Read on for Cookie Care Program Donations & Smart Cookies, B2B (Business to Business) Sales, Taste the Adventure(fuls) Sample Package, ACH Withdrawal on March 17, Understanding the Troop Balance Summary Report, Cookie Booth of the Week Winners, Cookie Spirit Award Winners, Cookie Damages & Missing Packages, Forward to Families, How to Support Troops & Keep Up the Cookie Spirit, Troop On-Hand Inventory Report and more.
In this edition:
Up Next
- Cookie Care Program Donations & Smart Cookies
- B2B (Business to Business) Sales
- Taste the Adventure(fuls) Sample Package (Free Package Adventurefuls for Sampling)
What’s Trending
- ACH Withdrawal on March 17
- Understanding the Troop Balance Summary Report
- Cookie Booth of the Week Winners
- Cookie Spirit Award Winners
Reminders
For Service Unit Cookie Managers
As we cross over the halfway part of the cookie sale, we raise a Toast-YAY! to our volunteers for every single effort you are making to help Girl Scouts reach their cookie goals. From trips to the cupboard, making cookie connections to transferring inventory, entering transfers in Smart Cookies, and arranging all those cookie booths—Thank you for your energy, talent, and all the time you continue to put into the Cookie Program.
Please note, due to the planned maintenance for Volunteer Systems, we will be unable to monitor communications received from girlscouts@girlscoutsrv.org from Friday, March 10 at 8:00 pm (CST) until Monday morning, March 13. If you have a new troop-secured booth request for this weekend, submit it by 12:00 pm on Friday to ensure we have ample time to review the booth.
If you need Smart Cookies system support this weekend, please contact ABCSmartCookieTech@hearthsidefoods.com.
Cookie Care Program Donations & Smart Cookies
We get it—Cookie donations can be confusing to process in Smart Cookies. Girl Scouts River Valleys offers two options for the Cookie Care donation program, with an option to donate from troop inventory or council inventory. Because we offer two options, it adds to the complexity when recording the sales in Smart Cookies. We have created additional resources to help you walk through the options. See our Tracking Donated Cookies Tip Sheet to walk you through the options available, including how to manage donations made at cookie booths.
Plus, you can check out these videos to walk through the process in Smart Cookies:
- Smart Cookies Tracked Cookie Share (Troop Inventory Donations) Video
- Smart Cookies Cookie Care Council Inventory Donations Video
- Smart Cookies Donations & Booths Video
B2B (Business to Business) Sales
It’s another great tool to add to your troop cookie sales toolkit-Business to Business (B2B) sales. That’s where Girl Scouts “pitch” their cookie business to another business. Girls Scouts can connect with local businesses to set a time to make the sales pitch. The cookies could be used as a customer appreciation gift or even a thoughtful gift for their staff. Here are a few ideas to get you started:
- Car, boat, or RV dealerships
- Restaurants
- Bakeries
- Breweries or wineries (for cookie pairing events)
- Realtors
- Assisted living facilities (as resident gifts)
- Hair salons or med spas
- Hotels
- Manufacturing businesses (as an appreciation gift for staff)
- Businesses that set out refreshments for customers
Whatever business you approach, make it a learning experience for the troop. Role-play the presentation, anticipate questions the business may ask, and be sure to have the Girl Scouts wear their vest/sash or membership pin. Knowing what to potentially expect means there are fewer surprises and allows your troop to sell with confidence.
Taste the Adventure(fuls) Sample Package (Free Package Adventurefuls for Sampling) 
We are celebrating Girl Scouts’ birthday and the kick-off of Girl Scout Week with a little present for you! Our cupboards are full of Adventurefuls, so we are giving troops a free package to use as cookie booth samples*. Part of marketing this new(ish) cookie is providing customers the chance to try it before they buy! This Friday through Sunday, each troop that visits a Council On-Demand Cupboard can pick up one free package of Adventurefuls during their cupboard stop**. Simply ask for the free package when you pick up your cookie order this weekend. If your troop utilizes a Regional Cupboard, connect with your Regional Cupboard Manager for details.
Not visiting a cupboard? Don’t worry—we got you, too! Complete our Free Sample Package of Adventurefuls Form and we will remove one package of Adventurefuls from your troop inventory. This form must be completed on or before Sunday, March 12. Transfers will be completed in Smart Cookies by March 17.
Our volunteers are so creative! Check out this clever “Enjoy an Adventureful Spring Break” sign and package tags or March Madness sign to use at your next cookie booths. Signage courtesy of Pamela Mattson from Troop 18651.
* For indoor cookie booths, please check with the location manager or staff to ensure they allow food sampling. For cookie booths at Cub, all Cub locations will allow sampling if troops follow proper food handling procedures.
Proper food safety procedures include using tongs or gloves to prepare products and providing samples on a napkin or small portion cup. Volunteers/Girl Scouts must wash their hands prior to and after handling food products. View more detailed food safety information.
** Offer only good on Adventurefuls, no other cookie varieties will be substituted.
ACH Withdrawal on March 17
An important financial milestone of the Cookie Program is coming soon! The first ACH (a.k.a. Automated Clearing House) withdrawal will be made from the troop bank account on March 17. The first ACH is calculated by multiplying $1 by the total packages received by the troop as of March 10, minus any credit card payments made through Smart Cookies. You can view the total packages received by the troop in Smart Cookies on your Troop Balance Summary Report.
- Select Current from the Reports tab, then choose the Troop Balance Summary. How does this work with credit card payments?
Examples
- Example 1: If the troop’s Total Packages received in Smart Cookies is 846 packages as of March 10, and the troop has $200 in Smart Cookies Direct-Ship, booth, and/or girl cookie delivery credit card orders, then Girl Scouts River Valleys will withdraw $646 from the troop bank account.
- Example 2: If the troop’s Total Packages received in Smart Cookies is 867 as of March 10, and the troop has $935 in Smart Cookies Direct-ship, booth, and/or girl cookie delivery credit card orders, then Girl Scouts River Valleys will not withdraw any funds from the troop account because the troop has $67 more in deposits than the ACH amount.
To ensure that your troop is ready for this ACH, deposit all received cash and checks into your troop bank account by March 14. Review the Automated Clearing House (ACH) FAQs linked on Cookie Central to help answer your questions. ACH withdrawal amounts will be reflected in Smart Cookies 1-2 days after the money is withdrawn from the troop’s bank account.
Please Note: If your troop is only participating in online sales and is due a refund for troop proceeds earned, Girl Scouts River Valleys will process that refund to the troop bank account via an ACH at the end of April.
Ahead of the ACH deadline, it’s the perfect time to ensure your cookie transfers and financial transactions are up to date. Check out The Cookie Press: Edition 11 from March 2 for more information.
Understanding the Troop Balance Summary Report
Review the information below to help you understand the Troop Balance Summary Report. It has good information about your sales activity:
- Packages Sold Per Girl Selling: This is the troop’s per-girl-average (PGA)
- Proceed Plan: This will show the following options.
- Main Plan
- Early Bird Main Plan (for troops who renewed their memberships during the Early Bird season)
- Opt-Out Plan (for Senior/Ambassador troops that selected to opt out)
- Early Bird Opt-Out Plan (for Senior/Ambassador troops that selected opt-out and were Early Bird troops)
- Received: This will show all Girl Scout Cookies transferred in and out of the troop:
- Initial order cookies
- Cookie Share
- Smart Cookies Direct-Ship orders
- Cookie Cupboard transactions
- Troop-to-troop transfers
- Sales Amounts: Displays the current Troop Proceeds and Council Proceeds for the packages allocated to the troop.
- Finances: Displays all ACH, Finance/Inventory Issue Form, Smart Cookies Direct-Ship, booth, and/or girl cookie delivery credit card deposits credited to the troop in Smart Cookies.
- Balance: Displays the current balance due to Girl Scouts River Valleys or overpayment owed to the troop.
How much should be deposited into our troop account? Take the Total Sales dollar amount and subtract out the credit card deposits for direct-ship, booth, and/or girl cookie delivery credit card deposits credited to the troop in Smart Cookies.
The funds from credit card payments made through Smart Cookies (direct-ship, booth, and/or girl delivery orders) are deposited into the Girl Scout River Valleys bank account. These funds are not transferred to the troop bank account but are credited to the troop in Smart Cookies as a deposit and will be subtracted from the balance owed to the council.
Cookie Booth of the Week Winners
Announcing our latest 2023 Cookie Booth of the Week winners. Check out their “fin”tastic displays. Congratulations to our Week 2 Cookie Booth of the Week winners Troop 58138 and Troop 55582. There’s still time to enter using the Cookie Booth of the Week Entry Form. Troops can only win once.
Week 2: Daisy/Brownie/Junior Booth of the Week
Troop 58138
Week 2: Cadette/Senior/Ambassador Booth of the Week
Troop 55582
Cookie Spirit Award Winners
Congratulations to our Week 2 Cookie Spirit Award winners Laurie Workman and Emily Tooley. Both Laurie and Emily will receive a $25 Target gift card and a big high-five from Girl Scouts River Valleys! Nominate a cookie volunteer for consideration today. Submissions carry over each week.
Laurie Workman (Stillwater Valley Service Unit): “I am nominating Laurie Workman for the Cookie Spirit Award. For the past 5 years, she has volunteered her time to be our “Cookie Mom.” Every year she meets with all of the parents of the girls in our troop and shares the requirements, and information related to selling cookies. Laurie is so organized, and keeps track of all the cookies, requests for more cookies, securing booths, making cookie cupboard runs, and handling the money for our troop that we’ve never had any discrepancies with our orders–she is amazing! Laurie does all of this with a smile and cheerful can-do attitude! I have never heard her complain or appear stressed! I don’t know many full-time working moms who can make cookie season seem like a breeze! She is such a joy to work with, and as a new troop leader, I am so grateful to have her support and skill in leading our girls with their cookie sales. Laurie encourages our girls to sell, provides suggestions and guidance for our Juniors to make good decisions. The parents in our troop can count on Laurie to come through with the cookies we need at the last minute and she’s always willing to contact other troops. When our girls have their goals set on selling 1500 boxes, she is willing to secure more booths! Laurie wants to see all the girls succeed and her example of positivity is what all girls need in their lives! Laurie’s daughter is not certain if she’ll continue with Girl Scouts next year, and I am secretly hoping that she will because I selfishly do not want to lose such a skilled and talented volunteer! Laurie deserves the recognition and so much more! Thank you!”
Emily Tooley (Northwoods Service Unit): “This is Emily’s first cookie season ever! She is also our cookie manager for our Daisy and Brownie troop of 20 girls. She has been on top of everything, making sure that all of the parents have everything they need, making sure inventory is correct, making sure that all questions are answered. I couldn’t do this without her. If she didn’t volunteer this year as a troop leader, I would of have been the cookie manager again this year. I am extremely impressed and truly appreciate everything she does for our troop, and it doesn’t go unnoticed.
Both Laurie and Emily will receive a $25 Target gift card and a big hi-five from Girl Scouts River Valleys! Nominate a cookie volunteer for consideration today. Submissions will carry over each week.”
Cookie Damages & Missing Packages
With millions of Girl Scout Cookie packages whizzing through the bakery throughout the season and traveling hundreds of miles to cookie cupboards, your troop may encounter a few packages that are not in sellable condition. Bring the damaged packages to your nearest cookie cupboard to exchange them for non-damaged packages of the same variety.
If your troop opens a case only to discover it is missing packages, contact us to have the packages removed from your troop inventory. Please include the number of packages affected and the production number that is stamped on the outside of the case or on one of the packages from inside the case.
Forward to Families
If your troop cookie return date is approaching, you can forward the information below to your Girl Scout families:
Don’t forget, our troop cookie return date is on [INSERT DATE]. This is the date to return any inventory back to me that you don’t believe your family will be able to sell. If Girl Scout Cookies are not returned by this date, your family will be financially responsible for these cookie packages. Remember, any returned Girl Scout Cookies must be in sellable condition in order for the troop to take them back into our inventory. There are three weekends left in the Cookie Program, so if your Girl Scout is still trying to reach their cookie goal, there’s plenty of time left to make it happen.
How to Support Troops & Keep Up the Cookie Spirit
We are at the halfway mark of the Girl Scout Cookie Program! As a local Girl Scout Cookie champion, troops will be turning to you for a dose of motivation to keep going through the final three weekends of sales.
Here are a few tips on how to support troops and keep up the cookie spirit in your Service Unit:
- Report on the sales results to date and highlight some successes, such as a shout-out to a new troop or the successful transfers of cookie inventory to help out another troop.
- Remind troops of the opportunity to earn proceeds through reaching participation goals. Troops with a Per Girl Average of 235 will receive $0.85 per package sold.
- Work with the rest of the Service Unit team to brainstorm contest ideas for troops that continue to sell with fun prizes for “Rookie of the Year”, the troop that sells the most Adventurefuls, or the troop with the most donations—You get the idea!
- Hold open house hours via Zoom or in person for leaders and cookie managers to connect and answer their questions.
- Organize a drive-thru booth for the last weekend of the season so any troops with leftover inventory can work together to take advantage of that last chance for cookie sales. April will be here before you know it.
Troop On-Hand Inventory Report
This is a good time to check in with troops to see if they have any on-hand cookie inventory issues, especially any with too many cookies, so they can be transferred to troops in need of the inventory.
In your Reports tab in Smart Cookies, select Current and then select Troop On Hand Inventory Report. This will display all troops and their current inventory not allocated to individual Girl Scouts. Check-in with troops with 50 or more cases in their inventory to see if they need assistance in transferring cookies to other troops or confirm they have plans to use the inventory for booths or individual Girl Scout sales. If you haven’t already, create a Facebook group, utilize the Troop Cookie Manager Rally in Rallyhood, or use another tool to facilitate local transfers. You can also direct troops to use the Girl Scouts River Valleys Cookie Swap (invitation code: COOKIES23).
