2017 Girl Scout Cookie Program Family Guide
Cookie Gram
IMPORTANT DATES
January 5
Complete, sign and turn in Parent
Permission Slip.
January 6
Girl Scout Cookie Program begins (please
do not start earlier than this date). Girls
may continue to take orders through
March 13.
January 6
2017 COOKIE
PROGRAM
HIGHLIGHTS
Girl Scouts enter their sales goal at www.
abcsmartcookies.com – Click on COCO
(girls may begin this process earlier).
Please make sure your Girl Scout’s name
matches how she registered as a Girl
Scout.
January 22
Turn in Order Card to Troop Cookie
Manager (REMEMBER, your Girl Scout can
continue to take orders throughout the
sale).
February 10–16
Pick up initial order. Ask your Troop
Cookie Manager for the date, time, place
to pick up order (remember to count and
sign receipt for the cookies).
February 17
Cookie selling directly to the public
February 17 – March 12
Turn in your money to the Troop Cookie
Manager as frequently and as often as
possible during this time.
February 24–26
National Girl Scout Cookie Weekend have your Girl Scout wear her uniform
and have the Order Card ready to
take more orders OR use her mobile
device to take customers’ orders or use
COCOdirect for customers to purchase
and pay for their cookies.
March 12
Cookie sale ends. Final payment is due
to your Troop Cookie Manager.
Please note: Troops may set earlier
deadlines for girls to turn in orders or
payments. Please check with your Troop
Cookie Manager about turn-in dates for
your troop.
Girl Scout
National Cookie
Weekend
February 24–26, 2017
Cookie Gram • 2017 Girl Scout Cookie Program Family Guide
Dear
Girl Scout
Families,
This year’s Girl Scout cookie program theme is be unique, be you!
When girls participate in the cookie program, they are exposed to unique experiences and learn essential life
skills. They prepare for a lifetime of leadership, learn to speak up, work with others to set and reach goals, and
so much more! Participation in the cookie program provides your girl with leadership. The cookie program was designed to,
and continues to build self-esteem and self-reliance in girls. They learn to be decision-makers and leaders
by setting goals, achieving them, and then deciding how to use their individual and troop proceeds. They can
fund a community service project, attend summer camp, travel to destinations, and much more! Specifically,
the cookie program focuses on five key outcomes – goal setting, decision making, money management, people
skills and business ethics. Your Girl Scout will discover how to make, manage, spend, save, and invest money while simultaneously learning about teamwork, marketing, planning, and leadership.
Your guidance and support is vital to the success of your Girl Scout. Make the cookie program fun, exciting and
motivating. We have developed a set of excellent tools and resources to help her set goals and learn about
business skills. Help your Girl Scout set and attain her goals. Go to COCO at www.abcsmartcookies to learn
more about being an entrepreneur and ‘business’ leader.
Thank you for all you do to support the Girl Scout cookie program. You are part of a
team committed to building a legacy of girl and woman leadership throughout South
Carolina and the country!
HOW CAN A GIRL SCOUT WIN
LULU THE GIANT LLAMA?
It is all about goal setting!
1.
She must sell at least 450 packages of cookies
to have her name entered into the drawing.
2. For each additional 100 packages of cookies
she sells, her name will be entered into the
drawing again.
For example, if a girl sells 700 packages of cookies her
name will be entered into the drawing three times.
Be unique! Be you! with Lulu the Giant Llama!
2
Each regional office will have Lulu the Giant Llama
on display. Three lucky Girl Scouts will have the opportunity to win one of
three Lulu the Giant Llamas. The drawing will take place at the end of the
cookie program in March.
Lulu is here to get your Girl Scout excited about the 2017 Girl Scout
cookie sale season.
Cookie Gram • 2017 Girl Scout Cookie Program Family Guide
THE KEY TO A SUCCESSFUL GIRL SCOUT
COOKIE PROGRAM IS FAMILY SUPPORT!
Girls have great success in Girl Scout cookie program activities when family adults
are informed and involved. These tips will help you turn ‘cookie time’ into ‘family
time’ and provide important ways you can guide and support your Girl Scout to cookie
success!
•
Make sure your Girl Scout is a registered
member of Girl Scouts of the USA for the
current Girl Scout membership year.
•
Attend her troop cookie training. Be sure to
ask your Girl Scout’s Troop Cookie Manager
how you can help with meetings or with other
tasks.
•
Review and discuss safety guidelines.
•
Understand the 5 Skills for Girls (goal setting,
decision making, money management, people
skills and business ethics) and how they
impact your Girl Scout.
•
Work with your Girl Scout to set goals and
track her progress. Encourage her to set-up
an account on COCO (www.abcsmartcookies.
com), your Girl Scout’s online Cookie Command
for goal setting, planning and marketing.
•
Encourage your Girl Scout to make a telephone
call or email her friends and family. She can
create and send eCards from the Online Cookie
Marketing section of COCO.
•
Coach your Girl Scout in selling techniques,
including how to share her goals, and suggest
additional reasons to purchase cookies.
•
Accompany your Girl Scout to support her as
she sells.
•
Discuss how you can
help your Girl Scout
reach her goals, such
as giving rides when
she needs them or
safeguarding her cookie
money. Remember,
closing the sale is her
responsibility.
•
Allow your Girl Scout
to participate in booth
sales and volunteer
to help as a driver or
supervising adult for a
booth sale.
•
Check on your Girl
Scout’s progress during
the sale.
•
Help her live by the Girl Scout Promise and Law, and
discuss how it applies to business ethics throughout
the activity.
•
Never do things for your Girl Scout that she can do for
herself!
You will also discover ways you can support your Girl Scout’s
efforts with fun family activities and helpful resources in the
family section of ABC at www.abcsmartcookies.com.
SAFETY FIRST
Remind your Girl Scout to use these guidelines to participate safely in
the cookie program:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Sell only during daylight hours and in neighborhoods with which
you are familiar
Younger Girl Scouts should be accompanied by an adult at all
times; Girl Scout Cadettes, Seniors and Ambassadors should use
the buddy system or be with an adult
Never enter the home of a stranger
Do not give customers your last name or address
Practice pedestrian safety
Do not carry large amounts of money
3
Cookie Gram • 2017 Girl Scout Cookie Program Family Guide
COCO : IT’S AN ONLINE
COOKIE COMMAND CENTER
FOR YOUR COOKIE BUSINESS
The largest girl-led business in the world, now in the palm
of her hand! COCOmobile is a Girl Scout smart mobile sales
app! It lets your Girl Scout set cookie sale goals, track her
sales progress, and even take orders with her mobile device using an iPhone, iPad,
iPod touch or Android. Right at her fingertips, girls can get cookie information;
enter, view, and edit their orders; track recognitions program progress; and email
or text order confirmations directly to her customers!
COCO is great way for you to support and guide your Girl Scout through this
leadership experience. Encourage her to set up an account in COCO and visit often
to track her progress and stay in touch with her troop. Younger girls might need
your help to get started, so go to www.abcsmartcookies.com and begin this great
goal setting with your Girl Scout.
Along with COCOmobile, girls will be able to use the original COCO online as
well. Your Girl Scout’s information will be shared between both platforms. The
COCOmobile is the result of ABC Bakers’ research into what Girl Scouts want
in a mobile app. It’s easy to use, practical, and based on girls’ input. To use
COCOmobile, Girl Scouts must have a valid username and password on COCO and
use their registered Girl Scout name.
This COCOmobile app features
where girls:
•
Can set and track goals
•
Take and manage cookie orders
•
See a summary of orders and item
totals
•
View nutritional information with
product images
•
Track order payment and delivery
status
•
Email confirmations automatically
sent to customers upon new order
or updates of order
•
View recognitions, identify level
achieved, track sales, see what
is needed for the next level and
celebrate recognition achievement
along the way
•
Automatically syncs with her online
COCO information (available at
abcsmartcookies.com)
COCODIRECT WILL MAKE IT EASIER THAN EVER TO BE A PART OF THE
WORLD’S LARGEST GIRL-LED BUSINESS.
COCOdirect is easy to use. For sales made
through COCOdirect, there’s NO money
collection and NO hand delivery (as the
cookies will be shipped directly to the
customers)!
Girls can sell using COCOdirect in two
ways:
• COCOmobile or
• COCO Online Marketing where girls
can send an eCard to friends and
family that includes a secure link to
COCOdirect. Girls would:
• Choose the COCOdirect eCard
• Choose the contact name(s)
• Add a message
• Preview the card
• Hit send and friends and family
receive an email with a link to
COCOdirect, allowing them to
place an order and pay with a
credit card!
Customers can choose from packaging
sizes:
• An eight-pack sampler that includes
one of each variety (Trios -- Gluten
Free Cookie is not part of this sampler);
a half-dozen of any one variety; a
dozen of any one variety; AND for a
4
limited time only while supplies last,
they can order ABC’s Trios -- Gluten
Free Chocolate Chip Shortbread!
Girls who have two (2) or more orders (one
order equals 6 or 12 of one variety or an
8-pack sampler) via COCOdirect will earn the
Online Patch.
Girls will not be held financially responsible
for transactions made via COCOdirect.
Girls will get credit for the packages, thus
impacting her reward items earned.
Girls can access COCOdirect sales data via:
• COCO Online Marketing – she can see
ecards sent and status of each ecard
(whether her customers have placed
orders or not);
• COCO Set My Goals Page – orders that
have been taken via the COCOdirect
ecard will be reflected in her ecard
orders total;
• COCOmobile Home Page – orders that
have been taken via the COCOdirect
ecard will be reflected in her ecards
total; and
• Girls can sign up for a weekly email
with her COCOdirect sales data for the
season
COCOdirect will be available for girls to start
sending ecards, January 8, 2017, when the
start of the Girl Scout cookie program kicks
off.
COCOdirect is a great way to promote
participation in a contemporary way. Doing
business online is expected today. And
today’s Girl Scouts are living in a digital world,
so offering a digital sale is not only relevant
but also critical to keeping the cookie sale
going for the next 100 years.
REMINDER: Your Girl Scout use of a social
networking site (such as Facebook, Twitter,
and MySpace) for communication must
have parental permission and must meet
age limits set by the provider, which is 13
and older in most cases, as per the United
States Child Online Privacy and Protection Act
(COPPA) and the Child Online Protection Act
(COPA). Check out the 411 on Online Product
Marketing under http://girlscouts.org/
program/gs_cookies/pdf/2012_computer_
online_safety_activity_checkpoints.pdf
Cookie Gram • 2017 Girl Scout Cookie Program Family Guide
COOKIE DOUGH
Girls who participate in the Girl Scout Cookie Program and sell
150 cookie packages or more will earn Cookie Dough.
Cookie Dough can be used throughout the year in a
variety of ways to help pay for some of their Girl Scout
experiences. When girls sell 150 packages, they will earn $15.00
in Cookie Dough.
For every additional 25-package
increment, girls earn an additional
$2.50 in Cookie Dough:
151-174 packages =
$15.00 Cookie Dough
175-199 packages =
$17.50 Cookie Dough
200-224 packages =
$20.00 Cookie Dough
225-249 packages =
$22.50 Cookie Dough and so on
There is no limit to how much Cookie Dough
can be earned. Last summer, one Girl Scout
funded her entire week of resident camp at
Camp WaBak with just Cookie Dough!
The Cookie Dough Table can be
downloaded or viewed by going to www.
gssccookies.org under Resources
Cookie Dough may be used for:
• Council-sponsored Girl Scout Day and
Resident Camp fees.
• Council-sponsored program events
designated in FOCALPoint such as Healthy
Living, STEM, or Adventure-based outdoor
programs.
• GSUSA-sponsored destinations.
• Council-sponsored trips with regional,
national, or international itineraries.
• Girl Scout Silver Award or Girl Scout Gold
Award project expenses or
• Girl Scout Lifetime Membership.
Sister-to-sister transfers will be accepted
(registered Girl Scout sisters living in the
same household).
EARNING COOKIE DOUGH
LEADS TO MORE
ADVENTURES!
Cookie Dough is another great financial benefit girls gain from
participating in the Girl Scout Cookie Program. Unlike troop
proceeds, Cookie Dough is based on individual effort. Some
troops coordinate the use of the girls individually-earned
Cookie Dough to pay for the girls’ participation in the
council-sponsored program events and workshops listed in
FOCALPoint.
Parents/guardians are also welcome to encourage
their Girl Scout to participate individually or with
a friend in council-sponsored EVENT PATHWAY
activities they attend on their own, separate from
the troop. For more information, see council–sponsored program
events and workshops in FOCALPoint or at http://www.
gssc-mm.org/content/dam/girlscouts-gssc-mm/documents/
FocalPoint16-17.pdf.
Another popular and fun way to use Cookie Dough is to pay for
camp fees at one of our three incredible facilities: Camp Mary
Elizabeth in Spartanburg, Camp Occaneechi in the Midlands, and
Camp WaBak in the upstate. We will also be offering several specialty days
camps. Our Summer Camp Book – containing all our great summer camp opportunities for
2017 – will be posted on our website AND sent to each Girl Scout household.
Cookie Dough reminders:
•
Unused value may not be redeemed for cash
•
Cookie Dough may not be used in Girlz Gear shops or camp Trading Posts; and
•
Girl Scouts of South Carolina – Mountains to Midlands will not re-issue Cookie Dough
if lost, stolen or damaged.
2017 Cookie Dough expires September 30, 2018.
REMEMBER: 2016 Cookie Dough expires September 30, 2017.
NOTE: From time to time there are potential council-sponsored program opportunities
that become available after FOCALPoint has been published. Watch the GSSC-MM website
(www.gssc-mm.org) for more information.
NEW! Girl Scout S’mores™!
Indulge in this s’moresinspired crispy graham
cookie double-dipped in a
crème icing and enrobed
in a chocolatey coating.
This clever take on the
time-honored campfire
treat was developed
in response to popular
consumer trends.
5
Frequently Asked Questions
Who can sell Girl Scout cookies?
Registered Girl Scouts who have turned in a signed Parent
Permission Slip may sell Girl Scout cookies. Participation in the
Girl Scout cookie program is optional.
Who bakes Girl Scout Cookies?
Currently, two commercial bakers are licensed by the national
Girl Scout organization, Girl Scouts of the USA, to produce Girl
Scout Cookies: ABC Bakers and Little Brownie Bakers. ABC is Girl
Scouts of South Carolina – Mountains to Midlands’ baker.
How much are Girl Scout cookies?
Girl Scouts of South Carolina – Mountains to Midlands sell
cookies for $4.00 per package.
What are Trios?
Trios is the Gluten Free cookie that is being offered during Direct/
Booth Sales for $5.00. This higher cost for Trios is due to the
cookie being Gluten Free.
When should customers pay for cookies?
Customers should pay when cookies are delivered, not when the
order is placed, except if ordering via COCOdirect.
Does my Girl Scout stop taking cookie orders when she turns
in her ‘initial’ order card?
Girls may continue taking orders throughout the entire cookie
sale, even during booth sales. It is a great way to continue
keeping up with her customers to see if they would like to
purchase more cookies.
Do girls earn Girl Scout awards from participating in the Girl
Scout Cookie Program?
As part of their experience in any Girl Scout product activity, girls
can earn official Girl Scout awards at every level of Girl Scouting,
including cookie and financial literacy badges and the annual
Cookie Activity pin. Separately, girls can also earn rewards,
Cookie Dough and patches based on their sales activity.
What is National Girl Scout Cookie Weekend?
National Girl Scout Cookie Weekend is when Girl Scouts across
the country raise awareness about the benefits of the largest
girl-led business in the country and take more orders. The more
people understand how the program teaches girls five essential
life skills of business ethics, decision making, goal setting, money
management and people skills, the more likely they will be to
support Girl Scouts by buying cookies.
Can a customer write a check for cookies?
Girls should only take checks from people they know and checks
should be made out to GSSCMM or Girl Scouts. Girls should only
accept checks with the customer’s name, address, and phone
number imprinted on the check. Write the customer’s driver’s
license number and expiration date on the check. Do not accept
checks over $50.00.
Can customers return cookies?
If a customer believes that a package of cookies is in any way
unsatisfactory, the package can be returned to the troop for a
replacement or a refund. Ask your Troop Cookie Manager what
to do with customer returns.
Can girls return cookies?
Once a parent/guardian signs for cookies, they cannot be
returned for a refund and the parent is responsible for paying for
them.
Are cookie purchases tax deductible?
Yes and no. Cookies purchased for personal or group
consumption are not tax deductible. However, cookies
purchased for our Cookie for Soldiers program, where the
customer does not receive the cookies or benefit directly by
paying for the cookies, are tax deductible.
Top 10 Tips to share with your Girl Scout!
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Be honest and fair. Wait until January 6th to start
selling.
Use your order card or smartphone (COCOmobile or
COCO)!
Be proud! Wear your Girl Scout uniform or Girl Scout
apparel.
Be cheerful and courteous. Thank people whether
they buy or not.
Impress and inspire customers with information, not
just about cookies, but about what the cookie sale
makes possible. Tell customers your goals.
Practice selling to your family first. Getting those first
cookie sales will build your confidence and help you
feel more comfortable when selling to other people.
6
7.
8.
9.
10.
Overcome objections by offering options.
For example, if someone doesn’t eat sweets
you can suggest that they purchase Cookies for
Soldiers. If a customer is Gluten Free – inform them
about the Gluten Free Trios cookie.
Find your list of last year’s customers to get repeat
customers.
Promote Cranberry Citrus Crisp, Lemonades and
Thanks-a-Lot cookies. Tell your customers how Girl
Scouts has reduced the amount of packing on these
cookies and, as a result, are preventing 450 tons worth
of paperboard from being thrown away each year.
Ask local business owners to buy cookies to treat their
employees.
24
Girl Rewards
The rewards program is a proven method to
excite and motivate the girls during the Girl
Scout cookie program.
Other Available Patches:
The rewards for the 2017 Girl Scout cookie
program were selected by the girls who
attended summer camps or participated in the
online rewards selection.
Online: for girls who took
*Booth Sale: girls must
2+ orders via COCOdirect
- 6, 12 or 8 packages sold=
1 order
have sold 1 or more
packages at a booth
*Goal Getter: only if Girl
Scout participated in the
online activity at www.
abcsmartcookies.com COCO Command
Achievement Bars:
in increments of 100 (1003000) - only the highest
earned level will be awarded
(these are not cumulative)
Girls begin earning Cookie Dough at 150+
packages (see page 25).
*To be manually entered in Snap+ (only 1 per girl, if earned)
12+
100+
200+
300+
be unique, be
you! patch
400+
no prob-llama
lunch box
1500+
double cookie dough
Early Recognition:
Girls selling 300+
packages of
cookies during
January 6-22
will receive a
t-shirt. This is
not available
to troops/girls
who opt out
of receiving
rewards.
wristlet and pouch
small llama
550+
700+
sling backpack
OR
large llama
blanket
hoodie
S ARE
D
R
A
W
ALL RE LATIVE!
CUMU
2017+
OR
Bike & helmet
1000+
$300 Campership
OR
2-in-1 laptop
COOKIES are
$4.00 a PACKAGE
GOAL SETTING. DECISION MAKING. MONEY
MANAGEMENT. PEOPLE SKILLS. BUSINESS ETHICS.
Now available in one smart cookie.
NEW
$5.00 per package
Lemonades™
Caramel deLites ®
Girl Scout
S’mores™
Peanut Butter
Patties ®
Peanut Butter
Sandwich
Thin Mints ®
Shortbread
Thanks-A-Lot ®
Trios
Gluten Free
Available only during
direct/booth sales
(while supplies last)