2020 Cookie Family Guide For First-Year Troops

2020 GIRL SCOUT COOKIE PROGRAM

Family Guide

For First-Year Troops

FEBRUARY 15 - MARCH 22, 2020

FAMILIES: Here’s how you can support her sale: 1. Attend your troop’s cookie meeting.

2. Sign and return the permission slip before selling.

3. Help her set goals and track progress.

4. Help her create a Smart Cookies account.

5. Volunteer to help: set up a cookie booth, chaperone, pick up cookies.

ABOUT THE GIRL SCOUT COOKIE PROGRAM When your girl sells Girl Scout Cookies, she’s doing more than helping her customers stock up on delicious treats - she’s earning new and amazing experiences for herself and her troop! Whether that’s taking a trip to an unforgettable place, coding her own computer program or attending Girl Scout Camp next summer...selling cookies can help get her there!

Did you know the Girl Scout Cookie Program is the LARGEST girl-led business in the world? Along with earning those unique experiences, running her own cookie business will help her explore and understand skills she’ll use for a lifetime.

Goal Setting

Decision-Making

Money-Management

Business Ethics

People Skills

Setting cookie goals and making a plan to reach them

Choosing how her troop will spend their cookie proceeds

Making a budget, taking orders and handling money from her business

Girl Scouts need to be honest and responsible every step of the way

Talking to new people and listening to customers while selling cookies

Make Double the Impact If you live in Dane County, donate your Cookie Share boxes to a food pantry and the Dane County Dairy Promotions Committee will match each box with a half-gallon of milk!

COOKIE SHARE: A Community Service Project Cookie Share allows customers to purchase cookies that will be donated. Customers pay for cookies but do not receive them. The troop coordinates delivery to their chosen cause, such as a food pantry or a Ronald McDonald House.

These orders are written in the Cookie Share column on the order card. The cookies are included in girls’ totals and count toward rewards. All Cookie Share money must be turned in to your Troop Cookie Coordinator so the cookies can be delivered to the troop’s chosen cause. Every Girl Scout who participates in Cookie Share earns the Cookie Share patch.

HOW THE COOKIE CRUMBLES Troop Proceeds $0.63-0.75

Girl Scout and Volunteer Services $1.97-$2.09

Girl Scout Rewards $0.21

Pay the Baker: Cookie Cost - $1.07

After paying the baker for the cookies, 100 percent of the money that Badgerland troops raise through the Girl Scout Cookie Program stays local. *The cost breakdown is different for Girl Scouts not in a troop and selling as Juliettes. See Juliette-specific info for details.

SELLING COOKIES For the first year, a “simplified” cookie sale is highly recommended. This means she’ll get to experience all the excitment, outcomes and rewards of participating in the Cookie Program without taking up too much of the new troop’s time. A simplified sale means families will only take cookie pre-orders, hold one or two troop cookie booths, and if you choose, do some online sales.

ORDER TAKING Girl Scouts use order cards to take pre-orders and collect money at the time of the sale. When the cookies are available for pick-up (March 19-21), Girl Scouts return to their customers to deliver the cookies.

February 15 - March 10: Girls take pre-orders from family members, friends and neighbors. Girls

collect money at the time of the sale.

March 11: Families submit the order card and all money collected to the troop co-leaders.

March 19-21: Families pick up cookies from the troop and begin delivering to customers.

March 22: End of Cookie sale. All cookies should be delivered by March 30.

COOKIE BOOTHS Booths allow Girl Scouts to sell directly to the general public in places such as grocery stores or sporting events.

Booths are usually scheduled by a troop. At booth sales, girls work together to achieve troop and individual sales goals. We recommend your troop hold one or two cookie booths in February to give girls the experience of selling together. It’s a great troop bonding experience!

February 15 - March 22: Cookie booth sales are held throughout the season.

DIGITAL COOKIE SALES Girls can superpower their sales by opening an online store. Girls email eCards (provided by our cookie baker) to family and friends, inviting them to purchase cookies.

Mid-January: Look for an email from noreply@abcsmartcookies.com to set up the account.

February 15 - March 22: Digital Cookie sales occur throughout cookie season.

SETTING UP HER DIGITAL COOKIE STORE 1. In mid-January, look for an email from noreply@abcsmartcookies.com. (may land in your junk folder) - Click the link in that email to begin. Complete the profile page, which includes selecting a username and password.

- Click submit to complete the registration.

2. Look for another email that confirms her account set-up.

- Save the email because it has the username and password which you’ll need each time you log in.

3. Log in to her account at abcsmartcookies.com and help her set up her dashboard and sales goal.

4. Select the ‘eCard’ tab. Add contacts, then generate eCards to family and friends.

There are two ways customers can purchase cookies online: 1. Direct Ship eCards: Customers pay for their cookies + shipping. Cookies will be delivered to their doorstep by mail.

2. Girl Delivery eCards: Customers place a promise order for cookies. Girls deliver the cookies to the customer in person and collect payment at that time.

IMPORTANT INFO COOKIE FAQS

GIRL SAFETY

Q. What are the dates of the Cookie Program?

February 15 - March 22, 2020

y Buddy up. Always sell with another person.

Q. What are the cookies for sale?

There are eight varieties: Thin Mints, Caramel deLites, Peanut Butter Patties, Shortbreads, Thanks-A-Lots, Lemonades, Peanut Butter Sandwiches and S’mores.

Q. How much do the cookies cost? $4 per box. Cookies must be sold at this price.

y Wisconsin law requires children under 9 to be supervised by a person 16 or older when selling or delivering a product. y Girls do not give her phone number, address or last name to customers. y Never enter another person’s home. All cookie sales are made at the door.

Q. What about gluten-free cookies?

It’s the troop’s choice whether to sell them. Troops were invited to pre-order their Caramel Chocolate Chip cookies in October. Ask troop co-leaders if your troop has them. Each pouch costs $5.

Q. What if we run out of cookies?

Contact your troop cookie coordinator or co-leaders to get restocked.

y Girls should not carry large sums of money. All money needs to be turned in promptly and frequently by a responsible adult rather than sending it to school. y A Girl Scout should always wear her uniform when selling cookies.

What Girls Learn...

HANDLING MONEY Money is collected from customers at the time of the order. Customers may pay by cash or check.

Here’s what Badgerland Girl Scouts said they learned from selling cookies last year:

Customers should make checks payable to your troop or Badgerland Council. A customer never writes out a check to a parent or girl. If this is done and the check becomes NSF, Badgerland will not be able to help in collecting the funds from the customer.

y Setting a Goal y Talking to People y Being Responsible, Honest & Kind (even during busy cookie weekends!)

COOKIE RETURNS Parents are financially responsible for all cookies received. If your Girl Scout is unable to complete her cookie sale, some cookies may be returned. Parents may return unopened, clean cases of cookies to their troop on or before March 8. This is the only opportunity to return cookies.

REWARDS New in 2020: Instant Rewards!

She’ll earn these items as soon as she reaches the goal!

BRAND NEW! The Cookie Entrepreneurship Family Pin Earn a different one each year by supporting your girl as she builds her cookie business.

This Year’s Mascot: The Red Fox! Each year we choose a new animal and motto for the cookie program. In 2020, the red fox is telling Girl Scouts to chase their adventures!

See all girl reward options on the rewards flyer.

2020 Cookie Program Participation Patch 24 boxes

Girl Scout Paracord Bracelet Comes in yellow, too!

60 boxes

Small Plush - 240 boxes

Large Plush 348 boxes