Cookie FAQs
Where can I buy Girl Scout Cookies?!
Go to girlscoutcookies.org to download the Cookie Finder mobile app or search your zip code for a booth sale near you!
When did Girl Scouts first start selling cookies?
Long before Girl Scouts contracted with commercial bakers, Girl Scout cookies were baked in family kitchens, with mothers volunteering as technical advisers to their daughters. The earliest written mention of a cookie sale was that of the Mistletoe Troop in Muskogee, Oklahoma, which baked cookies and sold them in its high school cafeteria as a service project in December 1917.
The Girl Scout Cookie Program has been in existence for over 90 years. The first Girl Scout council sale of commercially baked Girl Scout cookies was in Philadelphia in 1934. In 1936, Girl Scouts of the USA licensed the first commercial baker. In 2006-2007 there were two bakers licensed to produce and distribute Girl Scout cookies.
Who decides what cookies to sell?
Girl Scout Cookies are sold at the local level. Volunteer boards of directors for each local council:
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Choose the baker.
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Determine the price per box.
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Set the dates for their local cookie activities.
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Decide how much of the cookie proceeds will be retained by or returned to troops/groups selling cookies for their projects and activities.
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Decide how Girl Scout cookie revenue will be used by the council to provide vital services, such as leader recruitment and training and operation of camps and service centers, and other indirect expenses that each contribute to a high-quality Girl Scout experience.
Where does the money earned from selling cookies go?
All of the revenue - every penny after paying the baker - remains in the area where the cookies are sold and directly or indirectly benefits Girl Scouts in those local communities. Girl Scout cookie proceeds are used for many purposes, including maintaining campsites and providing travel financial assistance for girls; providing leadership development for adult volunteers; and providing support for special membership initiatives such as Girl Scout troops in homeless shelters, detention centers, and migrant communities. The allocation of Girl Scout cookie revenue to individual troops/groups and "cookie dough" for individual girls to apply to such activities as camp or event fees is handled at the council level. At the Girl Scout troop level, the girls vote on how to spend the money they've earned. Examples include special trips to museums or exhibitions, overnight stays at camp and community service projects.
Who sells Girl Scout Cookies?
Selling Girl Scout Cookies is a voluntary activity. Every girl who participates must provide written parental/guardian consent and receives information and training about her council's Girl Scout Cookie Program.
