Where The Girl Scouts of Southern Alabama Started
The Girls Scouts of Southern Alabama manage 150 Girl Scout troops across southern Alabama. While each troop operates semi-independently, they all fall under one EIN at the council level.
Troops handle significant funds—sometimes over $100,000 from cookie sales—yet most use local banks with outdated systems and limited digital access. Funds technically belong to the girls, but troop leaders manage them, creating potential oversight gaps.
Cathleen, GSSA’s finance assistant, struggled to monitor troop finances. Ideally, she’d be a signatory on every account—but with 150 different banks, that wasn’t realistic. Visibility required manual workarounds, and turnover among staff or volunteers often left funds stranded or vulnerable.
As a nonprofit, GSSA must ensure every troop follows IRS regulations. But local banking inconsistencies, lack of transparency, and misuse of funds posed serious compliance risks.
GSSA needed a platform that allowed:
Independent troop banking with centralized oversight
Remote access for council staff
Emergency access and compliance controls
Protection against fraud and mismanagement
How Crowded Provided the Girl Scouts of Southern Alabama Oversight into Troop Finances
Digital Troop Leader Handover
Instead of council members, incoming troop leaders, and outgoing troop leaders needing to coordinate schedules, get in the car, and drive to meet at a bank to change signatories, changing troop leaders on Crowded takes a few minutes!
Because the council staff is the sole legal signatory on all of the accounts, no official handover needs to take place, the admins on Crowded can be switched with a click of a button. This is crucial for the council because they have full control over troop accounts, no matter whether their volunteers are responsible or not.
I felt that we didn't matter to our previous bank because we were a small nonprofit. Crowded on the other hand makes it a lot easier to see and keep track of cookie money, and how parents are spending troop funds. It’s always available, and it's so easy to use.
The Convenience of Digital Banking
Troop leaders and council staff alike love the digital aspect of Crowded. For troop leaders, who might have a full-time job, accessing their troop’s financials at their convenience is amazing compared to needing to drive to the bank. The council appreciates being able to access the financials of their troops instantly online.
Invoicing Parents Made Easy
Troops are constantly collecting payments from parents, whether for troop dues, trips, t-shirts, etc. Troop leaders can now conveniently invoice parents for these expenses by creating collection links with Crowded and sharing them with parents. Troop leaders can track which parents have paid or not, and send reminders!
No Reimbursement Necessary
When the troop is out in the field on a trip, or selling cookies, and they need garbage bags, for example, the troop leader quickly issues the parent volunteer an Expense card. An Expense card is a budgeted digital or physical debit card that can be used for official Girl Scout expenses. Any funds left on the card after the purchase can be redeemed to the Troop’s bank account in a few clicks by the troop leader. Expense cards save Troop leaders time and a headache from not needing to worry about saving receipts, doing reimbursements, and staying on budget.
Troop banking is something the council struggles with; making sure that our needs are met, and the girls have access to the money they earn. With Crowded, we get online banking, which is fantastic, and a level of security we don’t have with any other troop bank accounts. Crowded is an out-of-the-box solution that we’re excited to bring to our council!
