Our year

Dear donor,

Girl Scouts of Colorado saw change and prosperity in 2014 because of the support of people like you lifting up our girls and our organization. This was the year when all of the hard work of making smart, yet sometimes difficult, financial decisions paid off for the girls of Colorado!  We are in the best financial shape we’ve seen since we became Girl Scouts of Colorado in 2007.

We are bolstered by a growing endowment fund that will sustain our leadership experience for girls in perpetuity, fueling our program on interest income generated by investments from our major donors.

Girl Scouts of Colorado made the difficult decision to list for sale the property that was experiencing the greatest financial losses every year, Magic Sky Ranch, near Red Feather Lakes, and we celebrated the memories made at Magic Sky during a closing ceremony at the end of the camp season. The news that in summer of 2015, we would bring resident camp back to Sky High Ranch near Woodland Park was met with overwhelming enthusiasm.

With our staff more active in the field and making smarter use of technology, we were able to downsize office space in Colorado Springs, Pueblo and Denver. The sale of our corporate office on Broadway resulted in a move to more efficient, professional space in Denver, and a great financial gain for the girls through our endowment.

The changes of 2014 position Girl Scouts of Colorado for continued prosperity in 2015, with the resources to strengthen Girl Scouting in the state for our volunteers and our girls. Thank you for your part in making it possible and your continued support!

I am proud to take the reins as Board Chair of Girl Scout of Colorado at this most promising time in our organization’s recent history.

Thanks to the remarkable work of my able predecessors, GSCO finds itself in a solid fiscal position.  The road was not easy. Our Board and Executive Staff faced a multitude of difficult decisions along the way – cutting costs when it seemed there were no more costs to cut, determining to sell one of our signature camps and rethinking the way we deliver services to girls as a statewide organization.

We cannot stop, however, at fiscal stability. We must achieve long-term fiscal strength. Girls Scouts remains one of a handful of nonprofit organizations that relies on the individuals we serve to fund operations.  For each $4 box of cookies a girl sells, $0.71 goes to support her troop’s activities (for example, troop camping and travel) and $2.18 goes to fund GSCO’s annual operations.

First and foremost, cookie sales are and must remain a business and self-esteem-building activity for girls. Robust cookie sales enable GSCO to provide girls with first-rate leadership experiences. We cannot, however, continue to rely on this February through March sale to provide nearly all of our statewide operating funds. For many reasons, including competing demands for girls’ time and an ever-more health conscious public, this model is simply not sustainable.

For this reason, we are stepping up our efforts to increase corporate, foundation and individual support. This is where you can help. Whether you are in a position to donate $10 or $100,000, GSCO needs you. Last year, we commenced a partnership with Rose Community Foundation to better attract, invest and manage both annual gifts and planned gifts. We want you to know that, whether you contribute a lot or a little to GSCO, our commitment to professional management and stewardship means that your gift will have maximum impact for Colorado’s girls.

Finally, I would personally like to thank you for your support of GSCO. Whether you donate, lead a troop, buy a table at a Women of Distinction event or buy cookies, you are helping to build the next generation of women of courage, confidence and character.