These are exciting times for Girl Scouts of Southeast Florida! Just a few days ago, we went live with our Customer Engagement Initiative-a technology-driven platform that promises to transform the way we engage with our volunteers and Girl Scout families. It is designed to bring people, processes and technology together to make the entire process of Girl Scouting easier, from joining and getting oriented to managing troop and girl membership. The new Volunteer Toolkit is designed to help volunteers in Program Planning and Troop Management and has already had great reviews from volunteers in other councils.

GSUSA expects to spend almost $16 million to fully implement the Customer Engagement Initiative. Locally, the cost to upgrade technology, rebuild our web platform, secure operating licenses and prepare the staff for implementation is almost $260,000. Girl Scouts of Southeast Florida is responsible for these costs. Now that we are live, we anticipate annual costs of about $68,000 to maintain the system. We think this investment in our future will provide great returns in the way of increased volunteer satisfaction and engagement, and that will result in us being able to serve more girls.

The fund development team has been hard at work securing funding to support this effort. The Batchelor Foundation committed a $50,000 gift and pledged another $50,000 in matching funds-meaning for every dollar we raise in support of this project, the Batchelor Foundation will match that donation, up to $50,000. So far, we have raised over $38,000 toward this matching grant challenge.

The challenge expires on July 31, 2016. We have just 10 days to raise the remaining $12,000 to secure the full funding from this grant, and WE NEED YOUR HELP!

If you make a gift to GSSEF by July 31, 2016 and restrict it to the CEI Match, the Batchelor Foundation will match your gift. Your donation of $5 becomes $10. Your donation of $25 becomes $50 and your donation of $100 becomes $200. Gifts of all sizes are appreciated and every dollar will go toward supporting this amazing new initiative.

Making your gift is easy. Just click here. Make sure to designate your gift to this matching gift challenge by typing "CEI Match" in the area that reads "Please add additional notes regarding your gift here." Prefer to mail it in? Send it to Girl Scouts of Southeast Florida, Attn: CEI Match, 1224 W. Indiantown Road, Jupiter, FL 33458. In order to be eligible for the match, gifts must be postmarked by July 31, 2016.

If you have any questions about the CEI Matching Grant initiative, please direct them to Sara Nunez, Vice President of Philanthropy, at snunez@gssef.org or 954-513-3768.

Yours in Girl Scouting,

Denise W. Valz
Chief Executive Officer