Girl Scout Cookies are SO much more than just a sweet treat? That’s right. Every box you buy helps power unique and amazing experiences for the awesome girls who sell them—it also gives her the opportunity to learn essential life skills, soar in confidence, and quickly discover the leader within. They have a great time doing it, too, and they couldn’t do it without you. Sweet!
The Girl Scout Cookie Program is the largest girl-led business in the world, and girls develop 5 key skills they will use for a lifetime:
1. Goal Setting – Girls set their own goals and contribute to setting troop/group goals.
2. Decision Making – Girls decide how to spend their troop/group proceeds.
3. Money Management – Girls tally orders, count change and budget.
4. People Skills – Girls interact with a variety of people and understand the importance of customer service.
5. Business Ethics – Girls learn how important it is to be honest, meet deadlines and properly market a product.
The best-selling cookie is still the Thin Mint with Samoas in second place, the organization said. Introduced in 2017, the S’more became “the most popular flavor to launch” in Girl Scouts’ history. Toffee-tastic (buttery cookies with toffee bits) and Trios (peanut butter, chocolate chips and whole grain oats) are both gluten–free.
All of the net revenue raised stays within the regional council area. Participating girls and their troops decide how they would like to invest in community projects, travel, exciting activities, and more.
And as I do each girl scout cookie season I share this story:
I admit I was a girl scout. And for those of you who know me, it will come as no surprise that I was determined to sell more cookies than any of the other girls. I went up and down my street, knocking on doors for orders. I called all my relatives and perfected my telemarketing skills. I asked my dad to get his co-workers to buy from me. And he said NO! But he did offer to take me to work so I could ask for the order. I worked hard and sold hundreds of boxes and was sure I’d win the Cookie title.
Well as it turns out, I didn’t. Some little girl named Susie did. She lived down the street from me and I never saw her ask any of our neighbors to buy cookies. I asked her how she did it and she said it was easy-her mom and dad got all the orders for her. I was mad and didn’t think it was fair and complained to my dad about it. He told me life wasn’t fair, never would be, but that I’d really won, and I’d appreciate it some day when I realized that I had gotten much more out of it than Susie had. Not what a 9 year old girl wants to hear. So I’m sure I sulked around for a while, until something else captured my attention.
But now many years later, I get it. My dad was right- I had won! I’d learned how to set a goal, prospect customers, perfect my sales pitch, work on my organizational skills, plan the logistics of delivery, handle money, make change and enjoy quite a few cookies, too!
And that’s why I implore you to only buy cookies from Girl Scouts. I know there are many well intentioned parents that want to help their daughters, and help support the troops so they can put on all the programs they have scheduled; but please help them by letting them sell!
And I still pledge to buy cookies from any girl scout who asks. The Girl Scout Cookie Program®, helps girls learn the essential skills they need to become effective leaders, manage finances, and gain self-sufficiency and confidence in handling money.
Did you know that every service provided by Girl Scouts of Western Ohio is subsidized for our members? It costs $320 per girl to give her the Girl Scout programmatic experience for just one year. The Girl Scout Cookie Program not only gives girls funds for the troop, but it also supports all of our services to volunteers, Caregivers, and girls. Proceeds from the Cookie Program also helps maintain our camp facilities and properties so they are not only adventurous but safe for our girls. It is important to remember that “council” is all of us. Every penny from the Cookie Program stays within our council after we pay our vendor and program costs.
Now with the Internet and rise of e-commerce, girls scouts are using the power of technology to expand their sales channels. Last year I got email solicitations, skype sales calls and still ran into a few girl scouts in front of stores.
The Digital Cookie® platform helps girls superpower their cookie sales as they go beyond the booth with mobile and online channels. That’s right. The platform is a fun, educational tool that helps girls run and manage their Girl Scout Cookie business online.
That means more ways for her to learn, and more ways for you to buy and support her success. It also means more opportunities to power new, unique, and amazing experiences that help her learn essential life skills, soar in confidence, discover the leader within, and have a ton of fun!
With the Digital Cookie platform, girls can:
- Gain new essential business and social skills in a fun and engaging way.
- Invite cookie customers to easily order and pay for cookies online and through their mobile app.
- Earn funds to power amazing troop activities for her and her troop!
So, how does the Digital Cookie platform work?
It’s a lot like buying your cookies at a traditional cookie booth, but with an online twist!
In true Girl Scout style, the girls initiate the cookie sale, whether online, via email, or in person at the cookie booth with their Digital Cookie mobile app.
A Girl Scout you know may invite you to visit her personalized cookie website where you can place your order, pay using Visa Checkout or credit cards, have your order shipped or delivered by a Girl Scout,* or even donate cookies to charity.Some Girl Scouts may take in-person orders using a mobile app that also allows them to securely accept payments using credit cards.
Select your cookies, place your order, and complete your transaction. Boom, just like that, you’ve got delicious Girl Scout Cookies coming your way!
In a recent study by the Girl Scouts Heart of the South, they documented skills the Girl Scout Cookie Program teaches, which girls can apply to everyday life:
- 85% increased their money management skills as they developed budgets, took cookie orders and handled customers’ money.
- 83% developed business ethics, learning to fulfill promises to customers and considering how best to contribute to their communities with their earnings.
- 80% set goals and created objectives to reach them.
- 77% made important decisions, learning to work as a team to develop a business plan, deciding when and where to sell cookies, and determining what to do with the money they earn.
- 75% developed people skills, learning to talk to, listen to and work with different kinds of people.
Many successful businesswomen and community leaders say they got their start selling Girl Scout Cookies. So when your local Girl Scouts come calling with this year’s best-selling cookies, remember you’re saying hello to tomorrow’s business leaders.
Don’t know a Girl Scout? You can still help girls learn essential skills and do amazing things by buying cookies at your local cookie booth. Enter your zip code in the “Find Cookies!” tool for a list of scheduled cookie booths in your community. Click here for more info.
Want to support but don’t want cookies?
