I am only involved in cookies as a consumer, but I am shocked that you get so little money! I thought you'd be getting at like 50% of box price. Cookies are $6/box here, and people have been set up in booths for the past couple weeks. Also as a consumer I hate the online sales. I always feel weird when everyone starts posting their kid on Facebook asking for cookie sales. Idk what specifically bothers me about it, but I'm bothered. And the shipping is crazy do they get very many online sales?
When I did girl scouts someone my dad worked with bought 200+ boxes and I thought they must be the richest person ever.
Girl scouts as an organization gets a lot of the 5$. But a big chunk is used for stuff like council programming and maintaining and subsidizing camp. Girl scouts overnight camp is crazy cheap.
Lol, not at our council. I can’t figure out where the money goes because camp is expensive and programming is nothing once you get past the brownie level.
I am only involved in cookies as a consumer, but I am shocked that you get so little money! I thought you'd be getting at like 50% of box price. Cookies are $6/box here, and people have been set up in booths for the past couple weeks. Also as a consumer I hate the online sales. I always feel weird when everyone starts posting their kid on Facebook asking for cookie sales. Idk what specifically bothers me about it, but I'm bothered. And the shipping is crazy do they get very many online sales?
When I did girl scouts someone my dad worked with bought 200+ boxes and I thought they must be the richest person ever.
I wonder if online is to address family and friends who don't live locally? I don't have any local friends with kids, but wouldn't mind supporting my niece or a close friend who was selling and could have them shipped. However, there is a limit to my generosity and paying $15 for shipping is a bit of a hard sell...
I have purchased other things from online fundraisers for loved ones though.
Also as a consumer I hate the online sales. I always feel weird when everyone starts posting their kid on Facebook asking for cookie sales. Idk what specifically bothers me about it, but I'm bothered. And the shipping is crazy do they get very many online sales?
As a parent I love the online sales. You can pick the girl delivery option (so no shipping). Local friends can pay online and then all DD has to do is deliver the cookies and I don't have to worry about collecting the money and tallying up how many boxes she needs. It's all done for me.
Post by iknowthismuchistrue on Mar 7, 2023 20:44:10 GMT -5
Hate Girl Scouts!
We are already done with cookies but it’s a total joke. Making the new cookie online only is so anti “girl run.”
My elementary school kid does not have social media or a phone. She can’t sell cookies online. So that means I have to…which makes this mom run. I already have a job. I don’t need to sell cookies.
And major eye roll at my whole social media feed talking all about how hard these girls work. Um, nope. I’ve seen your 135 posts with your daughter’s link. She didn’t sell cookies. You did. The prizes should be wine for the moms, not plastic trinkets that get ditched in my kitchen 30 seconds after they get them.
Our council store is never open. Still closes randomly in the middle of the day like it’s May 2020 and just sticks a note on the door.
Programming by me is really mediocre.
Love my troop/girls but hate, hate, hate the money hungry crappy organization.
I am only involved in cookies as a consumer, but I am shocked that you get so little money! I thought you'd be getting at like 50% of box price. Cookies are $6/box here, and people have been set up in booths for the past couple weeks. Also as a consumer I hate the online sales. I always feel weird when everyone starts posting their kid on Facebook asking for cookie sales. Idk what specifically bothers me about it, but I'm bothered. And the shipping is crazy do they get very many online sales?
When I did girl scouts someone my dad worked with bought 200+ boxes and I thought they must be the richest person ever.
Girl scouts as an organization gets a lot of the 5$. But a big chunk is used for stuff like council programming and maintaining and subsidizing camp. Girl scouts overnight camp is crazy cheap.
Not around here. Not anymore. The cost almost doubled this year.
I just did the registration a couple of weeks ago and one week of Girl Scout day camp this summer for my nine year old was $120. Best deal in town by a mile.
Post by mysteriouswife on Mar 7, 2023 22:17:47 GMT -5
This might have been covered but direct donations is going to depend on local councils. I know in ATL the troop had to participate in both fall and spring sales to host additional fundraising. Donations were accepted. GS in the greater ATL was not that bad. Middle TN? Hell. They did not force troops to open to new comers. It made finding a troop difficult. I had a mom/leader flat out tell me DD couldn’t join their troop since we didn’t start as a Daisy with the other girls. never mind that all the girls would have been second year juniors. We stopped that year. DD wasn’t having fun and I couldn’t get approved to volunteer. Again, not due to lack of trying. I was AED, CPR certified and had multiple years of experience. I had been to leadership conferences and passed all background checks in ATL. TN wanted no part of it.
Edit- and the prizes! Rage inducing how much they differ from council to council. DD went to Disney with ATL. Some other really cool prizes. In TN the first level was a sheet of stickers! The big prizes were a joke. I think 600 boxes was a patch and notepad.
We are already done with cookies but it’s a total joke. Making the new cookie online only is so anti “girl run.”
My elementary school kid does not have social media or a phone. She can’t sell cookies online. So that means I have to…which makes this mom run. I already have a job. I don’t need to sell cookies.
And major eye roll at my whole social media feed talking all about how hard these girls work. Um, nope. I’ve seen your 135 posts with your daughter’s link. She didn’t sell cookies. You did. The prizes should be wine for the moms, not plastic trinkets that get ditched in my kitchen 30 seconds after they get them.
Our council store is never open. Still closes randomly in the middle of the day like it’s May 2020 and just sticks a note on the door.
Programming by me is really mediocre.
Love my troop/girls but hate, hate, hate the money hungry crappy organization.
Thankfully we were out before the big push for online ordering. I made DD call and thank every person who ordered online. Other moms thought I was nuts. Hell naw. I’m not getting the rewards! I had to pay for my ticket into Disney. Her ass was working.
Edit- and the prizes! Rage inducing how much they differ from council to council. DD went to Disney with ATL. Some other really cool prizes. In TN the first level was a sheet of stickers! The big prizes were a joke. I think 600 boxes was a patch and notepad.
You went to Disney?? How many boxes did you have to sell?
DD sold 600 boxes last year and got 2 tshirts, 2 stuffed animals, and pair of slippers. Which I guess is better than a notepad, but it's no Disney. Our very first year, she sold around 100 boxes and only got a pen.
I wonder if online is to address family and friends who don't live locally? I don't have any local friends with kids, but wouldn't mind supporting my niece or a close friend who was selling and could have them shipped. However, there is a limit to my generosity and paying $15 for shipping is a bit of a hard sell...
I have purchased other things from online fundraisers for loved ones though.
ya I get that. Upon further reflection I think it bothers me because my Facebook becomes inundated with people with kids selling cookies, and then I think I feel guilty lol. Since it's all friends or family and people I like, and I'm sure if I did live close I would buy some if offered. But then who do you choose when almost everyone is selling them?! And ya the $15 shipping is a bit much esp if you're just trying to do a couple boxes as a sign of support.
I think that it depends on your council. I am a leader in Atlanta and we have a terrible council and cookies have been a pain in the ass the past two years. It also doesn’t help that there are a million different websites and nothing is integrated. So, like everything, it is regional, lol.
Isn't it ironic? Don't ya think? -Alanis Morisette
I am only involved in cookies as a consumer, but I am shocked that you get so little money! I thought you'd be getting at like 50% of box price. Cookies are $6/box here, and people have been set up in booths for the past couple weeks. Also as a consumer I hate the online sales. I always feel weird when everyone starts posting their kid on Facebook asking for cookie sales. Idk what specifically bothers me about it, but I'm bothered. And the shipping is crazy do they get very many online sales?
When I did girl scouts someone my dad worked with bought 200+ boxes and I thought they must be the richest person ever.
So the online sales don’t have to be shipped. They can be girl delivered. It is just another way to reach friends and family. The world isn’t as in-person connected as it used to be. My daughter took the time to set up her website, make videos and materials to use in her videos, and she typed in who to email her website too and the social media posts. The girls are learning skills, but I am beyond annoyed about the Raspberry Rally cookie that the girls didn’t even get to sell because it sold out before people even woke up the day it was available in our area.
I wonder if online is to address family and friends who don't live locally? I don't have any local friends with kids, but wouldn't mind supporting my niece or a close friend who was selling and could have them shipped. However, there is a limit to my generosity and paying $15 for shipping is a bit of a hard sell...
I have purchased other things from online fundraisers for loved ones though.
ya I get that. Upon further reflection I think it bothers me because my Facebook becomes inundated with people with kids selling cookies, and then I think I feel guilty lol. Since it's all friends or family and people I like, and I'm sure if I did live close I would buy some if offered. But then who do you choose when almost everyone is selling them?! And ya the $15 shipping is a bit much esp if you're just trying to do a couple boxes as a sign of support.
You can donate cookies and there is no shipping charge.
Edit- and the prizes! Rage inducing how much they differ from council to council. DD went to Disney with ATL. Some other really cool prizes. In TN the first level was a sheet of stickers! The big prizes were a joke. I think 600 boxes was a patch and notepad.
You went to Disney?? How many boxes did you have to sell?
DD sold 600 boxes last year and got 2 tshirts, 2 stuffed animals, and pair of slippers. Which I guess is better than a notepad, but it's no Disney. Our very first year, she sold around 100 boxes and only got a pen.
This is our first year selling cookies. I made a post about my cookie sale confusion in MM a few weeks ago and I see that all you cookie moms are over here. I have heard a lot of frustrations from the others who have done this in the past about how things don't make sense this year, troops are sitting on excess inventory (we are the ABC bakery), booth sales are way down and the locations are more restricting etc. However, DD has been going gangbusters selling in our driveway. I think it's because the nearby Walmart no longer has a booth so the people leaving there that cut through my neighborhood see DD with her boxes and pull over. This does mean I have to front the money to buy the cookies but I don't get all the MLM comparisons I see online since DD isn't recruiting anyone beneath her to create a "downline." Also taking orders to deliver cookies weeks later is mostly not good for business in an "I need instant delivery" world. It also saves me time on not having to take her on return trips to deliver the orders. I do feel good that a chunk of the cookie sales goes into maintaining the camps because DD will be doing 4 weeks of camp this summer. I have no idea if she will like it or how well it is run, but a lot of girls from town are going and the bussing is super convenient. It costs around $400/week for camp so it's still not cheap but I'm guessing it's way cheaper than the "real" summer camps. Even if DD does just this year and next year as a junior, she will have gotten some good social experiences of being forced to interact with others at the troop meetings, camps and cookies sales. This is all super important to me given how COVID shut down so many social experiences for young kids.
I sure hope they don't stiff her on the prizes even if they are silly stuffed animal things. She's still not understanding the connect of selling cookies to raise money for the troop.
I am sad to read that the GS is a poorly run organization. I had hopes that it would be better run given the long history and all the decades of cookie hype and sales. They've had so many years to get this all figured out. Unfortunately I have no energy leftover to give the local GS anything besides being a cookie hustler via DD. I may sign up to be a volunteer despite the fee just so I can help if it's necessary.
This is our first year selling cookies. I made a post about my cookie sale confusion in MM a few weeks ago and I see that all you cookie moms are over here. I have heard a lot of frustrations from the others who have done this in the past about how things don't make sense this year, troops are sitting on excess inventory (we are the ABC bakery), booth sales are way down and the locations are more restricting etc. However, DD has been doing gangbusters selling in our driveway. I think it's because the nearby Walmart no longer has a booth so the people leaving there that cut through my neighborhood see DD with her boxes and pull over. This does mean I have to front the money to buy the cookies but I don't get all the MLM comparisons I see online since DD isn't recruiting anyone beneath her to create a "downline" and taking orders to deliver cookies weeks later is mostly not good for business in an "I need instant delivery" world. It also saves me time on not having to take her on return trips to deliver the orders. I do feel good that a chunk of the cookie sales goes into maintaining the camps because DD will be doing 4 weeks of camp this summer. I have no idea if she will like it or how well it is run, but a lot of girls from town are going and the bussing is super convenient. It costs around $400/week for camp so it's still not cheap but I'm guessing it's way cheaper than the "real" summer camps. Even if DD does just this year and next year as a junior, she will have gotten some good social experiences of being forced to interact with others at the troop meetings, camps and cookies sales. This is all super important to me given how COVID shut down so many social experiences for young kids.
I sure hope they don't stiff her on the prizes even if they are silly stuffed animal things. She's still not understanding the connect of selling cookies to raise money for the troop.
I am sad to read that the GS is a poorly run organization. I had hopes that it would be better run given the long history and all the decades of cookie hype and sales. They've had so many years to get this all figured out. Unfortunately I have no energy leftover to give the local GS anything besides being a cookie hustler via DD. I may sign up to be a volunteer despite the fee just so I can help if it's necessary.
There are just too many hands trying to do too many things which leads to a poorly run organization. The websites are antiquated and hard to navigate, plus there are just too many websites. Overall the programming is affordable, scholarships are available for those in need, and as a leader I have witnessed first hand the positive impacts on the girls. So has much as I hate a lot of the website navigation and how hard it is to find information, I continue to sign my daughter up (at her request) and volunteer time I don’t have.
Oh I 💯 do all the sales. DD doesn’t do anything then had the nerve to complain that I did the minimum. I told her to go door to door and she reconsidered the whining and opted out. I was not offended because it was crappy weather.
I’ve done cub scouts too and I also did all the sales. Now the parents and kids both do the booth sales so in that aspect they helped but DS was super shy so booth sales for him for Cub Scouts was still me.
I love Girl Scouts. But do I have some issues with them absolutely. I vent about it here and move on.
Also Camp was raised to $515 a week here. Last year it was $250. So yeah not sure what they are doing with the money they are making.
I will say we had an easy time with the online ordering with girl delivery. It was easier than keeping track of payments. Our leader made a Google form that we submit when we are ready to fill/deliver those sales. We also get supply up front through that that H sells at work because then it's easier than keeping track of who ordered what. We do have to front the payment but then it also allows us to use venmo as an option to reimburse ourselves.
I posted yesterday they shut down our girl delivery online option yesterday but then once they had a handle on what supplies they had they reopened it. So we went on and ordered enough to get her to her goal and I think once she sells that supply we'll be done.
We only have on troop in our area (currently daisies) and was a little sad that DD couldn't have the girl scout experience. So reading this makes me feel a little better. However, I am now realizing that I ordered cookies quite a while ago from a friend's kids and never heard anything. Probably would have forgotten, but now I want my cookies lol.
Post by litskispeciality on Mar 8, 2023 10:49:00 GMT -5
I've ordered cookies online a couple of times, but have major sticker shock at the shipping price. I know it's not free, but I feel like I paid more in shipping than I did for the 4 box minimum. I'm lucky to have some local GS, or friends who will deliver to me or my dad, but the prices are still crazy for the amount of cookies, and how much goes back to the troop. You also go through waves where you either know 12 GS and you get pressure to buy from everyone, or you can't find one anywhere and hope for a cookie booth.
A few years ago I tried to volunteer with GS as I really enjoyed my time as a Scout. They made it super hard. Not even the CPR, CORI check and all of the logical things, just "hey we need someone to run a whole Daisy troop with no support...and they can only meet at 3pm, so make that happen" but I work full time, and I'm not ready to run a whole troop with no support. I was sad that there wasn't a middle ground go to a few meetings or weekend that work with my schedule. I'm even happy to count and sort boxes with no kids around.
My mom went through hell with our troop as a co-leader, and was PSYCHED when I "quit" after 8th grade.
While it's a wonderful experience for the girls, I say parents don't feel guilty. I have a good friend who's run a troop (no kids, but full time job) and she is burnt.out. She's spent a LOT of her own money, a lot of time on camporees and other things. I've heard from other parents that cookie booths are big drama too. A few years ago a mom lucky enough to stay at home planned all cookie booths for the city. Her troop got the best spots because they were raising money for a Disney trip, then the other troops got whatever was left over. If you didn't like it, you could call and book your own...just not the best money makers.
It's sad they burn out the 3 great volunteers they can get, then complain they don't have enough help because other parents know it's not worth the effort.
I think that it depends on your council. I am a leader in Atlanta and we have a terrible council and cookies have been a pain in the ass the past two years. It also doesn’t help that there are a million different websites and nothing is integrated. So, like everything, it is regional, lol.
Isn't it ironic? Don't ya think? -Alanis Morisette
I'm sure you know they are headquartered in ATL.
I think they are in NY. It was founded in Savannah.
Post by mysteriouswife on Mar 8, 2023 11:11:58 GMT -5
This whole post as me emotional. I loved GS as a kid and when DD was active. Knowing the back side of how awful things are ran makes me rage. Things should not be this difficult. Parents and volunteers shouldn’t be stressed. I wish I could fix GS and make it enjoyable for everyone.
We haven’t done cookies the past few years. Our troop has an option to just pay the minimum. I happily do that and buy knockoff cookies at Aldi.
The price of our overnight camp increased $300 this year! It was a great deal at $475ish last year. Now it’s almost $800. The council says it’s paying higher wages, but that is such a huge jump.
I've ordered cookies online a couple of times, but have major sticker shock at the shipping price. I know it's not free, but I feel like I paid more in shipping than I did for the 4 box minimum. I'm lucky to have some local GS, or friends who will deliver to me or my dad, but the prices are still crazy for the amount of cookies, and how much goes back to the troop. You also go through waves where you either know 12 GS and you get pressure to buy from everyone, or you can't find one anywhere and hope for a cookie booth.
A few years ago I tried to volunteer with GS as I really enjoyed my time as a Scout. They made it super hard. Not even the CPR, CORI check and all of the logical things, just "hey we need someone to run a whole Daisy troop with no support...and they can only meet at 3pm, so make that happen" but I work full time, and I'm not ready to run a whole troop with no support. I was sad that there wasn't a middle ground go to a few meetings or weekend that work with my schedule. I'm even happy to count and sort boxes with no kids around.
My mom went through hell with our troop as a co-leader, and was PSYCHED when I "quit" after 8th grade.
While it's a wonderful experience for the girls, I say parents don't feel guilty. I have a good friend who's run a troop (no kids, but full time job) and she is burnt.out. She's spent a LOT of her own money, a lot of time on camporees and other things. I've heard from other parents that cookie booths are big drama too. A few years ago a mom lucky enough to stay at home planned all cookie booths for the city. Her troop got the best spots because they were raising money for a Disney trip, then the other troops got whatever was left over. If you didn't like it, you could call and book your own...just not the best money makers.
It's sad they burn out the 3 great volunteers they can get, then complain they don't have enough help because other parents know it's not worth the effort.
I’m not a leader but the leaders of DD’s troop do have those kind of part time sign ups from the parents of troop members. But you won’t get that from a council because it would be a troop led not council led. So you would probably have to know someone who is running a troop and offer that person help, and they would have to be open to accepting help.
Our main troop leaders didn’t work or worked part time. We started with 5 leaders and lost 2. We are going to lose another leader next year. Some have gone back to full time work in the meantime. I thought about stepping up but DD’s soccer is at the same time as the GS meetings so we don’t make it to every meeting or event. I think she’ll only make it another year or two anyway.
Post by litskispeciality on Mar 8, 2023 11:41:55 GMT -5
Thank you waverly. I should add I get why it's hard to volunteer, esp if you don't have kids. People put a LOT of faith in scout leaders, coaches etc. to care for their children during these activities. That's why I'm ok doing something like cookies when no scouts are around.
I hope your leader makes it long enough for your child to keep going.
This whole post as me emotional. I loved GS as a kid and when DD was active. Knowing the back side of how awful things are ran makes me rage. Things should not be this difficult. Parents and volunteers shouldn’t be stressed. I wish I could fix GS and make it enjoyable for everyone.
This whole thread is making me sad. I am drawn to fixer-upper things, it's a blessing and a curse. I just got involved with the district PTO and that is such a mess in our town. I've been thinking of stepping up my involvement to really help it get organized since we will be in this district for the next many years. Then once I started getting into the cookies, I learn that GS is a mess too and that is making me also sad. But there is only so much of me to be able to help.