Community Cookie Booth Weekend ~ Troop Instructions

GIRL SCOUTS OF MICHIGAN SHORE TO SHORE

COMMUNITY COOKIE BOOTH DAY - TROOP PROCEDURES 2012

Community Cookie Booths are designed to accomplish the following goals:

1. Provide a venue for troops, especially those that have never hosted a cookie booth, to learn that it is a fun way to increase troop proceeds after the initial order.

2. Create visibility for our girls, our program, our council and the cookie sale program in local communities.

3. Partner with local media to send customers in to the streets to find cookie booths.

Thank you for signing up for a Community Cookie Booth!

Please remember the following important safety guidelines:

·         There must be at least two adults present with girls at all times.

·         Girls must be supervised and controlled at all times, including restroom trips.

·         The troop leader/volunteer in charge must have written permission for each girl to participate.  

·         Keep the money secure at all times.

·         Remember to watch all transactions as you will be responsible to pay for all cookies less than the starting inventory.

·         Make sure everyone eats before you arrive – do not plan to eat at your booth.

On the day of the Community Cookie Booth you will:

·         Bring change – Do not rely on the store location for change. Suggested amount is at least one roll of quarters, 20 ones, and 4 fives for a total of $50.00. If you have plastic grocery bags they are often helpful for bigger sales. If you accept a check please make sure to get the phone number and Drivers License number.

·         Please arrive about 15 minutes before your scheduled time. Be patient if the staff person is not on time – traffic and unexpected problems can happen. Leave some wiggle room in your schedule. Do not leave until you check-out with the staff person.

·         Dress for the weather, most locations are outside.

·         Have the girls make posters to bring or photo collages to show customers your troop activities.

·         Bring your goal poster!

·         Teach girls to ask each customer who buys cookies if they would like to buy a Gift of Caring box to donate to a local charity. The customer pays for the cookies but you will keep them to donate. The girls can give the cookies to who they choose. Keep Gift of Caring cookies in a separate place. The troop could decorate a box or basket to collect Gift of Caring packages.

·         Be a good role model and show the best possible image of Girl Scouts – you and the volunteers with you may never smoke near the booth or near girls. Do not curse, or yell at the girls. If a girl is behaving badly, call the parent to come and retrieve the child.

·         Follow all instructions from store staff without complaining.

·         Remember it is not a right to have a booth. Allowing us to be there is a big favor the store is doing for us.

·         Count and sign for the cookies at the start of your booth. Count and sign for the number left at the end of the booth. Pay $2.85 for each box difference. Earn $.65 per package sold.

·         A Girl Scout leaves a place cleaner than she found it.

·         Questions before the day of the sale: Contact Jered (Grand Rapids) 616-784-3341 X 124 jmichael@gsmists.org, Sally (Muskegon) 231-744-4774 x 202 sellis@gsmists.org and Deb (Traverse City) 231-947-7354, dlang@gsmists.org. 

There will be GSMISTS staff members checking troops in and out. 

If you need more cookies or have a problem ask your check-in GSMISTS Staff Contact first. 

Secondary, contact your nearest service center

Grand Rapids Service Center: 616-784-3341

Muskegon Service Center: 231-744-4774

Traverse City Service Center: 231-947-7354

Community Cookie Booth FAQs

Will troops be responsible for unsold cookies on Community Booth Day? No. the troop will schedule a block of time at a specific location. They will bring at least two adults, a signed permission form for each girl and money to make change. The cookies, a table and a sign will be there for them.

How much will troops earn at the Community Cookie Booth Day? Troops will earn $.65 per package of cookies sold. At the end of their time block they will inventory cookies, calculate the difference between the starting number and the ending number. The troop will pay $2.85 for the number of packages difference. (Yes, this means if they made an error they will still pay for the cookies that are gone.) The troop will leave with proceeds in hand.

Will cookies sold at the Community Booth Day be used to calculate incentives for the girls that attend? No. The cookies sold on March 17 & 18 will not count towards incentives or cookie dough.  Booths held after delivery starts will count towards girl incentives and cookie dough.

Can troops sell Gift of Caring boxes during Community Booth Day? Yes, troops can suggest that customers purchase additional cookies to donate to a Gift of Caring charity or suggest Gift of Caring purchases for those with dietary or health issues.

Why are there no booths scheduled in small towns? This project relies on staff to be responsible for the cookie inventory and there are not enough staff to be in every small town. Travel time is also a consideration.

Happy Selling!!!!  J

Fun Cookie PR Events happening this Saturday and Monday!

Traverse City:
If you are in the Traverse City area on Saturday, please pop by the Cherry Capital Winter WOW! Fest.  An area troop will be decked out in cookie costumes, passing out Girl Scout cookie information.   The WOW! Fest has everything from an ice cream eating contest to a frozen cherry pit spit contest!  It is going to be one fun weekend with activities for kids as well as adults.  Come on out and support Girl Scouts while having a family-fun weekend! 

http://www.winterwowfest.com/

Grand Rapids:
This Monday, Feb. 20th, make a stop out to Woodland Mall.  Girl Scouts and Michigan Blood are partnering together on a Cookie Blood Drive.  The Blood Drive will be next to Express down the Sears wing, 3:30-7:30 PM.  2 troops will be on hand, in cookie costumes with cookie info for the public.  After giving blood, donors will receive a Girl Scout cookie.  We will also be doing some fun giveaways.  Make a stop to the mall to support Girl Scouts and give blood too!

http://shopwoodlandmall.com/calendar/event/13501

What selling Girl Scout cookies teaches you about business

By: Laura Vanderkam

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505125_162-57376447/what-selling-girl-scout-cookies-teaches-you-about-business/?tag=mncol;lst;6


(MoneyWatch) 
The Girl Scouts are celebrating their 100th anniversary this year. Though the cookies didn't come until later, this annual fundraiser is what the Girl Scouts are probably best known for, and at this point, millions of girls have gotten an early lesson in business by hawking them. Among my take-aways from a scouting stint years ago:


1. The most likely sale is to an existing customer. I had one lady who bought about 20 boxes from me one year. I made sure to call her up the next year to get that order logged fast. These days, likewise, I know that people I've worked with before are better bets than hunting for new prospects. If I want more work, I call them first.


2. There's no accounting for taste. I don't particularly like Think Mints, but they were always my biggest seller, so I made sure to mention them when people asked what kinds of cookies we were selling. Likewise, I'm not particularly fond of lists like "22 Things To Do During That Boring Conference Call," but those are always my most read posts. So I write them.


3. Cold calling isn't as awful as it sounds. My best friend and I went door to door through our neighborhood, alternating who would get each sale. There were, indeed, some questionable people who answered the doors (one reason I suspect many parents don't encourage door-to-door selling now) but in a team, and always smiling, we racked up some serious sales that way. Whenever I'm nervous about picking up the phone, I remember that it usually turns out fine.


4. Internal motivation is great, but sales targets are motivational too. One year, as I neared sales of 200 boxes (then costing $2/each), I became incredibly fixated on crossing that mark. Seeing that neat number on my total, and counting up $400 in cash and checks, was so much nicer than counting up $396. These days, I know that setting a specific, numerical goal (a certain number of blog readers, book sales, newsletter subscribers, etc.) tends to have a focusing effect. Even if I like the work for its own sake, too.


5. Connections matter, but they're not everything. Some girls sold cookies largely by having their parents take the sign-up form to their offices. That can work, but those girls weren't necessarily our troop's top sellers. Smart scouts learn that customers prefer to buy directly from the girl the sale is benefiting. If you want to be well-connected, you can make your own connections.


What did you learn by selling Girl Scout cookies?

Fun Cookie PR Opportunity for the Traverse City area

Earn cookie proceeds!  Participate in an ice cream eating contest!  Do a frozen cherry pit spit! 

We have an excellent opportunity for troops to participate in the Winter WOWfest in Traverse City this Saturday.

A troop or 2 can pass out cookie postcards directing the public to purchase cookies at the TC Service Center.  Troops will then get those proceeds. 

In addition to earning cookie proceeds, troops can participate in  The Brain Freeze Ice Cream Eating Contest!  How cool is that?
We have a morning or afternoon slot and will have cookie costumes available.  If interested- please contact Deb Lang within the next 24 hours.  dlang@gsmists.org or 231-947-7354 x 222.

http://www.winterwowfest.com/

Cookie Booth Etiquette 101

Just a reminder that when you secure your own booth sale location (March 23-April 15), you must have Girl Scouts!  We had a few instances last year where only the adults showed up to man the booth. Girls must be present and selling the cookies. 

Also- you may begin reserving your own personal booths anytime.  Just remember to post them to eBudde for council approval.  This way, we can help advertise your cookie booth as well as avoid any duplicate scheduling errors.

Community Cookie Booth weekend is March 17-18.  You can reserve your booth space beginning February 20th on eBudde.

Thank you and happy selling!

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.