Current Situation Today there are approximately 3.6 million Girl Scouts in the U.S.

(GSUSA), including over 2.7 million girls and nearly 900,000 adult members, most of who are volunteers. Membership is open to girls starting at age 5 through age 17. Membership is at an all-time high. Due to specific target initiatives, growth in 1999 was especially strong among Hispanic and African-American girls. GSUSA is part of a larger organization known as World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts. GSUSA has a U.S. membership of over 3.6 million girls, including 900,000 adult members/volunteers. The organization operates on a corporate level, headed by a board of directors, national president, and national executive director. The local councils are considered small business units (SBUs) and are directed by a board and an executive director. There are over 300 councils and 226,000 troops in the U.S. and overseas. To maintain consistency, local councils are evaluated annually to re-establish their charter. The corporate level conducts strategic marketing planning every four years. Key Issues Major issues for GSUSA include recruitment and retention efforts. Retention of older girls is an issue because they have many choices (e.g., athletics, academic programs, or special interests) and demands on their time. Another issue is that local councils have the opportunity to change priorities or to add other goals peculiar to their local efforts. It is up to them to establish how they will meet the goals and objectives. This can lead to a breakdown in the process, especially involving recruitment. The example given is that the local council might decide not to use nationally prepared brochures and literature, opting instead to localize and personalize these efforts, resulting in limited membership opportunities. SWOT Analysis Strengths: Membership at all-time high Diverse membership Expanded coverage area (140 countries) through membership in World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts Strong volunteer group Corporate HQ in New York Four-Step Strategic Marketing Plan (SWOT analysis, Strategic and Long-range planning) Assistance to local councils Extensive use of database to record membership and financial information Local planners have discretionary authority Local council has Five-year Plan (reviewed annually) Local council can change priorities and goals Periodic measurements to compare results with objectives and appropriate corrective actions Marketing Plan for three distinct groups (girls and their families, volunteers, and community) Diversity of activities and merit badges (flexible and changing product mix to stay competitive) GirlSports (senior girl program) Girl at the Center (science and technology program) Partnerships (with science museums, ESPN fitness experts, and Olympic athletes) National website and brochures (provides good information for volunteers) Local councils host recruiting drives (and make every attempt to sell volunteering to adults as much as they do scouting to young girls) Volunteer certification and training and development programs (corporate training center and on-line courses available) Weaknesses: Local planners have discretionary authority Local council can change priorities and goals National website not very interactive and has limited recruiting value Local councils do not use nationally prepared brochures and literature (local websites, school visits, locally prepared flyers, recruiting at malls and churches) Local councils have their own websites Community partnership efforts primarily led by local councils

Opportunities: Continue to develop International travel and adventure programs Continued growth opportunities through study of external trends (Environmental Scanning Report) Recruitment and retention efforts toward young girls Continued product mix growth (offers activities that girls are interested in to retain membership levels) GSUSA is now doing extensive market and customer research among young girls to better understand competition Girl Scout Research Institute (founded in 2000 to study the healthy development of girls and develop database to better position themselves as an information resource and expert on girls) National website could be more interactive and a better recruiting tool Mandate local councils to use nationally prepared brochures and flyers Continue to seek interns and volunteers from universities, schools, the local housing authority, and other volunteer-based organizations Threats: Competition (other activities that compete for a girl's time) School clubs, school-related activities, sports, private lessons, and other social activities such as dating Programs and activities are not contemporary enough to appeal to older girls (only serving 1 of every 73 senior girl scouts) Alternatives (Possible solutions to help turn weaknesses into strengths and threats into opportunities. Determine and develop strategic and tactical actions to take to resolve the issues.) 1.Do nothing at all and hope for the best if the situation continues as it is now. 2.National website could be more interactive and a better recruiting tool 3.Further develop database to handle more extensive market and customer research 4.Mandate local councils to use nationally prepared brochures and flyers

Critical Issues (Evaluate each alternative thoroughly and state how it can affect each of the 4 Ps. 1.To do nothing at all and hope for the best would not affect any of the four Ps (Product, Place, Price, and Promotion) because the GSUSA will more than likely continue along the same path they are already on. 2.Enhancing the national website might affect Price in that the GSUSA may want to increase the price of fundraiser items (such as Girl Scout Cookies) to fund salaries for personnel to manage a more advanced website, capable of filing electronic forms so potential Girl Scouts and volunteers can fill out paperwork with ease and speed. Place would not be affected by enhancing the website since it can already be viewed worldwide. Product (which is membership in this case) could increase just by having a more convenient link to the Corporate Headquarters than phone or mail. Promotion can be affected by an enhanced website because it may be designed to better persuade girls to join the organization. 3. Further development of the database can affect price again because, even though GSUSA in a non-profit organization, they still have to pay a salary to the people who would manage and interpret the information taken from the database. Place may be affected since through more market and customer research, the GSUSA may find new cities or towns in which to start local chapters. Product (the membership), would also be affected as an increasing number of volunteers and girls would join the organization if new areas were sought as a result of the research done. The more market and customer research that is done, Promotion is likely to be affected since GSUSA would get publicity from people talking about the new system they developed. 4.Mandating Local councils to distribute nationally prepared materials will affect Price on the corporate level because it will not be wasting the money used to prepare and print materials that are never distributed. Place would not be greatly affected since the materials would still be distributed in the same areas. Every Local Council distributing the same brochures and flyers will help the GSUSA be seen as a more unified group, attracting new members and providing existing ones with the same information across the board. This has the ability to increase Product (membership) because the same message is being sent to everyone, not variations of what each Local Council thinks is important to discuss. Promotion is also affected

by mandating local councils to use nationally prepared materials. An example is, if all local councils are sending the same messages and communicating in the same ways, a Girl Scout who had to move to a different state, would feel like she could step right in to another troop and not have to learn everything a "different" way and parents may feel more comfortable continuing to volunteer their time if they knew the values of this Local Council are the same as the last. Recommendations We recommend that the GSUSA accept the alternative #1, #2, #3, or #4 (written out) because...