Welcome to the fifth edition of The Cookie Press for the 2024 Cookie Season! |
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Read on for information about the Initial Cookie Order in Smart Cookies, Cookie Calculator, Cookie Chat": Digital Cookie for Troops, Online Family Cookie Responsibility Forms, GSRV Retail Open Houses, Cookie Booth Lottery & First Come, First Served Booths, Gluten Free Cookie Exceptions, and more!
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- Troop Initial Cookie Order in Smart Cookies
- Cookie Calculator
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Cookie Chat: Digital Cookie for Troops
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- Online Family Cookie Responsibility Forms
- GSRV Retail Open Houses
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- Cookie Booth Lottery & First-Come, First-Served Booths
- Walmart and Sam's Club Secured Booths
- Gluten-Free Cookie Exception Requests
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For Service Unit Cookie Managers:
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- Cookie Rally Order Shipments
- Assisting Troops with Initial Orders
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Troop Initial Cookie Order in Smart Cookies |
The initial cookie order-it’s a really big deal! When your troop places an initial cookie order, it ensures you’ll have cookies to distribute to your Girl Scouts before Cookie Go Day, it saves you a trip to the cookie cupboard on the opening weekend, it’s a way to secure a supply of gluten-free Caramel Chocolate Chip cookies, and it’s a way to get cookies for that first busy weekend of cookie booths. You get the idea…
Your initial cookie order is due in Smart Cookies on or before January 19 at 11:59pm. Don’t wait ‘til the last minute! If you haven’t already, reach out to your troop families now to determine individual goals and finalize your troop goals too.
The Smart Cookies Guide features step-by-step instructions for placing the order in the system. The initial cookie order is made in full CASES. After you have entered the order, you’ll select your delivery location and time. Troops that are assigned to a Mega Drop delivery can choose from any of the locations listed in Smart Cookies. Troops assigned to Mini Drop deliveries will only see one location and date for the delivery. Don’t forget, when your Troop places an Initial Order that follows the case count from the Cookie Calculator, your Girl Scouts will receive the Initial Order 2024 Year Patch.
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Need help in Smart Cookies? Your Service Unit cookie manager is a great starting point. They are your local expert and have been trained to assist you during the cookie season from start to finish. You can also reach out to Girl Scouts River Valleys to connect with staff at 800-845-0787 or girlscouts@girlscoutsrv.org. Did you also know that ABC Bakers offers a Smart Cookies Help Desk? It’s available 24/7 at ABCSmartCookieTech@hearthsidefoods.com or at 800-853-3730. Be sure to provide your troop number, council name (Girl Scouts River Valleys), your name, and if possible, your service unit when connecting with the Help Desk
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The Cookie Calculator is designed to take some of the guesswork out of your initial order. Along with your Troop and individual Girl Scout goals, the Cookie Calculator is a tool to help figure out the order. Using the calculator is as easy as 1-2-3:
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1. Make the choice if your troop participated in the 2023 season or not
2. Enter the number of Girl Scouts in your troop who will be participating in the cookie sale
3. Get your recommendation
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If you are planning on ordering fewer than 10 cases (120 packages) for your initial order, we recommend you choose the varieties that you would like rather than following the recommendation for varieties as the varieties in the calculation may appear imbalanced.
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All returning Troops can view last year’s sales totals in Smart Cookies. From the homepage, go to Reports>Archived. Select the 2022-2023 season from the drop-down menu, then you’ll find a variety of reports to review from the previous season.
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There is a discrepancy in the order of the cookies listed in the Cookie Calculator and the order of the cookies listed in Smart Cookies. The Cookie Calculator will show the Toast YAY variety featured first, followed by the Adventurefuls. When entering your order in Smart Cookies, the Adventurefuls are listed first, followed by Toast YAY’s. Please be aware of this as you enter your order in Smart Cookies.
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Cookie Chat: Digital Cookie for Troops |
Join the Product Program Team for our first Cookie Chat of the season in Zoom. We’ll chat about the Troop experience in Digital Cookie, the new online sales management system. Cookie Chats are designed to provide Troop cookie volunteers with a deeper dive into popular topics during the cookie season. Here’s the details on the first Cookie Chat:
Thursday, January 25th 6:15 PM - 7:00 PM
Cookie Chat Registration link
Watch for more opportunities to join us for Cookie Chats right here in The Cookie Press.
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Online Family Cookie Responsibility Form |
As you begin to engage families in the Cookie Program, it’s important to note families must complete the online Family Cookie Responsibility Form. Connect with families during your Family Cookie Business Meeting or send an email with the link to the form, which can be found on Cookie Central. Provide families with your preferred email address to enter in the form, as well as the troop’s cookie return date. You’ll receive an email each time a form has been completed. Families must complete the form prior to a girl receiving any cookie inventory.
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You're Invited: GSRV Retail Open Houses |
Just in time for the 2024 cookie season, you're invited to join the GSRV Cookie & Retail Teams for our annual Cookie Open Houses! Shop the new 2024 cookie merchandise, connect with the GSRV Cookie Team, learn about this year's new cookie platform, Digital Cookie, win prizes and more! Events will take place at all four service centers
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Cookie Booth Lottery & First-Come, First-Served Booths |
The Cookie Booth Lottery is still open for selections in Smart Cookies. Troops can make up to 10 selections, with a maximum of one booth “win” when the lottery runs at 12 PM on January 14th. Selections must be entered by January 14th at 11am. If your troop does not win a booth through the lottery, you will receive an email from us to help select a booth time-slot before the start of the first-come, first-served booth rounds.
The lottery and first-come, first-served (FCFS) schedule as of January 11th is below:
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For each round of first-come, first-served booths, the selections will close at 4pm before the following round opens at 7 pm. For example, round 1 opens at 7 PM on January 17th and closes at 4 PM on January 18th. Between the round closing and the next round opening, we will upload any new booths secured.
Note: The primary troop contact in Smart Cookies will receive an email to alert of a troop’s lottery win or if they successfully secured a first-come, first-served booth location. You can also log in to Smart Cookies, go to Booths, then My Reservations to view booths secured for the troop.
Next week we will begin reviewing and approving troop-secured cookie booth requests. Need some ideas for troop-secured booths in your community? Here’s a few idea-starters: car dealerships, community centers, places of worship, or even drive-thru booths in large parking lots. You can brainstorm with your troop on places where people gather in your area.
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Walmart and Sam's Club Council Secured Booths |
Thanks to the efforts of our cookie volunteers, we have many Walmart and Sam’s Club booth locations secured for this season. However, there are several locations that are still in progress. All Walmart and Sam’s Club locations approved as of January 7 can be found in the booth lottery. As additional stores come aboard they will be added into the First Come, First Served Rounds.
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Gluten-Free Cookie Exception Requests |
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Troops that missed the pre-order opportunity and would like an exception to the two-case limit of Gluten-Free Caramel Chocolate Chip cookies must enter the number of cases you wish to receive in Smart Cookies in your initial order, plus, complete the Gluten-free Exemption Form by January 19th. We will send an email to confirm the request was successful or alert you if we are unable to fill your request the week of January 22.
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Cookie Rally Order Shipments |
Orders for Cookie Rally cookies & reward kits are shipping to service units this week. Remember, reward kits must be returned to River Valleys by March 1st. Reward kits can be dropped off at the nearest River Valleys office location or mailed to the following address:
Girl Scouts River Valleys
Attn: Product Program
5601 Brooklyn Blvd.
Brooklyn Center, MN, 55429
Note: Please include a note with your Service Unit name or number when you return the kit.
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Assisting Troops with Initial Orders |
Remind Troops that if they do plan on participating in in-person sales or wish to sell the Gluten-Free Caramel Chocolate Chip cookie, they must place their Initial Order and select their delivery location by January 19th. Service Units will be able to adjust or enter orders until January 20th. If your Service Unit participates in a Mini Drop delivery, provide Troops with the delivery date so they can get it on their calendar.
Smart Cookies Super Users: Want to know which troops have placed an initial order? Run the Troop Initial Order report in Smart Cookies.
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