Read on for Cookie Rewards Shipping to Service Units, Distributing Girl Scout & Troop Rewards, Reports to Download in Smart Cookies, 2023 Cookies By the Numbers, Cookie Program Volunteer Survey, Cookie Credits, Juliette Program Credits, & Happy Camper/Phenom Coupon, Final Cookie Press on June 1, Rewards Reports & Reporting Issues, Important Cookie Reports and more.
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For Service Unit Cookie Managers
The final, exciting milestone of the Cookie Program is getting closer! Service Units will be receiving the cookie reward shipments next week, the week of May 22. Check out the info in this week’s post to help make wrapping up the sale with rewards distribution a breeze. We have one more Cookie Press blog post on June 1 to fully wrap up the 2023 cookie season.
Cookie Rewards Shipping to Service Units
We know your Girl Scouts (and you) are anxiously awaiting their rewards, but please be patient and allow your Service Unit cookie manager time to count and pack your items properly. The shipments will arrive the week of May 22. Reach out to your Service Unit cookie manager to see if they need any assistance in sorting and packing the items. With all those boxes, they would really appreciate it!
Your Service Unit cookie manager will connect with you when the rewards are ready for pickup. Before you pick up your troop’s items, log in to Smart Cookies to print your rewards report. Go to Reports > Current > Recognition Order Summary by Troop and print a copy of this report to verify the counts of each item with your Service Unit volunteer.
Initial Order Patches & Online Rewards Notes
The Initial Order patches and Online patches will not appear in your reports. Your Service Unit cookie manager will have a packing list for these items. The initial order patches are given to each Girl Scout selling at the time of the initial order. Your Service Unit cookie manager will have a packing list by Girl Scout for the Cookie Techie patch (online sales of 75+ packages), the Magic Sand (online sales of 150+ packages), and the USB Seashell Lights (online sales of 300+ packages). Take a photo of this packing list with your Smartphone (or jot down the information for your records) to note the Girl Scouts in your troop that have earned these items
Distributing Rewards to Girl Scouts
Log into Smart Cookies > Reports > Current and print a copy of the Recognition Order Summary by Girl Report to distribute items to your troop members. Set up a date/time schedule and inform families of the opportunity to pick up their items. Verify the items with the parent/guardian to ensure everyone receives their correct rewards. Pro tips: Have the parent/guardian sign your copy of the Recognition Order Summary report to acknowledge they have received all items. See the April 20 Cookie Press blog post for details on the reward items for girls that sold 700+ packages.
For Girl Scouts who earned the Cookie Combo Personalized patch after sending 15 emails during the Snacks & Magazines Program and selling 350+ packages of cookies this season, these patches will be sent directly to them, with arrival later this summer.
Cookie Reports to Download in Smart Cookies
Access to Smart Cookies will be turned off in late July, and you will not have access again until this winter (did we just say WINTER?). Download and save these Smart Cookies reports for your troop records. Here are some suggested reports to download:
- Troop Balance Summary: Review of how many cookies were given to the troop, how much money was collected by each Girl Scout, troop PGA, the total number of direct ship cookies, and the number of Cookie Care Package (Virtual Share/CShare) donations
- Girl Cookie Totals Summary: Overview of the number of packages sold per individual, including a column for the CShare (which shows cookie donation totals), and the total packages sold by Girl Scout
- Girl Cookie Order Detail Summary: Shows the transfers to and from each Girl Scout, as well as any direct ship orders. The ‘Troop Total’ will list the number of cookies transferred to the troop by variety
- Track Cookie Share: Shows the total of both virtual and troop donation programs
- Girl Balance Summary: Views of each Girl Scout’s sale into how many cookies of each variety she sold at cookie booths, individually, and online
- Recognition Order Summary by Girl: Listing of rewards that each Girl Scout earned
2023 Cookies by the Numbers
The results are in! Six weeks and countless hours managing the cookie season and you all made some waves! We applaud everyone involved in the 2023 Cookie Program from our dynamic and innovative Girl Scouts to our dedicated volunteers. Thanks to the massive teamwork of everyone involved, we are pleased to share the end-of-season cookie totals.
Cookie Program Volunteer Survey
Girl Scouts River Valleys wants to hear from you! In our annual Cookie Program survey, we give you the opportunity to share your feedback and experiences with the Product Program Team. We often use the survey results to enhance the volunteer and Girl Scout experience with the program. This survey will be available until June 8. Thank you for taking the time to complete this survey. We appreciate your feedback.
Cookie Credits, Juliette Program Credits, and Happy Camper/Phenom Coupons
Cookie Credits and Juliette Program Credits are now issued to a physical card. Cards have been mailed to the Girl Scouts’ address on file with Girl Scouts River Valleys this week. Please make sure families are aware of this change and should watch for their cards in the mail. All previous unexpired electronic program credits are still valid and can be used just like the new cards.
The 2023 Happy Camper Coupon at the 850-package level must be used in the summer of 2023 at a Girl Scouts River Valleys’ summer resident camp session or council-approved Service Unit day camp session. The maximum value is $225.
- The Phenom Coupon also has a maximum value of $225 and must be used towards expenses with the 2023 National Girl Scout Convention: Phenom by Girl Scouts.
- Electronic coupon codes for both coupons will be sent directly to the email address of the Girl Scout’s primary caregiver on record with Girl Scouts River Valleys the week of May 22.
- When Girl Scouts are ready to redeem their credits, they can use the Program Credit and/or 2023 Happy Camper Coupon Code Redemption Form. For more information read our Electronic Program Credits FAQs article.
The Next Cookie Press
The next Cookie Press blog post will be on June 1 and will be the last edition of the 2023 Cookie Program.
Rewards Reports & Reporting Issues
We are “dolphin-ately” excited! Those boxes and boxes of Girl Scout rewards are scheduled to ship the week of May 22 to Service Units.
After you have received your reward shipments, follow these steps:
- Locate the packing slips and verify the total items received. You will receive packing slips for the individual Girl Scout and troop rewards (which will be the same totals as the Recognition Order Summary by Service Unit report from Smart Cookies), initial order patches, and online rewards. Remember: the initial order patch and online reward items will not appear on your Service Unit or Troop Recognition Order reports. Compare the total items received against the totals indicated on the packing slips. If you have questions or are missing these additional packing slips, reach out to us at girlscouts@girlscoutsrv.org or 800-845-0787. Follow the directions below if there are issues with the totals received:
- If you don’t receive enough items, receive too many, or receive damaged items, report these issues to us using our Cookie Reward Issues Form.
- Sort the items by the troop. Run the Recognition Order Summary by Troop report and print a copy. Use this report along with the initial order and online rewards packing slips to complete this step. Pro tip: get other troop volunteers involved in sorting and packing rewards. Many hands make for lighter work. Bonus-they can pick up their items early!
- Inform troops the rewards are ready for pickup. See below for our recommended best practices for distribution. For the initial order of “Seas the Go Day” patches and online rewards, have the troop take a photo of your packing list or jot down the information on which Girl Scout earned these items in the troop.
Rewards Pickup Best Practices
Here are a few tips to assist in making reward pickup accurate and efficient:
- Set up separate pickup appointments for each troop.
- Use SignUpGenius or a similar platform to schedule pickup times.
- Use boxes, grocery bags, or paper bags to contain rewards.
- If you are setting out multiple troops’ rewards at once, label them clearly and leave space between each troop’s items.
- Verify the reward counts with each troop and have the troop volunteer sign the Recognition Order Summary by Troop report.
Important Cookie Reports
Encourage your troops to download important reports for this season to save for their records. You can also download any helpful reports for the Service Unit records to utilize for next season. Here are some reports we suggest for downloading as a Service Unit volunteer by late July:
- Recognition Order by Troop – Lists the total rewards for each troop
- Troop Balance Summary – Review of the troop financial and transfer transactions
- Troop Initial Order – Lists the initial order case counts for each troop
