Girl Scouts Nation's Capital
Girl Scouts Nation's Capital
EIN: 54-0732966
as of November 2024
as of November 11, 2024
Mission
Girl Scouting builds girls of courage, confidence and character, who make the world a better place.
Notes from the nonprofit
A message from our CEO:
I think there is no better value, and no better program than Girl Scouts. We provide girls with a safe space to try new things, develop a range of skills, take on leadership roles, and have fun. As the mother of a Gold Award Girl Scout, I have seen firsthand how the Girl Scout experience helps girls grow in confidence, preparing them for a lifetime of success. We know there are a lot of options when it comes to how girls and their families spend their time. Thank you for choosing Girl Scouts.
Lidia Soto-Harmon
Ruling year
1964
Chief Executive Officer
Ms. Lidia Soto-Harmon
Main address
4301 Connecticut Ave, NW Suite M-2
Washington, DC 20008 USA
EIN
54-0732966
Scouting programs
Youth development
Population served
Children and youth
Women and girls
NTEE code
Girl Scouts (O42)
Other Youth Development N.E.C. (O99)
IRS subsection
501(c)(3) Public Charity
IRS filing requirement
This organization is required to file an IRS Form 990 or 990-EZ.
Tax forms
Communication
Programs and results
Reports and documents
Download annual reports Download other documentsWhat we aim to solve
Compared to 10 years ago:
More girls live in low-income families
More girls are experiencing physical and emotional health risks
Girls in low-income families experience challenges in education, extracurricular activities, and health.
There are serious threats to girls' emotional health:
25% of girls report being victims of bullying
23% of high school girls have seriously considered suicide (up from 19% in 2007)
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Girl Scout Leadership Experience
Girl Scouts has developed an exciting model that meets girls unique needs in a program designed specifically for them and delivered in an all-girl setting. - it’s called the Girl Scout Leadership Experience (GSLE). Everything girls do in Girl Scouting is infused with the GSLE, which teaches girls Girl Scouts’ Three Keys to Leadership: Discover, Connect and Take Action! Girls discover who they are and what they stand for, connect with vibrant and diverse peers in their own neighborhoods and around the globe, and together take action to make a difference in the world. All Girl Scout Leadership Experiences are designed to tie into one or more of Girl Scouts' 15 Leadership Outcomes that propel girls toward becoming the exceptional women they were born to be.
Research tells us that a girl’s leadership blooms when she’s among other girls, away from school pressures, social cliques, and boys. In a place where she can be herself and take on new challenges; where activities are girl-led; where each girl learns by doing, and the learning is cooperative, not competitive; where adults mentor girls and model skills, behaviors, relationships, and careers that girls can emulate.
To effectively meet the needs, interests and busy schedules of today’s girls, there are several pathways through which they can participate in the Girl Scout Leadership Experience including: troops, events, special interest groups, camps, travel and virtual.
Girl Scout programming includes six age levels: Daisies (grades K-1), Brownies (grades 2-3) Juniors (grades 4-5), Cadettes (grades 6-8), Seniors (grades 9-10) and Ambassadors (grades 10-11). As girls progress through each Girl Scout level, they take on more and more decision-making roles within their troops and act as role models and mentors to younger girls.
The Council is also committed to providing programs and resources to ensure every local girl who wishes to participate in Girl Scouts is able to do so, regardless of their families’ financial situation. During the year, the Council aims to serve over 20,000 local girls from families and communities with limited resources. Examples of some of the resources the Council offers includes financial assistance for girls and adults, as well as outreach day camps.
Outdoor Programming
The Outdoors and Girl Scouts have been inextricably linked since Juliette Gordon Low founded the movement in 1912. She included outdoor experiences, nature study, sports, and camping in her educational program, which took girls out of traditional Victorian confines and into a life of self-exploration and adventure.
Today outdoor programming remains a vital component of Girl Scouting as it provides the perfect setting for girls to step outside of their everyday lives, take on new challenges, develop their leadership skills and just have fun. Camping is the backbone of Girl Scout Outdoor programming. Camping engages girls in an in depth outdoor experience (which for many, would not be possible otherwise), inspiring a deeper understanding of nature and developing their sense of environmental responsibility. And last but not least, through daily camp life, girls learn that diverse groups of people can live together, care deeply about each other and work to accomplish common goals. A tent doesn’t pitch itself. A campfire doesn’t start itself. At camp, every girl has a job, every job is important, and every girl’s role makes a difference.
STEM Programming
Women are vastly underrepresented in the STEM fields of science, technology, engineering and math. Research shows that girls are interested in STEM, but are less likely to receive the support and encouragement they need to pursue this interest. Girl Scouts is working to change that by offering a full slate of programs to provide girls with hands-on science, technology, engineering and math activities in ways that use a collaborative approach, highlight how STEM helps people, expose girls to female role models in STEM and teach them to challenge gender stereotypes. Our STEM programs:
• focus on collaborative approach to scientific problem-solving and experimentation;
• demonstrate how STEM fields help people and make a difference in the world;
• build girls' self confidence, expose girls to role models and careers in STEM; and
• teach them to challenge gender stereotypes.
The Council provides STEM learning opportunities through special events and programs, camps, travel opportunities, community service projects and badge, patch and journey activities.
Where we work
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Total number of organization members
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
This is the number of Girl Memberships.
Goals & Strategy
Reports and documents
Download strategic planLearn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Girl Scouts' mission is to build girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place. Although girls and women have made remarkable progress in the past 100 years, inequalities persist.
The challenges of the 21st century are complex, interconnected and, more than ever, global. Solving them will demand a collaborative and innovative leadership approach. Boys and girls agree that leadership has no gender, yet only one girl in five believes that she has what it takes to lead. Boys and girls agree that leadership has no gender, yet only one girl in five believes that she has what it takes to lead. Girl Scouts understands that girls have unique needs that are best met in a program designed specifically for them and delivered in an all-girl setting.
When a girl is a Girl Scout, she is also a G.I.R.L. (Go-Getter, Innovator, Risk-Taker, Leader) ™. Girl Scouts are groundbreakers, big thinkers and role models. G.I.R.L. are the traits that define girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make their communities and the world a better place
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Research tells us that a girl's leadership blooms when she's among other girls, away from school pressures, social cliques, and boys. In a place where she can be herself and take on new challenges; where activities are girl-led; where each girl learns by doing, and the learning is cooperative, not competitive; where adults mentor girls and model skills, behaviors, relationships, and careers that girls can emulate.
Girl Scouts has developed an exciting model that meets every one of these needs—it's called the Girl Scout Leadership Experience (GSLE). Everything girls do in Girl Scouting is infused with the GSLE, which teaches girls Girl Scouts' Three Keys to Leadership: Discover, Connect and Take Action! Girls discover who they are and what they stand for, connect with vibrant and diverse peers in their own neighborhoods and around the globe, and together take action to make a difference in the world. All Girl Scout Leadership Experiences are designed to tie into one or more of Girl Scouts' 15 Leadership Outcomes that propel girls toward becoming the exceptional women they were born to be.
To effectively meet the needs, interests and busy schedules of today's girls, there are several pathways through which they can participate in the Girl Scout Leadership Experience including: troops, events, special interest groups, camps, travel and virtual.
Girl Scout programming includes six age levels: Daisies (grades K-1), Brownies (grades 2-3) Juniors (grades 4-5), Cadettes (grades 6-8), Seniors (grades 9-10) and Ambassadors (grades 10-11). As girls progress through each Girl Scout level, they take on more and more decision-making roles within their troops and act as role models and mentors to younger girls.
To ensure the fun and benefits of the Girl Scout Leadership Experience are accessible to all girls, regardless of income, ability or other isolating factors, Girl Scout Council of the Nation's Capital conducts robust outreach to traditionally under-served populations, including providing special trainings, recruitment efforts, services, programs, equipment, transportation and financial aid.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Girl Scouts is the world's oldest and largest organization dedicated to the growth and development of girls. Founded in 1912 by Juliette Gordon Low, over the past 100 years, Girl Scouts' membership has grown from 18 members in Savannah, Georgia, to 2.8 million members throughout every residential zip code in the United States. In the Washington, DC area, Girl Scouts has been thriving since 1913. In 1963, several smaller Girl Scout councils in the region merged to create the Girl Scout Council of the Nation's Capital (GSCNC), which operates as a local, independent, tax-exempt, nonprofit organization under a charter from the Girl Scouts of the USA.
Today GSCNC is proud to be one of the largest, most diverse Girl Scout councils in the country. We have 88,500 members (62,200 girls in grades K-12 and 26,300 adults) in urban, rural and suburban communities throughout Washington, DC and 25 surrounding counties in Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia. We estimate that 19 percent of our girl members are from low-income families, 33 percent represent a racial minority group, 12 percent represent Hispanic ethnicities, and at least three percent have a disability. Each year GSCNC empowers over 62,000 local girls to learn and lead through tens of thousands of program and camp opportunities. Annually, over 150 teen girls from the Washington, DC area earn the Girl Scout Gold Award, the highest earned award in Girl Scouting, and local Girl Scouts sell over four million boxes of cookies, earning over $2 million dollars to support their troop activities.
Furthermore, GSCNC provides a network of resources and support to ensure the effective delivery of the Girl Scout Leadership Experience to local girls, such as: training thousands of adult volunteers annually who help guide girls through the GSLE; partnering with hundreds of local organizations, companies, schools and government agencies that help provide programming, expertise, funding and program space; providing over $600,000 in financial aid to our members; employing a full-time staff of 112 and a part-time staff of 10; and operating seven offices (including our headquarters in the District of Columbia) and eight camp properties located throughout our service area.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
> What We Have Accomplished
With a 100-year history, 56 million alumnae and 2.7 million active members, Girl Scouts has a proven track record of helping girls reach their full potential and become leaders:
• 76 percent of Girl Scout alumnae say Girl Scouting had a positive impact on their current lives
• More than half of women in business were Girl Scouts
• 75 percent of female U.S senators were Girl Scouts
• 54 percent of female U.S. representatives were Girl Scouts
• All three female Secretaries of State were Girl Scouts
• Every female astronaut was a Girl Scout
Every year Girl Scouts provide over 75 million hours of direct service to their communities. The Girl Scout Cookie Program is the world's largest business and financial literacy program for girls, generating revenues of $760 million a year
> What We Haven't Accomplished
Girl Scouts envisions a world where girls and women are represented equally as leaders of our communities, our businesses, and our nation. In the next 100 years, Girl Scouts will continue doing our part to close the remaining gender gaps by providing unparalleled girl-focused leadership opportunities to build a new generation of courageous and confident women who will make the world a better place.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on demographics (e.g., race, age, gender, etc.), We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We share the feedback we received with the people we serve, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback, We ask the people who gave us feedback how well they think we responded
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback, It is difficult to get honest feedback from the people we serve, It is difficult to identify actionable feedback
Financials
Financial documents
Download audited financialsRevenue vs. expenses: breakdown
Liquidity in 2023 info
3.11
Months of cash in 2023 info
8
Fringe rate in 2023 info
28%
Funding sources info
Assets & liabilities info
Financial data
Girl Scouts Nation's Capital
Balance sheetFiscal Year: Oct 01 - Sep 30
The balance sheet gives a snapshot of the financial health of an organization at a particular point in time. An organization's total assets should generally exceed its total liabilities, or it cannot survive long, but the types of assets and liabilities must also be considered. For instance, an organization's current assets (cash, receivables, securities, etc.) should be sufficient to cover its current liabilities (payables, deferred revenue, current year loan, and note payments). Otherwise, the organization may face solvency problems. On the other hand, an organization whose cash and equivalents greatly exceed its current liabilities might not be putting its money to best use.
Fiscal Year: Oct 01 - Sep 30
This snapshot of Girl Scouts Nation's Capital’s financial trends applies Nonprofit Finance Fund® analysis to data hosted by GuideStar. While it highlights the data that matter most, remember that context is key – numbers only tell part of any story.
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Business model indicators
| Profitability info | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unrestricted surplus (deficit) before depreciation | $19,526,747 | $4,303,755 | $2,671,574 | $7,026,516 | $4,042,670 |
| As % of expenses | 124.6% | 31.9% | 19.9% | 47.2% | 23.1% |
| Unrestricted surplus (deficit) after depreciation | $18,647,434 | $3,426,993 | $1,801,378 | $6,217,329 | $3,288,391 |
| As % of expenses | 112.7% | 23.9% | 12.6% | 39.6% | 18.0% |
| Revenue composition info | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total revenue (unrestricted & restricted) | $35,920,867 | $16,929,022 | $15,415,936 | $26,167,029 | $19,487,144 |
| Total revenue, % change over prior year | 105.3% | -52.9% | -8.9% | 69.7% | -25.5% |
| Program services revenue | 38.6% | 82.6% | 64.5% | 57.9% | 82.0% |
| Membership dues | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Investment income | 1.2% | 1.6% | 2.9% | 2.3% | 2.8% |
| Government grants | 0.0% | 0.0% | 8.7% | 7.3% | 7.3% |
| All other grants and contributions | 57.0% | 11.0% | 14.0% | 25.4% | 16.4% |
| Other revenue | 3.1% | 4.8% | 9.9% | 7.0% | -8.6% |
| Expense composition info | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total expenses before depreciation | $15,667,997 | $13,483,584 | $13,439,749 | $14,882,511 | $17,484,760 |
| Total expenses, % change over prior year | 7.2% | -13.9% | -0.3% | 10.7% | 17.5% |
| Personnel | 56.8% | 65.1% | 65.5% | 59.6% | 59.3% |
| Professional fees | 5.7% | 3.6% | 4.9% | 3.3% | 3.8% |
| Occupancy | 12.6% | 13.6% | 12.7% | 13.1% | 12.6% |
| Interest | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.1% | 0.0% | 0.1% |
| Pass-through | 4.5% | 3.0% | 2.5% | 2.8% | 2.4% |
| All other expenses | 20.4% | 14.6% | 14.2% | 21.2% | 21.9% |
| Full cost components (estimated) info | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total expenses (after depreciation) | $16,547,310 | $14,360,346 | $14,309,945 | $15,691,698 | $18,239,039 |
| One month of savings | $1,305,666 | $1,123,632 | $1,119,979 | $1,240,209 | $1,457,063 |
| Debt principal payment | $107,662 | $118,473 | $133,098 | $0 | $34,881 |
| Fixed asset additions | $18,347,102 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Total full costs (estimated) | $36,307,740 | $15,602,451 | $15,563,022 | $16,931,907 | $19,730,983 |
Capital structure indicators
| Liquidity info | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Months of cash | 1.9 | 5.3 | 5.4 | 10.5 | 8.0 |
| Months of cash and investments | 11.9 | 17.4 | 19.4 | 21.5 | 21.0 |
| Months of estimated liquid unrestricted net assets | 8.2 | 12.6 | 14.2 | 17.9 | 19.2 |
| Balance sheet composition info | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cash | $2,505,380 | $5,920,665 | $6,086,622 | $13,065,376 | $11,693,334 |
| Investments | $12,997,313 | $13,660,867 | $15,693,344 | $13,606,918 | $18,914,762 |
| Receivables | $409,351 | $297,754 | $297,686 | $961,851 | $1,762,158 |
| Gross land, buildings, equipment (LBE) | $33,620,024 | $33,455,859 | $33,300,184 | $33,582,354 | $31,879,772 |
| Accumulated depreciation (as a % of LBE) | 23.5% | 23.8% | 23.7% | 24.3% | 28.1% |
| Liabilities (as a % of assets) | 5.8% | 7.0% | 6.6% | 4.1% | 15.7% |
| Unrestricted net assets | $36,066,100 | $39,493,093 | $41,294,471 | $47,511,800 | $50,800,191 |
| Temporarily restricted net assets | $2,254,825 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Permanently restricted net assets | $1,853,456 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Total restricted net assets | $4,108,281 | $3,618,306 | $3,822,072 | $4,254,396 | $3,230,342 |
| Total net assets | $40,174,381 | $43,111,399 | $45,116,543 | $51,766,196 | $54,030,533 |
Key data checks
| Key data checks info | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Material data errors | No | No | No | No | No |
Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Documents
Chief Executive Officer
Ms. Lidia Soto-Harmon
Number of employees
Source: IRS Form 990
Girl Scouts Nation's Capital
Officers, directors, trustees, and key employeesSOURCE: IRS Form 990
Compensation data
Girl Scouts Nation's Capital
Highest paid employeesSOURCE: IRS Form 990
Compensation data
Girl Scouts Nation's Capital
Board of directorsas of 03/29/2023
Board of directors data
Barbara Krumsiek
MISO energy
Term: 2020 - 2023
Antoinette Barksdale
Barbara Krumsiek
Kathleen Matthews
Wendelin White
Maria Rodriguez
Jenny Herrera
Cheryle Thorne-Harris
Harriet Thompson
Carolyn Thompson
Jeri Sommers
Edward Sella
Anne Scott
Ella Ridgway
Chandra Parker
Barbara Ostrom
Janet Osborn
Susan Moser
Jodi Morton
Rory Maynard
Natalie Ludaway
Zara Javeri
Nishita Henry
Paul Donato
Tracy DeCock
Kathleen Carl
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes
Contractors
Fiscal year endingProfessional fundraisers
Fiscal year endingSOURCE: IRS Form 990 Schedule G
Solicitation activities
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