“Is it true that it is better to make a charitable donation to the Girl Scout troupe since they only get a portion of the proceeds from the cookie sales. If I write a check do the troupe get to keep 100% of it? I am also told that you can buy cookies to be donated to the troops.”
@raclut - That’s what I used to do once I found out how little each Girl Scout troop gets per box.
I also never understood the timing of GS cookie sales. Why sell them in January, right after the holidays, when everyone has overindulged and many have made resolutions to eat better and/or lose weight. The timing never made sense to me.
Different councils in different parts of the country sell cookies at different times of the year. Ten years ago my council sold them right before christmas. I just saw a story that troops in southern Illinois (or Indiana?) used to sell them in September (until 2012, when they switched to january.)
Yeah, going door to door selling in January with my kids was not fun, but since they were into it, I went along. Some areas of the country sell other times of year.
I was a troop leader and have been in charge of the cookie sale for the whole school district (30+ troops) The cookies came in a tractor trailer and we had to find a place (fire hall) to unload them and sort for all the troops. Then I had to deal with all the cookie moms, some of whom were math and form-filling challenged.
Our troops a few years ago got 50 or 55 cents a box.
On average, Girl Scout council net revenue is approximately 65–75 percent of the local retail price, and the amount that is shared with participating Girl Scout troops and groups, referred to as troop proceeds, is approximately 10–20 percent of the local retail price. Cookie program revenue is a critical source of funding for local Girl Scout councils, and it is often what makes it possible to serve girls in hard-to-serve areas, and maintain camps and properties.
I took the above from the GS website. So a local troop gets only 10-20 per cent of the retail price. But hopefully funds will help troops in more rural spots. Or at least that is the theory.
I personally would give 20 bucks directly to the troop. The scout leader seemed to appreciate that more, less costly for me and saved a ton of calories.