National has updated the Gold Award outreach to include that projects may benefit the Girl Scout Community. The standards of the Gold Award have not changed. To ensure that this does not dilute the prestige, leadership efforts, or impact of each girl’s project, the Gold Award must still complete the seven requirements that are key to making it a sustainable project. Every Gold Award project must contain two of the three components: build, advocacy, education and an active leadership component; as well as an organization who agrees in writing to sustain the project in the years to come.
For example, Girl Scouts can benefit from the advocacy and education component of the project by being part of the audience. A build project would be a more difficult choice, as the project will still need to have a second component and active leadership. Build projects must have a community partner outside of the benefiting organization who will agree in writing to sustain what the girl has created in the years to come. Meaning, neither GSCCC nor a GS Troop can be the sustaining partner.
When talking to your girls about going for gold and looking for a project, the girl should explore what she is passionate about in her community by meeting a need, not a want. The root cause, the issue she is solving by doing her project, needs to be clearly defined. What she creates as original work needs to be sustained.
As a reminder, collection projects and canned projects are not Gold Award Take Action projects, they are community service. Visiting a state park or Girl Scout property and selecting a project off of their wish list will not qualify as a Gold Award project.
The 2nd change is in money-earning for a Gold Award project. A girl must seek approval from the GSCCC Philanthropy director prior to setting up money-earning activity or asking for any in-kind donation. If you have additional questions, please feel free to contact the Colonial Coast Gold Award Committee directly at gsgoldaward.gsccc@gmail.com.
