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Frequently Asked
Questions
Q: How can I purchase Girl Scout cookies?
A:
From mid-February, Girl Scouts set up cookie booths
throughout the community. From February until March you can check local stores and businesses on
weekends or visit our booth locations
page to find a Girl Scout troop
who can inform you about our eight delicious varieties and help you
stock up on your favorite. Remember, Girl Scout Cookies are only
available six weeks of every year, and Girl Scout Cookies freeze
well! If you can't find Girl Scouts at your local stores, call
1-800-YUM-YUM2 (800-986-9862). Leave a message with your name, phone
number, and location and we will attempt to find a Girl Scout troop
in your area that can sell you the cookies you want.
Q: When I buy Girl Scout cookies, where does the money go?
A:
With every purchase, approximately 70 percent of the proceeds stays
in the local Girl Scout council to provide a portion of the
resources needed to support Girl Scouting in that area, including a
portion that goes directly to the troop/group selling the cookies.
The balance goes directly to the baker to pay for the cookies.
Q: Why do Councils receive some of the proceeds?
A:
Councils use proceeds to provide essential services to our members.
Program resources, travel opportunities, volunteer training, camp
experiences at four owned and operated properties, insurance,
communication, and staff support are all provided to a troop through
the council structure. Financial aid is also underwritten through
council funds. Proceeds make it possible to keep fees at a minimum
while ensuring a high quality, safe experience for all. All of the
money girls earn remains in our council and the community where the
cookies are sold.
Q: How does the cookie revenue benefit girls?
A:
All of the revenue — every penny after paying the baker — earned
from cookie activities stays within the Girl Scouts of the
Chesapeake Bay, including a portion that goes directly to the
troop/group selling cookies. We use the cookie revenue to supply
essential services to troops, groups, and individual girls, such as
providing program resources and communication support, training
adult volunteers, and conducting special events.
Q: What portion of the cookie revenue is shared with the troop/group selling
cookies?
A:
an individual troop/group receives from 16-21 percent of the
purchase price of each box sold. The troop holds the money earned in
its treasury, and its girl members vote on how to use that money.
Q: Is the purchase of Girl Scout cookies® tax-deductible?
A: No and Yes.
• No, if the customer keeps the cookies. Individuals who buy Girl Scout cookies®
and take the cookies home, or consume them, have purchased a product at a fair
market value. For this reason, no part of the price of a box of Girl Scout
cookies used in this way is tax-deductible.
• Yes, if the customer leaves the cookies with Girl Scouts. Many Girl Scouts ask
customers to pay for one or more boxes of cookies for use in their community
service project, for example, collecting for a food pantry. The customers not
receiving any Girl Scout cookies® do not benefit directly from paying for them.
Those individuals may treat the purchase price of the donated cookies as a
charitable contribution.
Individuals with specific questions should seek advice from a tax accountant.
Q: Does any part of the cookie revenue go to support organizations other than
Girl Scouts?
A: No. Absolutely none of the money from any Girl Scout council-sponsored
cookie sale is given to any other group.
All of the revenue — every penny after paying for the cookies — from all cookie
sale activities supports the Girl Scouts of the Chesapeake Bay, including the
portion that goes directly to the troop/group selling cookies. The purpose of
selling cookies is to help girls develop a wide range of skills and to generate
revenue to support Girl Scouting locally.
All of the proceeds from the sale of Girl Scout cookies® goes to support girls
in Girl Scouting. No money is given to any organization other than Girl Scouts.
Q: What do girls learn from selling cookies?
A:
For many girls, the Cookie Program is their first experience in
setting goals and working with others as a team. Girls learn to meet
and greet people, keep accurate financial records and follow through
on a commitment. Girls have fun while building self-confidence and
learning important life skills.
Q: How does the Cookie Program benefit the community?
A:
The community receives an enormous benefit they may not even be
aware of. By supporting its local girls’ dreams, it’s investing in
its own future. These girls build self-confidence and skills that
will help them achieve something special in the real world, they
will become thriving, resourceful citizens. And, because they learn
thru Girl Scouts to help their community, these successful women
will give back to their community what their community once gave to
them.
Q: Who selects the cookie varieties?
A: Licensed bakers can offer up to eight varieties of Girl Scout cookies®;
only three types are mandatory: Thin Mints, Do-si-dos™ and Trefoils. The
national Girl Scout organization reviews and approves all varieties proposed by
the bakers. Any of the five optional cookies can be changed every year.
Suggestions for new cookies are welcome, but the national Girl Scout
organization can make no promise to use them.
Q: What are the sizes, quantities and prices of Girl Scout cookies®?
A: Girl Scout cookies® are sold by weight, not by size or number. The number
and size of cookies may vary by variety. The national Girl Scout organization,
Girl Scouts of the USA, monitors the weights of the cookies, which are set by
contract.
Girl Scout cookies sell for different prices in different areas of the country.
Each of the 316 local Girl Scout councils has the right to set its own price
based on its needs and knowledge of the local market. Today's prices, currently
$2.50 to $4.00 per box, depending on location, reflect both the current cost of
cookies and the realities of providing Girl Scout activities in an ever-changing
economic environment.
Q: Are all Girl Scout cookies® kosher?
A:
Yes. All Girl Scout cookies® are kosher.
Q: What if I'm not satisfied with my cookies?
A:
Contact the Girl Scouts of the Chesapeake Bay, if for any reason you
are not satisfied with a box of Girl Scout cookies® you purchased.
Volunteers or staff at the council will be glad to help you.
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