Cookie Booth Tips

Choosing Booth Locations

• Evaluate potential locations for safety, lighting, parking, visibility, inclement weather options (weather can be windy and/or rainy and cold = miserable girl scouts and low foot traffic) and APPROPRIATENESS for the age level (lots of cars and a small parking lot is a poor location for young Girl Scouts)
• Remember Girl Scout guidelines – Locations that promote smoking and alcohol use ARE NOT appropriate.
• Good locations may include:
• Grocery Stores, Sporting Events, Parks and playgrounds, Concerts and plays, Hardware stores, Video stores, Banks, Malls, car washes, quick oil change shops, places of worship, colleges, and drug stores (CVS, Rite Aid, etc).
• The Council will also be sharing booth locations on a first come, first served basis in eBudde after initial orders are submitted.

Cookie Booth Approval

Once you have found a location, have the contact person at the location sign the booth form (triplicate rectangular form).  Keep the other two copies and enter the info into eBudde for approval.  It is not official until your troop receives an approval email from eBudde.

*** Will eBudde or the Cookie Locator eliminate multiple troops from booking the same location at the same time?***

eBudde’s Booth Sites tab/LBB Cookie Locator is not intended to eliminate multiple troops from scheduling cookie booths at any particular location at the same time. Several stores have multiple doors and allow more than one troop to set up cookie booths on the same day at the same time. In instances like this, be courteous to your fellow Girl Scouts and act in a manner that reflects our mission and values. No one troop has any more right to a store than another when all have followed procedure and acquired a signed cookie booth permission form and confirmed details with the location. Allowing all girls and troops to have a positive experience in the Girl Scout Cookie Program should be the ultimate goal of all adults (volunteers and parents).

How Many Cookies Do I need?

Your troop cookie manual (big green guide) has a handy chart, but on average plan for about 10 cases per booth sale.  Always bring a few extra, and when choosing varieties, try to have plenty of the three most popular cookies (Thin Mints, Samoas, and Tag-Alongs) on hand.

Cookie Booth Operation

Review the Cookie Booth 101 info in the Big Green troop cookie manual, and/or review info on www.littlebrownie.com and Cookie VIP.

Cookie Booth Supplies

• Girl Scouts – girls should do the selling!
• Girl Scout Cookies
• Pencil/pens
• Money Box or other container (tool boxes make cheap and effective boxes, and you may want to give girls fanny packs for making change)
• Notebook & tally sheets (you can make a spreadsheet with cookie varieties, or just use plain paper)
• Table
• Chairs
• First Aid Kit
• Cookie Booth Poster(s) – Handmade by girls is best.  Cardboard covered in construction paper with wood rulers or dowels secured to the back made nice, stiff signs.  You can also make “sandwich board” signs for girls to wear, or check out or make a cookie costume!
• Donation Box – A tall clear plastic jar works well.
• Gift of Caring Poster & decorated donation box
• Cookies 4 Change poster
• Extra money for making change (you will be handed a lot of 20s – teach girls how to “check” the bills)
• Signed cookie booth permission form or eBudde confirmation for council sponsored locations (this helps resolve scheduling conflicts)
• Thank you notes/gift tags/business cards
• Ribbon or yarn to “bundle” cookies
• Flare/fun stuff – You can use pom-poms, empty cookie boxes, metallic signs/shapes, flags, ribbon, banners, and other cool things to draw attention to your booth.

Here’s some general DO’s and DON’T's

DO

Carry your signed Booth Sale Permission form with you (this can resolve conflicts at a location!)

Use a Fanny Pack for cash – it’s safer to have money physically on a person than in a box!

REMEMBER you are all GIRL SCOUTS – let that guide your behavior (for girls and ADULTS)

Use the change- making process a learning opportunity for your girls!

Follow the Cookie Booth Sale 101 guidelines

DON’T

Don’t’ choose a questionable location (where alcohol is primarily purchased like a Package store or Beverage Outlet)

Don’t forget SAFETY FIRST – Gas stations are good, but be certain you have a space far away from where cars are driven!

Speaking of cars – DO NOT have girls walk up to a car to sell.  If a person drives up and does not want to get out of a car, have an ADULT approach them.

Visit www.riverwoodgs.org/cookies/ for more cookie info from Riverwood Service Unit.

www.littlebrownie.com has links to all Cookie tools/sites and free clip art, flyers, and resources as well as videos and info for everyone.