Girl Scout Cookie Season – the World’s Largest Girl-Led Entrepreneurial Program – Takes Place Jan. 20 to Mar. 1 across Central, Northern Arizona
For six weeks each year, Girl Scouts in Arizona participate in the largest girl-led entrepreneurial program in the world: The Girl Scout Cookie Program. From Jan. 20 - March 1 more than 10,000 girls in central and northern Arizona will be walking around neighborhoods and boothing in front of local stores learning entrepreneurial skills while selling delicious cookies.
“It is critical to note that Girl Scout Cookies are about far more than money and sweet treats,” says Tamara Woodbury, CEO of Girl Scouts–Arizona Cactus-Pine Council (GSACPC). “The cookie program provides girls the skills they need to be fiscally savvy now, and to become successful, financially independent women.”
The qualities that lead to successful entrepreneurship, like curiosity, confidence, and innovation, are important for all types of academic and career success. There aren’t many organizations that help girls learn key entrepreneurial skills, like business ethics and decision-making. Girl Scouting does, with the largest girl-led entrepreneurial program in the world!
“Not only is every cookie sale a teachable moment, but because all proceeds stay local, girls are able to enjoy summer camp, robotics programs, field trips and even adventures out of state in a safe environment,” says Woodbury. “Sales also have the potential to impact the community as troops reinvest their proceeds with service projects.”
GSACPC sold over 2.8 million packages of cookies last year. This year’s goal is 3 million packages.
Here is a snapshot of the season at a glance:
The Cookie Lineup
- New! Lemon-Ups: Crispy lemon cookies baked with inspiring messages. $5
- Thin Mints: Mint flavored with a delicious chocolaty coating. Vegan. $5
- Tagalongs: Layers of peanut butter with a rich, chocolaty coating. $5
- Samoas: Caramel and toasted coconut-covered cookies. $5
- Trefoils: Iconic and delicious shortbread cookies. $5
- Do-si-dos: Crisp and crunchy oatmeal outside and creamy peanut butter inside. $5
- Girl Scout S’mores: Crunchy graham sandwich cookies with creamy chocolate and marshmallowy filling. $6
- Toffee-tastics: Buttery (and gluten-free) cookies with sweet, crunchy golden toffee bits. $6
NEW: Announcing our 2020 Cookie Boss – Renee Parsons!
GSACPC is honored to announce Renee Parsons, president of PXG Apparel and co-founder of The Bob and Renee Parsons Foundation, as its first-ever Cookie Boss! The Cookie Boss serves as an entrepreneurial role model and helps support Girl Scouts in the largest girl-led entrepreneurial program in the world. The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation has been a vital partner to GSACPC, with its strong belief in Girl Scouts, commitment to our community and partnership in the Girl Scout Cookie program.
NEW: Cookie Fast Pitch
Over 100 girl cookie bosses and 25 local CEOs/executives are expected to attend the first ever Cookie Fast Pitch on Jan. 25 from 8:45 a.m. to 11 a.m. at University of Advancing Technology located in Tempe. Participating girls will make their cookie sales pitch to one of the corporate executives in attendance. In exchange, they’ll get feedback on their pitch and develop confidence in their one-on-one coaching sessions. And if the CEO was sold on the pitch, they’ll purchase up to $500 worth of cookies.
NEW PARTNERS: 7th Annual Girl Scout Cookie Dessert Challenge
For the seventh year in a row, participating chefs from restaurants across central and northern Arizona will go head-to-head to create a winning dessert with one of the Girl Scout Cookie flavors including Thin Mints, Samoas, Tagalongs, Do-Si-Dos or Trefoils.
The creation will be featured on their menus during February, and for the second year, GSACPC will offer an online poll for everyone to vote for their favorite! To vote, fans can visit girlscoutsaz.org/dessert-challenge. The dessert with the most votes at the end of the challenge in central and northern Arizona regions will each be crowned the 2020 Girl Scout Dessert Challenge Champion in early March.
A portion of proceeds are donated back to GSACPC, and some participants provide cookie boothing space on their property. The friendly competition provides a great opportunity for local businesses to support and inspire future entrepreneurs — Girl Scouts!
Booths
Girl Scouts will be setting up a temporary “shop” in front of local business and other locations like sporting events, church and community events and selling cookies. Partner booth locations this year include: Fry’s Marketplace, Bashas, Safeway, Joann Fabric and Craft Stores, Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club and Goodwill.
The Cookie Finder App
Visit girlscoutsaz.org/cookiefinder and use the Girl Scout Cookie Finder to find a cookie booth near you. It’s simple – just enter your zip code and choose from a list of locations nearby. If you want cookie finder access on-the-go download the free Girl Scout Cookie Finder app onto your iOS or Android mobile device from Google Play or the Apple store.
Walkabouts
To encourage local girls to directly connect with their communities, as well as learn valuable lessons about public speaking, work ethic and ingenuity, the council is encouraging Girl Scouts to conduct more “Walkabouts.” Through Walkabouts, more than 10,000 Girl Scouts are encouraged to walk their neighborhoods selling cookies door-to-door in residential areas with adult supervision and visit cookie customers from years’ past. It’s also a strategic sales channel in this on-demand economy (kind of like DoorDash for Girl Scout Cookies).
Digital Cookie
The Girl Scout Cookie Program goes beyond the booth with Digital Cookie. Digital Cookie helps take the five essential life skills girls learn through the traditional cookie program to a whole new level—introducing lessons about online marketing, application use, and ecommerce to Girl Scouts, through building their own cookie website and managing their virtual sales. In addition, girls can use the Digital Cookie Mobile App to accept mobile payments from customers in-person.
Cookies for the Community – Cookie Donations Accepted
Cookies for the Community is a cookie donation opportunity for customers to purchase cookies as a donation for a local nonprofit organization – more than 10,000 cookies are donated through this program each year. It helps girls learn about the importance of community service and giving back to the community with the cookie program. GSACPC will proudly support St. Vincent de Paul Food Bank and St. Mary's Food Bank with donated cookies in 2020. Cookies for Community purchases are tax-deductible.
Where Does Cookie Money Go
100% of GSACPC Cookie proceeds stay local to benefit Girl Scouting in Arizona. Girl Scout Cookies’ proceeds stay local to:
- Help girls fund local Girl Scouts’ Take Action projects for the community and girl-led adventures for troops.
- Cover the cost of running the Girl Scout Cookie Program, including the costs of cookies, materials, and logistics.
- Help GSACPC provide Girl Scout programs in STEM, the outdoors, life skills, and entrepreneurship, as well as camps, leadership training and more.
- Maintain and improve the local four camp properties and the financial assistance that keeps Girl Scouting available and affordable for all girls.
Girl Scout Cookie entrepreneurs also earn rewards on their individual sales. They can choose to receive incentive prizes or “Program Credits” that can be used to help pay for summer camp, membership dues, travel, and other programs and events.
IMPORTANT: Cookie Clarifications
- Our new delicious Lemon-Ups cookies have replaced the Savannah Smiles cookie. The Savannah Smile cookie will no longer be available.
- There are cookies for dietary needs: Thin Mints are vegan and Toffee-tastics are gluten-free.
- Toffee-tastics will sell for $6.00 a box. Only troops that have opted into selling this cookie will have them, so it will be available only in limited quantities.
- Bakery Confusion: there are two commercial bakers licensed by Girl Scouts of the USA to produce Girl Scout Cookies. Therefore, cookie variety varies by council. The bakery for GSACPC is Little Brownie Bakery.
- All of our cookies have no high corn fructose syrup, no partially hydronated oils (PHOs), zero grams of trans fat per serving and use RSPO certified (Mass Balance) palm oil.
About the Girl Scout Cookie Program
The Girl Scout Cookie Program is the largest girl-led entrepreneurial program in the world, generating over $700 million in annual sales. Nearly 200 million boxes of Girl Scout Cookies are sold each year to more than 50 million cookie customers.
GSACPC sold over 2.8 million packages of cookies last year. This year’s goal is 3 million packages.
Please note: Girl Scout Cookie Program dates are set by each council throughout the U.S. and vary based on the local market and environment. The 2020 Cookie Season for Girl Scouts–Arizona Cactus-Pine Council (GSACPC) is Jan. 20 – March 1. GSACPC is one of two councils in Arizona. Girl Scouts of Southern Arizona (GSSoAZ) cookie season is Jan. 18 – March 1.
