side menu icon
Troop Leader With Girls

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!

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 »

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 »

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 »

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 »

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 »

Committees & Advisory Groups: In addition to the elected Board of Directors and the volunteers in roles listed above, volunteer committees and advisory groups 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.

Volunteer Eligibility & Disqualification

Girl Scouts River Valleys cannot work with an adult who has been convicted of, has pleaded guilty to, has received adjudication for, or has pleaded no contest to the following crimes:

Automatic Disqualification

  • Registered sex offenders are not eligible for membership in Girl Scouts of the USA and may not participate in any capacity with Girl Scouts. Any adult listed on a sex offender registry (past or present) will not be approved to serve as a Girl Scout volunteer. If an adult is no longer listed on a sex offender registry and is released from probation, they may be eligible to participate in activities as a parent. This is at the sole discretion of Girl Scouts River Valleys and will be determined on a case-by-case basis.
  • Crimes against children
  • Felony offenses against persons
  • Felony offenses against a family member
  • Crimes defined as public indecency
  • Crimes involving the use of weapons
  • Any violent crime
  • Any felony drug-related offense
  • Any felony conviction within the five (5) year period preceding the background check
  • Any offense involving driving under the influence, driving while intoxicated or equivalent within the two (2) year period preceding the background check will be automatically disqualified. Any texting/driving charges, Girl Scouts River Valleys will require an annual background check review. Any subsequent driving-related charges may result in release from the volunteer position.
  • Residing on the same premises as a registered sex offender (may only participate as a parent/guardian)

Possible Disqualification

For all other criminal offenses, or felony convictions older than the five-year period, Girl Scouts River Valleys shall review the applicant’s situation on a case-by-case basis. The decision whether to allow service within Girl Scouts River Valleys’ discretion, and factors to be considered include, but are not limited to:

  • The nature and severity of the criminal conduct
  • The position for which the person seeks to volunteer
  • The length of time since the criminal conduct occurred
  • The circumstances under which the crime was committed
  • The degree of rehabilitation
  • The likelihood that the person will commit the crime again
  • The number of crimes committed by the prospective volunteer
Social Security Numbers are Required

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, Verified Volunteers, provides a secure online process for submitting your information. Girl Scouts River Valleys does not see or store your social security number and Verified 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.

If you do not have a social security number, please contact us.

Using Existing Background Checks

Girl Scouts River Valleys uses Verified 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 Verified 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, Verified 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.