Volunteer | Girl Scouts River Valleys

Become a Volunteer

Whether you can give a day, a few weeks, or the whole year, it all starts with you—you’ll introduce girls to new experiences that show them they’re capable of more than they ever imagined. Volunteering is flexible and fun, and you’ll play a huge part in helping to build girls of courage, confidence, and character. Volunteer today!

Join as a Volunteer

Learn more about the registration process at GirlScoutsRV.org/Join.
Current Volunteers

Volunteers.GirlScoutsRV.org is a resource & guide website for registered volunteers.

Ways to Volunteer

Your time is valuable, and here at Girl Scouts we have many opportunities to volunteer so the amount of time committed is your choice. Here are some brief descriptions for different volunteer opportunities to help you decide which is right for you.

Troop Leader or Co-Leader: Guide a group of girls—a “troop”—and mentor them as they make new friends, practice a lifetime of leadership with girl-led activities, and so much more! Join now or learn more »

Team-Led Troop Leader or Troop Volunteer: Instead of one or two troop leaders primarily coordinating troop meetings and logistics, like in a volunteer-led troop, the team-led troop approach spreads troop responsibilities around. Everyone gets to be involved in their girl’s troop experience and leadership! Download the Starting a Team-led Troop (PDF) resource as a guide or contact us to learn more about this model.

Troop Volunteers: Assist with some of the many important tasks that keep troops going! Possible responsibilities include carpooling, planning activities, bringing snacks, keeping track of troop money, or helping your troop renew their memberships! Join now or learn more »

Juliette Mentor: A Girl Scout Juliette Mentor is a parent/guardian or trusted adult who guides a Juliette (individual Girl Scouts not participating in a troop) through her Girl Scout experience. Mentors lead their girl, just as troop leaders lead their troop. Join now or learn more »

Cookie Volunteers (or Troop Cookie Managers): Cookie volunteers get to teach girls about goal setting, money management and people skills, plus pick up cookies, track cookie sales and distribute rewards to some very excited girls! Join now or learn more »

Service Unit Volunteers: Support and mentor adult volunteers in your service unit (a local geographic unit of troops/groups within Girl Scouts River Valleys) as they work with Girl Scouts to create memories they will never forget. Join now or learn more »

Community Delegate: Community delegates have the opportunity to increase representation of voices from outstate Minnesota, Wisconsin, and our Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) members, and contribute greatly to the future and success of Girl Scouts River Valleys. Learn more »

Committees & Advisory Groups: In addition to the elected Board of Directors and the volunteers in roles listed above, volunteer committees and advisory groups also contribute greatly to the future and success of Girl Scouts River Valleys. Learn more »

Resources and Training

You will be part of a network of thousands of talented volunteers just like you. Check out Volunteers.GirlScoutsRV.org—a resource website for registered volunteers with training, planning guides, activity plans, field trip opportunities, forms, role descriptions, and more. You’ll also have access to Girl Scout staff who are dedicated to helping you succeed.

Background Checks for Volunteers

Parents, guardians, and girls trust that Girl Scouts is a safe place for them, and we take that trust seriously. It is our policy is to conduct criminal background checks on all new volunteers, and to repeat them on all volunteers every three years. There is no cost to volunteers for background checks.

Get Started on Your Background Check

When you register as a Girl Scout Volunteer, you will be guided through a background check process. If you are already a Girl Scout member and would like to volunteer, contact us for assistance setting up and completing your check.

You’ll spend a few minutes completing an online form to get your check started. We often hear back from our background check agency within twenty-four hours, so that you can get started volunteering right away.

Background checks are only for criminal offenses, and do not include a credit check.

Volunteer Eligibility & Disqualification

Reasons for volunteer removal, non-reappointment, or disqualification include:
- Failure to complete a criminal background check, or results of criminal background check show charges and/or convictions that include sex crimes, driving under the influence, felony offenses, violent crimes, or crimes involving the use of weapons.
  - Registered sex offenders are not allowed to participate in Girl Scouts in any capacity.
- Violation of Girl Scouts of the USA or Girl Scouts River Valleys policies.
- Misuse or theft of Girl Scout funds.
- Actions that put youth or adult members, volunteers, or staff at risk.
- Failure to meet the responsibilities of the volunteer role, as stated in the applicable position description.
See Volunteer Eligibility Policy

Social Security Number

A social security number is requested, but not required. You may complete your background check without providing a social security number.
Providing your social security number helps our vendor find the correct person’s records as they perform your check. Respecting our member’s personal information is very important to Girl Scouts. Our vendor, Sterling Volunteers, provides a secure online process for submitting your information. Girl Scouts River Valleys does not see or store your social security number and Sterling Volunteers only stores the last four digits. We are confident that there is little to no risk to you in our online background check process.

Using Existing Background Checks

Girl Scouts River Valleys uses Sterling Volunteers, a very widely-used vendor for background checks. If your other organization also uses this vendor, you may be able to share the check they ran with us. Log into Sterling Volunteers to learn more about sharing your check. Due to security, legal, and technical limitations, we are unable to accept checks run by other background check vendors.

First Year Monthly Review

Following the initial completion of an approved background check, Sterling Volunteers will conduct monthly reviews on the background check for one year. New information received during a monthly review may result in automatic or possible disqualification.

New leaders (and their girl) can join for FREE!