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A couple of nights ago, I was having dinner with a couple of people, when the topic of Girl Scout cookies came up. We all had stories about friends and co-workers who have convinced, cajoled and harrassed us into buying a box or two and eventually someone asked, "where are the actual Girl Scouts who are supposed to be selling the cookies?"As a child, my parents always insisted that if my sister and I were to participate in a fundraising event that included selling things, we had to sell them ourselves. They refused to take cookies and candy into their workplaces and shill for us. We had to trudge around the neighborhood on our own to make our sales. We were both always so jealous of the friends who could simply have their father take the sales sheet into the office and come home that night with the sales quota met.
According to an article on CNN.com, the Girl Scouts of America actually stress that cookie sales should be done by the girls* themselves, however, most people recognize that fundraisers like this one often require a great deal of parental participation.
What's your take on fundraising sales like Girl Scout cookies and school candy sales? Should parents participate, or should the kids be the ones to do the work?
*I would like to note that Scott and I bought two boxes of cookies this year from actual Brownies, who were stationed just outside a local grocery store. However, it was the first time in years that either of us had encountered any real scouts.
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2-04-2009 @6:36PM LinC said... Since any sale raises money for the Girl Scouts, I don't think I care how the cookies are sold. I went door to door selling candy for the Camp Fire Girls, but that was in the 1960's when it was a lot safer.
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2-04-2009 @6:56PM Alison Ashton said... I know, my parents used to make us sell our own stuff--toffee for Camp Fire Girls, fruitcake for band (and that was a hard sell!). Of course, it was the '60s & '70s and safer, etc. But I think a parent slapping an order form on the counter at work is just flat-out lazy. But I think the kids should play some role in this, whether it's delivering the goodies when they arrive, or whatever. I know it's more work for the parents, but, hey, you're parents and it comes with the territory.
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2-04-2009 @8:08PM Amber said... I was a girl scout and I sold cookies when I was a kid. I used to think that the money the cookies brought in went to the troops. Well, the majority of it does not. Troops get very little money from their hard work selling those cookies. The money goes to the people who run the organization, and the troops see a tiny percentage of the profits. This is how all of the Girl Scout fund raisers work. It ticks me off to no end because my mom has volunteered as the head of the Girl Scout troops in her area for the past 20 years, and they are always looking for donations because they get so little back from selling cookies (and lots and lots of them) and the other fund raisers! Buy the cookies if you like to eat them, but don't buy them thinking that it is a great monetary donation to the Girl Scout troop.
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2-04-2009 @9:46PM RobynT said... I remember going door-to-door to do fundraising as a kid (in the '80s/'90s). My parents would wait on the sidewalk and send my brother and/or I to the door.
However, I do not need any convincing to buy Girl Scout cookies! I count on one of my profs to sell them to me every year. (Of course it is probably different if you are around a lot of scouts [or parents] and feel pressured by all of them.)
As for other ways to get kids involved, my mother has received thank you cards from her coworkers children after buying fundraising items from them. I think that is a good practice as far as giving the kid some responsibility. And I remember my little sister organizing the cookie boxes into piles and bags to facilitate delivery when she was a Girl Scout.
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2-04-2009 @11:25PM Kassie said... I hated cookie time when I was a girl scout. My mom didn't work and my dad was self employed so no one could bring them to work for me. All the other girls sold hundreds of boxes and I sold 10.
One year I decided to go door to door and ran into some seriously inappropriate behavior-- people swearing at me, men in just boxers, doors slamming- so I stopped.
I always wonder what about the girls who live in poverty. Do they make them sell the cookies? Mom and Dad, possibly with limited English skills, must feel like they have to buy them, but they can't afford a seriously overpriced box of cookies. Girl Scouts doesn't take food stamps. How do those troops do? How do they get any money?
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2-05-2009 @12:54AM doodoolemonque said... You always take a risk when you donate unless you do the research to know exactly what % goes to the cause and what % goes to admin costs. And by the way, all those so called "honor boxes" where you put in a quarter and take a mint or candy roll....none of that goes to the national charity whose name is on the box. Those are placed by distributors who buy the right to use the charity's name. The distributors badger and shame store owners to allow them to place the boxes and keep every penny themselves, minus the cost of the rights.
Also, I don't think it was any safer years ago for kids to go door to door. Dangerous behavior was just less reported and many sex attacks were just not reported due to... well, lets just say, thankfully what really has changed is a woman's right to defend herself without shame.
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2-05-2009 @9:33AM Monica said... As a Girl Scout Leader, I'd like to chime in :)
I have something pretty unusual. 26 teenaged Girl Scouts. This year, we are taking a trip to Niagara Falls so cookies are really important!
I'd like to clear a couple things up. Yes, girls should be selling the cookies, but I don't think there is anything wrong with their parents supporting their efforts. If folks are badgering and harassing you, that's out of line no matter what they are selling.
Cookies make much more for the girls than one might think. We're making .75 a box. That may not seem like a lot BUT to date, we've cleared over $4000.
In addition to the $ the troop makes, the council also makes a chunk of money ... and they NEED to. Without them making money, they could not pay the mortgages on the facilities and camps. They couldn't pay the salaries of those employed to handled registration and recruitment, those who run programs and summer camp, nor the shop where we get all of our badges, and such. They also couldn't pay the ranger to come out in the middle of the night because a pipe burst in the cabin or because someone needs to be "rescued" because a raccoon is in their tent.
As far as kids who live in world where they aren't sure where their next meal comes from, cookies are doubly important. There are opportunities all over to do cookie booths (standing in front of a grocery store). Aside from the money their troop makes from the cookie sale, council also uses a portion of the money they make for financial aid and camperships. Thanks to cookies, these kids are able to go to camp, have a uniform, and do things with their troop that they may otherwise never experience.
When doing door to door sales, it is required that an adult be present.
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2-05-2009 @9:35AM Marisa McClellan said... Thanks Monika, for adding the troop leader perspective. It's helpful to know where the money goes, that it benefits the girls who sell and what the rules are in regard to selling cookies.
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2-05-2009 @2:03PM JustaTech said... As a former scout I sold door-to-door (mid 90's), and my parents never took the sheet into work until they were asked by their co-workers. (I always delivered in uniform.)
Now I don't get girls coming door-to-door (I live in the city) but at the grocery store I try to buy from the oldest girls I can find. Brownies are cute, and anyone will buy from them, but the older girls have a harder time making sales.
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2-05-2009 @7:54PM Rachelle said... 15 years ago, I was involved in several fundraisers a year for middle school and high school band and choir. My parents would each take one fundraiser a year to work, no more. The rest was up to me -- selling to teachers, church, friends, and a very limited amount of door-to-door. I paid for an entire trip with fundraiser money one year.
I agree that it's good for parents to help and be involved in their kids' activities, but they shouldn't do all the work for them. When it comes time for my own children to do fundraisers, I'll make them go door-to-door just like I did, but I'll go with them.
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2-10-2009 @5:58PM Jozet at Halushki said... I'm also a troop leader. And yes, Council need the money to run camps and provide training programs. Girl Scouts camps are still one of the best deals around because they are subsidized by the Councils. Also, we have girls in our troop who are economically strapped; without help from Council (and the pooled money from all cookie sales) these girls would most likely not have scouting available to them.
However, before buying cookies - from parents or scouts - please make sure to find out how that money will be spent by the troop. Some troops still do things like use the money to go on shopping sprees at the local mall, or to go on trips that exclude girls who don't bring in enough cookie money. Some girls know how to sell, some don't. Some have parental support for selling, some don't. If adults in the scouts life aren't coaching them or encouraging them, then these girls should not be held back from all scouting offers just because they don't have innate selling skills.
My take on it:
http://www.halushki.com/2008/12/redistribute-wealth-my-hot-green-butt.html
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3-12-2009 @7:22PM Barack Obama said... There's nothing wrong with parents taking cookie order forms to the office, but the girls should be making an effort, too. It's one thing to get a few more boxes from the workplace; it's an entirely different matter when the cookies are sold by the parents.
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4-06-2009 @4:56PM Sarah said... Have been a girl scout and also a consumer of girl scout cookies I am all for parents bringing the cookie orders to work. I haven't had a chance in the last few years to order any cookies because I haven't lived in places easily accessible to girl scouts (locked apartment buildings, dorm rooms) and work is the only place that I've gotten a chance to purchase my favorite cookies.
As a girl scout it was always much easier to have my mom bring the sheet or candy or whatever it was to work because at work people have much more contact with a large group of people in a small area. I don't think parents need to go out of their way to get sales, but simply having the order form visible will get a bunch of sales from coworkers. I believe the girls should also be going door to door, but as has been mentioned this is not considered safe and girl scouts are advised not to do this alone, but with parents. Going door to door is even more work and time consuming for parents than simply bringing the sheet to work.
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