For Troop Leaders and Troop Cookie Managers

For Community-Area Product Leaders

Hey Cookie Volunteers!

It’s officially Cookie Season, and I couldn’t be more excited to kick things off with all of you—our incredible, unstoppable Cookie Volunteers!

Every year, you help make magic happen. Because of you, Girl Scouts get to dream big, take the lead, and gain real-world business skills that will stick with them for life. You’re the reason they build confidence, crush their goals, and fund epic adventures—whether it’s summer camp, a service project, travel, or leadership opportunities.

But let’s be real—this program is about so much more than cookies. It’s about growth, grit, and girl power! When a Girl Scout sets up her booth, makes her pitch, and hits that goal, she’s learning lessons that will shape her future. And you are the powerhouse behind it all!

So, from the bottom of my heart—THANK YOU! Your time, energy, and dedication make a difference in ways we can’t even measure.

Let’s make this season fun, successful, and full of unforgettable moments!

Let’s do this!

After all the planning, preparation, and cookie deliveries, it’s finally here! Cookie and Cookie Booth Go Day is tomorrow, February 21! We’d love to see cookies in action this weekend! Flood the comments in our Cookie Go Day post on Girl Scouts River Valleys Facebook page with your photos from cookie booths and/or going door-to-door.

The Free Thin Mints for a Year sweepstakes returns! When customers buy 5 packages or more of cookies in one in-person transaction, they can enter an online drawing to win! A total of 5 lucky customers will be randomly selected to win 5 cases (60 packages) of our top selling cookie. Girl Scouts River Valleys will ship the cookies to the winners.  If we draw the winning customer from your troop, you’ll receive $25 in Cookie Credits. This promotion runs February 21-March 30, 2025. Winners will be drawn the week of April 7. Find full sweepstakes details at GirlScoutsRV.org

Use this Free Thin Mints for a Year flyer to display at booths or share with your families:

We've heard that the Digital Cookie Mobile App may time out when using Venmo to process payment.  When this happens, it won't process a customer’s payment. GSUSA knows about the issue and is working on a fix. For now, here’s how to help make sure payments go through:

If the payment does time out, try having the customer restart the Venmo app and scan the QR code again. If it still doesn’t work, they may need to use a different payment method.

Girl Scouts receive credit towards their rewards for cookies that are transferred to them in Smart Cookies. Find the instructions in the Managing Cookie Inventory section of the Online Cookie Systems Guide. The most common transfers are:

No action is needed for Digital Cookie shipped cookie sales, which are automatically credited to each girl.

As families turn in cash/checks to you, enter the transactions 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  cookie money tips:

The Smart Booth Divider in Smart Cookies is used to credit Girl Scouts for booth sales. Record the packages sold and money collected on your Cookie Booth Tally Sheet. 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. View the Using the Smart Booth Divider to Transfer sales section in the Online Cookie Systems Guide for step-by-step instructions. Note: If your troop has used the Booth Pick-up Option to take pre-paid cookie orders, you will add these cookies to your Smart Booth divider totals.

View booth payment transactions in Smart Cookies in the Booth tab>View Booth Credit Card Payments (see below). You can also use the Booth Sales Credit Card Transactions Export Report from Smart Cookies. Payments can be found in the Digital Cookie Mobile App under All Orders. Troop users can run the All Order Data report from the Dashboard.

All Council On-Demand Cookie Cupboard locations open tomorrow at 12:00 pm. Cupboards are typically the busiest when they open. In a hurry? Arrive at off-peak times, such as after 2:00 pm on weekdays and 10am on weekends. View the inventory levels for these cupboards on Cookie Central. A limited supply of gluten-free Caramel Chocolate Chip cookies will be available next week. We’re finalizing the details and will update Cookie Central as soon as everything is confirmed.

Troops using a Regional Cookie Cupboard must submit or edit a planned order by  7:00 am on Monday, February 24. If you no longer need your order, reach out to Girl Scouts River Valleys before the deadline to delete it. Find instructions in the Online Cookie Systems Guide for Volunteers on Cookie Central in the Placing a Planned Order section.

If you picked up cookies from a cupboard and notice an error between the transaction in Smart Cookies and the number of cases or packages you  received, report the error using the  Cookie Cupboard Error Report Form. Allow up to three business days for the transaction to be corrected in Smart Cookies.

Our next Cookie Chat session focusing on Smart Cookies resources and starting the sale is tonight at 6:30 pm in Zoom. Register anytime up to the start of the session to receive the Zoom link.

The Cookie Swap is a resource to connect troops who need cookies with troops who have extra cookies, especially on days the cookie cupboards are not open. The Cookie Swap has been moved into Rallyhood, with nine different rallies based on geographic area. Review the Cookie Swap Instructions for more information.

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 our Cookie Program.

Remember to return your cookie reward sample kit if a kit was part of your cookie rally order. These kits can be returned by mail to Girl Scouts River Valleys, 5601 Brooklyn Blvd, Brooklyn Center, MN, 55429 or dropped off at one of our office locations. Include a note with your name and your Community name or number. The deadline to return these kits is March 1.

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 Online Cookie Systems Guide, training videos in the Safety & Training tab, 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.