How do leaders who do not sell Girl Scout cookies manage their troop? Here is how I do it.
Updated November 2023 (see bottom of blog post)
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One question I have been asked time and again is how I manage my troop if I do not sell Girl Scout Cookies or participate in QSP (fall product sales)
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Here is how I do it:
First of all, I ask for dues each September. The amount has changed over the past three years, and it is a reasonable amount. We have had money left over each year, so this is the base for the next year.
This year, our first as Brownies, I asked for thirty-five dollars, mostly for the cost of the patches. With ten girls, that gives me $350 for the year.
I am a teacher for over twenty-three years, so I have a lot of experience using recycled materials and doing more with less. I have found many online websites that have crafts using common items around the house. It’s amazing what you can do with brown bags, paper tubes, and empty cartons!
We use guest speakers and free field trips for other meetings. I find out about these trips from going to my Leader meetings and by speaking to my friends who have children in activities. Some places will take your girls for free as a means of advertising their business.
I shop at craft stores for clearance items and also shop with coupons, and I find craft items at yard sales. While I will not get reimbursed for yard sale finds, I do not mind this small expense. As a teacher, I am used to spending my own money for my class.
Many Brownie Try-Its do not require money to do. Those that do, I shop carefully.
How do you manage your troop finances?
November 2023 Update
It seems like a lifetime ago that I wrote this blog post. My first year Brownie daughter is now 21 years old! Despite Covid ruining our Ambassador years, my daughter and her best friend, who earned the Gold Award, bridged to Adults in 2021. It was an incredibly proud moment for me and my friend, as our girls has been scouting together for all 13 years.
We did sell cookies as 6th grade and 7th grade Cadettes. The girls got the experience and were not interested after selling those two years. With only five girls, then three, then two, the amount they earned stretched further than when we had 12 girls.
Here are additional ways to save troop funds:
- Use the old badge program. On the Girl Scout Facebook Buy and Sell groups, you can do an ISO post (In Search Of) and people will respond. Old badges typically sell for $1.00-$1.50 each. That is a significant savings over the $3.50 charged today. Once official, always official! Another plus to doing the old badge programs is that there are far more choices and they are hands on.
- There are many free patch programs for Girl Scouts. In this blog post, you will find 200 free Girl Scout programs and printables for your troop to use.
- Ask in the Facebook Girl Scout troops what kind of free activities their troops have done. You may be able to replicate those in your area.
- Ask parents who they know that can come in and do an activity, be a guest speaker, or go on a free field trip. My troop was able to do a free self-defense class as Brownies because one of the parents asked the owner because two of her kids attended the school. I had another parent who was not only an attorney, but a trained chef as well! We learned some good knife skills from her.
- Go to your Council’s events on the weekend. They are typically inexpensive and even if every girl cannot attend, those that can will have a great time.
- Use Dollar stores, garage sales, and thrift stores to buy craft supplies.
- Read this blog post, How to Get Girl Scot Supplies for Free, for three more ways to stretch your troop funds.
What do you do save your troop’s funds?
