When you participate in the Girl Scout Cookie Program® you’re part of the largest girl-led entrepreneurial program in the world! Give girls the opportunity to run their very own cookie business with skills essential for success. Through the Girl Scout Cookie Program, girls learn…

• Goal setting as they set a troop goal based on what they want to do with their troop proceeds. Then girls set an individual goal with help from their families.
• Decision-making by deciding where and when to sell cookies, how to market their cookie business, and what to do with their troop proceeds.
• Money management as they develop a budget, take cookie orders, handle customers’ money, and gain confidence handling and managing money.
• People skills as they safely talk to their customers in person and virtually to work as a team with other girls.
• Business ethics as they learn to run their businesses using the Girl Scout Law as a guide, being honest and responsible every step of the way.

Ask a Girl Scout why she is selling cookies and listen for her answer. She’s got a plan! Which may include being her own boss one day. #cookieboss

Earned Award Options

There are several Girl Scout badges and one award that teach girls to think like an entrepreneur. Get a brief overview in the Award & Badge Explorer then read all the details in the Volunteer Toolkit. 

• Cookie Business Badges
• Financial Literacy Badges
• Entrepreneur Badges
• Cookie Entrepreneur Family Pin

Involve Caregivers and Families

Did you know that our Girl Scout Cookie Program® is the number one way that parents help a Girl Scout troop? Extend an invitation.

• Want your daughter to learn how to manage money?
  • Please run an activity station at our cookie rally.
• Want your daughter to gain people skills and learn how to ask for what she wants?
  • Please help at a cookie booth in March or April.
• Want your daughter to set goals and make plans to reach them?
  • Please be a guest speaker at our troop meeting and inspire us with a story about how you have reached your goals – or how you are working hard to reach them right now!
• Want your daughter to be her own boss one day? 
  • Please help her at home with her work but don’t sell for her – encourage her to take the lead.
• Want to spend quality time with your daughter and help her have a healthy relationship with money?
  • Earn the Cookie Entrepreneur Family pin at home with your child.
• Want your daughter to see other girl role models?
  • Please invite your older Girl Scout daughters to come help their little sisters with our cookie rally or troop meetings.
• Want your daughter to see volunteer help in action?
  • Would you be the Troop Cookie Manager from January through April to help manage inventory, money, and deadlines?

Entrepreneurship is a foundation of Girl Scouts

Every year Girl Scouts use their cookie earnings to do amazing things in their communities and beyond. From helping animal shelters and feeding the homeless to raising awareness about bullying, making public areas more accessible to people with disabilities, and tons more, Girl Scouts can and will do anything they put their hearts and minds to. The cookie program helps them reach their goals. This is how they do it.

Together, girls will:

• Consider and choose troop activities or service projects they want to do. 
• Create a budget and a plan
• Set their cookie program sales goals to cover their expenses
• Brush up on their product knowledge and practice their pitch.
• Take orders! Girl Scouts reach out to friends, family, and community members to share their goals and make sales.
• Feel the satisfaction of earning the money to pay for the year’s activities or service projects.

Digital Sales

Selling cookies online? You bet we do. Smart Cookies is the platform that allows girls, volunteers, and the council to seamlessly manage every aspect of the cookie business from a smartphone, tablet, or computer. Monitor your progress, connect with the community, and find helpful resources to support success.

• Send E-cards to customers
• Link to your personal online store
• Schedule direct shipments
• Accept credit card payments
• Track your individual and troop progress
• Access resources (printables, tutorials, & inspiration)

Every troop needs a Troop Cookie Manager.

Experienced volunteers give the same advice: If you can, avoid being the Troop Leader and the Troop Cookie Manager at the same time. It’s a recipe for volunteer burnout. Support troop leaders during this exciting season of the Girl Scout year and work together to help the girls achieve their goals. The Troop Cookie Manager assists from January through April with inventory, money, and communication related to the Girl Scout Cookie Program.

A cookie program kick-off event helps build anticipation and confidence for a very exciting part of the Girl Scout year. These events are usually held in January, before order taking begins. Your cookie program kick-off event might be your regular troop meeting, an informational caregiver meeting, or a special event called a Cookie Rally.

A cookie rally is a high-energy event that can be so much fun! Use games, trivia, cheers, and hands-on activities to help girls discover how to run their own cookie business and to think like an entrepreneur. Girl Scouts can
practice their #cookieboss skills with their friends. They might even earn a badge or an award!

The most popular way to organize a rally is with simple activity stations that connect to the five essential cookie program skills. Rallies can be held for a single troop or by a service area for several troops. Ask other volunteers in your service area about cookie rally event options in your community.

Cookie Rally Activity Station Example: Essential Skill #3 Money Management

For Daisies, Brownies, and Juniors Use some play money and some change. Can you count how much money there is altogether? Would it be enough to buy a box of Girl Scout Cookies? How many boxes could you buy? Practice counting back the change for a purchase.

For Cadettes, Seniors, and Ambassadors Think of a day trip activity you want to make with your Girl Scout friends. Consider the expenses you’ll incur. For example, activity fees or admission, food, travel, or supplies. Figure out the total cost. Now think about your #cookieboss profits. How many boxes of cookies will you need to sell to earn the money for the trip? Break it down further – how many boxes will you need to sell each week?

Resources to Help

Attend your service area cookie rally or host your own troop cookie rally. Rallies can be in-person or virtual. Choose the option that’s right for you and your girls. Use these fun resources to energize and educate your Girl Scouts.

• Cookie rally guide, with several fun ideas
• Activity pages for girls
• Cookie Program Family Meeting Guide
• Virtual cookie rally resources
• Forms and documents
• Volunteer training
• Links to many other resources

Volunteer Collective’s Cookie Program web pages

Badges and Patches

There are several badges and one award that teach girls to think like an entrepreneur. Get a brief overview in the Award and Badge Explorer then read all the details in the Volunteer Toolkit. Just by participating in a cookie rally, girls are likely to complete several steps in these badges!

• Cookie Business badges
• Financial Literacy badges
• Entrepreneur badge
• Cookie Entrepreneur Family pin

The fun patches for the cookie program change each year with the theme and the mascot. Troop Cookie Managers can request themed cookie rally fun patches within Smart Cookies, the online inventory management tool, or find non-themed cookie rally fun patches at our Girl Scout shops.

Award and Badge Explorer