Girl Scouts Approves Membership Fee Hike

The Girl Scouts of the USA has approved an increase in membership fees after warning that not raising the cost will lead to dramatic cuts in services.
More than 800 delegates from the Girl Scouts’s National Council voted over the weekend to hike the annual fee from $25 to $45. And the cost will increase again in 2026 to $65.
The council includes both adults and minors as young as 14.
The fee increase is primarily for children. The fee for adults, which is currently $25, will increase to $30.
The Girl Scouts, a nonprofit founded in 1912, has nearly 2 million members, including 1.1 million girls.
The Girl Scouts raked in some $27.3 million from membership fees in 2023, up from $26.7 million in 2022. In its 2023 annual report, the nonprofit reported having around $187 million in net assets.
Leaders also said it would be prudent to increase fees for adults to $45, which did not happen.
The Girl Scouts accepts girls from kindergarten through 12th grade. Some local programs also allow males who identify as female or nonbinary to join.
The yearly fee for the Boy Scouts of America, which also accepts female members, is $85. The fee increased by $5 this year.
Amid soaring inflation, some Girl Scout programs in 2023 hiked the price of cookie boxes to $6, up from $5 per box a year prior. Programs said the increase was approved in part because the costs to the cookie maker were rising.