My Annual Treatise on Girl Scout Cookies

[Updated for the 2023 cookie season] Every year around this time I share a rant about Girl Scout cookies via my social media channels. Often it is in response to some inflammatory clickbait article or online misinformation. I do it because they are good cookies and I love the addictive Thin Mints, and the Samoas (Carmel Delights to some) are like a cookie and a candy bar had a baby. Yum. Take it from Cookie Monster. He knows. But mostly I get on this soapbox because the majority of Americans don’t get the big picture when it comes to the cookie sale or understand what you are paying for when you buy that box of Girl Scout Cookies.

Heads up folks — GIRL SCOUT COOKIES ARE A FUND RAISER. They are not a ‘pyramid scheme’. They don’t ‘cause obesity’. They aren’t ‘child labor’. Buying Girl Scout cookies is an investment in the life of a girl. Plain and simple. Every box you purchase invests around 70% directly into your local Girl Scout council. It pays for council operations, staff, volunteer training, camp and facilities, scholarships and camper-ships for low-income girls, STEM education programs, life-changing travel experiences and Troop operations. In fact the cookie sale supports 50-75% of council operations. That is why it only costs $25 per year to be a Girl Scout and they are able to provide free and discounted memberships for low-income girls to participate. All girls are welcome, and in my opinion Girl Scouts has the highest impact per dollar of any youth organization — period. I have never seen anyone stretch a dollar further than a Girl Scout volunteer.

Dating back to 1917, the Girl Scout cookie sale leveraged one of the few resources available to women and girls to earn money at that time — bake sales. It worked and so they shared the idea with other Troops around the US and it took off. As a result Girl Scouts — the largest organization for girls in the world — recently passed the 110 year mark and remains almost completely self supporting. That one cookie sale — just 6 weeks per year — funds 46 weeks of Girl Scout program. And you get to eat them. Not bad ROI. Ever notice that Girl Scouts isn’t bugging you for donations every 3 months? THAT IS BECAUSE THEY ARE OUT IN THE WORLD BEING GIRL SCOUTS, thanks to the money they EARNED selling cookies. Ask any of the 59M adult women in the US who are Girl Scout alumnae and they can tell you the value of the Girl Scout experience.

I buy from every Girl Scout that asks me.

At least one box. I ask the girl — not the parents — to tell me what she plans to do with the earnings. Sometimes its camp, or a trip, or money for a service project in the community. The what is unimportant. Each time she shares her plans and her sales pitch, she is learning to present. She is learning to make a compelling argument. She is learning to stand on her own two feet, be confident and lead. She is also learning customer service, learning to count money and make change or in many cases process a credit card (I know, right????), and she is learning about entrepreneurship and sales.

I round up. You should too.

In my council cookies are $4 a box (the price varies nationwide). I round up to $5 and here is why: the Girl Scout Troop directly earns .50 per box. By rounding up to $5, my price increases 25%, but the troop profit increases 200% (and that $1 is tax deductible if you itemize). So, for the cost of a latte I can invest $2.80 in my local Girl Scout council, directly invest $1.50 in an individual Girl Scout troop’s activities, help a girl meet her goal, and still get a box of delicious cookies. Do you know how popular you become when you have a box of Thin Mints on hand? Priceless. If you really don’t want to buy the cookies, then just give the Troop $2, a smile and a few words of encouragement.

You don’t have to eat them.

You probably will. I’m not judging. I will probably have my fair share of cookies this season too. But in the rare case that you don’t want to or can’t eat them, here are some ideas:

1. Donate the box back to the troop to go to the food bank, service projects, etc. Ask the girls what they will use it for. They will tell you.
2. Freeze them for later. Believe me NOTHING is more valuable than an off season box of Girl Scout cookies. Also, Thin Mints make a killer crust for a holiday chocolate mint pie.
3. Share them at work/school/etc. It will help you make friends and influence people.
4. Use them like an additional tip for service workers. I fly a lot, so during cookie season I often gift a box for the flight attendants and pilot to share. I once made the day of a TSA agent with a box of Samoas.
5. Girl Scout cookies make great gifts. Keep a few on hand for hostess gifts, thank you gifts, etc. They are always a hit. (Conference organizers — a box or two of cookies wrapped up with a bow makes very popular and appreciated, yet low cost speaker gift.)

Girl Scouts knows their stuff.

Full disclosure, I worked at Girl Scouts for 7 years — both in a Council and at the national HQ and I’m a lifetime member, so I have some insider knowledge. More than most anyway. No organization is perfect, and certainly no organization at this scale is going to get everything right, every time, nor can they satisfy everyone all the time. Nonetheless, they are consistently there working hard for every girl, in every zip code. Girl Scouts has been at this for over a century and their mission to create strong, self-reliant, confident girls has remained unchanged. They have 110 years of tried and true experience and institutional knowledge on how to provide a safe, welcoming, inclusive environment for girls of all backgrounds to explore their interests — whatever they may be. Girl Scouts has created more women leaders than any other organization in history including 83% of Governors, 75% of Senators, and 53% of Members of Congress. Read the Girl Scout Law, it really says it all.

If you have made it this far and still are anti-cookie sale for whatever reason — there is something else you can do. Donate. The more contributions they get, the less they have to depend on product sales to carry out their mission. Or volunteer. There are over 30K girls on a waiting list right now because there are not enough adults stepping up to lead (men are welcome too), and with their new suite of computer science, cyber security and engineering badges there is a need for volunteers with technical skills. That could be you.

If you are looking for cookies, download the Girl Scout Cookie Finder app on iPhone or iPad/Android or search by zip code here.