
The Cookie Program is available to all girls, and they (and their families) can choose one of the many ways to participate or even better participate in multiple ways! Supplementing their direct sales with online sales is sure to help them succeed! Girls will set their goals, reach customers, and learn the five key business skills and lessons that last a lifetime.
Cookie Stands are booths with one girl and her trusted adult—a girl can set up a Cookie Stand in her front yard or a central location in her neighborhood and invite neighbors to drop by! Cookie Stands can give girls more opportunities to achieve their goals, but is not meant to replace the team effort of traditional Cookie Booths.
Cookie Stand Guidelines:
Practice makes perfect! Before your girls go out into the world with their order card in hand, help them practice their sales pitch. Their customers are going to ask questions, and now is a great time to practice answering! Girls should also familiarize themselves with the cookie line up so they can describe each different flavor.
Sample Pitch
It’s Girl Scout Cookie Time! My first name is_______. Please help me reach my goal of selling # packages so my troop can_______. Let me tell you how you can order!
Local businesses can be great partners during the Cookie Program. In addition to hosting cookie booths, try perfecting your pitch to local businesses! Do you know a local business owner? Our delicious cookies are great for employee appreciation and can also be purchased for customer appreciation.
Guidelines for Success on Selling to Businesses:
Today’s Girl Scouts are tech-savvy! Girls age 13 and older may promote their Cookie Business on their personal social media pages with a caregiver’s guidance and permission. Promotion can even begin prior to the start of the sale letting friends and family know that “Cookies are Coming!” Just remember, no orders should be taken before the program starts.
For girls under the age of 13, caregivers can promote their Girl Scout Cookie Business, but girls should be involved in the process—for instance, she can share her goals, photos, or artwork, and messages of thanks. Remember, customers are getting more than delicious cookies—they are supporting the development of female business leaders!
Guidelines for Success on Online Selling:
A Sample Social Media Post: My daughter [name] is selling Girl Scout Cookies this year to help reach her goal of [recognition goal]! If you are interested in supporting [name], please leave a comment with the best time to reach you and [name] will contact you. Not OK: My daughter is selling Girl Scout Cookies! Leave a comment with your order!
The media can be a great asset during the Cookie Program. Not only can talking with the media and being on TV be a fun experience, it can get the word out about how to buy cookies, why the public should buy cookies, and more! A great way to start is by researching media stations in your area, and deciding if you would want to be on TV, radio, or in the newspaper. Once you have decided which type of media outlet you would like to share your story with, reach out to us and we will help you get in contact with them!
Before engaging with the media it is required that you reach out to us at 877-312-4764 or info@girlscoutsmoheartland.org. As the expert and official representative for GSMH in the media, our Senior Communications Specialist will be your teammate, guiding your troop through the process every step of the way.
Guidelines for Success on Working with the Media:
For all of these outside of the box ways to pitch her Cookie Business, remember to promote the National Girl Scout Cookie Finder! The National Girl Scout Cookie Finder is used by millions of customers to find cookies in their local areas! In addition to displaying Troop Ship Only Links, customers will be able to see any Cookie Booths in their area—as long as they're entered into Smart Cookies! This year, GSUSA and GSMH will be supporting all troops by running paid digital ads to promote the National Girl Scout Cookie Finder.
Note: Troops and girls should never use their unique links when partnering with GSMH to promote the Cookie Program in the media.
Each Cookie Season, volunteers and members have the opportunity to purchase a variety of Girl Scout Cookie themed merchandise to support their girl's cookie business and boost sales! Merchandise is ordered in each month and then mailed to you.
Use the 2025 Cookie Program Merchandise Order Form to place an order for Cookie Merchandise to support your Cookie Season! After submitting this form, a member of our Retail Team will contact you for payment. Order deadlines are January 3, February 3, March 3, and April 3.
Note: Some items have limited availability.
Everything you need to know about Cookie Booths.
A Cookie Booth is a place where Girl Scout Troops set up a table at a business or other approved public location to sell Girl Scout Cookies. Selling as a group not only develops individual skills, it also teaches troops how to work together as a team. Booths are a great option for troops who want to practice selling together. Cookie sellers have fun, and customers get their favorite cookies—talk about a win-win!
Girls' safety is always our #1 priority. Keep these safety guidelines in mind for Cookie Booths.
For GSMH Secured Cookie Booths, our community partners determine the time and dates when they will allow booths and when that information is released to our members. It is critical that we maintain a positive relationship with our community partners for their continued support of Girl Scouts and the GSMH Cookie Program. Understandably, our partners do not take calls from individual troops if they have already agreed to a Girl Scout Cookie Booth schedule. Community Booth Partners for the 2025 Cookie Season include Walmart, Sam’s Club, Hyvee, Tractor Supply, Bass Pro, Schnucks, Wonders of Wildlife, and Lowe’s.
The easiest way to get started with a Cookie Booth is to sign up for one available in Smart Cookies! A variety of booths are scheduled by GSMH and entered into Smart Cookies before the initial sign up process begins.
Below is the schedule for the initial sign up period:
We ask that booths are booked by each individual troop leader. Lottery systems within Service Units are not recommended and not supported by GSMH. Beginning January 30, booth locations will be open to all troops for the duration of the program. In considering availability of booths and troops in a geographic area, GSMH reserves the right to adjust / cancel booth reservations due to overbooking by troops. If the situation arises, we will communicate directly with troop leaders before action is taken.
Troops can use their contacts and reach out to local businesses (not including our community partners) to arrange a booth location in their community. These can be retail stores, grocery stores, hair salons, churches, parking lots, or other areas with lots of foot traffic. Troops must get prior permission from the store or property management to set up a Cookie Booth and sell Girl Scout Cookies.
Once secured with the location, enter your troop secured Cookie Booth into Smart Cookies. From there, a member of the Cookies+ Team will review and approve your Cookie Booth before it is active. Troop secured booths must be entered into Smart Cookies by Friday at noon for the same weekend. Booths are approved on a daily basis during Cookie Season.
Restrictions on Booth Locations
In accordance with GSUSA Product Sales Guidelines, certain locations may be inappropriate for young girls and may negatively impact the Cookie Program experience for girls, and/or may negatively impact our brand in your community. GSMH reserves the right to deny any booth location that we feel may not be in the best interest of our Girl Scouts and their safety. These decisions are final. Girls cannot sell in or in front of establishments that they themselves cannot legally patronize on their own. This includes any location that is 18+ or 21+; CBD, marijuana, or hemp dispensaries/pharmacies; gun stores; liquor stores; wine, beer, tobacco, or firearm events; and nightclubs.
Cookie Booths should be listed in Smart Cookies so customers can find you! It also makes allocating cookies to girls easier.
To sign up for a GSMH Secured Cookie Booth or add a Troop Secured Cookie Booth in Smart Cookies, under the Booth tab:
If you have any questions regarding scheduling Cookie Booths or hosting a Cookie Booth, reach out to your Cookies+ Team. Here are some other tips to keep in mind:
The businesses in our community allow Girl Scout Cookie Booths because they support our organization and believe in our mission. Please follow the Girl Scout Promise and Law when hosting a Cookie Booth, and always be professional, courteous, and kind to be customers and business personel. In addition, follow these guidelines for top-notch booth etiquette before, during, and after your Cookie Booth.
It's important to determine a process of giving girls credit for booth sales. You may find it successful to manually divide the total number of packages sold by the number of girls who worked each booth, and manually give those girls credit in Smart Cookies. Our favorite way for giving girls credit is with the Smart Booth Divider in Smart Cookies! Whatever way you decide, be transparent with troop members about how you are diving up credit for booths.
The Smart Booth Divider is an easy and efficient way to distribute credit for booth sold packages to multiple girls quickly and evenly. Using the Smart Booth Divider not only helps you track packages sold at each booth location, it also provides GSMH important data related to the booth sales activity to help prepare for future booth sales.
Steps for using the Smart Booth Divider:
Prefer a video? Follow along with this Smart Booth Divider tutorial from ABC Bakers.
Boost Your Booth with Cookie Share
This year our Cookie Share cookies will be donated to Ozarks Food Harvest, who provides food distribution and services to 270 Ozarks area nonprofits through programs such as the Weekend Backpack Program, Mobile Food Pantry, the Senior Food Program, and more. Troops can also choose to donate their own cookies, if Cookie Share cookies are sold via order card or in-person. Troops may make their own girl-led philanthropic business decisions by collecting cookie package donations to distribute to the nonprofit organization of their choice as long as it aligns with the values of the Girl Scout Movement. Cookie Share flyers are available for troops online.
Cookies sold via Cookie Share require special handling in Smart Cookies. Here is a chart to support you in making your Troop to Girl transfers for your Cookie Share donations. You can identify the donation type for donations purchased through Digital Cookie by looking at the All Order Data report from your Troop dashboard in Digital Cookie.
Donation Type | Who Fulfills | Transfer Needed? | Transfer Method |
Shipped + Donation | GSMH Cookie Share | No | |
Booth Digital Cookie Credit Card | GSMH Cookie Share |
Yes | Smart Booth Divider |
Virtual Cookie Share | GSMH Cookie Share |
Yes | Virtual Cookie Share |
Donation | Troop Inventory | Yes | Troop to Girl Transfer |
In Person+ Donation (Girl Delivery) | Troop Inventory |
Yes | Troop to Girl Transfer |
Cash Sale | Troop Inventory |
Yes | Troop to Girl Transfer |