Leah Colsch and Stephanie Herrera
Grant Final Draft
Practice 3-Fett
5/14/14
Project Title: Girl Scouts of Eastern Iowa and Western Illinois Outreach Program
Amount Requested: $5,000.00
Organization Name, Address, contact, phone, email and website:
Girl Scouts of Eastern Iowa and Western Illinois
2644 Pennsylvania Avenue
Dubuque, IA 52001
Organization and Proposal Contact:
Anna Gibney-Development Manager
Phone Number and Email:
T 309-788-0833 x314
Annag@girlscoutstoday.org
GirlScoutsToday.org
501 (c) 3: Yes
Tax ID#: Girl Scouts will fill in
Part 1: Narrative
Provide a summary of organization's work. (199/200 word limit) *
The Girl Scouts of Eastern Iowa and Western Illinois’ mission is to develop leaders and build girls of
courage, confidence, and character who make the world a better place. We believe young girls will
develop these skills and exceed their own goals when they join a troop. A troop consists of girls, who
meet on a regular basis throughout the school year to complete activities and have academic outings as
well. The Outreach program reflects our mission by providing the opportunity of joining Girl Scouts to
those who typically wouldn’t be able to afford to be in a troop.
Girl Scouts serves 19,000 girls, has 5,000 volunteers and employed 70 local leaders in our area. We have
5 offices, one being in Dubuque. Our organization connects with schools and neighborhoods in both rural
and inner city communities. We offer hundreds of programs each year and create lessons focused around
developing leadership, financial literacy, the environment, healthy living and science, technology,
engineering and math skills. With each program, Girl Scouts has 15 measurable outcomes, all revolving
around the girls discovering a strong sense of self and skills to explore the world, connecting with other
members locally, and identifying global issues.
Brief Project/Program description. Please describe what issue/problem this project/program will
address? Describe the urgency/need for this project/program? Describe the benefit received by
women/children through this project/program. How will that be reported to the Women's Giving
Circle? (300/300 word limit) *
Research shows correlations between income level and the speed of picking up new concepts. In the
2008-2012 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimate provided by the US Census Bureau, 13.2% of
Dubuque’s population lives below the poverty line including youth. Girl Scouts’ Outreach Program works
with girls from this population to connect them with caring adults and assistance with work on various
new skills spanning many topics in a “troop-like” group experience.
Data provided by the Girl Scout Research Institute and available at girlscouts.org shows many girls today
are growing significantly in scholastic competence, behavioral management, mastering goals, grades, and
relationships with the help of the Girl Scout experience. In 2005, girls were more likely to aspire higher
education after high school and also participate in more community service projects versus their male
counterparts. Specifically, a participant in Outreach can actively participate in other organizations in the
future using what they learned from a variety of subjects ranging from art to science.
The Outreach Program is a six to eight week program that provides an opportunity for girls to overcome
barriers which prevent her from joining a troop. These barriers include family financial issues, lack of
transportation or lack of mentors. Outreach can bring a girl into scouting who previously believed she
would be unable to join due to unmanageable fees. By joining an Outreach group, she shares her
experiences with a group of friendly like-minded peers and supporting adult staff. Girls take the skills
they learn such as leadership, financial literacy, STEM, and healthy living back to school and help create
a more positive environment.
We will report the number of girls who participate in Outreach and the percentage who join full troops
after. A representative from the Women’s Giving Circle is also welcome to sit-in on an Outreach meeting.
How does this project or program help the women/children you serve gain self-sufficiency and/or
significantly address barriers to opportunity? (197/200 word limit) *
The Girl Scout Outreach Program focuses on building self-sufficiency among girls in under-served and
low income areas. Outreach provides a free outlet for girls to participate in scouting without financial
struggle and provides a caring and dependable adult mentor. After the Outreach program has ended, girls
will be connected to an already established Girl Scout troop in the nearest area. This is possible with the
help of funds from the local Girl Scouts office, which covers the girls’ $15 annual troop registration fee
for as long as she continues with the troop. Outreach is the first step to a girl’s lifelong membership in
Girl Scouts. Additionally, girls will learn to be resourceful and use critical thinking skills through lessons,
where they will apply real-life math skills, creativity, problem solving, while connecting with others.
Ultimately, our goal is to create future independent leaders. This lifelong membership is important to girls
this age; it opens many doors with the connections Girl Scouts has throughout the nation. As we support
these girls, they are better able to make an impact on their community by being more actively aware and
engaged in providing service back to the community through service projects.
Project/Program Timeline and Action Plan in General Terms: Date and Action Plan (186/300 word
limit) *
The Girl Scout Outreach program is a year round recruiting process. Trained staff visit and present at
schools and send promotional flyers home with potential members. When it is evident there is a high
enough demand in a concentrated area, the Girl Scouts’ staff will find a safe site for the meetings to be
held as well as a parent volunteer or community volunteer, who is willing to become a trained troop
leader.
Once the supplies, leader, venue, and girls are confirmed, all come together and start the six to eight week
program. Program length varies depending on the demand and the progress of the girls’ skill
development. The time of the meetings are planned around school schedules.
These weekly programs consist of educational lessons focusing on a range of topics from science to art
and culture, to character. The program content can be supplemented with suggestions of relevant and
timely lessons given by girls’ teachers about specific skills certain participants should focus on based on
their age. This is where the girls will receive the small group attention to help them fully reach their
potential.
How does this project or program approach a problem in a strategic way to build capacity, reflect
diversity and inclusiveness or create efficiencies to avoid duplication and maximize the number of
individuals served? (288/300 word limit) *
Although youth today can have the world at their fingertips, Girl Scouts recognizes the impact of the oneon-one interaction with other leaders and peers which help children better prepare for the globally
competitive future. Not all girls have the resources to join a troop to experience this interaction. Outreach
was created to help girls of lower-income families build self-confidence and leadership skills for present
and future success. These girls need positive outlets that challenge them more than many others. This may
be their only source of positive, healthy and inspiring environments and role models.
Girl Scouts makes Outreach unique with our offering to cover the initial registration fee for the graduating
girls of the Outreach program. This incentive encourages girls to continue the “troop experience” long
term. Past programming shows the positive effect Girl Scouts has on girls social and academic skills, and
we want to help foster this growth for as many girls as possible in low income and low performing
schools by providing the individualized attention, lessons focused on financial literacy and role models
girls in troops receive.
To maximize the number of girls in this program, Girl Scouts strategizes and connects with local
elementary schools including Lincoln, Audubon, Prescott, and Fulton through presentations and handouts.
Our partnerships also extend through our affiliations with the Boys and Girls Club, Multicultural Family
Center and Dubuque Leisure Services. Not only do these programs provide us with a bigger and diverse
population of girls who come into their facilities, but these partners help add to the quality of lessons in
Outreach by providing complementary programming on days when Outreach isn’t held. These agencies
help provide various speakers, supplies and also introduce the girls to other safe options in Dubuque.
What would be the implication of your agency not receiving this funding on the proposed program?
(24/25 words) *
Lack of funding for Outreach will prevent access to many girls who need positive support and real world
skills to successfully navigate their future.
Number of individuals served by the project or program? Agency project? WGC Funded project?*
(66)
There are 75 girls in the Dubuque area currently registered in the Girl Scout Outreach Program for the
2013-2014 school year. We hope to expand this number in Fall 2014 to over 100 girls through our
marketing efforts with handouts in the schools. This program reaches out to 31 counties in Eastern Iowa
including Dubuque. In our specific council, including Dubuque, we serve 2,200 Outreach members.
Describe the measurable outcome(s) for this project or program? How does your organization plan
to measure progress toward these outcomes? (273/300 word limit) *
Throughout our area council, fifty percent of the girls in the Outreach program have returned to
participate year after year. Dubuque has a seventy-six percent return rate which suggests its popularity
and relevance in girls’ lives. Part of our goal is to consistently increase this percentage which we have
been able to achieve in past years. Outreach in Dubuque is a highly needed, valued program that could
serve hundreds of girls. The program numbers suggest the curriculum resonates in girls lives. As we
continue this program, we will assess the number of girls to continue onto an actual troop after their
graduation from Outreach. Our goal is for at least 75% of Outreach members to be registered and actively
participating in an actual Girl Scout troop for 2 years after their Outreach experience, because this ensures
that the girls found the experience they received in Outreach to be as beneficial and worth finding a way
to afford the troop experience.
We gather this data through membership records and follow-up questions with past participants years
after they completed the program, and we’ve seen positive trends in membership and future success. We
can report this to the Women’s Giving Circle when needed.
We can report the girls’ attendance during this program as well. If this is up to 80%, we consider it being
successful because of the hectic days they live. Also, we will take not on how many girls stuck with a
troop for 2 or more years. This shows that Outreach did provide the girls with something they didn’t have
before, and they wanted to keep it, so they stayed with the troop.
Other treasures: Please describe up to five needs for donations of supplies as well as new or
used goods in working condition (examples: household, office, educational supplies such as
furniture, office equipment, cleaning supplies, etc.) The Women's Giving Circle will
randomly select 30% of agencies, applying for but not receiving grants, to receive needed
supplies. Please limit your needs to five. Those agencies not being selected are welcome to
network with the Women's Giving Circle at our Annual Gifts and Grants Celebration on
July 24. Your list of supplies/needs will be routed to this group for their individual giving.
(145/300 words)*
Outreach is always in need of academic supplies to complete weekly lessons. These include
scissors, paper, pens, pencils and various small supplies depending on the project we are working
on for that session. Snacks are also a necessity for growing and hungry girls after school. For
some, this may be the healthiest food the girls will receive outside of school. This program
provides a healthy alternative than being unsupervised in their neighborhoods for girls. The
snacks and supplies are necessary in creating an effective alternative.
Additionally, Girl Scouts needs to supply transportation for the Outreach members in order to go
on outings. To achieve the hands-on experience and really stimulate the minds of our girls, we
believe it is necessary to provide outings to local museums and art shops, but we need to pay for
taxis to carry all girls and leaders to the experience.
Part 2: Documentation (all files to be able to download to online
application)
List of Board Members:
Board of Directors- Officers
Teresa Colgan, Chair Burlington, IA
Jill Dashner, First Vice-Chair Cedar Falls, IA
Michel Stone, Second Vice-Chair Cedar Rapids, IA
Lee Mowers, Treasurer Silvis, IL
Carolyn Haupert, Secretary Dubuque, IA
Board of Directors- Members at Large
Andrew Abbott- Cedar Falls IA
Ann Menke- West Point, IA
Anne Ryerson- Geneseo, IL
Bill Leaver- Des Moines, IA
Dave Emerick- Rock Island, IL
Deb Oliver- Dysart, IA
Denise Bulat- Riverdale, IA
Donnelle Fuerste- Dubuque, IA
Dr. Kim Armstrong- Milan, IL
Jen Neumann- Cedar Rapids, IA
John Cummings- Cedar Rapids, IA
Kaitlin Zeiser- Lisbon, IA
Karla Steele- Moline, IL
Kay Sackville Breuer- Burlington, IA
Kendra Conforti- Dubuque, IA
Mary Ann Brown- Burlington, IA
Nancy Bether- Elma, IA
Nancy Dunkel- Dyersville, IA
Peg Hudson- Dubuque, IA
Quinn Pettifer- Cedar Rapids, IA
Scott Illingsworth- Rock Island, IL
Theresa Dunkin- North Liberty, IA
Tori Moshier- East Moline, IL
Tracy Schwind- Davenport, IA
IRS Letter: Girl Scouts will fill in
FY Budget: Girl Scouts will fill in
Program Budget: on separate page once we have FY Budget
Requested
In-Kind
Total
First Annual Troop Membership Fees after
Outreach
($15 x 100 girls)
1,500
0
1,500
Supplies
($3 x 8 weeks x 100 girls)
2,400
0
2,400
Paid Staff
($8.25 per hour x 2.5 hour sessions x 8 weeks
x 2 staff per session x 4 outreach groups.)
0
1,320
1,320
Location Space
($55/hour x 2.5 hour session x 4 schools x 8
weeks per school)
(Donated by Fulton, Prescott, Audubon, and
Lincoln Elementary Schools)
0
4,400
4,400
Transportation for a 10 mile ride on one
outing
(A1 Taxis for 10 miles x $3.25 starting +
$2.15 per mile = $24.75 x 20 taxis for 100
girls)
495
0
495
Healthy snacks per week x 8 weeks x 4
schools
(Nature Valley Bars $2.19 per box x 5=
$10.95
Graham Crackers $5.40 per box x 5= $27.00
Fruit-Apples $2.99 per pound, bananas $0.59
per pound x 4 lbs. each = $14.32
Capri Sun boxes $1.67 per pack of 10 x 10=
$16.70
Bottles of water $1.99 per 24 pack x 5= $9.95)
2525.44
0
2525.44
Printing and postage of information
(Stamps $0.46 per stamp x 250 = $115.00
Envelopes $3 box x 15 = $45
Printing costs $0.75 a page x 250 =$187.50 )
347.50
0
347.50
Total
7,267.94
5,720.00
12,987.94