Using Volunteer Toolkit (VTK)

In this tab, leaders can see troop contacts, track awards and badges, and track attendance.

Click on a Girl Scout’s name to see detailed information like their address, birthday, and phone number.

• You can see a list of awards, badges, and attendance in each Girl Scout’s record.

In this tab, leaders can preview and select different year plan options, or create their own! The first time you log into the volunteer toolkit for the year will bring you to this page.

You can explore meeting plans, either by badge or journey award name, or by using filters selecting the types of badges, journeys, or experience you are looking for.
As you preview the list of meetings you may see a WiFi symbol. This indicates there are virtual activities to choose from.

As you preview the Meeting Plan, you can see more details such as meeting overview, meeting plan and the list of activities.

Once you select one or more badges to be added to your Year Plan, you will be placed in the Year Plan tab. However, you can continue to choose badges, journeys and other types of meetings by going back to the Explore tab or clicking on the Add Badge/Journey link that appears near the to of the Year Plan page.

Please note that most badges/journeys/patches take more than one meeting to complete. Choose all meeting plans to earn that award.

View Popular Tracks

With this feature you can view suggested plans by year or by interest. While planning your troop year is best to be girl-led, this is a great place to start as a first-time troop leader, or for your troop to discuss. You can always customize the plan along the way you get to know your troop members and their interests.
You will also find year plan options for K-5 and 6-12 multilevel troops. There are three S.T.E.M. year plan options for Girl Scouts in grades K-5, and two S.T.E.M. year plan options for Girl Scouts in grades 6-12.

In this tab, leaders can plan out their troop’s year.

Organize Troop Meetings

• The petal/badge and Journey Year Plans are organized by 15 meetings in default order. You can drag-and-drop these to reorder them.
• Use the Manage Calendar link to set your meeting dates/times and troop meeting location. Use this feature if your troop member caregivers are using the calendar.
• Under Calendar, you can set meeting dates, frequency, and times (make sure to add in any holidays that will change your regular meeting times). Click “Update Calendar” to save your changes.
• Under Location, you can add your meeting location and address. Click “Add” to save your changes.

To Add Badges/Petals/Journeys/Patches to Your Year Plan

• Click on the “Add Badge/Journey” link. Use the search box or the filter options to view meeting options.
• Choose the meeting plans you want. Make sure if a badge has more than one meeting plan that you choose all that approve for earning that award.
• Click “Add To Year Plan” to add your meetings.

Combining Meetings on One Date

Combining meetings on one date allows multilevel leaders to have their Daisy, Brownie and/or Junior meetings on the same date.

• Inside the Year Plan tab and click on the green-colored meeting date box for the date you want to combine meetings.
• Find your meeting date and click on the calendar icon. This will open a box with the choice to Change Date/Time, Cancel Meeting or Combine Meetings.
• Choose Combine Meetings and click on the meetings you want to combine.
• Click Continue and use the calendar to choose the date for those meetings to occur.
• Click “Save” and when you view your Year Plan, you will see multiple meetings on that date.

In this tab, you can customize meeting activities, delete ones your Girl Scouts don’t want to do, and replace them with new ones.

• Choose a meeting by clicking on the colored meeting date box. You must specify your meeting dates and location under the Year Plan tab to see your “Meeting Plans”.
• In each meeting you will see:
  • Meeting Overview – Click on the overview to see a quick summary of the meeting you are viewing.
  • Meeting Plan – Gives you details of each meeting’s activities. Use the Meeting Planner (details below) to customize the meeting plan. Changes you make in the meeting planner will show in the “Meeting Plan”, you can then download or print for use at the meeting.
  • Materials List – Tells you everything you need for that meeting.
  • Virtual Meeting Planning – Links you to more information on how to plan for this type of meeting.
    • Edit/Send Reminder Email – Gives you a scripted email for families that you can edit as needed to remind them of what their Girl Scouts will be doing at that meeting.
    • Edit/Send Follow-Up Email – Gives you a scripted email for families that you can edit as needed to thank them for attending or to let those who missed what they can do to catch up, and a reminder for the next meeting date.
    • Edit/Send Speaker Invitation – Gives you a scripted email for adults who are assisting in leading parts of the meeting or is a guest speaker. This email explains what to expect and sets them up for success.
  • Record Attendance and Achievements – This is where you can keep track of what badges your Girl Scouts have earned and who was at each meeting. It is populated into each Girl Scout’s information in the My Troop tab.
  • Meeting Planner – Lists all the activities for the meeting with the recommended times for each activity. You can change the order of activities by “dragging and dropping,” or delete activities by clicking on the activity title. You can also edit the times allowed for each activity.
  • Add to Meeting – This is where you can customize your meeting by adding additional activities to customize your troop meeting like celebrating Juliette Gordon Low’s Birthday.
  • Meeting Aids – Includes worksheets, songs, and other types of reference materials you will need for meeting activities. Any link or pdf that is linked to the meeting planner can also be found here.
  • Additional Resources – Gives helpful hints on how to lead Girl Scout programming. If you are setting up the meeting for others to lead, you can add your own additional resources.
  • Your Opinion Matters! – Some meeting plans may request that you take the time to do a quick survey to let Girl Scouts of the USA know what you thought about the activities. This will help them to continue to improve the Volunteer Toolkit with your input.
  • Add a Note – You can leave notes to the other leaders in your troop to see. Parents cannot view notes.
  • Select Year Plan to return to your troop’s year plan.

Use this tab to find a variety of resources on safety, traditions, and more. Some of the resources on this page bring you to the Girl Scouts of the USA website, and others link you to Girl Scouts River Valleys Volunteer Website. Can’t find what you are looking for? Contact us or visit Volunteers.GirlScoutsRV.org for additional troop leader resources.

The Volunteer Toolkit finance tab is currently not in use.

• You cannot access council events or resources found on our websites inside of the volunteer toolkit. The volunteer toolkit is an additional tool that is separate from the GirlScoutsRV.org and Volunteers.GirlScoutsRV.org websites.
• Financial tracking. Continue to access troop financial forms from our website.
• Information on Highest Awards, bridging, safety awards, and additional badges and awards are not included in the VTK. Refer to the Girl Scout Handbook or Girl’s Guide to Girl Scouting or the troop leader section of this website.
• To register girls for programs and learning opportunities, visit GirlScoutsRV.org/Events.
• To register girls for summer camp, visit GirlScoutsRV.org/Register.

• Parents/guardians can log in to their online account using the MY GS on our website and view parts of the volunteer toolkit, although they cannot make any changes.
• Using the Troop tab, parents can view their Girl Scout’s membership information, but cannot see other Girl Scouts’ information.
• They can view the Year Plan and Meeting Plan, and search for resources.
• Parents/guardians can use their online My Account to make changes to their Girl Scout’s information (contacts, membership, family profile), but cannot change the troop information.

You can download and save your volunteer toolkit plans into any digital device, laptop, tablet, or smart phone. You can also print meeting plans and resources to take with you to your meeting.

The Volunteer Toolkit can be accessed from any electronic device—tablet, smart phone, or laptop—with internet capability. Libraries are a great resource for those who don’t have access to internet at home. You can print meeting plans or download them onto an electronic device to use without internet access at your meeting.