Thoroughly read “Your Guide to Going Gold” and create an account in the Go Gold App. In the app, you’ll be able to access the proposal with all the links so you can view in total. Also in the app, there is a section for council-specific documents. This is where you will add your letters for permission and sustainability and complete and attach your Money-Earning Activity Request Form (if you need to earn money to fund your project or if you are asking for donations of items). Participation in both the Cookie Program and the Fall Product Program is a requirement for approval of any money-earning activity.
Tip: Put an “x” in each question so you can move through the proposal. You can then go back and fill in each answer before you hit submit. Please note that there will be a box that pops up in each question with numbers. These numbers are the minimum and maximum number of words you should have in your answer for each question.
Things to Consider When Planning
The Girl Scout Gold Award is a Take Action project that must include all of the following elements. Your project must:
- address a root cause of an issue that you feel passionate about;
- have a national and/or global link;
- demonstrate active leadership;
- create a sustainable impact;
- create a measurable impact;
- have an education component; and
- have an advocacy component and have at least one community partner who agrees in writing to continue, maintain, use and repeat what you have created.
Please do research on the topic and its root cause, the issue you have identified and your solution.
Gold Award Projects are a minimum of 80 hours with most projects coming in over 100 hours. On the time log in your proposal you will need to list your full project plan in steps. Estimate how much time each step will take you; in your final report you will list the actual work done and hours spent.
You will need a project adviser who is an expert in the topic of the issue you are solving. This person may not be your Troop Leader, nor a close relative such as a parent or grandparent. Your project adviser is the person you will go to for questions and advice on your topic. Their job is to make sure any information or education you are promoting with your project is accurate. For example: If you are solving the problem of dying ducks, you would have a project adviser who works with the environment, such as a teacher at your school or your city’s environmental engineer; it would not be someone who works in wildlife rescue, because the root cause of the problem you are solving is pollution. If you are writing a book, your project adviser would not be your English teacher (though they would be great as one of your team members); you would need an expert on the topic of your book, not someone who knows how to write a book.
The members of your Gold Award Team are people whom you lead as you implement your Gold Award Project plan of action. You will need 5 members on your team to start, but your team will likely grow as your project progresses. Your project adviser needs to be listed first on your Gold Award Team. Family members, no matter how many help you, count as 1 team member. Girl Scout troop mates, leaders, and other volunteers, no matter how many help you, count as 1 team member. The remaining 2 team members will be people whom you have met during the research phase of the project. These will be people who are also passionate about your topic and want to work alongside you to solve the issue your project is addressing.
Submitting Your Proposal
Once you complete the proposal in the Go Gold App, you’ll send it to your adviser and troop leader for their electronic signatures. Please let them know to watch for that email coming to them. (Note that your troop leader will not see your proposal, as they are only asked to sign off on your prerequisites.)
Once they receive it via email, they will click the link to acknowledge that they are signing off on proposal/prerequisites; you will then receive a confirmation email. At that time, you need to go back into the Go Gold App and hit the submit button again. Once you do that, the proposal will be sent to the GSCCC Highest Awards Committee. Please check the deadline dates listed under “Highest Awards Committee Meeting Dates” below.
Review Process
When the committee has received your proposal via the Go Gold App and its attachments, they will review it and let you know if you have been granted an interview or if your project needs further development. If it is the latter, you will be referred back to your assigned mentor who will work with you to understand the committee’s feedback.
Do not begin working on your project until you have been interviewed by the committee and they have given you approval to start.
