Filing

After three hours, I think I have my filing system down for my troop. Yeah, three hours. With 2001: A Space Odyssey running. Not the most fun time I've had with Girl Scouts! :) but it needed to be done. My girls are becoming Juniors, and keeping good records is about to become VERY important.

We have an ambitious camping schedule planned, a Bronze award to plan for, additional fundraising to think about, and of course badges to be earned. If I want to be able to keep track of all those things, I needed to come up with a better system than the haphazard "keep everything . . . maybe" method I had been using.

So this is my filebox. There are four different kinds of files in there: Girl Files, Troop Files, Fall Product Files, and Other Files.

Girl Files

These are actually split into two, with active girls' files in the front of the box and inactive girls' files in the back. Each girl only has one file folder (until I need to split them because they get too full). My original plan was to have a folder for each girl for each year, which would require less active organizing (just drop it in the right folder, and then search when you need something), but with 15 ish girls in my troop, will get EXPENSIVE! :) Since my Council requires that parents need to fill out EVERYTHING (basically) every year, I clean out my binder of everything for each girl. Each year's papers get paper clipped together and labeled with a post-it note. This is the order I am going to use:

1. Permission Slip(s) - to tell me what events each girl participated in
2. Badge Documents - I keep on badge record for each girl for each level until we bridge (so I have the final Petals worksheet with the First Grade documents, and the Try-It worksheets with the Third Grade papers), as well as paperwork on badgework done at home.
3. Girl Medical form - One of the other major forms for my council
4. Everything Else - I might get more OCD with this year's papers, but for the past 4 years this works

Troop Files

There are two hanging files for each year: one for Fundraising, one for everything else. Financial documents stay in the treasurer's binder.

• Fundraising Folder - All permission slips (stapled together), Fall Product Troop and Girl Summaries, Cookies Troop and Girl Summaries, any other fundraising documentation (not receipts, those go in their treasurer binder).
• Everything Else - In order: Attendance/Dues records, single page Troop Calendar, SU Calendar, Troop and SU Directories, other documents that pertain to the entire schoolyear, and then in chronological order all Service Unit meeting agendas and flyers to events we actually went to.

Fall Product Files

Since I am Fall Product Manager for my Service Unit, I also need somewhere to keep the documents I need to keep on file. I just have these divided by year. I also want to keep a girl packet for each year, so I can keep a record of what we sold and what the theme was, etc.

Other Files

• Fundraising - ideas from the internet and other local troops for additional fundraising
• Service Projects - SU and other troop service projects from the past, as well as ideas from the internet
• Masters - One copy of each document I need to make copies of that I keep for making copies, so I don't use the last one and then have to recreate it.

To keep me on track in a year when I have to file this year's papers, I wrote down all this, and am placing it in the box in front.

I hope this gives you some ideas for organizing your own Troop Files! :)