Remember that every council has slightly different rules and regulations, and everything you read online that is general for all of USA should always be double checked with your local council rules and regulations.

Some have very expensive troop dues. Some have moderate ones. Some troops try and keep the troop dues as low as they can to function. Some troops do not have any troop dues as they refuse to do any activity if the troop fall product and cookie sale fundraising does not cover the cost.

All are okay to do. Which option works for your troop will depend on you, your area, what activities your troop wants to do, and what the income level of your families are. Note – you cannot ask what income level your families are. But since Troop Dues should be voted on as a group, they can make an informed decision on what is reasonable to them based on their own knowledge of their family’s income level.

Troop Dues are NOT Mandatory

Keep in mind that no Troop can enforce troop dues. Because GSUSA is a non-profit, you can ask for Troop Dues and it is generally expected most families will pay the agreed upon Troop Dues. (Note the key phrase “agreed upon”. What matters the most is that the families in your troop agree to the troop dues amount. I cannot be dictated by a Troop Leader.) If a family refuses to pay Troop Dues you cannot keep them from troop meetings, hound them year long for Troop Dues, or discriminate against the family or child in anyway.

Most new leaders are surprised by this fact. Event and trip fees can be mandatory, but Troop Dues for regular meetings cannot be mandatory. All troop members should be able to participate in regular troop meetings even if they cannot afford the Troop Dues, which is why they cannot be required. Some families that can afford it will take advantage of this rule and refuse to pay Troop Dues. You just have to let that go if it happens to you and readjust your budget.

Financial Aid from Council

Some councils have a financial aid which can pay for the GSUSA membership fee. Some have aid for uniforms. A few councils also have a small fee (usually $25 or less) they can send troops to cover some troop dues for a family on financial aid with the council. You have to talk to your council to find out what forms of financial aid they provide.

Calculating Troop Dues

No Troop Dues

If you want to keep the Troop Dues away, even for the first year, you must be creative. For troop supplies ask for items to be donated by parents instead of money. Find the badges that do not require a lot of supplies. Do activities that have no official badge attached but are fun and engaging and help the troop learn, grow, and be better. When you do your Fall Product and Cookie sale fundraisers, make sure you have an adult that is on top of it and keeps families engaged to get the most out of the fundraisers. Then carefully plan your budget so troop meetings can be planned and the activities the girls want to do can be done.

Minimum Troop Dues

Some badges and activities cost nothing or very little. Some (like cooking or jewelry) can cost a lot or a moderate amount depending on how you meet the badge requirements. Badges will actually cost more than the supplies in most cases. Official Badges are typically $3.50 each (in June of 2022).

To do a minimum amount of Troop Dues, do not spend troop funds on badges. Other options are:

• Families can opt to pay the troop to purchase them in January (leader buys them after parent pays for them, then the leader hands the adult picking up the girl a packet of the badge instead of doing an award ceremony OR you can do an award ceremony and the families that opted not to pay for badges just get a printed paper that has images of the badges so all troop members can participate in the award ceremony and see what they earned, even if they don’t have physical badges.)
• Find less expensive Fun Patches to put on the back of the vest that families can pay for instead of the official badge that go on the front.
• Set aside funds from Cookie sale if the girls earn enough to cover badges (badges can cost $100 per girl for a very active troop that does official badges and fun patches). This needs to be a vote the Girl Scouts decide on – not the adults.
• The troop just doesn’t do badges.

It is safe to say you will probably need an average of $2-3 per Girl Scout per meeting to do a decent program for the year. When you make a Year Plan, adjust your budget if one meeting only needs no supplies but another meeting will need more to get adequate supplies. But the average of $2-3 per meeting is a fair minimum troop meeting budget.

If you meet twice a month from October to May – that is 16 meetings. It would cost $32-48 for the whole year per troop member.

You can choose to offset the cost of Troop Dues with fundraising money or spend the fundraising money on service projects, field trips, and extra funds for a more expensive way to earn a badge than the Troop Dues budge would allow.

Moderate Troop Dues

This is typically what most troops will opt for as $5 per Girl Scout per meeting is typically seen as a fair cost. But when you add up 16 meetings (for $80 a year) it can seem pricey. If you compare them to many extra curriculars (sports, martial arts, dance, gymnastics) it is not nearly as much, but each family has their own circumstances. This is why a vote on Troop Dues is important.

The $5 per Girl Scout per meeting fee should also include a budget for the badges. If you earn an official badge for every meeting, you spend $3.50 on the badge and have $1.50 per Girl Scout per meeting for supplies. That can be very scant. Some will charge up to $7.50 a meeting instead to allow for a bigger budget for meeting supplies.

With a $5 per Girl Scout per meeting model it is better to earn a badge every two meetings which gives $10 per Girl Scout per badge as the budget instead of per meeting. Then the $3.50 comes out and you still have $6.50 for supplies per Girl Scout for two meetings. This is very manageable.

If your troop loves badges and wants one for every meeting – look into Fun Patches. Online you can find them for $1.00-$1.50 each easily and shipping is reasonable if you wait and order all fun patches earned October-December to award in January. Scouts who attend one of the meetings to earn a badge can earn a fun patch. Scouts who attend both meetings can get the fun patch and the official badge.

What about Girl Scouts that missed a meeting but wanted to make up the work? Don’t worry about those unless a family comes to you and asks for the make-up work. You can always mention you are happy to help anyone that wants to make-up a missed meeting to still earn an official badge – but the majority of the families today will not do work at home. So don’t plan anything until they ask.

You should keep the budget set aside for any girl to make up the work and earn the missed official badges but give a cut off date. Like the last day of April. Then in May, take the unused funds from missed official badges and reallocated it to something the troop can do in May before the school year ends. Most often, this is a great way to get a bigger budget for the end of the year celebration as many troop hold a ceremony or party before school gets out.

Again, you can choose to offset the cost of Troop Dues with fundraising money or spend the fundraising money on service projects, field trips, and extra funds for a more expensive way to earn a badge than the Troop Dues budge would allow.

Expensive Troop Dues

$10 or more per meeting per Girl Scout is considered an expensive Troop Dues. It is not recommended unless you have a clear reason and set agenda on where those funds are going.

When to Collect Troop Dues

There are several methods to when you want to collect troop dues. Pick one that fits your schedule, availability at Troop Meetings to collect (if you have a dedicated Treasurer to collect them while you run the meeting it is easier), and what works for your families.

• Annual – One time at the beginning of the year (Sept/Oct)
  • Pros – easy to collect one time at start of the year with all standard paperwork
  • Cons – one lump sum can be difficult for some families
• Bi-Annual – Twice during the school year (Sept/Oct and Jan/Feb)
  • Pros – not too difficult to try and collect twice, Jan/Feb amount could be offset by any Fall fundraising which can help motivate families to participate more
  • Cons – the Jan/Feb can be difficult to collect due to just being after winter holidays and many councils are starting or will soon start cookie season
• Monthly
  • Pros – usually easy for parents to afford, can adjust and offset cost as funds from fundraisers become available (but usually not a motivating factor for sales due to the small amount the monthly cost for most troops is)
  • Cons – harder to regularly collect (you are often hounding families that showed up to a meeting and forgot the troop dues), might have more families skip paying some months, you may have families that no show to meetings without notice, after you have purchased supplies, but refuse to pay for the cost of supplies because they did not attend the meeting  
    • You will have to keep careful accounting if families want to not pay a month because they missed previous meetings and feel it fair to not have to pay for them. If they did not notify you in advance and supplies were purchased – you have an argument for why they still need to pay – but you cannot enforce troop dues at all. If they did notify you in advance, you should not have purchased supplies to that money should be available to transfer to the next month. Hence, you must keep up to date and accurate records at all times.
  • Optional – Collect troop dues for one month in advance each time. In September you collect dues for October. In October you are collecting for November.
    • Pros – helps you have the funds freely available to get supplies without difficulties arising from parents who forgot the troop dues (since you could have 2-4 meetings per month to ensure you collect for the upcoming month)
• Per Meeting
  • Pros – easy for parents to afford, can adjust and offset cost as funds from fundraisers become available (but usually not a motivating factor for sales due to the small amount each troop meeting is), families like the option of only paying for the meetings they attend
  • Cons – harder to regularly collect (you are often hounding families that showed up to a meeting and forgot the troop dues), need to have regular RSVPs to the meetings (very hard to reliable get) in order to buy the right amount of supplies since if girls aren’t planning to attend you do not get funds to cover their supplies, very likely families will no show to meetings without notice, after you have purchased supplies, but refuse to pay for the cost of supplies because they did not attend the meeting
    • You will have to keep careful accounting if families want to not pay for one meeting because they missed previous meetings and feel it fair to not have to pay for them. If they did not notify you in advance and supplies were purchased – you have an argument for why they still need to pay – but you cannot enforce troop dues at all. If they did notify you in advance, you should not have purchased supplies to that money should be available to transfer to the next meeting. Hence, you must keep up to date and accurate records at all times.
  • Optional – Collect troop dues for one meeting in advance each time. At one meeting you are collecting dues for the upcoming meeting

Summer Troop Dues

Many troops take a break for the summer. Those that do meet will usually notice a significant drop in attendance to troop meetings due to other summer activities happening.

Instead of charging Summer Troop Meetings as part of the annual dues, we recommended leaders treat each troop meeting during the summer as a special event or field trip with an associated fee – even if the fee is just $2-3.

Plan in advance what activities you want to do during the summer. In May/June, before school is out, have families attend a meeting where adults can turn in the permission slip and fee for each meeting they plan to attend.

Make sure the fees include the badge cost if you plan to award badges either at the meeting or at the end of summer (or you can inform families ahead of time that there will be no badges purchased by the troop and families are responsible for purchasing them on their own). Make sure everyone knows that fees are not refundable if they do not show up as you will be purchasing supplies.