The Volunteer Toolkit (VTK) is a digital resource that supports volunteers in managing and delivering the Girl Scout Leadership Experience to their troop or individually registered Girl Scouts. This article for troop leaders discusses how to get the most out of this online tool.
Accessible from desktop and mobile devices, the Volunteer Toolkit brings access to Badges, Journeys and programming across all levels at no additional charge, so you can leave the books behind and focus on what matters!
Who can access Volunteer Toolkit?
All troop leaders currently registered and placed in an active troop have full access to VTK features. Daisy, Brownie, and Junior leaders are especially encouraged to give it a try!
Primary Caregivers also have partial access in VTK—They can view their child’s information and meeting plans.
Caregivers of IRGs (Individually registered Girl Scouts) also known as Juliettes have access to assist in planning the Girl Scout program.
Any other adult Girl Scout member in a volunteer role has access.
Accessing Volunteer Toolkit
The Volunteer Toolkit can be used from any computer or electronic device with internet capability. Access the Toolkit by logging in to My Account. Then, you’ll login with your email address and member password.
Please note: The Volunteer Toolkit works best when using Google Chrome as your browser.
On Volunteers.GirlScoutsRV.org
On GirlScoutsRV.org
Once logged in, you will see the Volunteer Toolkit in the left menu.
Primary Volunteer Toolkit Features
Manage Your Program Year
Daisy through Ambassador troop leaders have access to multiple full-year plans, including Journey year plans, badge year plans and meetings plans for special programs such as Becoming Me. These pre-made plans provide everything you need to get started. You can set your meeting calendar to include locations, dates, and times. You can customize activities, delete ones that your Girl Scouts don’t want to do, and replace them with new ones. The Volunteer Toolkit also allows leaders to keep attendance and track the badges each Girl Scout earns.
Navigating the Volunteer Toolkit
The following five tabs make up the volunteer toolkit.
My TroopClick 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.
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.
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.
- 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.
Frequently Asked Questions
We’ve put together a list of frequently asked questions to help you get started. Don’t see what you’re looking for? Contact us with any additional questions.
What is not in the Volunteer Toolkit?- 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.
Summary of Resources
- Volunteer Toolkit (VTK) – Digital tool for troop leaders accessible through My Account.
- GirlScoutsRV.org/Events – Register Girl Scouts for programs and learning opportunities (Not found in Volunteer Toolkit).
- Camp.GirlScoutsRV.org/Register – Register Girl Scouts for summer camp (Not found in Volunteer Toolkit).
- Troop Leader Section – Find information on Highest Awards, bridging, safety awards, and additional badges and awards (Not found in Volunteer Toolkit).