Volunteer 411Fall - Winter 2018-2019

Girl Scouts are known for their infectious, go-getter attitudes. In 2019, we are celebrating their spirit and all the ways they are daring, creative and innovative, and how they find their own type of bold in the Girl Scout cookie sale. When a girl sells Girl Scout cookies, she is participating in the largest business run by girls the world. And she learns goal setting, decision making, money management, people skills. and business ethics - aspects essential to leadership and success.

Before the Girl Scout Cookie Sale: A Troop leader recruits a troop cookie manager and works with them to facilitate the cookie sale for the girls in the troop. Troop cookie managers and leaders should work together in deciding whether or not to hold a booth sale and the dates and times for booth sales. After December 10, all troop leaders have access to ebudde, the online troop cookie ordering system. After the sale, troop leaders should make sure that the troop cookie sale manager has deposited all the earned cookie sale proceeds into the troop bank account.

Troop Gift of Caring: Troops choose a local organization to whom to donate cookies. Girls ask customers to purchase 1-2 packages to donate to this local organization. Girls receive the cookies and donate them.

Little Brownie Bakers provides resources to help girls and troops have the best and most successful cookie sale ever!

Girl Scout Built By Me Cookie Planner: With options to fit all interests and schedules, this online tool helps you easily guide girls in planning a customized troop plan for an incredible cookie experience from start to finish. It’s as simple as taking a short quiz!

Girl Scouts Cookie Rookie: Working with girls who are new to the Girl

Scout cookie program? Help make their first steps delightful ones! Start their cookie journey with a fun, 10 minute video that explains the basics to younger girls, along with a leader’s guide.

These resources (and more!) can be found online at:littlebrowniebakers.com

Encourage your girls and parents to create a Digital Cookie webpage! Parents will find it easier than ever to create a Digital Cookie webpage with their daughters thanks to help sections and step-by-step instructions. Parents will

receive a Digital Cookie registration email link in early December.

Girls who used Digital Cookie in 2018 had a 175 per girl selling average compared to the Council average of 148 for girls who use only traditional sales methods. Digital sales doubled last year, and girl participation and customers’ orders also increased dramatically. Customers purchased an average of 7.2 packages per customer compared to traditional sales of 4.9 packages.

Customers pay with credit card when placing their order. There are no additional credit card processing fees to customers, unless they choose to have cookies shipped to them, rather than personally delivered.

• December 2018: Girls may take orders fromfamily members and close family friendsover the holiday (personal Facebook sitesincluded.) No door-to-door or in-personsales or order cards to work until ThursdayJanuary 10.

• January 4: Girls can use Digital Cookie tosend emails to potential customers tosolicit sales.

• January 10 - Girls begin door-to-door sales.

2019 Cookie Booth SaleWeekends February 16 - March 31

2019 Cookie Pro Contest

24 top cookie entrepreneurs - four per grade level - will win a trip to sunny California for a Cookie Entrepreneur Experience that includes meet-and-greet opportunities with prominent

business leaders, a special recognition event, and a VIP tour of Warner Bros. Studios with a behind-the-scenes look at the DC Super Hero Girls.

Beginning January 2, Girl Scouts may head over to www.girlscouts.org/cookiepro to register and submit their Cookie Pro contest entry. Once girls submit their Cookie Pro contest entry they will receive an email confirming their submission and providing instructions for unlocking their limited edition Cookie Pro 2019 patch. Girls may then purchase the patch online (and pay shipping and handling charges) or order from the council Petals to Patches shop for $1.50.

Cookie Sale Important Dates

Troops selling a minimum of 120 packages at their booths earn one night free building rental for a troop getaway at Camp Evelyn or Camp Manitou, or a pool party at Camp Evelyn in the summer. Troops who sell 240 packages will be credited two nights of free building rental, except during the peak rental months of June, July and August, when a two night credit is required for one night of a camp building rental.

April 2 - Troops may return up to 10% of their initial cookie booth order rounded up to a full case. Specialty cookies S’mores and Toffee-tastic cannot be returned, so please be mindful of this when ordering these varieties for booth sales. There will be a limited amount of specialty cookies available at council cupboards.

2019 Troop Reward: Kalahari or

Blue harbor or milwaukee zoo!

Troops who sell an average of 170 per registered girl will receive tickets to Kalahari Water and Theme Park in Wisconsin Dells, or Blue Harbor Waterpark in Sheboygan, or

the Milwaukee County Zoo. (Girls must sell a minimum of 25 packages to receive tickets.)

Volunteer Toolkit Tips & TricksBy now you have likely heard about the Volunteer Toolkit. It’s an online tool to help you plan and manage your Girl Scout year with meeting plans, administration tools and new content for all program levels. Log into your member community (via MyGs at gsmanitou.org) and take a look around, especially while reading these tips!

Tip 1: Click. Play. Learn.You can select a year plan, change your mind, and go back and select another. If you

want to dive deeper than the preview screen, select a year plan to view the full meeting plans. Go to the “Explore” tab and simply select a new plan.

Tip 2: Sync your calendars.Can the VTK calendar sync with my personal calendar? Yes it can! On the year plan tab, click the dowload button (arrow pointing down) and it will sync to the default calendar program on your device.

Tip 3: One Toolkit per troop, please.Regardless of how many leaders you have assigned to your troop, there is only one Volunteer Toolkit - it is a shared site among all leaders in your troop. You still use your own login to MyGS to access the Volunteer Toolkit, but any changes you make will be seen by other leaders in your

group. Work together or designate a primary Volunteer Toolkit guru to make updates to your troop’s year plans and schedule. In the event that someone makes a change that’s incorrect, remember tip number one - you can always edit, delete, and change meetings and year plans.

Tip 4: It’s a date!Assigning dates to meetings can feel a little tricky. The tricky part is that you have to initially set all the dates at the same time (ex. biweekly at 4 p.m.). Once you set your initial dates, you can change indiviudal meeting dates by selecting each one and picking a new date and time. You can also combine meetings if you plan to meet longer and accomplish two activity plans in one day. Assigning dates is completely optional, and not a required step.

Tip 5: Send meeting reminders.If you do assign dates to your meetings and activities, you have the ability to send meeting reminders directly through the Volunteer Toolkit. Click on the meeting, and select “Edit/Send Meeting Reminder Email”. The meeting will pre-populate the email subject and content, but you can make changes or add other notes if you like. Keep in mind that the Volunteer Toolkit

pulls the family’s email address on file at Girl Scouts when sending your message (check the My Troop tab to see which email the family has on file). Also helpful to know is that the email will show up from girlscoutsuser@girlscouts.org, but if a family replies to your message, it will send back to your email!

We hope you find the Volunteer Toolkit an invaluable addition to the resources available to you as a troop leader. There is no right or wrong way to use the Volunteer Toolkit, so use the way that’s best for you.

DestinationsNEW! Girls will be able to apply and submit reference forms for Destinations online. Questions? Contact Amy at amy@gsmanitou.org. First deadline is December 1st!“Girl Scouts and my destination helped me realize that I am capable of more than I ever imagined, allowed me to experience a completely different culture and way of life, and resulted in friendships that will never be lost,” said Katie Bollini of Valders.

Share Your Girl Scout Story

If you follow us on social media or visit our website frequently, you might have noticed troops being featured. How can you get your Girl Scout or troop featured? Any time your troop goes on a trip, has an activity, completes an award or project, hosts an event, participates in something, send a picture (or a few) to cassie@gsmanitou.org. Include your Troop # and a short description! Please be patient, if we continue to receive more and more submissions, you may not see your G.I.R.L.s featured immediately. P.S.: you never know where else the photos you send in might end up!

Additionally, we want YOU to showcase the pride you have in your troop and Girl Scouts. Share your own stories and photos on social media using the hashtag #girlscoutsofmanitoucouncil and tag us in them! Ecourage your girls’ parents to do the same! We check regularly, and these photos can be featured as well.

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Be a Girl Scout Champion: 10 Facts to Share about Girl Scouts

1. Say it loud, “I’m Proud to be a Girl Scout!” you are part of an in-credible movement that instills confidence in girls. Our program is girl tested, girl approved since 1912.

2. We’re proud of the “Girl” in Girl Scouts. Girls will not find the opportunities offered by Girl Scouts in any other organization; only in an organization designed specifically for girls, by girls.

3. Girl Scouts are girl experts. Girl’s self-esteem levels drop drastically as they enter adolescence, except when girls participate in Girl Scouts; Girl Scouts’ self-esteem rises. Our safe, supportive, girl-led environment is where girls take risks, make choices, solve problems and lead.

4. Troop Leaders are role models. Girls are surrounded by caring female role models cheering them on every step of the way. Volunteers help girls discover their passion. Girls learn how to work as teams and make decisions preparing them for a lifetime of leadership.

5. Girl Scouts get outdoors. Outdoors fosters adventure, friendship and perseverance. With two beautiful Girl Scout camps, Girl Scouts can spend time in nature. They learn to overcome their fears, thrive physically and gain important skills as they earn badges.

6. Girl Scouts are STEM ready. We capture girls’ natural curiosity and expose them to science, technology, engineering and math. Our hands-on program and badges teach skills in robotics, engineering, space science, cybersecurity and more. When it comes to STEM, we have a badge for that!

7. Girl Scouts builds entrepreneurs. Our Cookie program is the largest girl-led business in the world. Girls learn important business skills, how to set goals to finance their dreams, ethical leadership, online marketing, and how to deliver great customer service.

8. Girl Scouts builds leaders. Every year spent in Girl Scout girls’ leadership skills and confidence grows. The Girl Scout Gold Award is the pinnacle of a Girl Scout’s leadership journey. Gold Award Girl Scouts demonstrate a commitment to solving community problems, with determination, confidence and drive to earn the highest award: Gold Award.

9. Help spread the Word. Invite friends over for Girl Scout cookies & milk and share the benefits of being a Girl Scout member. Hold a reception at your house of worship or school to inform your community of the value and importance of Girl Scouts. Post a Girl Scout yard sign in your yard. Join us on social media and share your Girl Scout experiences using the hashtag #girlscoutsofmanitoucouncil.

10. Be a Myth Buster. There are some myths about Girl Scouts - like Girl Scouts don’t camp or offer challenging adventures. We know these are wrong and simply reinforce gender stereotypes. You are the best representative to counter the myths and share the amazing opportunities girls get through Girl Scouting.