Read on for more information about our Win Free Thin Mints for a Year Contest and the Big Green Weekend Shipping Promo coming March 16-17, Cookie Care Program Donations and Smart Cookies, B2B (Business to Business) Sales, First ACH Withdrawal on March 15, Troop Balance Summary Report, Cookie Pro of the Week and Cookie Spirit Award Winners, Lemonades Stand Weekend Coming March 9-10, Cookie Damages and Missing Packages, and more!

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Reminders:

For Service Unit Cookie Managers:

Time to level up the cookie excite-mint! We have a new contest that kicks off just in time for Lemonades Stand weekend! When customers buy five packages or more of cookies in one transaction, they can enter our online drawing to win free Thin Mints for a year! A total of seven lucky customers will be randomly selected to each win five cases (60 packages) of our top selling cookie. Girl Scouts River Valleys will ship the cookies to the winners. That’s not all!  If we draw the winning customer from your troop, you’ll receive $25 in Cookie Credits.

Here’s how it works:

It’s time to paint the town green and get qualified to win some fun prizes! We are celebrating a different kind of green with our Big Green weekend March 16-17. Get ready to bust out that Girl Scout Green for a chance to win a special surprise from our pot of gold. Here’s the scoop:

We have more exciting opportunities in store all through March to help your troop and Girl Scouts reach their cookie goals this season!

It’s another great tool to add to your troop cookie sales toolkit-Business to Business (B2B) sales. That’s where Girl Scouts “pitch” their cookie business to another business. Girls Scouts can connect with local businesses to set a time to make the sales pitch. The cookies could be used as a customer appreciation gift or even a thoughtful gift for their staff. Here’s a few ideas to get you started:

Whatever business you approach, make it a learning experience for the troop. Role-play the presentation, anticipate questions the business may ask, and be sure to have the Girl Scouts wear their vest/sash or membership pin. Knowing what to potentially expect means there are fewer surprises and allows your troop to sell with confidence.

An important financial milestone of cookie season is coming soon! The first ACH (aka Automated Clearing House) withdrawal will be made from the troop bank account on March 15. The first ACH is calculated by multiplying $1 by the total packages received by the troop as of March 8, minus any credit card payments made through Digital Cookie. You can review the total packages received by the troop in Smart Cookies on your Troop Balance Summary Report. Go to Reports>Current, then choose the Troop Balance Summary. How does this work with credit card payments? Here’s a couple of examples:

If the troop's Total Packages received in Smart Cookies is 846 packages as of March 8 and the troop has $198 in Digital Cookie Shipped Cookie orders, booth, and/or girl cookie delivery credit card orders, then Girl Scouts River Valleys will withdraw $648 from the troop bank account.

If the troop's Total Packages received in Smart Cookies is 867 as of March 8 and the troop has $930 in Digital Cookie Shipped Cookie orders, booth, and/or girl cookie delivery credit card orders, then Girl Scouts River Valleys will not withdraw any funds from the troop account because the troop has $63 more in deposits than the ACH amount.

To ensure that your troop is ready for this ACH, deposit all received cash and checks into your troop bank account by March 12.  Review the ACH FAQ’s found on Cookie Central to help answer your questions. ACH withdrawal amounts will be reflected in Smart Cookies 1-2 days after the money is withdrawn from the troop’s bank account.

Note: If your troop is only participating in online sales and is due a refund for troop proceeds earned, Girl Scouts River Valleys will process that refund to the troop bank account via an ACH at the end of April.

Ahead of the ACH deadline, it’s the perfect time to ensure your cookie transfers and financial transactions are up to date. Check out the Feb. 29 The Cookie Press for more information.

Review the information below to help you understand the Troop Balance Summary report (this report has good information about your cookie activity):

If you are trying to figure out how much should be deposited into your troop account; take the Total Sales $$ and subtract out the credit card deposits for direct-ship, booth and/or girl cookie delivery credit card deposits credited to the troop in Smart Cookies.

The funds from credit card payments made through Digital Cookie (shipped cookie orders, booth and/or girl delivery orders) are deposited into the River Valleys bank account.  These funds are not transferred to the troop bank account but are credited to the troop in Smart Cookies as a deposit and will be subtracted from balance owed to council.

Our new Cookie Pro Patch Program shines the spotlight on Girl Scouts who are taking the lead, crushing their goals, learning new skills, working hard, and want to share their stories to benefit their sister cookie sellers. Two winners, one from the Daisy/Brownie/Junior level and another from the Cadette/Senior/Ambassador level, will be chosen weekly and announced on Cookie Central and The Cookie Press. 

This week's Cookie Pro winners are:

D/B/J Winner: Mimi T. and Addie T. of Brownie troop 58361

Mimi and Addie spent the first 30 minutes of their booth with NO customers stopping by. Once they figured out that no one was shopping at Ace that day, they quickly decided to go down by the road to direct car traffic to the booth. They used signs, dances, and cheers. Sure enough, cars started pulling in! The girls would run back and forth from the road to the booth, taking orders and directing more people from the road. When a few Ace customers finally came by, they turned down the sales saying they couldn't eat cookies. Mimi and Addie didn't miss a beat and they started telling every customer that they could also choose to donate - and people donated! Addie's and Mimi's friendship and perseverance really shone through that day. In the end, they only sold 12 boxes plus a few donated boxes. We know that's not a lot. BUT I also know without a doubt that their Girl Scout spirit saved the day; without their willingness to never give up they may not have had any sales at all. They remained positive, cheerful, and full of hope throughout. Every Girl has rough days at booths - I hope Addie's and Mimi's story gives others the courage and determination to push through, no matter what! When you work hard, it pays off. Way to go, girls!!

C/S/A Winner: Ali C. of Cadette troop 57795

"Cookie season is a lot of hard work, but it's really helped me learn how to interact with people from a lot of different backgrounds in a professional and respectful way. At this point in the sale as booth sales slow down, it's especially important to connect directly with customers. I LOVE going door-to-door with my dad and have already visited over 250 houses in my school zone, sometimes squeezing in 20 or 30 minute outings in between school and soccer. I let customers know about the Five Skills and all the awesome things me and my troop are able to do with our cookie proceeds. Customers are especially excited to hear about my Silver Award project. I'm working with our local fire department to sew anatomical vests for CPR manikins so that people learning CPR can feel comfortable providing help to people who are experiencing health emergencies, regardless of their body shape or size. When people don't answer their door, I leave a door hanger, but not just a plain one. It's one that I've ""Ali-fied"" with *MY* cookie story, info about the cookie program, my specific goals, my Digital Cookie link, and my contact info. Customers also seem to really like being able to think about which cookies they want before placing an order online for Girl Delivery. When I deliver their cookies, I include a handwritten thank you note that also says ""If you were happy with the Girl Scout cookie service I provided, please tell a friend!"" and lets them know I'm able to take additional orders through March 24th. I already have several customers who are already on round 2 of orders with me this year. I've come a long way since I was a Kindergarten Daisy, and I know my People Skills from the cookie program will be helpful for my whole life! "

Girl Scouts in the winning troops will receive the 2024 Cookie Pro patch and all weekly winners will be eligible to win "Cookie Pro of the Year" which is a grand prize of a $200 credit towards admission of either an Escape Room or Trampoline Park. Submit your troop or Juliette’s story today.

Announcing the winners of the “Smells Like Cookie Spirit” Award for week 2:

Sarah Hoggard: Sarah created training to integrate our Juniors and Daisies into the selling business! We had a great troop meeting where the Juniors sat at stations and guided the Daisies through several items, like the cookie entrepreneur pin, cookie money, cookie guessing game, and more! She even had the scout’s create lanyards with a cookie cheat sheet, so they felt confident with the new cost of cookies (per box amount). She is a natural troop leader and the kids enjoy her so much! We couldn't do cookies without her!

Devon Christianson: Devon stepped up earlier this year to be our new Daisy troop’s cookie manager and has been absolutely phenomenal. For her first season she’s learning quickly and has such a positive attitude. She even dropped off my initial order of cookies for my daughter since I was going to be busy handing out cookies to my older daughter’s troop whose cookies I personally manage. Having someone else manage the cookies for the Daisy troop had been such a blessing and I’m so thankful to have Devon by my side this cookie season!

Congratulations to both Sarah and Devon! They will receive a prize pack of Girl Scout cookie scented body care products from Native and a big hi-five from the Product Program Team! Nominate a cookie volunteer for consideration today. All submissions will carry over each week.

We are citrus-ly excited for Lemonades Stand Weekend this Saturday and Sunday! There’s still time to get those Lemonades Stands entered as troop-secured booths in Smart Cookie by 12pm tomorrow, March 8. Promote your Lemonades Stand by posting fliers or posting on social media in a neighborhood group. Use our Lemonades Stand flier to print and promote your sale. All girls who participate in the Lemonade Stand Weekend event will receive a special Lemonades Stand weekend sticker (shown above). Other reminders for your Lemonades Stands: 

Stickers to be provided to troop leaders.  Got questions? Connect with Girl Scouts River Valleys.

With millions of cookie packages whizzing through the bakery throughout the season and traveling hundreds of miles to cookie cupboards, your troop may encounter a few packages that are not in sellable condition. Bring the damaged packages to your nearest cookie cupboard to exchange them for non-damaged packages of the same variety.

If your troop opens a case only to discover it is missing packages, contact us to have the packages removed from your troop inventory. Please include the number of packages affected and the production number that is stamped on the outside of the case or on one of the packages from inside the case.

Here’s the latest information to copy and paste then forward to the families in your troop:

If your troop cookie return date is approaching, you can forward the information below:

There’s a new contest where customers that purchase 5 or more packages of cookies can be entered into a drawing to win free Thin Mints for a year! You can print out this flier or save this QR code to have customers scan after they make their purchase. Entries are due by end of day March 24.

Don’t forget, it’s Lemonades Stand weekend this weekend! We can still submit your Lemonades Stand until tomorrow at 12pm. Let me know if you are interested in this opportunity. Each participating Girl Scout will get a special Lemonades Stand weekend vinyl sticker and be entered into a drawing to win an inflatable stand up paddleboard!

We are at the half-way mark of the cookie season! As the local cookie champion, troops will be turning to you for a dose of motivation to keep going through the final three weekends of sales. Here’s a few tips on how to support troops and keep up the cookie spirit in your Service Unit:

This is a good time to check in with troops to see if they have any on-hand cookie inventory issues, especially any with too many cookies, so they can be transferred to troops in need of the inventory. In your Reports tab in Smart Cookies, go to Current>Troop On Hand Inventory Report. This will display all troops and their current inventory not allocated to individual Girl Scouts. Check in with troops with 50 or more cases in their inventory to see if they need assistance in transferring cookies to other troops or confirm they have plans to use the inventory for booths or individual girl sales. If you haven’t already, create a Facebook group, create a shared Google doc, or use another tool to facilitate local transfers. You can also direct troops to use the River Valleys Cookie Swap (invitation code COOKIES24).

Have a question? Don't be shy!
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