Materials and Community Resources

We want to ensure that we communicate our brand promise. Girl Scouts gives every girl access to life-changing experiences that inspire her to do something big. Thank you for partnering with us to represent the amazing things that our girls are doing to change the world.

Recruitment Materials

Hosting a Girl Scout recruitment event is a great way to help new girls and families join the fun, and we have the tools you need to make your event a success. Whether you’re opening a service unit event up to new girls, increasing visibility at a school or community event, or hosting a Girl Scout Information Meeting we’ve got the materials you need for a successful event.

Volunteers Recruiters can order printed materials through Membership Delivery Managers for their upcoming recruitment events including:

Back to School Night or Open House
Distributing flyers to schools
Community Fair/Event
Kindergarten Round-Up/Open House
Girl Scout Info Session or Sign Up Event

The following materials are available from Council:

Half Page Caregiver Interest Cards
Stickers
Bookmarks
Believe in the Power of a Leader Flyer
Girl Membership Forms
Adult Membership Forms

You can find all of these materials and more here. We request kit orders be placed at least two weeks in advance of your event.

Using the Girl Scout Brand

Style Guide - Our style guide provides all employees and volunteers of Girl Scouts of Black Diamong guidelines for creating consistent, professional communications to ensure a strong Girl Scout brand.
Recruitment Materials - Each year, the council develops a consistent girl and adult volunteer recruitment campaign including flyer, postcard, and poster templates and messaging. If you need recruitment materials, please check out the Available Items section, Customization Section, or visit our flyer templates section.
Service Unit and Troop Activity/Event Flyers - Service unit and troop volunteers are welcome to create their own flyers using the templates provided on the flyer templates under the forms section or following the guidelines outlined below.
T-Shirts, Patches and Other Branded Items - Please remember that you must go to a Girl Scout licensed vendor to have any materials produced. To begin this process please talk to your membership manager or email info@bdgsc.org. Don't forget to check out our great selection at the council shop! You might just find what you're looking for there.
Branding Questions - Take a closer look at branding guidelines below, or contact the brand and marketing department at marketing@bdgsc.org.

Girl Scout Logos

The Girl Scouts of Black Diamond Council logo must be placed at the top left corner of every page. Make sure to leave white space around the logo and not crowd it. GSUSA recommends to leave at least the same amount of white space around it as the "g." Do not stretch or modify logos or servicemarks in any way.

Logos and Service Marks

Referencing Our Name

When mentioning our name in copy use either "Girl Scouts" or "Girl Scouts of Black Diamond Council." Use initial caps in all text.

Alternatively, you may use GSUSA or GSBDC.

Only the logo image should be lowercase.

Colors

Core Colors

The Girl Scout identity uses three core colors, green (PMS 355), black, and white.

Girl Scouts has the privilege of claiming a color. Green.

Girl Scouts has chosen to use the Pantone Color Matching System to ensure the correct “green” is used every time. When taking an item to a professional printer, specify Girl Scout Green as PMS 355 to make sure they use the proper ink color.

To ensure that we continue to claim the color and to capitalize on our well-established advantage, embrace green.

Materials and Community Resources

When creating materials for girls and parents, use the core colors with Trefoils and/or illustrations to add fun, playful energy to a design.

For audiences like potential partners, alumnae, and donors, a restricted color palette helps establish a more serious, adult tone. Use photography to add pops of color to the mix.

While Girl Scout green remains a primary element of our brand, sometimes we need additional colors to bring hierarchy, contrast, and vibrancy to our designs. These eight secondary colors appeal to girls inside and outside our Movement. To narrow down the selection, we streamlined color palettes used in campaigns, cookie marketing, and program materials, eliminating colors that were too similar.

Secondary colors can be used for important callouts, charts, graphs, or other infographic needs. Using Girl Scout green as the consistent thread—for page header copy, footer elements, backgrounds, callouts, or other design elements—helps keep designs simple and easily distinguishable as “Girl Scouts.”

In primarily green designs, emphasize messages and illustrations with pops of color.

When using multiple colors for infographics or illustrations, stick to Girl Scout green for headers and calls to action, and add pops of color to special data or illustrations.

Secondary Colors

In primarily green designs, emphasize messages and illustrations with pops of color.

When using multiple colors for infographics or illustrations, stick to Girl Scout green for headers and calls to action, and add pops of color to special data or illustrations.

Grade Level Colors

Neutral Colors

We’ve selected and tested some neutral colors and tints to use in conjunction with our core and secondary colors. Use these colors to add structure to a design or frame content in a layout. They are handy for backgrounds, sidebars, callouts, and charts.

Photos

Choosing photos to use for your piece is extremely important. Remember to focus on moments that matter, we want the world to see and feel for themselves all of the amazing things our girls are doing and showcase the Girl Scout Leadership Experience.

Communications Liaison

The Communications Liaison coordinates and distributes all internal communication on a local level. This responsibility includes recording minutes at important meetings, distributing newsletters, social media management (facebook messaging and updates), email communication, texts, etc. The Communications Liaison also serves as a resource for GSBDC to provide information so that it will be distributed accurately and in a timely manner to local volunteers, leaders, and girls.

Here are some helpful resources for our Communications Liaisons:

If you have questions or need assistance on a communications-related topic, please send an e-mail to Candace Nelson, Director of Marketing.

Volunteer Position Description

Download the Communications Liaison volunteer position description now.

Writing Minutes

Remember: minutes are to report news – not conversations!

Provide the FACTS.
Check for accuracy and proper spelling.
Keep the minutes short and to the point
Minutes should be no more than one page.
Minutes should be typed when possible
- Headings for each Minutes should include:
- Date when meeting was held
- Name of Service Unit
- Minutes taken by (Secretary’s name)
List conversations as a discussion had regarding . The outcome of the conversation was .
Put the most important information in the first sentences or paragraph for each time discussed. (This is known as inverted pyramid style.) Then add supporting facts, then list secondary date, and last add any miscellaneous information.

Maintaining Files

List of Suggested Files to be maintained

Service Unit Management:

Copy of monthly local leadership team meeting minutes
Copy of monthly local leadership team meeting attendance
Council Crisis Plan
Copy of the Service Unit Plan of Work
Copy of the Leader Roster (Troop#, name, address, phone, e-mail, etc.)

Day Camp Forms and Program Information

Copies of Day camp flyers

Recognition:

Recognition Programs held
Adult Recognition Awards Presented
Council Service Unit Recognitions
Copies of girl awards presented or recognitions
Alumnae information

Events:

Service Unit Event flyers
Council Event Flyers
Copy of the Program Guide poster

Training

Copy of training attendance sheets

Communicating through Social Media

Communications Liaisons are encouraged to share information with their volunteers via a Service Unit website or other social media platform. The purpose is to enhance the communication between local members and volunteers, which will enrich the experience for girl and adult members. Girl Scout troop leaders will also find these effective resources to enhance communications with parents.

Once you have created a site, we encourage you to share it with the GSBDC Marketing Department.

When representing Girl Scouts on social media channels make safety a priority.
Make sure the privacy standards settings ensure the safety of girls.
Practice diligence to ensure that groups you are joining or linking to have standards consistent with Girl Scouts.
Make sure the messages you post do not conflict with Girl Scouts positions. Please contact the council if you need clarity.
Use good judgment and common sense - do not write or post anything that would embarrass or upset Girl Scout members and volunteers, or reflect badly on our organization.
Treat others as you want to be treated; do not use the internet to attack or abuse any group, race, gender, religion, political group. Careful monitoring of social media is important in maintaining a positive image of Girl Scouting. When possible, please share articles/events from the GSBDC website, Facebook, Twitter, You Tube, and other communication resources.

This volunteer position is key to helping us build a consistent Girl Scout brand. Volunteers are very effective when it comes to telling the Girl Scout story in their local community. This volunteer position will ensure we are telling the Girl Scout story appropriately through social media channels.

Social Media & the Girl Scout Promise and Law

As a Girl Scout, the Girl Scout Promise and Law should guide all your actions—and that’s true for when you’re using social media, too! We’ve included some ideas to keep in mind below, but this isn’t a comprehensive list—when in doubt, ask yourself, “Is this action in line with the Girl Scout Promise and Law?”

Be honest and fair. Be transparent about your role as a Girl Scouts of Black Diamond volunteer when communicating about Girl Scout-related issues online.
Be friendly, helpful, considerate and caring. Treat others as you want to be treated. Don’t use social media to attack other volunteers, troop members, or staff members.
Be courageous and strong. Careful monitoring of social media is important in maintaining a welcoming and supportive community. If you see posts, comments, or behavior that concern you, please notify your Membership Experience Manager. Don’t be afraid to speak up or ask questions.
Be responsible for what you say and do. Remember that what you post online will be around for a long time (think of it as your online carbon footprint), and nothing is really private anymore. Use discretion and if you have questions about whether or not you should post something, ask your Membership Experience Manager.
Respect yourself and others. Respect other people’s privacy and your own personal boundaries by using discretion when choosing to connect with a fellow volunteer or girl guardian. (For service unit or troop Facebook groups, the privacy settings will give you the ability to give permission to only those who are involved with the service unit or troop.) Also, please do not publish girls’ full names online—girl safety is a top priority!
Respect authority. If your actions on social media—as with any other kind of actions taken as a Girl Scout volunteer—do not support the Girl Scout Promise and Law, we do reserve the right to take corrective action.
Use resources wisely.
Make the world a better place and be a sister to every Girl Scout. This is true regardless of how you are communicating!

As a representative of Girl Scouts, your online presence can reflect positively or negatively on Girl Scouts. It’s always recommended to set your personal Facebook profile to “private” (only your Facebook friends can see it), especially if you have Girl Scouts of Black Diamond Council listed as an organization that you volunteer for or represent. Please remember that your Facebook profile picture can always be viewed publicly, so use discretion when choosing how the world sees you.

Girl Scout Branding, Trademarks, and Copyrights

Check out the Girl Scouts of Black Diamond Councils Marketing & Community Resources page (www.bdgsc.org/MarketingResources) for more information about how to use Girl Scout branded materials, as well as some easy to use templates.

In general, you can’t use copyrighted designs, text, graphics or trademarked symbols without specific permission from the copyright or trademark holder. The basic principle is: If it is not yours, don’t use it. Using the phrase "no copyright infringement is intended" (or similar wording) on your website does not mean that you can upload copyrighted or trademarked material without permission. All necessary permission must be obtained, or the material cannot be posted on your website.

Photography

Use of photos or videos requires a Photo/Artwork Release form signed by parents/guardians and any adults pictured. This release only provides permission for use directly related to Girl Scouts and should never be used to promote a business or political campaign. The troop leader should keep this document on file at all times.

Hyperlinks

Consider hyperlinks with care. If you link to another from your website or social media platform, make sure the page’s content is consistent with Girl Scout values and does not contain inappropriate or controversial material.

Advertising & Product Sales

Do not sell advertising on your site, either in text or graphic format. This includes banner ads and sponsored links. The sale of advertising creates an implied relationship between Girl Scouts and the goods or services advertised, and are NOT permitted.

Guidelines

Anything you post on your group or profile can reflect on Girl Scouts, so ask yourself, “What information would be appropriate for a stranger to see on my page?” Make sure that the girls and adults in your Girl Scout Troop or Service Unit who may be contributing content realize that this is a Girl Scout page, not a personal page. Please be particularly careful about inappropriate references to race, religion, age, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, marital status, learning disability, physical or mental disability, or political affiliation—they have no place on a Girl Scout page.
Do not post a girl’s last name, e-mail address, physical address, phone number or school.
Do not post the date, time and location of meetings, events or trips. Service Units can post recruitment events online. If Service Units wish to share program information with families, they should do so via email or through a closed group or password protected page only.
Any Girl Scout using a social networking site for communication must have parental permission and must meet age limits set by the provider, which is 13 and older in most cases, as per the United States Child Online Privacy and Protection Act (COPPA) and the Child Online Protection Act (COPA).
Only events/opportunities that are directly related to Girl Scouts can be promoted.
Under no circumstances should volunteers utilize information available on social media sites to make volunteer appointment decisions.
Respect other people’s privacy and your own personal boundaries by using discretion when
Girl Scouts USA requirements are listed in Safety Activity Checkpoints and we encourage all girls to sign the Girl Scout Internet Safety Pledge. We strongly encourage you to talk with your girls about issues of privacy and educate them about not sharing personal information, photos, contact information, etc. with strangers online.
Members responsible for posting disparaging material, bullying, intimidation or other misuse will be reprimanded and other disciplinary measures may be taken. We expect our adult members to role models for our girls, and follow the Girl Scout Law and Promise to be considerate and caring, honest and fair. GSBDC has a zero tolerance for adult to girl cyber bullying.
Comments should be deleted if they break any of the procedures listed above; contain profanity, obscenity, vulgarity or nudity in profile picture; are defamatory to a person, people or organization; contain name calling, personal attacks and/or personal issues that are more appropriately addressed offline; or infringe on copyright laws.
Girls and adults may post notices on websites alerting their communities about the Girl Scout Cookie Sale or Fall Product Sales. However – with the exception of Digital Cookie and M2 Media – payments may not be taken online. For girl safety, best practice is to not promote your girl’s sale on group social media sites where you or your girl do not know all members, and to not share personal girl information – such as last names, addresses, or phone numbers – on any social media site.

The next section of these guidelines gives specific information on how to start Facebook, Shutterfly and Twitter accounts. Other platforms such as Google may also be used. Each service unit is encouraged to discuss which medium would be most effective for their own use. We are not endorsing a specific product, but giving information so Girl Scout members may use social media effectively.

Facebook

We are posting regular status updates, pictures, links and more on our GSBDC page. We also invite our fans to participate in discussions and share information. To “Like” us - Search for “Girl Scouts of Black Diamond” in the Facebook search bar or visit www.facebook.com/GSBDC. When you find us, simply click the “Like” button.

Best practices for Facebook:

Update your status regularly
Brighten your profile with photos and videos
Join groups and networks
Write on friends’ walls
“Like” pages, share links with friends and organize events

Creating a Closed Facebook Group

The first step is to create your own Facebook account, if you have not done so already. If you do not have a Facebook account, you can create one at www.facebook.com. It’s very simple and takes only a few minutes. To create a group, take the following steps:

At the “home” page on your Facebook account, on the left side column, there is a menu item called “Create a Group.” Click on that option. A box will appear on your screen for creating a group.
Choose your group name. This should be the name of your service unit (or your troop if you are creating a group page for your troop). For example: Girl Scout Troop XXXXX or GSBDC Service Unit XXXXX, so that viewers can easily identify the troop, service unit and council.
You can now add other local members to the group who also have Facebook accounts. Please make sure to add only service unit members, troop parents/members and Girl Scouts of Black Diamond staff.
Pull down the menu labeled “privacy.” Your options will be Open, Closed or Secret. Select the “Closed” option. This ensures that only members of the group will see the information posted in the group page.
Click “create” and you’re finished.
If you choose to add a profile picture, the Girl Scout Trefoil is a graphic you can use. If you would like one that includes your service unit name, please contact us.

Things you can do with a closed Facebook group

Post messages - remember a Facebook post has a limit of 420 characters before implementing the “see more” button. Statistically, people do not click the “see more” button.
Use the Notes section for longer posts
Post photos
Share files
Create an event on the calendar and get RSVP via a “yes,” “no” or “maybe” response
Post links to other sites
Post videos
Create documents on Facebook
Chat with group members

Managing your closed Facebook group

Before you begin developing a Girl Scout social media account, designate two adults who will be responsible for managing the account—one who is the primary manager, and one who can be a back-up. That way, there’s always more than one person who can manage the account!

In a closed group, any member can invite other members to join, as long as they are Facebook friends. Remember to protect everyone’s privacy by only inviting adult members of Girl Scouts.

The creator of the closed group is the administrator by default. For that reason, we encourage the communications liaison to create the closed group. It is a good practice to have more than one administrator, so that the responsibility of the account can be shared. If the service unit already has a page and you are taking over the administration, the administrator can add an additional site administrator with ease.

Shutterfly

Creating a Closed Shutterfly Share Site

The first step is to create a Shutterfly account. Go to: www.shutterfly.com.

Go to “Share” page and scroll down to click “Create a site.”
Click on “Make a free site” and choose site category “Clubs & Groups.”
Name your site. Again, this should be the name of your service unit. Please do not add “Girl Scouts of Black Diamond Council” to the name of your site.
You will be shown the site URL.
When you see “Who can view this site?” select “Only the people you choose.” Sign in to Shutterfly.com will be required by site members.
Choose site design—pick the color/design of the template.
Click on your choice and then scroll down and click “Create site.” You can add images, including the Girl Scouts of Black Diamond Council’s servicemark (logo).

Once your site is created, you will receive an e-mail that includes the hyperlink for your site. At the Shutterfly home page, you can find your site when you click on the “Share” button. Once your page is created, you can customize it with photos and other additions.

Things you can do on a Shutterfly share site

Site members: Add people to the site member list; invite via e-mail.
Favorite sites: You can add links to your favorite websites.
Add sections such as calendar, message board, rosters or files.
Customize your page layout.
You can add files to your page - just upload from your computer. To do this, add the
“Files” section to your page and then you have the ability to upload files
Change photos on your homepage—upload from your computer.
You can add “adult team rosters” (the name given on Shutterfly) with contact information.
- With rosters, you can set permissions for members - give page members access to only view the page, not change the information.

Sections you can add on Shutterfly

1. Share

Pictures and album
Videos
Photo books
Featured pictures
Text - can write or share text
Journal
Bookmarks
Files - can upload word documents

2. Collaborate

Recent activity
Message board
Comments
Calendar
Volunteer sign up
Polls - create a method for members to vote on something
Tasks/to do lists
Rosters
Contact lists
Members list - who are group members

3. More options

Map - add locations and show on Google map
Feeds from other sites

Twitter

We are posting 140 character tweets from our Twitter account @BlackDiamondGS.

To create a Twitter account visit: www.twitter.com and click on “Sign Up.”

The basics of Twitter are to:

Follow relevant accounts
Post tweets

Remember that people like the human touch and will appreciate posts with your thoughts and experiences more than you think. They also like it when you say ‘hi’ and respond to their comments.

Best practices for Twitter:

Build relationships on Twitter
Listen for comments about Girl Scouts
Respond to comments and queries
Ask questions
Post links to things people would find interesting
Retweet messages you would like to share
Use a friendly, casual tone
Don’t spam people

Creating a Twitter account

Full Name - Use your real name. It will appear on your public profile.
Username - This is your “handle” on Twitter. (Ex: Ours is BlackDiamondGS.) It can be your name (ex: JaneSmith25), or something that is “you” (ex: CookieFan18). Use your service unit name and number or an abbreviation of the name, when creating a Twitter account for your service unit. When creating your username, be mindful that user names count as a part of the 140 character limit.
Password - You will need a password to sign in to your account.
Terms of service - Agree to these. You are agreeing to not spam other users. Click “create account.”
Once your account is created, you will see an account page where you can fill in more information about yourself. Please do this.
Before finishing, be sure to click on the “Picture” tab and upload a photo of yourself. A headshot is the best idea. Use the Girl Scout Trefoil for a service unit.
If you have any questions about creating accounts, please contact us.

Style Guide for Volunteers

This guide is to support the creation of consistent, succinct and professional publications that build a compelling, contemporary brand. Consistency is critical because it reduces errors and decreases frustration/confusion. Volunteers should refer to this guide when developing documents and correspondence for Girl Scouts of Black Diamond Council. The style guide is mostly based on The Associated Press Guide to Punctuation and The Associated Press Stylebook. If you have questions, please refer to these publications or contact the communications department.

Download the Style Guide for Volunteers now.