Thursday, December 17, 2009

Happy Holidays from all of us

We are 10.54% closer to our Annual Giving goal for this fiscal year. Congratulations to each of you for all your hard work.

Girl Scouts Heart of the Hudson would like to congratulate the Carmel Girl Scout Community and Pleasant Valley Community for reaching their Family Annual Giving goal.

If you have any tips or ideas, please forward them to the fund development department, at the address below. Maybe your tip will be spotlighted in the future!

As always, if the fund development department can help the Annual Giving campaign run smoother in any way, simply email us at mspears@girlscoutshh.org or call (912) 747-3080, ext. 265 or mhoffman@girlscoutshh.org or call (914)747-3030, ext 239.

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Announcing New Team Members

On behalf of the girls, volunteers and staff who comprise Girl Scouts Heart of the Hudson, Inc., we thank you for your leadership, time, dedication and especially, your ideas for sharing our mission with others.

New to the fund development department are:


  • Monica Spears, who will be contacting you to see if you’ve started, or need any help with, the Annual Giving Campaign, and 
  • Mary Ellen Hoffman, who will be contacting each of you to provide training, or need any help with, the Annual Giving Campaign.
Girl Scouts Heart of the Hudson would like to congratulate the Carmel Girl Scout Community for reaching their Family Annual Giving goal.

We are 5.28% closer to our Annual Giving goal for this fiscal year. Congratulations to each of you for all your hard work.

Please remember this blog is to inspire and inform each of you throughout the Annual Giving campaign. Please stop by, post your comments and send me any helpful tips so I can inform everyone.

If you have any tips or ideas please forward them to Anne Chau, Fund Development Department, so your tip can be in the spotlight in the future.

If the Fund Development Department can help in any way to make this campaign smoother, simply email us at achau@girlscoutshh.org or call (914) 747-3080 ext. 220.

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Annual Giving Myths Debunked

On behalf of the girls, volunteers and staff who comprise Girl Scouts Heart of the Hudson, Inc., we thank you for your leadership, time, dedication and especially, your ideas for sharing our mission with others.

Here are a couple of myths/obstacles you may encounter during the Annual Giving campaign:

People think buying cookies provides adequate support of Girl Scouting. Remember Girl Scout cookies are a program for girls to gain confidence and entrepreneur skills. We are extremely grateful to everyone who supports Girl Scouting in this way, but proceeds from cookies enable us to do only half of our work. We need donors to serve our girls throughout the seven counties, unless we are to turn girls away or close programs, we need donor support to do the complete job.

Some families in our community can’t afford to give financially. We may think that some families in our communities are unable to make a donation, however even in this economic state people will support charities that they believe in. Everyone should be given an opportunity to donate if they choose, troops should not be selectively distributing the annual giving campaign materials. Remember, people generally give when asked.

We are 2.34% closer to our Annual Giving goal for this fiscal year. Congratulations to each of you for all your hard work.

Idea Spotlight featuring the Arlington Girl Scout community: “Spare Change and Change a Girl”. The Arlington Community gathers various containers and decorates the containers with clip art. Each girl takes a container home for two weeks to collect household change. After two weeks, the containers are collected along with each troop’s donations and pledge cards. The Community Annual Giving Chair counts all the spare change and includes it in the community deposit.

If you have any tips or ideas please forward them to Anne Chau, Fund Development Department, so your tip can be in the spotlight in the future.

If the Fund Development Department can help in any way to make this campaign smoother, simply email us at achau@girlscoutshh.org or call (914) 747-3080 ext. 220.

Friday, November 20, 2009

Annual Giving Update

On behalf of the girls, volunteers and staff who comprise Girl Scouts Heart of the Hudson, Inc., we thank you for your leadership, time, dedication and especially, your ideas for sharing our mission with others.

Where should you deposit Annual Giving donations? We have over 25 different TD Bank locations in our seven counties and they are open seven days a week to serve your deposit needs. Just a reminder to use your Annual Giving deposit slips. If you need any more, please contact the fund development department.  Please check out our website for a complete list of TD Bank locations.

We are .99% closer to our Annual Giving goal for this fiscal year. Congratulations to each of you for all your hard work.

Idea Spotlight featuring the Mount Vernon Community: They are offering a gift certificate to our Girl Scout shop. In order to qualify, a leader/advisor must come to the Annual Giving training with her Annual Giving Chair. The numbers of the troops in attendance will go into a hat for a drawing and one lucky troop will win the gift certificate.

If you have any tips or ideas please forward them to Anne Chau, Fund Development Department, so your tip can be in the spotlight in the future.


If the Fund Development Department can help in any way to make this campaign smoother, simply email us at achau@girlscoutshh.org or call (914) 747-3080 ext. 220.

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Annual Giving 2009-2010

On behalf of the girls, volunteers and staff who comprise Girl Scouts Heart of the Hudson, Inc. we thank you for your leadership, time, dedication and especially, your ideas for sharing our mission with others.


This blog is to inform and inspire each of you during the 2009-10 Annual Giving Campaign. Please feel free to use this opportunity to share best practices or good ideas that have worked for you. Or, use this blog to warn your fellow volunteers of things that have not worked out as well as you hoped. All news is good when it keeps us all inspired to reach our goals.


This year’s theme is “In Vest in Girl Scouting”. By doing so, you encourage girls to Discover themselves and their values, Connect with others, and Take Action to make the world a better place.
The Fund Development department has started training and giving out materials for this year’s campaign to each Annual Giving Chair or Volunteer Community Chair. If you need more training or help getting your materials, just let us know or check the Annual Giving page.


As you know, the Annual Giving campaign consists of three parts: the Family Campaign, the Special Events Campaign and the Business Connection Campaign. All donations support the many services that Girl Scouts Heart of the Hudson, Inc. provides, such as training for volunteers, support materials, programs, and properties (i.e., camps, Girl Scout houses, offices, shops). In short, all the good stuff that delivers Girl Scouting to your girls. As a valued and important member of our Girl Scout family, your financial support of the 2009-2010 Annual Giving campaign is needed to keep bringing Girl Scouting into your daughter’s life as well as into the lives of thousands of girls like her. Girl Scouts Heart of the Hudson is now over 32,000 girls strong!


Idea Spotlight featuring the Northern Dutchess Girl Scout Community: They held a “Community in Action” charity event designed for registered girls to do community service projects. There were 11 tables providing activities such as: making catnip toys and dog treats for an animal shelter, making stuffed pillows for a local hospital, collecting baby clothes for unwed mothers, and gathering used books for an elementary school. There was also a table for Annual Giving where circles of yellow construction paper depicting pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters were put out on the table. Girls collected their spare change which they put on the sheets until they had the correct amount to be rolled into paper coin wrappers.


If you have any tips or ideas please forward them to Anne Chau, Fund Development Department, so your tip can be in the spotlight in the future.


If the Fund Development Department can help in any way to make this campaign smoother, simply email us at achau@girlscoutshh.org or call (914) 747-3080 ext. 220.

Monday, November 9, 2009

Girl Scouts Heart of the Hudson


Girl Scouts Heart of the Hudson serves 32,000 girl members throughout seven counties in the Hudson River valley of southeastern New York State.


Over 15,000 adult volunteers are offered comprehensive opportunites for training, skill building and enrichment courses to empower them to lead tomorrow's leaders.