of_lor.html

Is this the start of another round of camp sales by Girl Scout councils across the nation based on GSUSA’s new and developing National Property Strategy?  When looking further at Southern Illinois’s Long Range Property Planning Task Group report to their board of directors, it’s noted that non-Girl Scout facilities and “partners” like state parks and businesses that offer services such as ziplining, white water rafting, and go-carts are listed within Southern Illinois’ service unit areas.  There is also extensive survey data indicating that many members consider outdoor programing and opportunities to be very important.  What is NOT present is any indication that the task group surveyed the membership regarding the willingness of members to use such public facilities for all of their Girl Scout outdoor experiences.

In another instance, Girl Scouts of Gateway Council shared details in their property planning this past fall of being the first council to work with NKF in the development of their property plan.  This plan also highlights non-Girl Scout local parks and campgrounds and notes that a key takeaway from the slide in the video presentation is “the variety and broad range of access across the geographic region that alternative camps and parks provide if a Girl Scout camp is not available.” Also stated is, “So when we think back to the array of choices within the state park system and other areas within the region, again the future end solution is not about the number of Girl Scout owned camps but really what is available that the entire community has to offer for the Girl Scouts.”

This demonstrates that NKF is equating these non-Girl Scout facilities and for-profit businesses as viable replacements to a Girl Scout camp experience.  We believe there is no comparison here, and if this is the route GSUSA wants councils to take, then it is extremely concerning as to what this means for our organization and our outdoor programs.  It shows how out of touch our national organization is with the membership and the girls it serves.  Further, the fact that some council staff and their boards of directors are going along with this notion means they too are likely out of touch on the local level.

One of the four pillars of the Girl Scout Leadership Experience is the Outdoors.  There is a progression to the outdoors, and we believe locally available Girl Scout camps are essential to this experience.  Not only does this progression involve the girl, but the leader as well.  Why are Girl Scout camps essential?  The volunteer needs to be comfortable enough to take girls on outdoor trips.  Girl Scout camps offer a safe environment for both the leader and the girls to step through this progression.  State and national parks and public campgrounds do not offer this same experience.  At public facilities, leaders and girls are subjected to whatever group happens to be in the next campsite, and there is the unknown factor going in.  Will there be a group of partiers there playing loud music, drinking, or otherwise behaving inappropriately?  Will random people come wandering through the troop’s campsite?  There is no way to stop them.  Are there individuals in the neighboring campsites with questionable backgrounds?  Would a leader with 10 to 12 young girls feel comfortable camping overnight in that sort of environment?  What sort of potential harm are the girls being exposed to?  Who will be responsible if something happens?  What sort of liability are we, as an organization and as individual leaders, opening ourselves up to?  On the other hand, a Girl Scout camp can control its environment; all the adults present can be required to have been background checked per individual council policies, and a council can ensure that all camping groups are led by appropriately trained adults (unlike the camping groups the next campsite over in a public place).  As girls and leaders become older and more experienced in their outdoor progression, national, state, and local parks can indeed be utilized for activities such as backpacking, but our Girl Scout camps provide a safe and secure place for the progression necessary to get to that level of expertise.

How can the Outdoor pillar of our program be delivered?  Where will councils host outdoor programming?  National, State, and local parks are often difficult to reserve due to how quickly the spots fill up.  It is also a challenge to find areas large enough to host service unit encampment weekends.  Leaving the planning for further outdoor activities up to troop leaders doesn’t mean it’s necessarily going to happen; group encampments are part of the progression to become independent campers.  Again, if you have a leader who is not comfortable or doesn’t have experience with the outdoors, it’s much harder for her to act outside of her comfort zone.  Key finding #6 from the Girl Scout Research Institute publication Girl Scouts Soar in the Outdoors states:  “The more girls go outdoors with their troops, the happier they are with their Girl Scout experience.”  Are we shooting ourselves in the foot when it comes to membership if we don’t keep our Girl Scout camps? We hear every day of girls leaving Girl Scouts to join competitor youth organizations that camp regularly.

The GSRI publication More Than S’mores: Successes and Surprises in Girl Scouts’ Outdoor Experiences includes the following observations:

• Camping was girls’ number-one most memorable outdoor activity in Girl Scouts (pg. 11)
• Of the girls who had been camping in Girl Scouts, 80 percent marked it as being most memorable to them. Of these girls, 47 percent said they had first tried camping in Girl Scouts. Through camping in Girl Scouts, 52 percent of girls also said they had improved a skill and 54 percent had increased their enjoyment of the activity. (pg. 24)
• In addition to the memorability of camping experiences, repeat attendance at Girl Scout resident camp supports girls’ leadership development. (pg. 29)

Additionally, this study states that “A majority of girls also participated in some kind of camp-related outdoor activity through Girl Scouts. Three-quarters (76 percent) of respondents said they had been camping. Additionally, 79 percent indicated they had attended Girl Scout weekend camp, and 36 percent had attended resident camp at least once in their lives.”

Also cited are the different demographics affected by outdoor experiences.  One of the discussion topics in the report is this:

Despite having less opportunity to experience the outdoors through Girl Scouts, girls of lower SES [socioeconomic status] reported significantly higher benefits from Girl Scouts related to regular exercise, academics, and support for recognizing their strengths. Furthermore, girls of lower SES who get regular exposure to the outdoors report the greatest impact of Girl Scouts on their lives.

This dilemma presents the Girl Scout Movement with a challenge—to find ways to increase access and participation for girls of lower SES, especially Hispanic and rural girls. In some cases, increasing access may involve providing financial assistance to reduce the costs of participation. (pg. 28)

Girl Scout camps allow for affordable ways to access the outdoors in a contained, safe, and familiar environment.

And what about Girl Scout resident camps?  What do GSUSA, councils, and NKF suggest as replacements for them?  It seems we’ve overlooked our own publication From Girl Scout Camp to Real-World Champ! from the GSRI.  Here are the key findings from it:

1. Girl Scout camp helps girls develop important life skills and positive characteristics.
2. Overall, Girl Scout camp alums are more likely than non–Girl Scout camp alums to say that camp helped them develop the above skills and attributes [sense of self, positive values, challenge seeking skills, healthy relationships, and leadership skills].
3. What girls learn at Girl Scout camp lasts far beyond their camp experience. Responsibility, an appreciation for diversity, the ability to persevere, and willingness to try new things were rated by camp alums as most important to their daily lives today and learned primarily at camp. This finding suggests camp experiences are distinct from other learning environments, such as home and school, and can help youth build important skills that serve them in many areas of their lives.
4. Overall time spent at, and specific program features of, Girl Scout camp determine the degree to which girls benefit from their camp experience.
   1. The more time spent at Girl Scout camp, the greater the benefits.
   2. Girl Scouts who participate in counselor-in-training programs or who work as seasonal camp staff for one or more years also report greater benefits.
   3. Girl Scout camp alums describe three elements of Girl Scout camp as crucial to their development of valuable life skills:
      • Supportive relationships with leaders and peers, which are vital sources of security and encouragement.
      • Direct, hands-on experiences that let them practice to improve their skills.
      • Novelty! Because Girl Scout camp can be a truly unique experience that allows girls to move out of their comfort zone to try new things.

All this said, we recognize councils are faced with pinched budgets and sometimes need to make hard decisions. In these cases, councils should involve their membership (and not just a select few handpicked by council leadership) in council-wide town hall meetings. Members need to understand and help make hard financial decisions.  After all, we proudly claim to be an organization that teaches financial literacy – but at the same time, some of our leadership seem to think girls and volunteers are either not smart enough or can’t be trusted to understand financial issues at a council level.  Nevertheless, in almost all councils, product sales revenues are what fund our Movement, and the people who earn that money for their councils need to have a say in the decisions that directly influence them.

Unfortunately, many boards and council leadership who have made the decision to sell camps only see short term solutions.  They often cite the amount of money spent on upkeep and low utilization rates as reasons for selling, especially when they are faced with operational deficits. They also see how much money they’ll gain initially through the sale of the property and claim it will be spent toward programming and generic promises of “better experiences” for girls.  The key question here is, how much of this is the result of truly local decisions being made by the individual councils, and how much of this is being pushed as part of GSUSA’s National Property Strategy?  Without any discussion at the National Council level, how does our Movement even decide on a National Property Strategy which truly represents the needs of our membership?

A National Properties Strategy is NOT an issue that a select few should be doing on behalf of all of us; we need to form the National Properties strategy together as a Movement. We advocate that members become informed by reading the Blue Book of Basic Documents and demand that their council leadership keep the membership involved in any local decisions about camp properties.  Form local groups of like-minded people to find ways to partner with your girls, adult members, council staff, and local board to bring about the changes you want to see in your council and nationally in order to keep Girl Scouts a healthy and vibrant organization for 2020 and beyond.  Ask your council leadership to insist that your local council’s National Delegates be used by GSUSA to help shape and form any National Properties Strategy.  Make GSUSA live up to its oft-repeated promise to involve National Delegates in substantive matters, and insist that GSUSA remain sensitive to the opinions of its girls and volunteers.

If you are in a council that is affected by camp sales, feel free to reference this article for points to bring up in a Town Hall or to your council leadership.

Addendum 8/10/20:  Here’s a follow-up with the latest.