Girl Scout Gold Award

Issues of the world, meet your match.

The Girl Scout Gold Award is the highest award a Girl Scout can earn. Once achieved, it shows colleges, employers, and your community that you’re out there changing the world.

Join a century of women who have done big things. Learn more about Gold Award scholarships, the history of the Gold Award, and the benefits of going Gold.

Download the
Gold Award guidelines

Leaders: We offer a Gold Award Tutorial to help you guide your girls through the award process!

Access tutorials in gsLearn » (Log in required).

Gold Award Rubric [PDF]
Gold Award Proposal Form Example [PDF]
Gold Award Final Report Form Example [PDF]

Meet National Gold Award Girl Scout and GCNWI alum, Therese!

Therese is a young woman who understands how to serve her community with her passion, know-how, and innovative spirit. It is her dedication to community engagement, and the continued act of service she spearheaded to earn her Gold Award, that led Therese to now be nationally recognized by Girl Scouts of USA for her impressive work.

Join us in congratulating our National Gold Award Girl Scout, and read our in-depth interview with her on our blog!

Read stories about Gold Award Girl Scouts from GCNWI to get an inside look at what it takes to earn the award!

You can pursue your Girl Scout Gold Award if:

You're in high school (ninth through twelfth grade, or equivalent)

You're registered as a Girl Scout Senior or Girl Scout Ambassador

You have completed two Senior or Ambassador Journeys OR earned the Girl Scout Silver Award and completed a Journey

IMPORTANT DEADLINES

A Girl Scout has until September 30th of the year she graduates high school to complete her Gold Award. For example, if a girl graduates in May/June 2021, she has until September 30, 2021 to complete her project. Completing a project means submitting her final report through Go Gold online and then having our panel review and denote approval. In order to ensure a girl is completed with all of these steps by September 30th, we encourage all graduated seniors to submit their final reports through Go Gold online NO LATER THAN September 10th.

To participate in the annual Gold Award ceremony, Gold Awards must be completed by March 1 so that the council can submit girls' names to GSUSA for certificates, letters of congratulations and more. Projects are considered "completed" when the final report has been submitted via Go Gold online and the Gold Award panel has reviewed and approved the project. The Girl Scout will receive official notification from the council that her Gold Award is complete.

Girls who do not complete their Gold Award by March 1 will be included in the following year's ceremony.

NEW! Girl Scout Ambassadors in the senior year of high school must submit project proposals by June 1^st of the year they graduate to eligible to earn the Gold Award. Any submissions made less than 4 months in advance on the September 30^th deadline will not be reviewed.

Learn more about the Gold Award Class of 2019 [PDF]

SELECT EACH TO EXPAND

COUNCIL PROPOSAL PROCESS

TRAINING
- As of 2015, any girl seeking to complete her gold award must attend a council training. This can now be done via video. Click here to sign up to receive the video training link.
SUBMIT PROPOSAL
- Submit your Gold Award proposal online via Go Gold online.
  - Proposals are automatically sent to our council.
- Please allow up to two weeks for review.
GOLD AWARD COACH
- Once reviewed by our panel and accepted, council will reach out to you and introduce you to your Gold Award Coach.
- Schedule a meeting with your coach! They will provide ultimate approval to move forward with your project.

COUNCIL FINAL REPORT PROCESS

REVIEW
- Review your final report with your Gold Award Coach before submitting via Go Gold online.
SUBMIT FINAL REPORT
- Final reports are automatically sent to our council.
- Gold Award Panel will review your final report (please allow up to two weeks for review.)
AFTER REVIEW
- Once reviewed by our panel, the council will reach out regarding the approval of your project.

MONEY EARNING AND HIGHEST AWARDS

Not all Highest Award projects require funding. Perhaps you already have enough troop funds to cover expenses, or your project doesn't cost anything to complete.

If your project does need funding, please note that as of Oct. 1, 2016, Girl Scouts who need to earn funds to support their Bronze, Silver or Gold Award Projects must participate in the Fall Product and Girl Scout Cookie programs, selling the minimum number of cookies and fall product (per Volunteer Essentials) as their first money-earning activity.

The minimum is defined as earning the first reward level for girls in both the fall product and Girl Scout Cookie programs. Each girl must sell a minimum of:

12 candy/nut products OR
Four magazine subscriptions OR
A combination of both for fall product AND
30 packages of cookies

COUNCIL PROCESSES FOR THOSE ALREADY WORKING ON APPROVED PROJECTS

If a Gold Award proposal was approved by the Gold Award committee prior to October 14, 2019, girls do not need to create an account in Go Gold online if they did not use it for their proposal. If the girl did use it for her proposal, her login will work on the new site and she can submit her final report through Go Gold.

Girls in progress who did NOT use Go Gold for their proposal will submit final paperwork here »

If you have any questions, please contact Annie Gilmartin at agilmartin@girlscoutsgcnwi.org

GIRL SCOUT GOLD AWARD STEPS

Identify an issue: Use your values and skills to choose a community issue that you care about.

Investigate it thoroughly: Use your sleuthing skills to learn everything you can about the issue you've identified.

Get help and build your team: Form a team to support your efforts and help you take action.

Create a plan: Identify the root cause of an issue, and then create a plan to tackle it.

Present your plan and gather feedback: Submit your Project Proposal Form to your Girl Scout council for approval.

Take action: Lead your team and carry out your plan.

Educate and inspire: Tell your story and share your results.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Process Overview

Examples, Templates and Forms

FAQs, Tips and Tricks

Webinar Resources

Gold Award Resource

Thank you for signing up for a Gold Award Webinar! (Not yet registered? Sign up here!)

Confidence Today. Career Tomorrow. Volunteer Now