Where is my magazine?

We have received a few calls about magazine subscriptions.  If you ordered a subscription from a Girl Scout on paper (not online), it should arrive by the March issue.  Online orders should be coming already.   March issues come out at the end of February, unless it's a quarterly subscription.

Thanks for your patience.

How to Accept Credit Cards at Cookie Booths

How to Accept Credit Cards at Cookie Booths

GSMISTS is offering to partner with troops this year to have credit/debit cards be a form of payment for cookies purchased at cookie booths or expos.  GSMISTS has selected Square as the vendor for credit card processing.

1)      In order to use the credit card reading device at cookie booths an iPhone, iPad, or Android device is required.

2)      Go to www.squareup.com , enter your email address and create a password.

3)      Click “continue” and fill in the rest of the information as prompted.  Please note that you will be asked to give a mailing address to ship the credit card reader to, your date of birth, and your social security number.   

4)      Select to sign up as a business and enter our EIN of 38-1366924 when prompted.  Type your business name as: GSMISTS-Troop (your troop number).  This is what will show up on the customer’s credit card statements.

5)      You will also need the account information for your troop bank account, such as routing number and account number, so that deposits can be made to the bank account.

6)      Upon completing registration, make sure to download the Square app on your mobile device.  Feel free to spend a few minutes browsing the help information on the website and/or app to familiarize yourself on how to accept credit/debit cards.

7)      Your Square credit card reader should be shipped within a few days!

***IMPORTANT REMINDERS***

1)      Credit/debit cards can only be accepted at cookie booths or expos.  The idea behind accepting credit cards is to increase payment options for people who are walking by your cookie booth who otherwise might not have stopped to purchase cookies.  Feel free to advertise the fact that your troop can accept credit cards at the booth so people who are walking by can see.

2)      There is a 2.75% fee charged by Square for credit card sales.  Council will be reimbursing these fees to the troops for transactions occurring at booths and expos.  In order for your fees to be reimbursed, you will need to submit a detail of your credit card sales and fees to council within three days of the completion of your cookie booth.  This information will be cross referenced with the sales information in ebuddie.  To access this detail, login to your account on squareup.com, choose the tab that says “deposits,” then click “download spreadsheet” to download to Excel.  Please return this report to your retail/product sales manager by email, fax, or by dropping it off at your service center.

If you have any questions regarding the above process contact Justin by email at jglover@gsmists.org or by phone at 616-784-3341 ext. 125.

Updated Cookie Station List & Instructions

 

2012 Cookie Stations

Alpena County ~ InGS Store Front @ Harborside Mall

135 N. State Street

Alpena, MI  49707

Contact: Cindy Ranshaw, 989-464-6022, alpenagirlscouts@aol.com

 

Alto/Caledonia

8479 Vincent Ave 

Alto, MI  49302

Contact: Gayle Kraft, 616-891-1802, kraftj7471@aol.com

  

Bellaire ~ Bellaire Wesleyan Church

108 E. Cayuga sally_ann@charter.net

Bellaire, MI 49615-0250

Contact: Sally Ann Corner, 231-533-8751,

 

Big Rapids

420 Hutchinson St

Big Rapids, MI  49307

Contact: Nancy Pins, h: 231-592-5251, w:231-796-6138, nancypins@charter.net

 

NEW***

Carson City

7681 E. Holland Lake Rd

Carson City, MI

Contact: Linda Limon, h: 989-235-4336, w: (between 7 AM-10:30 AM) 616-597-3220 x 8354 or 2071

llimon@ventra.us or llimon13@gmail.com

Charlevoix~ Your Service Plus                                                                                                           6643 Easter WoodMichelle@atyourserviceplus.com

East Jordan, MI 49727                                                                                                                  Contact: Michelle Nowka, c: 231-350-0751, h:231-536-2532, w:231-536-9668

Ionia

644 Woods Road

Orleans, MI  48865

Contact: Jenny Root, h: 616-527-9532 (after 3:00 PM),   c: 616-240-7256

Gumby63@charter.net

 

Ludington ~ Ludington Little House (trailer in parking lot)

1024 Olmstead St

Ludington, MI  49431

Contact: Pam Huether, 231-843-4814, phuether@charter.net

 

Manistee

1424 Timber Ridge

Manistee, MI  49660       

Contact: Renee Myers, 231-690-7340, myers1424@sbcglobal.net

 

Zeeland

954 64^th Avenue

Zeeland, MI  49464

Contact: Norma Dearborn, 616-688-5221, norma@towersunlimited.com

Cookies also available at our 3 GSMISTS Service Centers


STATION GUIDELINES

•      Please call  Cookie Station a day ahead & order your cookies so they can be prepared for you in advance. 
•      Please call the Cookie Station at least 4 days ahead for orders of 25 cases or more. As the sale winds down we may not have all varieties available.
•     Cookies must be taken by Troops in full cases of 12 packages each. 
•      Mixed cases of 12 packages each are available.
•       The big change for this year is that there will be no post-dated checks (and actually no checks being left at the stations at all).   Cookies taken from your Cookie Station will be paid for via the bank sweeps on April 5 (and again on April 17 for those taken after April 5). 
•       Station cookies are $2.95 per package or $35.40 per case until the Troop’s initial order is paid for.
•        If a Troop earns over $.55/ box proceeds an adjustment will be made from the amount due for the initial order.
•       There will be absolutely no returns of cookies. Damaged or defective cookies will be replaced.
•      Cookies purchased by the box will be $3.50 per box and not included for girl incentives.
•      The Troop Cookie Manager or Leader must allocate boxes of cookies taken from the Cookie Station to individual girls in the e-budde software to qualify for added incentives. This can be done any time after they are picked up but must be done before April 15, 2012. 

For Service Unit Product Managers ~ Delivery Info

Important Delivery Changes for this Cookie Season

The following post is for Service Unit Product Managers ONLY (not troop leaders)

This year, your deliveries will be handled a little bit differently with the hopes that we can better accommodate your busy schedules.  GSMISTS will not be taking your delivery preferences.  You will be contacting Corrigan directly to schedule your delivery.

Once you receive this email, you may begin contacting Corrigan Logistics to schedule your delivery.  They will have a pre-determined schedule with specific dates & times when they will be in your area.  You will be given a choice of these dates & time slots so you can schedule based on your convenience or availability.  These slots are on a first come first serve basis and there are a limited amount of cookie deliveries for each day.  This means; the more proactive you are in this, the more likely it will be for you to get the date/time you request.

Your point of contact will be:

Elyssa Van Dam

Corrigan Logistics

Direct: 616-827-9315

Toll Free: 800-829-0940 x3315

Email: evandam@corriganmoving.com

Cookie Info! Expos....Booth Sales... CCB... OH MY!

Expo signups will be done on eBudde this year.  You may reserve 1 time slot per troop, available on a 1st come, 1st serve basis.  Signups will begin this Tuesday, January 17th beginning at noon.   We have 3 expos available:  The Home & Garden Show (March 1-4), The Women's Expo (March 9-11) and The Cottage & Lakefront Living Expo (March 23-25).  These expos are in the Grand Rapids area, at the Devos Place.    If you know of an expo in your area, we are more than happy to support you and assist. 

Booth Sales- If your troop is ahead of the game and has already found a booth location; you may put that on eBudde now.  Just a reminder that Booth Sales do not begin until March 23!

Community Cookie Booth- We are working on securing locations for CCB Weekend (March 17-18) so those are not on eBudde yet.  Stay tuned for details!

Traverse City Kickoff TONS of fun!

We had such a great time up in Traverse City this past weekend for a council Cookie Kickoff.  The girls had a great time visiting the stations.  They played games, did a craft, learned how to talk to customers and more.  Cool prizes were awarded and the kickoff ended with an hour ice skating around an indoor rink!  I will post pictures soon.  A HUGE thank you goes out to the TC GSMISTS staff and volunteers who did a fabulous job!  It was great interacting with all the Girl Scouts, troop leaders and parents.

If you are interested in the Grand Rapids or Muskegon kickoffs happening this Saturday, just contact your nearest Retail & Product Sales Manager for details! 

 I am so excited about the 2012 Cookie Season!

Have you RSVP'd for the Council Cookie Kickoff?

Just a friendly reminder that our super spectacular Cookie Kickoffs are happening the following 2 Saturdays! We have tons of fun activities planned! Stations include: Goal Setting, Selling Skills, Cookie Tasting, Incentives, Technology, Retail Shop and Gift of Caring! We have amped up the "fun factor" and have games, tasty treats and a craft! You won't want to miss out! If you haven't RSVP'd yet- please take a minute to do so. You can attend as an individual, family or troop. Go on eBiz to reserve your spot or fill out a council activity form or email your nearest Retail & Product Sales Manager. Of course, we won't turn away anyone at the door but it helps us supply the correct amount of materials.... we don't want to run short! :)

*Don't forget your Girl & Adult Health History Form as well as the Parent Permission Form!

Details: January 7th ~ Traverse City Kickoff, held at the Traverse City Civic Center, 10 AM-12 PM. Afterward, ice skate for $2.50 (open to first 100 people to RSVP). Email: dlang@gsmists.org to RSVP and questions regarding the event.

 January 14th ~ Grand Rapids Kickoff, held at Celebration Cinemas South, 9 AM-11 AM. Afterward, see any movie of your choice (that day) for just $5.50! This rate is open to adults/Girl Scouts. (Free popcorn provided for Girl Scouts only) Email: tmyers@gsmists.org or jmichael@gsmists.org to RSVP and questions regarding the event.

January 14th ~ Muskegon Kickoff, held at the Sherman Bowling Center, 10 AM- noon. Bowl 1 game for just $2.50! Email: sellis@gsmists.org to RSVP and questions regarding the event.

January 21st ~ Alpena area troops will be holding their Cookie Kick-off, 1-4 pm during their skating time at the Hillman Community Center. This way the girls can come and go between the activities and skating. They will also hold another Cookie Kick-off for all other troops on February 4th from 1 - 4 pm so all troops in the area have a chance to have a Cookie Kick-off. There is no fee to attend the actual kickoff. The cost to rollerskate is $5. Pam Kotzian @ (989)742-4522 is the person to contact regarding registering for the skating portion. 200 girls can skate. Any other questions can be emailed to AlpenaGirlScouts@aol Cindy Ranshaw or call (989)464-2619 Evonne Jasman.