ENGAGING GIRLS IN COOKIE SALES

COOKIE FINDER SALES LINK

New this year! Starting on February 1, each troop’s sales link will be automatically added to the National Girl Scout Cookie Finder. Customers who use the Cookie Finder will simply enter in their zip code to view both in-person booths and troop sales links. If the customer would like to purchase from the troop sales link, they would place the order and would receive the cookies via Smart Cookies Direct Ship. At the end of the sale, your troop will be credited for all sales generated from this link.

PARTICIPATION OPTIONS

Safety and flexibility are our top priorities for the 2021 Cookie Program. We want each girl and her family to participate at their own comfort level and within current community health guidelines. There are three levels of cookie activity participation: online, hybrid, and in-person. Girls can opt-in to any or all of the options listed on the following chart as long as community health guidelines allow.

Please note: Girl Scouts River Valleys actively monitors local and state health guidelines now and throughout the cookie season. Based on community guidance, options in this grid will be shaded out or turned off if/when options are not allowed. Rest assured that we’ll keep you up-to-date on any program changes via Cookie Central and The Cookie Press. All girls participating in any in-person sales must follow all Girl Scouts River Valleys, state, and local guidance.

COOKIE PARTICIPATION OPTIONS

SALES TYPE

SMART COOKIES ONLINE ACCOUNT

SMART COOKIES SALES LINKS

COOKIE BOOTHS

DOOR-TO-DOOR SALES

WORKPLACE SALES

MOBILE SALES ONLINE COOKIES

Girls set up their Smart Cookies online account sales link for direct ship orders and donations.

Girls share their unique cookie sales link via email and social media.

Girls add their Direct Ship cookie sales link to door hangers or business cards to leave at residences for contactless door to door sales. Girls team with their parent/ guardian to collect email addresses of interested customers, then send e-cards or share sales links from Smart Cookies for direct ship orders.

HYBRID COOKIES: ORDER-TAKING & DELIVERY

Girls set up their Smart Cookies online account sales link for direct ship orders, donations, and girl delivery orders. Girls share their unique cookie sales link via email, social media, local neighborhood sites, and at parent/ guardian workplaces.

Virtual Booths Girls share upcoming booth/ lemonade stand information, take online orders/payments, deliver via contactless curbside pick up. Girls take orders with their order card while going door-to-door in their neighborhood and then deliver the cookies later.

Girls write a personal statement that the parent/guardian can leave with the order card. Orders are collected, then deliver the cookies later.

IN-PERSON COOKIES

COOKIES IN HAND

Girls set up their Smart Cookies online account sales link for direct ship orders, donations, and girl delivery orders. Girls share their unique cookie sales link via email, social media, local neighborhood sites, and at parent/ guardian workplaces.

Troops can sign up or secure booths (outdoor, drive-thru), take contactless payments, give cookies to customers or load cookies in vehicles.

Girls go door to door with cookie inventory, take contactless payment, give cookies to customers.

Girls visit parent/guardian workplaces with cookie inventory, take contactless payment, give cookies to customers.

Girls participate in walkabouts with a wagon or sled, take contactless payment, give cookies to customers.

Giving back to the community is what Girl Scouts is all about. That’s why we have two great ways our customers can give directly to their local communities. Not only do girls get the satisfaction of giving back through the power of Girl Scout Cookies, they can also earn special donation rewards.

Girl Scouts River Valleys-donated cookies: Cookies donated directly to healthcare workers, school lunch programs and food pantries. Girls simply collect money from customers and Girl Scouts River Valleys facilitates getting the cookies to our partner organizations.

Troop-donated cookies: Girls select a nonprofit organization such as their local food shelf, hospital, faith organization, or shelter for which to donate cookies. It’s up to them to learn about their local services and make philanthropic business decisions.

ALL ABOUT COOKIE BOOTHS

Cookie Booths are any sales that girls participate in as a group. This can be in public businesses, on private property, or virtually. They are either arranged by Girl Scouts River Valleys (councilsecured) or by the troop (troop-secured). Cookie Booths are a great way for your girls to learn how to work and set goals together.

There are several Cookie Booth options this year, both in-person or virtual. For in-person booth sales, we have developed guidance to make sure girls, volunteers, and customers can make contactless payments and cookie deliveries. Troops will also have a virtual booth sales link to use if they’d like to have a virtual event, or share with friends and family. Virtual booths are a great option for customers to pre-order and purchase online and then go to the troop’s designated place for curbside pick up.

You can host a cookie booth on your own property, just like a lemonade stand (a Lemonades™ stand—get it?). Plus, it doesn’t require permission from Girl Scouts River Valleys!

Find a comprehensive Cookie Booth Guide in your Cookie Booth & Sales Kit to learn more about signing up and running troop booth(s).

Before January 18: Make selections for the booth lottery (if your troop is participating).

Starting January 20: Sign-up for additional cookie booths beings in a firstcome, first-served round process (if your troop is participating).

February 20: Cookie booth sales begin.

Find more info on troop-secured booths on Cookie Central.

First-come, first-served booths: When available, a calendar of sign-up dates and times will be published on Cookie Central and in The Cookie Press.

GIRL REWARDS & COOKIE CREDITS

The main benefit of the Cookie Program is the skills learned, but we all know that girls are super excited to have their hard work recognized and receive their rewards. Girls get rewarded through fun items like hoodies, patches, t-shirts, and the highly sought-after mascot plush (pictured right).

At select levels, girls can choose to receive either the reward item or Cookie Credits to cover other costs like camp, events, shop items, their Girl Scout membership fee, and more! But wait, there’s more! We offer Troop PGA rewards if troops reach certain PGA (per girl average) sales levels. The PGA is calculated by taking the total number of packages sold and dividing it by the number of girls selling in the troop. Troops can earn these extra rewards at the 220, 320, and 420 PGA levels. Watch for more details on these rewards and how they are tracked in Smart Cookies in The Cookie Press.

COOKIE BADGES

When meeting with your girls and/or troop, set aside some time to look over the program badges that are associated with entrepreneurship. The five business skills are a core component of the Cookie Program, and girls can wear these badges with pride.

It ’s Your Business –Run It!

Visit Cookie Central to find a complete list of girl rewards and cookie badges.

BEE A SISTER PROGRAM

New for 2021! We are giving girls the chance to give back instead of picking an item at certain reward levels. With the Bee a Sister Program, girls can choose to make a donation towards pollinator protection efforts at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum’s Tashjan Bee and Pollinator Discovery Center.

Donations will be used to support the outdoor pollinator gardens, on-site bee colonies, and educational programming about bees and pollinators. Girls will earn a special patch when they make a donation. See the girl reward flier for the levels where the girls can make this choice. You’ll make the choice in Smart Cookies when you order the rest of the girl rewards in April.

All varieties of Girl Scout Cookies (including gluten-free) ALL VARIETIES $5 $5 PER PACKAGE are sold at $5 a package. For allergen information, visit GirlScoutsRV.org/Cookies. All your favorites are back — plus a NEW Cookie!

Toast-yay!™

French Toast-inspired cookies dipped in delicious icing and full of avor in every bite. Yay!

RETIRING IN 2021

Girl Scout

S’mores®

Crispy graham cookies double-dipped in creme icing and coated in delicious fudge.

Lemonades®

Savory slices of shortbread with a refreshingly tangy lemon avored icing.

Shortbread ®

Traditional shortbread cookies.

Thin Mints ®

Crispy chocolate wafers dipped in a mint chocolaty coating.

Peanut Butter

Patties ®

Crispy vanilla cookies layered with peanut butter and covered with a chocolaty coating.

Caramel deLites ®

Vanilla cookies topped with caramel, sprinkled with toasted coconut, and laced with chocolaty stripes.

Peanut Butter

Sandwich

Crisp and crunchy oatmeal cookies with creamy peanut butter lling.

Caramel

Chocolate Chip

Peanut

PF

Free

Rich caramel, semi-sweet chocolate chips, and a hint of sea salt in a chewy, gluten-free cookie. * *Limited availability

The GIRL SCOUTS® name and mark, and all other associated trademarks and logotypes, including but not limited to GIRL SCOUT COOKIES®, THIN MINTS®, GIRL SCOUT S’MORES®, TOAST-YAY!™, Girl Scout Cookie Program®, and the Trefoil Design, are owned by Girl Scouts of the USA.

4. Finance

Here’s your guide to everything from collecting money to sending it to the bank! Read on to learn about how cookie money works, and what to do at the end of the sale.

CLICK ON ANY OF THE LINE ITEMS BELOW TO JUMP TO THAT SECTION

HOW COOKIE MONEY WORKS BANK DEPOSITS

Juliette Process

Returned Checks or Bank Fees

END-OF-SALE BANKING

Finance/Inventory Issue Forms

Excess Troop Inventory

Unpaid Cookies

Stolen Product/Money or

Counterfeit Money Received

The troop gets cookies from the intial order, a Cookie Cupboard, or from another troop. Once the troop receives these cookies, they are financially responsible for them.

2. Participating Girl Scouts receive cookies that they plan to sell from their troop. Document this transaction in Smart Cookies by transferring these cookies to the girl.

3. Girls and families then sell the cookies and collect payment from customers. They will then give all of the payments back to their troop. Families must have 50% or more of the total money due turned in before being provided with more cookies. Receipts must be provided for all cookie and money transactions. Families should retain copies of all receipts provided by the troop.

BANK DEPOSITS

Troops deposit all cookie money into their troop’s bank account. Girl Scouts River Valleys will withdraw these proceeds via an Automated Clearing House (ACH) withdrawal twice during the season. The only responsibility you’ll have for these is to make sure there are enough funds in the troop’s bank account and to deposit all money at least three days before the ACH date.

BANK DEPOSIT PROCESS FOR GIRL SCOUT JULIETTES

Girl Scout Juliettes are registered girl members who are not affiliated with a troop. These Girl Scouts deposit their total sales into Girl Scouts River Valleys’ Wells Fargo account using special encoded council deposit tickets.

RETURNED CHECKS OR BANK FEES

If your troop encounters returned checks (meaning they have non-sufficient funds or closed accounts) or incurs bank fees due to high deposit activity, please see the Automated Clearing House (ACH) FAQs or the Finance/Inventory Issue form on Cookie Central for information on how to request ACH reimbursement.

MANAGING DEPOSITS

⚬ Deposit cookie money weekly. ⚬ Never have more than $1,000 in your possession at any time. ⚬ Before depositing, endorse all checks with “for deposit only”. ⚬ Work with your troop leaders to coordinate who will be making the deposits into the troop’s bank account, and how to do it. The person making deposits does not need to be a signer on the account, but may be asked to show identification when making deposits, including cash.

Keep copies of all deposit tickets and bank receipts until December 31, 2021. Make sure that they include all of the details and they must include records of all individual checks deposited (i.e., over-the-counter deposit slips, Excel files, calculator tapes, etc.).

ACH withdrawal dates are March 19 and April 30.