Agree! My daughter joined, much to my chagrin, because even 15-20 years ago, they were too PC for me. I called GS headquarters to find the salary of the people in charge over there. They refused to tell me even though they break child labor laws by enticing my daughter and every Daisy, Brownie, and Girl Scout with proceeds from cookie sales. The cut individual troops receive for spending hours selling cookies is shockingly low, most of the money goes to pay the corporate salaries. I harangued them for a while but they refused to tell me. Shouldn’t that be public information?
It is public information. There is a form they have to file that discloses the top salaries. I want to say it’s the form 900. Never request the salaries, request the form.
public information
http://www.girlscouts.org/program/gs_cookies/faq.asp
About $1 per box goes to the baker, the rest of the profit goes to local councils and troops. Any money that goes to GSUSA National comes from the cookie baker share, which pays for royalties and trademark images and program publicity and oversight
My troop keeps $.70 of every $4 box sold, a figure that slides based on productivity. Baseline is $.50 per box. Lower than Boy Scout popcorn but then, our product is $4, not $15 and up
FACT: GS troops are self funding. Leaders are volunteers and get NO money to start a troop or buy supplies, pay for meeting space etc.
FACT: No girl has to sell cookies.
However if she does not, the parents have to pay to run the troop and pay for activities. Some cannot.
Girls are not permitted to fundraise if they do not first sell cookies. Troops that sell cookies are limited to 2 extra fundraisers per year, so they cannot be turned into money raising machines.
FACT: The Council uses its portion of cookie profits to maintain Council offices and staff that trains and oversees ALL our adult volunteers (troop leaders), run girl programs especially those for underprivileged troops, and maintains our CAMPS. Anyone who can think of a better model that includes girls as young as 6 in sustaining their own troops-can start a new organization.
FACT: MOST of the little girls love selling cookies (having been a leader for 7 years). It gives them people skills and a chance to say they earned their own money and set their own goals for spending it. It is a lot of fun watching 8 year olds debate whether to spend their typical $40 shared profits per girl on camping or Build a Bear, and whether to donate some to a charity. It is their decision
FACT: We set up booths at grocery stores because going door-to-door is no longer safe in many neighborhoods, nor do all the girls have parents willing to spend this time with them.
FACT: MANY people love GS cookies and their reaction to the product and enthusiasm makes it even more worthwhile for a 2 hour booth sale. I’m going to miss those moments when someone buys 6 boxes of cookies and the girls are thrilled.