For Troop Leaders and Troop Cookie Managers

For Community-Area Product Leaders

Thanks to the over 300 volunteers that participated in our Cookie Town Hall sessions this week. Here's a high-level recap of the sessions:

Care to Share Program
A new initiative rooted in “being a sister to every Girl Scout,” offering a pathway for girls and troops to share some or all of their cookie proceeds to support troops most impacted this season. The public will also have opportunities to contribute.

Initial Order Flexibility

To provide added reassurance, troops may return factory-sealed cases from their initial cookie order. Returns will be accepted at cookie cupboards; dates and details will be shared in The Cookie Press. Troop volunteers will also have the option to pick up their initial order at local delivery agent warehouse locations.

LemonAid Program Update
Girl Scouts may choose to opt out of a reward at the 130 package level to instead direct support to the Care to Share program.

Expanded Cookie Share Donations
Council donation efforts will grow to include additional organizations supporting local needs.

Cookie Resource Help Hub (formerly Cookie Swap Rally)
An expanded space where troops can swap cookies, post needs (e.g., help running a meeting or picking up cookies), and connect with volunteers or troops offering support in Rallyhood.

Cookie Safety Sessions for Volunteers 

Attend one of three sessions listed below.

Participation in these initiatives will be simple to opt into. Additional details, including sign-up links for troops who may benefit from Care to Share proceeds, will be available on Cookie Central and here in The Cookie Press.

Review the Town Hall FAQs for answers to questions received during the sessions.

Join our Adult Learning team and River Valleys Leadership for one of three Cookie Season Safety Training on Zoom. All one-hour sessions will cover the same information. A recording will be available in gsLearn for those unable to attend a live session.

During the training, we will cover the following topics:

Here’s a quick glance at our UPDATED First-Come, First-Served (FCFS) Cookie Booth rounds:

After February 2nd, any new booths will continue to be uploaded on a daily basis at 4:00PM. 

When selecting your booths, review the booth notes, which will indicate if the booth is indoors or outdoors, along with other details, and make decisions based on your own comfort level.

Our team is also actively reviewing and approving troop-secured booths. The earlier we can approve your request, the more time Smart Cookies will have to send your booth information over to Digital Cookie. This ensures your troop is prepared to use the Digital Cookie Mobile App to accept Credit Card/Venmo/PayPal payments at your booth.

Walmart & Sam's Club Update: We are working to secure the remaining Walmart and Sam's Club store locations. These locations will be designated as premium to limit the number of timeslots a troop can secure as they are added to Smart Cookies. Your patience is appreciated while we continue to add these locations upon approval. If you have questions regarding new council-secured booths, please connect with us at girlscouts@girlscoutsrv.org.

The Virtual Cookie Rally originally scheduled for Tuesday, February 3 has been cancelled. In its place, River Valleys staff is developing a new Care to Share Patch Program designed to help Girl Scouts learn about philanthropy and understand how they can make an impact by supporting sister troops through the Care to Share initiative. Watch for additional details to be shared here once the patch program is finalized.

 Cookie Chats offer Troop Cookie Volunteers a live platform to get questions answered and receive real-time support throughout the cookie season from the Cookie Team. 

Here’s a link to the recording from the January 22 Cookie Chat.

Troops may be turning to you for guidance to set up their Digital Cookie accounts. Review the resources for families and volunteers so you can guide troops in the right direction. Resources include the Online Cookie Systems Guide for Volunteers and the Digital Cookie Help Center for Girl Scouts and Families. Along with our online resources, you can direct them to the Help resources in Digital Cookie or reach out to our staff for assistance at girlscouts@girlscoutsrv.org.

An important part of the Community Product Leader role is to help connect troops for cookie transfers. Now is a great time to prepare troops on how to report their cookie needs or if they have cookies available for transfers. If you haven’t already, set up a private Facebook group, utilize a Rally in Rallyhood, or create a shared Google Doc to connect troops in the Community. Share the resource with your troops so they are ready to access the resource when needed.

Juliette Girl Scouts that placed an initial order in Smart Cookies will receive information on managing cookie money along with the encoded deposit slips in early February. The encoded deposit slips are to be used to deposit cookie money/checks into the Girl Scouts River Valleys Wells Fargo bank account. If a Juliette needs additional deposit slips, or decides to participate later during the sale, direct them to request deposit slips at girlscouts@girlscoutsrv.org.

Have a question? Don't be shy!
Contact us for more information.