What About the Cookies?
Historically, the GS cookie sale was openly acknowledged to be a council fund-raiser. Most of a council’s operating budget came from cookie sales. As it still does in most cases.
Now the emphasis is on cookies as a “financial literacy program for girls”. Girls selling cookies are praised as “entrepreneurs” who “own their own cookie business”.
This is misleading. Girls do not choose the product line or their selling period. They do not set the prices. They do not get to negotiate their percentage of the profits. They are not permitted to sell home-made bakery or crafts alongside the cookies. They aren’t even allowed to put out a tip jar.
In 2013 when a package of cookies sold for $3.50 in GSNEO, girls made about 70 cents on each one. The money goes to the troop, not the individual girl. The majority of the profit goes to the council. This would still be OK if the girls had some say in how the council sets its priorities. But they don’t. When the girls do the cookie math, what they may learn about financial literacy is that they work hard, get paid very little, and someone else will make the decisions.
Maybe not the lesson we want to teach.
Now the emphasis is on cookies as a “financial literacy program for girls”. Girls selling cookies are praised as “entrepreneurs” who “own their own cookie business”.
This is misleading. Girls do not choose the product line or their selling period. They do not set the prices. They do not get to negotiate their percentage of the profits. They are not permitted to sell home-made bakery or crafts alongside the cookies. They aren’t even allowed to put out a tip jar.
In 2013 when a package of cookies sold for $3.50 in GSNEO, girls made about 70 cents on each one. The money goes to the troop, not the individual girl. The majority of the profit goes to the council. This would still be OK if the girls had some say in how the council sets its priorities. But they don’t. When the girls do the cookie math, what they may learn about financial literacy is that they work hard, get paid very little, and someone else will make the decisions.
Maybe not the lesson we want to teach.
Jenny Lawson is a mom whose daughter was new to Girl Scouts in 2014. She questioned the "financial literacy" aspects of the cookie sale, contacted her local council, and posted the results in her blog http://thebloggess.com/2014/12/an-open-letter-to-the-girl-scouts . A quote from the post: I hate to be nit-picky but it seems like an extremely questionable business model and my daughter has been taught by the Girl Scouts to ask questions when you think something is wrong, and to make good financial decisions, so that’s why we’re asking you for a real response so we can make a decision on whether her time is best spent selling cookies, or doing something with a greater return to her community.
Jenny's post drew almost 700 responses. Some defending the good work Girl Scouting does in difficult situations, others agreeing with the basic premise. Why are we participating in a so-called financial literacy program that teaches girls to under-value their contributions? What is really going on here?
The Girl Scout pension problem is frequently mentioned. Girl Scout staff are entitled to fair compensation, including provision for retirement. What is not mentioned is that GSUSA offered generous retirement packages to of the councils who would be submerged during the 2005-2008 re-allignement. Over 1800 people were added to the pension plan who had never paid into it. http://philanthropy.com/article/FinancialLeadership-Woes/138335/
Jenny's post drew almost 700 responses. Some defending the good work Girl Scouting does in difficult situations, others agreeing with the basic premise. Why are we participating in a so-called financial literacy program that teaches girls to under-value their contributions? What is really going on here?
The Girl Scout pension problem is frequently mentioned. Girl Scout staff are entitled to fair compensation, including provision for retirement. What is not mentioned is that GSUSA offered generous retirement packages to of the councils who would be submerged during the 2005-2008 re-allignement. Over 1800 people were added to the pension plan who had never paid into it. http://philanthropy.com/article/FinancialLeadership-Woes/138335/
page from the 2012 GSNEO cookie sales training manual. Troops earned a base rate of 60 cents per box of cookies. Older girls could earn as much as 81 cents per box.
