The Bloggess Takes on Girl Scout Cookie Sales

[fun2beme]

Back in the 80s, my Brownie leader took off with our cookie money so we didn't get our highly-anticipated trip to a local park. Crushing to an 8-year old. The next year's troop said they'd cover us, but I was already a bitter 9-year old by then.

I avoid the cookies in general. Not healthy and the quality has nose-dived in the past several years. Would rather by a container of good ice cream for the calories and money I'd be spending on GS cookies.

[lilah]

I think the reason they changed the sales models was to discourage door to door sales. Its ironic that child abduction cases fall people are more helicoptery and ovrerpotective.

Plus the booth sales encourage more impulse buying. I am guilty of this since I don't know any girl scouts who I'd buy from directly but if they are selling in front of a store I shop at I'd get a box of tagalogs. Mmmmmmm tagalogs.

I've always had a lot of loyalty to the girl scouts since I have gone memories of being one and I love that they've adopted a lot of socially progressive and incluscive policies in direct contrast to boys scouts. I might consider a direct donation in light of the cookie profit splitting.

[keen23]

Well,I haven't drank all the GS kool-aid, but I have been a GS leader & cookie manager for 8 years and currently am my service unit cookie manager.

In my area, I find it to be a pretty good deal. We sell ABC cookies for $4/box and troops get 60c. About a dollar goes to ABC bakery, and the rest stay in our council.

I lead two troops. I've had my 9th graders since '07 and my 5th graders since '09. Our troops are pretty much self funded by cookie & fall product sales. On average we net $900-1200/troop at cookie season, even while getting 60c a box. And we are a pretty average troop... not super sellers.

This $1200 covers our patches, supplies, most of our field trips, even our service projects. We aren't taking the troop to Disney World, but we're doing pretty good. Our parents only pay for uniforms and books.

So what about that $2.40 that goes to council? Well, we have 7 camps. Everything from tent camping to cabin/dorms. Horseback riding, sailing, archery, zip lining. We even have a beach house. It's rustic, but it's at the beach! If I want to take my troop camping, we pay $30 a night for the whole group. Imagine taking a dozen teenagers to the beach for the weekend for $60? Those properties are all funded/maintained by cookie money. Neither of my troops are interested in the sailing or the horseback riding programs, but they too are affordable. I have hired an archery instructor while camping for $6/pp. Council also puts on badge programs, and activities for your girls. All for a reasonable fee.

It's a great deal if a troop chooses to take advantage of the resources in our council... resources funded by cookie money. Like I say, my troops are self supported by a measly 60c a box. It wouldn't work if we insisted on amusement parks, but it is possible.

Three of our camp properties offer weekly summer camp (including the property with the sailboats, and the property with the horses) Most camp choices are sub $400/week for a girl. If I can give some perspective on this, I send my kids to church camp for $400/week, and it is heavily subsidized by my church synod, fundraisers and large donors. Girl Scout camp costs the same $400 but is subsidized by cookie sales. To add another perspective, another camp that is very popular in my area is non-denominational camp (not subsidized by much of anything) so they charge the "true price" of a week of camp... $1050! Yes, it takes about $1050/child to run a good summer camp! And GS charges $400.

I can't speak for your council and what they have to offer. I can only speak for my own area. But I will tell you this, I don't think most these troops (in my area) need much more than $.60/box. Personally I find it cringe worthy to hear of a Brownie troop going to Disney World. If you use the resources around you, $.60 can be a nice figure for a group of girls. The ones in my area complaining about the $.60 are usually the ones buying everything new and full retail (instead of borrowing) and never going to council events, where they can share in the bounty with all GS.

You have a good Council then, because we didn't. We have a local camp that's been run into the ground and has been closed for "repairs" for the past two years. Cookie sales last year were supposed to directly fund these repairs. That doesn't look like it's happening. We have two other camps available in the Council, but to camp there, it's $30 per night, per Scout. $60 a weekend, a facility charge. Extra $15-25 per Scout for things like Archery, the Ropes Course or horseback riding.

[keen23]

Our council had strict rules against doing this.

What- pre-orders or pre-sales? The sales model for all Councils has now been moved to Troop pre-orders and selling with cookies in hand instead of pre-sales. It was a trial program last year that went national (with maybe very few exceptions) this year.

[cindyluvs24]

Oh the memories. Cookies were $1.25 a box when I sold. My downstairs neighbor worked at the campus center at Monmouth College and let me sit there taking orders. When the cookies came, she had the students come by her and pick them up. The troop saw 10 cents per box. My son had to sell popcorn for Boy Scouts. The products range from $10 - $50. The troop gets a third, the Council gets a third, and national gets a third. Plus people are invited to make $25 or $50 "military donations" whereby the Trails End company promises to send popcorn "to our troops." They give prizes as incentives but a lot of troops just do their own fundraisers and actually keep the money they made.

[ExMW]

As a volunteer, I am made to jump through hoops for anything and everything. I have to apply to be appointed to a troop at the beginning of the year. At the end of the year, I have to do a year end interview and get told everything I didn't go good enough. I have to fill out paperwork for anything we do. I have to pay for girl scout trainings and buy trip insurance anytime we leave our meeting place. I am always told how overworked staff members are yet all I've ever seen is lazy people who pass the buck on to volunteers.

Dang, it doesn't even seem worth it. :roll:

[DGayle]

Descovy, your council sounds like a dream compared to the council I had (nobody knew what the sales were even for when we still had to pay so many fees, like $1 per patch we earned, charged to our parents, and a lot of other fees that made scouting expensive for us), and the local is also running as bad as mine did when I was a kid. We didn't get the archery and horsebacking. We got tenting in the troop leader's back yard, and a single big camp a year that cost my parents $50 plus the supplies, plus troops at the camp had a single communal meal, and the rest were solo with the girls' families supplying. I remember for the first dinner the last time I went, the girl whose family was scheduled to supply the meal was out sick, and so my parents were called and asked if they could pick up something for the troop dinner, and drive 3 fucking hours to deliver it. A little detail I don't know why I remember is my dad picked up a bunch of boxes of those little packs of little blueberry muffins, and left those with us. Then the fatass troop leader told him to hurry up and leave since Girl Scouts is GIRLS ONLY. Bitch.

I call her a fatass since now only does she look exactly like Ursula from Little Mermaid and literally trained us to always keep a Pepsi in her hand without her having to tell us. Lazy, lazy bitch.

[FaustianSlip]

We got tenting in the troop leader's back yard, and a single big camp a year that cost my parents $50 plus the supplies, plus troops at the camp had a single communal meal, and the rest were solo with the girls' families supplying.

That's frigging ridiculous and depressing. Man, I feel like I need to write my mom a thank-you note now; we always did at least one big camp-out a year, in addition to the annual Camporee that was hosted by our council. We did caper charts, split up cooking tasks, the whole nine yards. The idea of telling girls that they had to bring their own food would have been completely crazy.

It's depressing that kids are going through this kind of crap and left with the impression that that's what Girl Scouting is like. I guess it really does come down to who your leaders are and what your council is like. Sad.

[lawfulevil]

It sounds like it varies a LOT by council. Our camps were run down, and it was expensive to go, especially considering available facilities. I was in GS for eight years and we only went to the official Girl Scout camps twice for a few days each trip. I didn't do any of the extra cost activities like horseback riding (the troop leader's daughters did, and some of the other girls, but mine wouldn't pay) and it my scouting experience was pretty no-frills all around.

I didn't hate it, but I hated the hell out of selling cookies. It was a miserable time of year to walk door-to-door, and my troop leader put a lot of pressure on us to sell a lot. I never sold as many boxes as she wanted me to, and my parents wouldn't help, my sister was also in Scouts most of the time I was and my dad took her cookie order form to work, etc.

I got more out of Scouts than I thought I did as a kid, but I wouldn't make my own kids do it. And all those wrapping paper order forms are going straight in the trash. I love the coupon books, though, the ones here have grocery store coupons in them ($20 off $150 or so at 3-4 different stores), which if you cook at home at all pays for the book and then some.

[DGayle]

That's frigging ridiculous and depressing. Man, I feel like I need to write my mom a thank-you note now; we always did at least one big camp-out a year, in addition to the annual Camporee that was hosted by our council. We did caper charts, split up cooking tasks, the whole nine yards. The idea of telling girls that they had to bring their own food would have been completely crazy.

It's depressing that kids are going through this kind of crap and left with the impression that that's what Girl Scouting is like. I guess it really does come down to who your leaders are and what your council is like. Sad.

I really don't know if the council just didn't pay for anything, or if Ursula got the money, but pocketed it, and made us pay a bunch since I don't think we ever really got receipts showing who got the money. There was a group project of making a quilt for a sewing patch that she personally kept to give as a gift to her grandma, and the cooking patch we got by all of us making dinner for her family. Uncomfortable to be making the dinner for your leader, her husband, and their 2 kids who are in your troop, and then waiting on them.

I definitely tainted my view of GS for many years. I quit right before the end of my 3rd year because I was tired of yet another activity coming up with a fee attached, and I hated having to tell my parents that they needed to pay. They would have, but I hated always having to tell my parents they need to pay for this or that. And I was tired of feeling like I was a source of free labor for her family.

My dad almost had an aneurysm when he found out a project of ours was to weed a part of her yard, and then each of us plant an oil can that was empty, an oil can with oil in it, and a couple other things, to study decomposition, because my dad said, rightly, there's no way in hell oil should be put in the ground like that. Not surprising at all that Ursula ignored him, and then forgot about the project altogether.

[Eater of Worlds]

This has nothing to do with girl scouts, but the oil reminded me of my neighbor. He'd do his own oil changes then pour the used oil into the storm sewer. My dad got tired and pissed at the neighbor so he reported the guy. They "tracked" the oil in the sewer to his house and fined him a ton of cash, I guess they also said they had someone who saw him doing it. He paid the fine and finally stopped dumping oil down the storm sewer. They said they had tracked the oil to a specific body of water (like a river) from his place, they really gave him hell for doing that. My dad was just happy that he stopped pouring oil into our local water resources (water in a storm sewer system isn't treated like the water that goes down your drain, it flows right out to your local lakes/rivers/whatevers)

[salsa]

What- pre-orders or pre-sales? The sales model for all Councils has now been moved to Troop pre-orders and selling with cookies in hand instead of pre-sales. It was a trial program last year that went national (with maybe very few exceptions) this year.

I mean pre-empting others' booth sales or starting order-taking before the official start date.

[Wenny]

I was in girl scout until the troop disbanded cause the group leader lied about being a felon. I through she was pretty cool.

[GenerationCedarchip]

I used to be a Girl Scout until 4th grade (church became very anti-GS at this time, so all of us at church got yanked) and I remember doing the cookie sales, but knew nothing about what happened with the money. Thanks for posting that article - very informative!

I do know someone currently who used to volunteer heavily with GS and served on the local council's board of directors. Another friend and I used to come help at events, speak to troops about careers, etc.. and got to know her well, and she used to talk about how she felt like the organization misused money. She also said that things went on at the council level that they were told not to reveal to troops, and she eventually stepped down because she didn't want to be part of where things were going with regard to finances and a few other issues (mostly how rich troops treated versus poor troops in same region).

[wildcatgrrl]

I was a GS troop leader for a couple of years as a stay-at-home mom before my situation changed and I simply had no time to keep the troop up. I was never a GS myself, but my daughter wanted to join and I was told the best way to get her in was to start a troop myself since there was a waiting list for existing troops. Here's what I learned:

People are happy to join your troop so long as you do all the work. My first co-leader disappeared off the face of the Earth before our leader training. My second, my BFF from childhood, found herself in the same situation as I was once she agreed to take over the troop when I no longer had the time. Other moms would help at meetings with crafts and whatnot, but as far as planning, picking up supplies other than snacks, etc...fugeddaboutit. "I'm not crafty like you are" and "I'm not creative like you are" were the most common excuses. When people showed up, that is. Because oftentimes something apparently more important came up and people just wouldn't show or even call/text to let you know they weren't coming.

All Scouts are not created equal. After our first year at a meeting place, we were booted from our room in favor of the BS troop that met there because they wanted the room at that time. The alternative rooms were nowhere near as good but we stuck it out because we had to.

The WalMart in our area is managed by dicks. We had to cancel three cookie booths there one year because of inclement weather (ice/freezing rain) and the management wouldn't let us move our booths even into the vestibule where they keep the carts despite there being plenty of room. But DirecTV can set up well inside the store and harass people all day long. When our SU cookie manager asked the manager about this discrepancy in the solicitation policy, she was told that the DirecTV guys "sneak" into the store. Yup, with 6' folding tables, they sure do.

$0.60 a box (which you only got if you sold so many; otherwise it was $0.55) doesn't go very far to pay for everything, even the patches the girls "earn" (and don't get me started on the Journey programs; I really hated those and it's a logistical nightmare with a three-level troop and no help.) We did manage to get a Build-a-Bear trip both years (the girls' choice) out of it and $X toward camp one year, but that was it. Council-sponsored events were always so expensive that we never went to one. We did do better than some troops at booth sales because my girls were younger and people tend to buy more from Daisies and Brownies than Juniors and up, but still. The troop also had to pay full price for anything other than full cases that weren't sold by the end of booth time, making it very stressful to try to balance between running out of product and having too much left over, especially my first year with no experience. The incentives were crap, and because I had a young troop I couldn't let the girls vote to opt out of the incentives in favor of more cash per box. If I hadn't charged dues, we wouldn't have gotten to do much at or outside of our meetings.

The camp in our area is pretty nice, but we weren't terribly into camping with a bunch of girls who hated dirt and were scared of bugs, so we only went that one time (which, due to their age, was indoor camping in actual buildings with some outdoor activities.) So we didn't get as much benefit out of that as some of the other troops did.

Basically, I came away with a bad taste in my mouth from it all, between parents not helping and the fees/charges for everything under the sun. I felt like my girls were just fund raisers for Council when it all came down to it and Fall Product/Cookie times were so stressful.

[quiversR4hunting]

Well,I haven't drank all the GS kool-aid, but I have been a GS leader & cookie manager for 8 years and currently am my service unit cookie manager.

In my area, I find it to be a pretty good deal. We sell ABC cookies for $4/box and troops get 60c. About a dollar goes to ABC bakery, and the rest stay in our council.

I lead two troops. I've had my 9th graders since '07 and my 5th graders since '09. Our troops are pretty much self funded by cookie & fall product sales. On average we net $900-1200/troop at cookie season, even while getting 60c a box. And we are a pretty average troop... not super sellers.

This $1200 covers our patches, supplies, most of our field trips, even our service projects. We aren't taking the troop to Disney World, but we're doing pretty good. Our parents only pay for uniforms and books.

So what about that $2.40 that goes to council? Well, we have 7 camps. Everything from tent camping to cabin/dorms. Horseback riding, sailing, archery, zip lining. We even have a beach house. It's rustic, but it's at the beach! If I want to take my troop camping, we pay $30 a night for the whole group. Imagine taking a dozen teenagers to the beach for the weekend for $60? Those properties are all funded/maintained by cookie money. Neither of my troops are interested in the sailing or the horseback riding programs, but they too are affordable. I have hired an archery instructor while camping for $6/pp. Council also puts on badge programs, and activities for your girls. All for a reasonable fee.

It's a great deal if a troop chooses to take advantage of the resources in our council... resources funded by cookie money. Like I say, my troops are self supported by a measly 60c a box. It wouldn't work if we insisted on amusement parks, but it is possible.

Three of our camp properties offer weekly summer camp (including the property with the sailboats, and the property with the horses) Most camp choices are sub $400/week for a girl. If I can give some perspective on this, I send my kids to church camp for $400/week, and it is heavily subsidized by my church synod, fundraisers and large donors. Girl Scout camp costs the same $400 but is subsidized by cookie sales. To add another perspective, another camp that is very popular in my area is non-denominational camp (not subsidized by much of anything) so they charge the "true price" of a week of camp... $1050! Yes, it takes about $1050/child to run a good summer camp! And GS charges $400.

I can't speak for your council and what they have to offer. I can only speak for my own area. But I will tell you this, I don't think most these troops (in my area) need much more than $.60/box. Personally I find it cringe worthy to hear of a Brownie troop going to Disney World. If you use the resources around you, $.60 can be a nice figure for a group of girls. The ones in my area complaining about the $.60 are usually the ones buying everything new and full retail (instead of borrowing) and never going to council events, where they can share in the bounty with all GS.

Your council sounds like my council. Our baker is little brownie bakers. We get 68cents per box and we self fund through cookies and a little from parents. We are modest sellers average 125-150 boxes per girl. The first couple of years the parents pitched in $10-15 for the year to help with badges. I don't make my troop get the big book, we use one book and work on badges together. When we did a journey, each girl had to have a book but the troop paid for it them and their vests. We have gone camping with the camp doing everything (we leaders were learning) and the parents had to help and pay $15 for camping. The troop paid for majority of it. We also have several nice camps to go to. The week long summer camps are $300-600 but it depends on what you are there for - horseback riding is more expensive, etc and it depends on how long you are at camp. Camp lasts 3-6 nights. 3 days are usually for younger girls.

The one thing I don't like about the cookie sales is we start in one week. I live in snow country. that means the booth sales are in March- still snow, still freezing. I don't like selling door to door but it does teach the girls "no" and selling and working together (at booths). Myself and the other leader try very hard to make these lessons stick.

full disclosure- I never was a GS; I became the leader when the original leader was going to quit mid-year. I have been the leader for 3 years now, usually I have a cookie mom that takes care of most of the cookie details- I am the cookie back up.

[DGayle]

I think the reason they changed the sales models was to discourage door to door sales. Its ironic that child abduction cases fall people are more helicoptery and ovrerpotective.

Plus the booth sales encourage more impulse buying. I am guilty of this since I don't know any girl scouts who I'd buy from directly but if they are selling in front of a store I shop at I'd get a box of tagalogs. Mmmmmmm tagalogs.

I've always had a lot of loyalty to the girl scouts since I have gone memories of being one and I love that they've adopted a lot of socially progressive and incluscive policies in direct contrast to boys scouts. I might consider a direct donation in light of the cookie profit splitting.

When I was in GS, I sold tons of cookies door-to-door. A lot of full cases. A lot of people ordered a ton because they had a month to come up with the money. When I go by a booth these days, even if I wanted to buy (if Keebler made an equivalent to Tagalongs, I'd be thrilled), I don't always have the cash, and troops don't take debit.

When I do have cash, I just give it to the leader. The troops local to me aren't well off, and don't get a lot from the council. We don't have Daisies, and can't get approved of a Daisy troop. Not enough money from HQ coming out this way.

[DGayle]

I felt like my girls were just fund raisers for Council when it all came down to it and Fall Product/Cookie times were so stressful.

This is the inkling I've been getting. Invest enough in the girls so there are enough girls to do the sales, while the people at top get salaries in the 1%.

[GolightlyGrrl]

From what I saw on Charity Navigator, the former CEO made a salary of about $800K/ year where the current CEO pulls in less than $200K. If that's true, that's a change for the better.

There is something unseemly about a head of a non-profit making a salary of nearly a million dollars per year.

I just ordered a box of my cookie crack, Thin Mints, from my niece. Not sure how her council distributes the money earned through the sales. I just wanted to support my niece.

[cindyluvs24]

I think charging $4.25 for a box of 18 (last time I checked) cookies is ridiculous, but I have fond memories of campouts, hikes, a colonial era-themed jamboree, cooking a hamburger on a stove I built from a tuna can, coffee can and a folded piece of cardboard drizzled with candle wax. Plus, they seem to scare the fundies, so there is that.

[Maggie Mae]

I think charging $4.25 for a box of 18 (last time I checked) cookies is ridiculous, but I have fond memories of campouts, hikes, a colonial era-themed jamboree, cooking a hamburger on a stove I built from a tuna can, coffee can and a folded piece of cardboard drizzled with candle wax. Plus, they seem to scare the fundies, so there is that.

I think that depends on the type of cookie. I'm pretty sure the Thin Mints have a lot more per box than, say, peanut butter sandwiches (do they still have those?)

I don't know how much they are cost, either. But I can say that I have two boxes in my freezer, which I should throw away. The (opened) box of Thin Mints is at least 3 years old and the box that should be called "Caramel Delights" but is called something stupid is unopened and probably even older. I keep them around so I have an excuse to not buy more. That way I'm not lying when I say "oh, sorry, I already have some." I'm not sure why, but I can't get excited about Girl Scout Cookies anymore. My favorite when I were a kid were discontinued after a year or so, and I just can't afford to pay $5 for one to two cookies.

[keen23]

I think that depends on the type of cookie. I'm pretty sure the Thin Mints have a lot more per box than, say, peanut butter sandwiches (do they still have those?)

I don't know how much they are cost, either. But I can say that I have two boxes in my freezer, which I should throw away. The (opened) box of Thin Mints is at least 3 years old and the box that should be called "Caramel Delights" but is called something stupid is unopened and probably even older. I keep them around so I have an excuse to not buy more. That way I'm not lying when I say "oh, sorry, I already have some." I'm not sure why, but I can't get excited about Girl Scout Cookies anymore. My favorite when I were a kid were discontinued after a year or so, and I just can't afford to pay $5 for one to two cookies.

There are about 40 Thin Mints in a box. Whereas there are 15 Tag-a-Longs (the chocolate covered peanut butter bites of heaven) in a box.

[DGayle]

There is something unseemly about a head of a non-profit making a salary of nearly a million dollars per year.

I just ordered a box of my cookie crack, Thin Mints, from my niece. Not sure how her council distributes the money earned through the sales. I just wanted to support my niece.

The Susan G. Komen Foundation is also notorious for how many extremely high salaries it pays. To maintain non-profit status, the highest compensation packages should be limited to no more than 2x the median household income. Making close to a mil is not non-profit.

[DGayle]

I think that depends on the type of cookie. I'm pretty sure the Thin Mints have a lot more per box than, say, peanut butter sandwiches (do they still have those?)

I don't know how much they are cost, either. But I can say that I have two boxes in my freezer, which I should throw away. The (opened) box of Thin Mints is at least 3 years old and the box that should be called "Caramel Delights" but is called something stupid is unopened and probably even older. I keep them around so I have an excuse to not buy more. That way I'm not lying when I say "oh, sorry, I already have some." I'm not sure why, but I can't get excited about Girl Scout Cookies anymore. My favorite when I were a kid were discontinued after a year or so, and I just can't afford to pay $5 for one to two cookies.

There are 12 Tagalongs in a box. That's the peanut butter ones. The Caramel Delights and Samoas are made by different bakeries, and it's been Samoas for a while, I think. Dark chocolate is on Samoas, and milk chocolate on the Caramel Delights.

[FloraKitty35]

Thin Mints and coffee yum. :drool: