Welcome to the eleventh edition of The Cookie Press for the 2024 Cookie Season! |
|
|
Read on for more information about Digital Cookie Delays & Updated Resources, Cookie Transfers & Finances, Using the Smart Booth Divider, Helpful Reports in Smart Cookies & Digital Cookies, Cookie Cupboard Updates and Reporting Cookie Cupboard Errors, the Cookie Care Donation Program, Registering for the Cookie Chat, Cookie Booths at Cub, and more!
|
|
|
- Digital Cookie Delays & Updated Resources
- Cookie Transfers & Finances
-
Smart Booth Divider
- Helpful Smart Cookies/Digital Cookie Reports
|
- Cookie Cupboard Updates
- Cookie Cupboard Error Reports
-
Cookie Care Donation Program
|
- Cookie Chat on March 5: Cookie Finances
- Cookie Booths at Cub
- Forward to Families
|
For Service Unit Cookie Managers:
|
- Cookie Rally Reward Kit Returns
- Assisting Troops with Smart Cookies
|
|
|
Digital Cookie Delays & Updated Resources |
Due to high volumes of order processing, we are experiencing some delays in sales data transferring to and from Digital Cookie and Smart Cookies. We understand these delays are frustrating as they may make it challenging to reconcile your booths and cause confusion for families. We've been assured by Digital Cookie staff that all orders are captured and they have prioritized reducing these system delays. Once again, your patience is greatly appreciated. We have been collecting your feedback and will continue to share this with the Digital Cookie team.
River Valleys is committed to providing easy to understand resources on how to use and troubleshoot within Digital Cookie. We encourage families to focus on the Digital Cookie Top Three
: Sharing their site links, reviewing and managing their online orders, and accepting credit card payments with the Digital Cookie Mobile App. As an FYI - an email will be sent to all Girl Scouts registered in Digital Cookie over the weekend with the following information in the image below. You can also feel free to share the image with the families in your troop.
|
We've revamped our Digital Cookie Help Center on Cookie Central for both families and volunteers. Plus, we've collected the questions that you've been asking online and with our staff. From this collection, we've created a list of
Answers to Common Questions About Digital Cookie. Our hope is you can find quick solutions to the most common questions. We will continue to update this list throughout the season.
As always, you can reach out to your service unit Cookie Manager or our team for the guidance and support you need.
|
Cookie Transfers & Finances |
Transferring cookies that families have picked from the troop in Smart Cookies gives Girl Scouts credit towards their rewards. For detailed instructions on how to transfer cookies to your Girl Scouts, see the Troop to Girl
(T2G) transfers instructions in the Smart Cookies Guide. In addition to Troop-to-Girl Transfers, you are also able to do these transfers in Smart Cookies:
|
- Girl-to-Troop (G2T): If a girl is returning cookies to the troop inventory
-
Troop-to-Troop (T2T): If you are transferring cookies to another troop
|
Girl Scouts and families will start to turn in money to you from their sales. Keep track of money that has been turned in from each Girl Scout in Smart Cookies. Go to Finances> Manage Financial Transactions>Girl Transactions, then scroll to the bottom of the page to Add Girl Transaction and follow the prompts. Other helpful cookie money tips:
|
-
Remember to provide a receipt to the family to record their cash/check payments. All credit card payments from Digital Cookie sales are credited to the Girl Scout in Smart Cookies. You can view these in the Girl Balance Summary Report.
- Once families have received their initial cookie order, you must collect at least 50 percent of the money due before releasing more cookies to them.
- Our
How Cookie Money Works article walks you through a timeline and tips for handling money. Remember to deposit any cookie money weekly in your troop bank account.
- Use the Troop Finance Tracker, an Excel spreadsheet, or Google Doc to track your cookie deposits. Remember to keep all deposit tickets in your troop files through December 31, 2024.
|
Troops and families use the Digital Cookie mobile app to accept credit cards as payment for cookies for both in-person and booth sales. Check out our Digital Cookie Mobile App Booth Payments tip sheet
for details. Don't forget to switch the account from the Girl Scout account to the troop account when working at a cookie booth!
|
The Smart Booth Divider is an easy way to distribute credit for booth packages sold to multiple Girl Scouts quickly and evenly. Keep a tally of the packages sold and money collected on your Cookie Booth Tally Sheet
. Note: Girl Scouts are not financially responsible for packages sold through the Smart Booth Divider, but they will get credit towards their rewards. The Smart Booth Divider assumes you have collected $6 per package for each package sold. The Smart Cookies Guide
has your step-by-step instructions along with handy videos. Track the deposits of booth money using your preferred tracking option.
If your troop has used their virtual booth link to take pre-paid cookie orders, you will also need to use the Smart Booth divider to provide girls credit with these sales.
|
Helpful Smart Cookies & Digital Cookie Reports |
The Reports tab in Smart Cookies
features a collection of helpful reports. Some of your soon-to-be favorites include:
|
- Troop On-Hand Inventory Report: Tells you the total amount of cookies that are
-
in your troop’s inventory that have not been allocated to individual Girl Scouts.
- Girl Cookie Totals Summary Report: Tells you how much inventory individual Girl Scouts have been allocated or have sold.
- Troop Balance Summary Report:
Tells you how much inventory has been allocated to the troop, how much money has been collected in total by the cookie sellers, and the troop per-girl average (PGA).
- Girl Balance Summary:
Tells you how many cookies each Girl Scout sold, both individually and at cookie booths. You can also see how much money each still owes the troop. Girl Scouts are not financially responsible for cookies sold at booths, so this report will only show how much money each Girl Scout owes to the troop from their individual sales.
- New this season: Girl Cookie Order Details
: The ABC Smart Cookies Team has developed a new report that will give you more visibility into the Digital Cookie orders for Girl Scouts in your troop in Smart Cookies. This report is the “Girl Cookie Order Details” which lists all girl delivery and shipped cookie orders that have been imported into Smart Cookies
. You will notice an “N” in the initial order column and that is okay—our council does not use the initial order function in Digital Cookie.
|
Digital Cookie
features the All Order Data Report you can view from your troop dashboard. This report gives you full order details including varieties, delivery type, etc. for all online orders of girls in the troop.
|
All Council Cupboard locations will be open tomorrow at 12pm and open during the weekend. Troops that placed planned orders for pick up at the Burnsville and Maplewood Express Cupboards can pick up orders between 11am-2pm tomorrow. For the latest on inventory at River Valleys Cookie Cupboards, refer to the Cupboard Inventory on Cookie Central
. You can also use the Council Cupboard Map to view additional information.
For Troops that use a Council Express or Regional Cookie Cupboard, don’t forget, planned orders are due by 8am on Monday. You can edit your planned order until this deadline. If you no longer need the cookies in your planned order, reach out to us so we can delete the order for you before 8am on Monday. View the instructions in the
Smart Cookies Guide for Volunteers under the Planned Orders section.
|
Cookie Cupboard Error Reports |
If you picked up cookies from a cupboard and noticed an error between the transaction in Smart Cookies and the number of cases or packages you physically received, you can report the error using the Cookie Cupboard Error Report Form. Please allow up to three business days for the transaction to be corrected in Smart Cookies.
|
Cookie Care Donation Program |
We hear you! Cookie donations can be so confusing. We are here to break down the Cookie Care Donation Program and the two options available:
|
- River Valleys donated cookies (known as Virtual Cookie Share in Smart Cookies): Cookies will be donated directly to healthcare workers, school lunch programs, and food shelves. River Valleys facilitates getting the cookies to our partner organizations.
- Troop donated cookies (known as Tracked Cookie Share in Smart Cookies): Girl Scouts select a nonprofit organization, such as a local food shelf, hospital, faith organization, or shelter. It’s up to them to research the organization and make a philanthropic business decision. Troops donate cookies from their remaining inventory to the organization(s) of their choice.
|
For both donation options, Girl Scouts collect payment from customers and turn it in to the troop. They can also take credit card donation payments through their Digital Cookie site or in the Mobile App. Girl Scouts can earn our Cookie Care patch when they sell 20+ packages for donations. Learn how to record donations in Smart Cookies
, view the instructions in the Smart Cookies Guide for Volunteers, check out this handy-dandy Managing Donated Cookies tip sheet, or check out these videos:
|
Important notes for online donations:
|
-
When customers choose to purchase cookies and donate cookies in a shipped cookie order from a Girl Scout’s Digital Cookie site link, or from a troop's Virtual Booth link for pre-paid pick up at a booth, the donations will go towards virtual cookie share donations.
-
When customers choose to purchase donations packages only or make a purchase for in-person delivery and donate cookies from a Girl Scout’s Digital Cookie site link, the troop can choose either virtual cookie share or tracked cookie share.
|
Cookie Chat on March 5: Cookie Finances |
Join the River Valleys Product Program Team for another Cookie Chat on March 5 starting at 7:00pm. Our Troop Finance Specialist, Becky Rettler, will chat about cookie finances.
Register today If you have any specific questions or topics you would like covered, please send an email to Becky Rettler.
|
|
|
We are so thankful for our continued partnership with Cub for the 2024 cookie season. Cub provides booth space at all locations. Did you know that last year, troops sold over 400,000 packages at Cub? Cub is our #1 cookie booth partner and our #1 location for cookie booth sales. If your troop is holding a booth at Cub, you also get a neat patch! Next time you’re at Cub, be sure to thank them for their support of the largest girl lead entrepreneurial program in the world!
|
Here’s the latest information to copy & paste, then forward to the families in your troop:
|
- A reminder that all families must be at least 50% paid for your current cookie inventory before we can provide additional cookies.
-
We want to shine the spotlight on our creative cookie sellers! Check out the Cookie Pro of the week patch program! You can share your story on Cookie Central or use our Cookie Pro Submission Form
. Each week River Valleys picks a winner from all Daisy/Brownie/Junior entries and another from all Cadette/Senior/Ambassador entries. Weekly winners are posted
online and will receive the exclusive Cookie Pro patch. Plus, they'll be eligible to win Cookie Pro of the Year with a grand prize of either an escape room or trampoline park experience for the troop!
|
|
|
Cookie Rally Reward Kit Returns |
This is your friendly reminder to return your cookie reward sample kit if a kit was part of your cookie rally order. Please return the reward kit by mail to Girl Scouts River Valleys, 5601 Brooklyn Blvd, Brooklyn Center, MN, 55429. Include a note with your name and your service unit name or number. The deadline to return these kits is March 1.
|
Assisting Troops with Smart Cookies |
Now that troops have cookies and are completing transfers in Smart Cookies, the volunteers (especially new volunteers) may need your expert support. Share your tips and tricks for navigating the system and point them towards helpful resources including The Smart Cookies Guide for Volunteers, training videos in the Safety & Training tab, handy reports, and the just-in-time reminders in The Cookie Press. You can even hold virtual Smart Cookies “office hours” where troops can drop-in with their questions.
|
|
|
Have a question? Don't be shy!
Contact us for more information.
|
|
|
Manage your preferences | Opt Out using TrueRemove™
Got this as a forward? Sign up to receive our future emails.
View this email online.
|
400 Robert St. S | Saint Paul, MN 55107 US
|
|
|
This email was sent to jennifer.gilbertson@girlscoutsrv.org.
To continue receiving our emails, add us to your address book.
|
| |
|
|