2019 Early Bird Renewal Toolkit

Welcome

Are you ready to Early Bird yourself

and your troop for the 2018-2019

membership year? Whether you

are brand new to Early Bird renewal

or experienced, this guide has

some important information and re-

sources to help make Early Bird fun

and easy.

The Early Bird renewal period is a

time for troop leaders and parents

to renew their individual and troop

memberships for the upcoming

membership year. In April, you have

the opportunity to register early for

the membership year starting on

October 1, 2018. Review this toolkit

to learn about all the amazing ben-

efits of renewing during Early Bird.

2019 Early Bird Patch

Why Early Bird?

Renewing yourself and your girls during Early Bird has many benefits for all levels of our

organization.

- Parents ensure that their girl will be

right back in the same troop by se-

curing their spot

- Girls have the opportunity to rein-

vest in themselves and plan exciting

adventures for the next year

- Girl incentive drawings (Zoo and

iFly)

- Early identification of the girls and ac-

tive volunteers in your troop

-Troop leaders will have first access to

next year’s Volunteer Toolkit in July

-Troops are ready for the Fall Product

Sale

- Troops have the ability to pre-plan

and get started on the right foot in the

fall

- Troop incentive drawings (Camp and

Girl Scout gift cards)

- Communities will have better planning for fall recruit-

ment and Community activities

- Early Bird renewal indicates a Communities’ successful

support to healthy, active troops returning for another

year of Girl Scouting

- Free money! Council offers financial bonuses to Com-

munities that reach Early Bird goal so they can better

serve troops

Important Dates and Incentives

Free Early Bird Patch April 9th All members are eligible.

Houston Zoo Family

Membership

April 30th All girls who renew will be entered into two drawings.

iFly Indoor Skydiving April 30th All girls who renew and will be Cadettes or older in

the FALL OF 2018 will be entered into two drawings

for a package of two iFly flights for her and two for a

friend.

$100 Troop Girl Scout Shop

Gift Card

May 31st All troops that renew 75% of their total girl and adult

members will be entered into four drawings.

Troop Camp Priority May 31st All troops that renew 75% of their total girl and adult

members will be entered into five drawings for troop

camp reservation priority. Winning troops will be able

to receive their choice of camp reservations ahead

of the Council troop draw.

Community Camp Week-

end

June 15th All Communities that host a qualifying renewal-based

Community incentive and renew 50% of their total girl

and adult members will be entered into a drawing

for a Community camping weekend with the camp

fee waived.

Community Bonus June 15th All Communities that host a qualifying renewal-based

Community incentive and renew 45% of their total girl

and adult members will receive a $250 bonus, OR

those that reach 50% will receive a $350 bonus.

Important Dates and Incentives

How to Early Bird

MyGS, your Girl Scout Member Community, is a one-stop shop to renew Girl

Scout membership online, update your contact information and make sure

your volunteer roles are correct. To access your MyGS account, go to

www.gssjc.org click on MyGS or Sign In. The direct link is

https://gsmembers.force.com/members/login.

How to renew your troop:

1. Login to your MyGS account. Need help? Check out our Logging into MyGS guide, lo-

cated on the Early Bird page of our website.

2. Click the Member Profile button.

3. Select the Troops tab. If you have more than one troop, select the troop you will be re-

newing.

4. In the upper right hand corner, make sure you have selected Next Year in the drop

down box.

5. For each member you would like to renew, select Renew, Do Not Renew or I’ll Decide

Later from the drop down under the Renewal Choice column.

6. If you are adding a girl or adult member to your troop, select from the drop box at the

bottom of the page and click Go. Once their profile information is added, click Contin-

ue.

7. Enter payment information, review your order and print your itemized receipt. You’re all

set for next year!

Tip for success: Renew your troop members first in groups no larger than 10 and print your

receipt, then switch to your membership tab to renew family members. Do not try to regis-

ter both your family and your troop in one transaction. This may result in registration issues.

Additional Leader Resources

Early Bird Troop Activities

Materials

Cardstock paper

Markers or crayons

Clothes pins or safety pins

Glue or tape

Instructions

Cut out a bird outline for each girl who participated in Early Bird.

Encourage the girls to decorate their bird with a positive Early Bird or Girl Scout message or

design.

Glue or tape a clothes pin or safety pin to the backside of the bird.

Have the girls put on their pins and take a picture. Submit to communications@sjgs.org for

the chance to be included in the Golden Link or the council’s Facebook page.

Materials

Poster board or butcher paper

Markers, glitter, stickers—the sky’s the limit!

Instructions

Have the girls decorate the banner with a positive Early Bird message and design.

Take a troop picture with your banner. Submit to communications@sjgs.org for the chance

to be included in the Golden Link or the council’s Facebook page.

Early Bird Troop Activities

Materials

Balloons

Bowl

Newspaper

Flour or white glue

Decoration items (paint, feathers, glitter,

etc)

Tape

Instructions

Blow up a balloon to the desired egg size.

Cut the newspaper into strips approximately 4 inches long and 2 inches wide.

Prepare the paper mache paste by mixing 1 part flour to 2 parts water OR 2 parts

glue to 1 part water.

Dip the newspaper strips into the paper-mache paste and lay the strips on the surface

of the balloon. Add newspaper strips in a crisscross pattern until the balloon is covered

by two layers of newspaper.

Allow to dry overnight.

Have the adult helpers use an xacto knife to pop the balloon at the knot. Cut the

egg “crack” (as shown above) so there are two pieces of “egg shell”.

Have the girls decorate their eggs with images and words that describe their favorite

things about Girl Scouting.

Allow to dry. Have the girls write a renewal message to their parents (for example, the

Girl Worksheet on page 13 of this toolkit) and put it inside the egg.

Close the egg by putting the two egg shell pieces together and securing with a piece

of tape.

FINISH

START