If you have fond memories of hearing your doorbell ring and seeing young girls sell you cookies, you can thank the Girl Scouts. The Girl Scouts of the USA is an organization known to promote good values among young girls across the country. One of these values is entrepreneurship through their Girl Scout Cookie Program. Through this project, girl scouts sell different types of unique cookies in their local neighborhoods for $5 a box. That begs the question: how much money does Girl Scouts make?
How much money does Girl Scouts make on cookies?
The Girl Scouts USA earns around $800 million in cookie sales every year. Don’t get it wrong: the girl scouts who actually sell you cookies don’t keep the money they earn. The money goes to the Girl Scout organization and is used to fund their different programs.
According to the official Girl Scouts organization’s website:
- 54% of their funds go into the organization’s programs, trainings, services, and volunteer support;
- 24% go into the Girl Scout Cookie Program;
- and 22% go into girl scout troop proceeds and rewards.
These breakdowns can change depending on the council handling the profits. But, Girl Scouts USA continues to assure that 100% of all profits are used to continue supporting its programs and its Girl Scout members.
How do Girl Scouts sell cookies?
Girl Scout Cookie selling generally happens every year, starting January until April. Girl scouts are encouraged to think of creative ways to sell their cookies in their local neighborhoods, as they all do their best to have the highest sales among other girl scouts.
Girl scouts are recognized through contests like Cookie Booth of the Week, where girl scouts can submit photos of their selling booths to show off their creative designs.
Can I order Girl Scout Cookies online?
Yes! Girl Scouts launched an online platform called Digital Cookie. Girl scouts can accept customers who choose to avail cookies through Digital Cookie. They can also accept payments through an E-card or direct link.
Remember: only registered Girl Scouts are allowed to sell the official girl scouts cookies. Be sure to find the Girl Scout council closest to you and inquire about buying the cookies you want!
What are the Girl Scouts?
The Girl Scouts are an organization dedicated to teaching young girls values such as compassion, leadership, and entrepreneurship. Girls aged 7-18 can become girl scouts to participate in the organization’s different activities. Besides the Cookie Program, these include camping and community service programs.
Any girl can participate as a Girl Scout! They can choose to join a troop with other girl scouts in her area. Girl scouts are also given different badges and awards. These are given after scouts complete different achievements and learn new skills.
There are an estimated 1.7 million Girl Scouts in the USA alone. There are other Girl Scout organizations in various countries as well.
What cookies do the Girl Scouts sell?
As of 2022, there are 12 different Girl Scout Cookie flavors available. Not all flavors are available in all regions in the United States.
- Raspberry Rally: chocolate-coated raspberry cookies
- Adventurefuls: brownie-flavored cookies with caramel-flavored creme
- Toast-Yay!: French toast-flavored cookies, dipped in icing
- Thin Mints: Considered the best selling girl scout cookies; chocolate cookies coated with mint-flavored chocolate
- Caramel Delites: Also known as Samoas; cookies with coconut, chocolate, and caramel
- Peanut Butter Patties: Also known as Tagalongs; cookies with layered with peanut butter and covered with chocolate
- Peanut Butter Sandwich: Also known as Do-si-Dos; oatmeal cookies with peanut butter filling
- Trefoils: Shortbread cookies, inspired by the original Girl Scout cookie recipe
- Caramel Chocolate Chip: Chewy cookies with caramel and chocolate chips. Also gluten-free!
- Lemonades: Lemon-flavored cookies with lemon-flavored icing
- Girl Scout S’mores: Graham cookies with chocolate and marshmallow filling
- Toffee-tastic: Butter cookies with bits of toffee
According to Girl Scouts USA, the best-selling cookies are Thin Mints, Peanut Butter Patties (a.k.a Tagalongs), and Caramel Delites (a.k.a Samoas).
Though Girl Scouts can’t necessarily earn their own money, the program and organization are still greatly important in encouraging young girls to learn life skills that they’ll use in the future. Entrepreneurship, leadership, and passion are values that should be passed on to the youth. And it can most certainly be done through selling cookies!
