Membership Staff
Vice President - Membership
Carolyn Johnson

Directors
Gladys Birdwell
Sandee Williams

Team Leaders
Kathy Denton
Tracy Gillin
Deepa Seetepalli
Karyn Smith
Pam Soles
Nina Williams
Sue Zingleman

Membership Managers
Alex DeReinzi
Stephanie Finleon
Lynn Flournoy
Dawn Francis
Gina Galloway
Cecilia Garcia
Gloria Gracia Johnson
Milly Garzon
JoAnna Harris
Sheila Hauser
Laura Hernadez
Selina Howard
Sandra Johnson
Elizabeth Leas
Alicia McWilliams
Parina Paripoonnanonda
Wendy Rea
Juana Rhoden
Donna Robinson
Maria Roldan
Abby Sibley
Jamie Stiyer
Theresa Thomas
Celia Valles
Purvi Zaver

Cate Teague, Administrative Assistant
Linda Pharris, Departmental Assistant
Jean Rhoden, Secretary

713-292-0300

Spring and Summer recruitment ideas
Posters and Rallies and Girls, Oh My!
by Kathy Denton

     Just when summertime is right around the corner, offering a well-deserved hiatus to adult volunteers, bridges are coming out of garages all over San Jacinto for annual bridging ceremonies. Service units have finished celebrating meeting this year’s membership goal while little inklings of next year’s recruitment plans start evolving throughout the Council. The first reality: recruitment time is a year-long process. The second reality: recruitment is everyone’s responsibility. Spring and summer are great times for service units to prepare for fall rallies. Here are some “get started early” tips in which everyone in the service unit can participate for the best fall recruitment ever.
     Use spring kindergarten registrations to promote Girl Scouting to parents of girls entering kindergarten in the fall. Kindergarten registration dates are typically included on the ISD calendar and Web site. Some school districts will allow booths with volunteers to recruit girls and adults on the spot. Some allow only a flyer to be located in a visible area. Make sure a local contact name and phone number/e-mail address are included to ensure that questions can be answered. You can also promote Girl Scout opportunities through day care centers, preschools, and mothers-day-out programs.
     To take the above suggestion a step farther, your flyer might serve as an invitation to a special spring event for the Daisy-to-Be and her parents. Don’t forget to distribute flyers to the preschools. This event can be as short as an hour. Programs could include a flag ceremony, Girl Scout fashion show, teen led craft, and game stations for girls while parents learn about Daisies, then refreshments for everyone! Take advantage of that unbridled parent enthusiasm and offer a BLT in the very near future to train those who would like to be part of a leadership team. With level trainings offered in the summer, new Daisy leaders attend the fall rallies ready to meet their troop and start Girl Scouting right away! A Brownie-to-Be event could grow from this idea, also (hint: collaborate with one or more service units in your area in order to share event kapers).
Summertime Council level recruitment training is a must for successful fall rallies! Service unit membership recruitment coordinators, administrators and others learn the best ways to present Girl Scouting to your community by being well-trained.
     As every good farmer knows, cultivation is a requirement in order to grow a good crop. Likewise, community cultivation is a must for great Girl Scout recruitment! In other words, brainstorm what opportunities and partnerships are in your community. Recognize people and organizations that can be helpful in reaching girls and adults. Make a list and share this information with your membership manager. The objective is to build relationships that mutually benefit the community and Girl Scouting. Private schools, preschools with kindergartens, youth centers, places of worship, small businesses, chambers of commerce, social service agencies, cultural institutions, law enforcement, and libraries may offer opportunities not considered in the past. Pick the brain of that friend who is a real estate agent to learn a lot of information about the housing trends in your community: new construction, family dwellings, and neighborhood composition.
     Neighborhood newsletters offer a great forum to promote Girl Scouting. This is an excellent project for service unit Press Corps reps during the summer. An article or articles depicting Girl