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 Girl Scouts to new experiences that show them they’re capable of more than they have ever imagined. Volunteering is flexible and fun, and you’ll play a huge part in helping to build Girl Scouts of courage, confidence, and character. Volunteer Today.

Ways to Volunteer

Your time is valuable, and our Girl Scouts will benefit from whatever amount of time you are able to commit. We have many different volunteer opportunities. Read on to see which one is a good fit for you.

Troop Leader or Co-Leader: As a troop leader, you’ll introduce Girl Scouts to new experiences and help them reach their full potential to take the lead and change the world. Learn more about the troop leader role.

Other Volunteer Opportunities

Troop Volunteers

Support your troop’s leader by assisting with various responsibilities. Your participation will help the Girl Scouts in your life maximize their experience, while providing you the flexibility to determine your level of involvement.

Volunteer: 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.
Cookie Manager: Cookie volunteers get to teach Girl Scouts about goal setting, money management, and people skills. They also pick up cookies, track cookie sales, and distribute rewards to very excited Girl Scouts.
Team-Led : Instead of one or two troop leaders primarily coordinating troop meetings and logistics, the team-led troop approach spreads troop responsibilities around. Everyone gets to be involved in their Girl Scout’s troop experience.

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.

Manager: Managers lead the Service Unit’s volunteer team members as they plan and execute Girl Scout activities in their local area.
Recruiter: Recruiters recruit adult volunteers and Girl Scouts and ensure members in their Service Unit can fully participate in Girl Scouting.
Cookie Manager: Cookie managers coordinate the Girl Scout Cookie Program at the Service Unit level.
Fall Product Manager: Fall product managers coordinate the Snacks & Magazines sale at the Service Unit level.
Troop Mentor: Troop mentors welcome new leaders to Girl Scouts and mentor them through their role.
Treasurer: Treasurers manage the Service Unit funds and guide leaders in proper financial management of troop funds.
Registrar: Registrars encourage accurate registrations, maintain rosters, and ensure we have up-to-date membership numbers.
Communications Representative: Communications representatives support engagement within the Service Unit and enhance public awareness and support of Girl Scouting.
Event Coordinator: Event coordinators supervise the coordination of Girl Scout events in their Service Unit.
Outdoor Champion: Outdoor champions offer tools and resources on outdoor skills, nature activities, and outdoor badges.

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.

Committees & Advisory Groups

Committees and advisory groups are made up of volunteers such as members of the elected Board of Directors, Alums, and community members with particular expertise and a shared passion for the Girl Scout mission. In addition to these groups, volunteer committees and advisory groups contribute significantly to the success of Girl Scouts River Valleys.

Interested in filling a volunteer role? Contact us.

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.

You can make a difference in the lives of girls—yes, you!