I don’t know about you, but the presence of Girl Scout cookies has dotted the landscape of my life. Although I was never a Girl Scout myself, that hasn’t stopped me from three decades of fierce commitment to the glories of the frozen Thin Mint, and I know I’m not. Girl Scout cookie season is a welcome sight for most red-blooded Americans. But also like most Americans, I actually know very little about the organization, and suddenly I have questions. Why is this the primary fundraiser? How much do Girl Scouts make off of cookies? And what do they do with the money? I did a little research to find. Girl Scout cookie sales began injust five years after the inception of the organization itself, the official website noted. Back then, the cookies were made by hand by the girls and their mothers in their very own home kitchens and sold in high school cafeterias, so obviously the fundraiser has taken on a life of its own in the past years. But even if the endeavor has become slightly less personal, the outcome is exponentially more lucrative.
We use cookies to improve your experience on our website. By using our website you consent to all cookies in accordance with our updated Cookie Notice. From February to April each year, the more than one million girl scouts in the U. Councils also decide when cookie sales begin and end, meaning that the selling season varies from region to region, but on National Girl Scout Cookie Weekend at the end of February, when the organization honors their cookie entrepreneurs, scouts across the country mean business. On a rainy February Friday in New York, it was clear that selling season was in full swing at the Girl Scout headquarters. Later in the morning, the scouts left their cookie sales table and went upstairs to the Girl Scouts HQ. They have business cards and pitch strategies and plenty of ideas about how their fellow scouts can corner the cookie market. The Cookie Executive Committee, after a pizza lunch, dove into a strategic planning session for the 29, girls around the city who make up the Girl Scouts of Greater New York. While members have to sell boxes of cookies to sit on the committee, the boardroom meeting is not just about their personal sales: The participating scouts are asked to collaborate and come up with ways to help the organization as a whole. Since its inception, the committee has added a philanthropy portion to the Cookie Executive program, coordinated multi-year planning with the bakery, solved logistics challenges, and changed the scout sales rewards structure. The top goal for sellers rose from 1, boxes the first year to 1, the second year. A few girls had already sold 2, cookies by the end of February in , the third year of the program.
These girls are informed, ambitious, and eager to share. After just one morning with them, I left with a new Japanese dish to try, a math museum to check out, and the valuable knowledge that I can purchase cookies online. In the spirit of full disclosure: I also left with several complimentary boxes of Thin Mints and my very own Girl Scout Cookies Weekend patch. A former scout herself, Maskara started selling cookies when she was seven years old and now has three daughters earning patches. Aside from ecommerce and marketing skills, the girls learn about goal tracking, decision making, and business ethics. World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with our Terms of Use. Grace Donnelly , Data reporter at Fortune magazine, Fortune magazine.
This is a good idea because collecting some money at the time of the sales and some at the time of delivery can be confusing, and has the potential to cause more accounting issues than you really want to deal with. In no time, you’ll be an experienced veteran of cookie-selling. Office staff, janitors, and other school personnel, such as librarians, would also be a good idea, since they probably have fewer people asking them. Your local Girl Scout office may sell posters, car window flags, signs for your yard, and even costumes. These cookies are worth the cost I mean, have you tasted a Samoa? Just cross them off the cookie sheet — it’s not worth the hassle. Again, it’s important to remember that the price changes depending on the market, so what you pay may not be the same as what someone in a different state pays — you can find out what your market is on the official site so that you can get a better idea of the price you’ll pay.
It’s not worth your time, since you’ll just have to come out. While each troop’s order should be organized, separated, labeled, and correct, this isn’t always the case. Help them fill svouts the boxes showing how many of each kind of cookie they want, if they need it, and tell them how much their order will cost. Check the school’s policy on this kind of thing first. You can send them in a package cokkies all kinds of other goodies Make it sound like you are just doing it to help out your troop. Cadettes to Ambassadors should at least have some kind of adult supervision. As a member of the Girl Scouts, you probably look forward to cookie selling time all year long However, don’t «over-buy» so much that you won’t be able to sell the extras. Another thing to say is, «Would you like to support the Girl Scouts? Save your cookie boxes You can be anywhere in your Girl Scout county for fifteen minutes. A booth sale is a great way to get rid of extra cookies, practice selling in a different environment, or get those last few boxes you need to reach your goal. Drive .
We use cookies to improve your experience on our website. By using our website you consent to all cookies in accordance with our updated Cookie Notice. From February to April each year, the more than one million girl scouts in the U. Councils also decide when cookie sales begin and end, meaning that the selling season varies from region to region, but on National Girl Scout Cookie Weekend at the end of February, when the organization honors their cookie entrepreneurs, scouts across the country mean business.
On a rainy February Friday in New York, it was clear that selling season was in full swing at the Girl Scout headquarters. Later in the morning, the scouts left their cookie sales table and went how much money do girl scouts make on cookies to the Girl Scouts HQ.
They have business cards and pitch strategies and plenty of ideas about how their fellow scouts can corner the cookie market. The Cookie Executive Committee, after a pizza lunch, dove into a strategic planning session for the 29, girls around the city who make up the Girl Scouts of Greater New York. While members have to sell boxes of cookies to sit on the committee, the boardroom meeting is not just about their personal sales: The participating scouts are asked to collaborate and come up with ways to help the organization as a.
Since its inception, the committee has added a philanthropy portion to the Cookie Executive program, coordinated multi-year planning with the bakery, solved logistics challenges, and changed the scout sales rewards structure.
The top goal for sellers rose from 1, boxes the first year to 1, the second year. A few girls had already sold 2, cookies by the end of February inthe third year of the program. These girls are informed, ambitious, and eager to share. After just one morning with them, I left with a new Japanese dish to try, a math museum to check out, and the valuable knowledge that I can purchase cookies online.
In the spirit of full disclosure: I also left with several complimentary boxes of Thin Mints and my very own Girl Scout Cookies Weekend patch. A former scout herself, Maskara started selling cookies when she was seven years old and now has three daughters earning patches.
Aside from ecommerce and marketing skills, the girls learn about goal tracking, decision making, and business ethics. World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with our Terms of Use.
Grace DonnellyData reporter at Fortune magazine, Fortune magazine. This article is published in collaboration with Fortune. The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum. I accept. Grace Donnelly Data reporter at Fortune magazine, Fortune magazine. Global Risks Report Read the report. Most Popular. Chart of the day: a history of temperatures in Australia Johnny Wood 15 Jan More on the agenda.
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This is a test to see whether we can improve the coooies for you. You do not need a Facebook profile to participate. You will need to register before adding a comment. Typed comments will be lost if you are not logged in. Please be polite. It’s OK to disagree with someone’s ideas, but personal attacks, insults, threats, hate speech, advocating violence and other violations can result in a ban. If you see comments in violation of our community guidelinesplease report. My answer: How could you possibly be better off in this world participating in any sort of transaction that resulted in not getting Girl Scout cookies? Real answer: As a regular buyer of these delectable, if overpriced treats, this is indeed a fascinating question. I went to Steve Henderson, chief financial officer with Girl Scouts Carolinas Peaks to Piedmont, the nonprofit that oversees Girl Scouts operations in 40 counties in the western part of North Carolina. He said the reader «was cookiee correct» about the cent take home for the troop.
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