Service Unit Booth Champions are important members of the SU Cookie team. The Booth Champion is the only approved person for each SU to setup and schedule Cookie Booths for council’s troops.
Cookie booths are still the number one-way girls sell cookies during the program. They increase troop sales and support girl’s goals while helping them broaden their experience.
What do Booth Champions do?
Booth Champion Program Timeline
- Complete training online via gsLearn
- Contact local, high-traffic businesses to secure booth/drive-thru sites. You can utilize our template introductory letter, if needed.
- Be sure to secure dates, times and locations of booths
- Send follow-up letter to store manager with dates, times and locations arranged with them so you both have details surrounding the agreement.
- Use the Booth Merchant Agreement Form to help gather all these details on the same page to send with your letter. Have each location sign and return so you can provide them with an electronic or printed version.
- Set up procedures for troops to sign up for booth locations – create and schedule your booth lottery as needed.
- Jan. 3rd – Cookie Program Initial Order begins
- Prior to January 23rd, hold your booth lottery/selection
- Jan. 23rd – Booth spreadsheet due to GSCB. Please email directly to Colleen at cgilmore@cbgsc.org or send to ProductPrograms@cbgsc.org.
- Jan. 30th @ 8 PM through Feb. 4th @ 8 AM – Booth selection opens in eBudde – troops can select up to 3 booth slots per Business name (NOT address)
- EX: 3 Walmart booth slots and 3 Food Lion booth slots, and 3 Christiana Mall booth slots, etc.
- Feb. 4th @ 8:01 AM – troops can select any additional cookie booth slots available in eBudde at this time.
- Feb. 6th – Direct Sale begins, Cookie Cupboards open
- Ask for SU Booth Sleuths to volunteer to visit cookie booths (or attend a few yourself) throughout the booth period.
- March 15th – Direct Sale ends
- If troops fill out evaluations for booths, collect evaluations for SU booths.
- Send or deliver thank you notes/baskets/cookies/etc. to businesses that allowed cookie booths at their location(s).
- “Clean-up” booths are permitted after March 15, ONLY if the SU Booth Champion is aware of and approves them (Booth Champs, please be as open as possible to these “clean-up” booths for your troops. These booths do not get entered into eBudde.
- No booths are permitted after March 30, 2026. Any remaining troop inventory can only be sold to friends and family after this time.
Booth Champion Need-To-Knows
Tips for Establishing Locations and Avoiding Council/GSUSA Sponsored Locations
- Develop a list of all available booth locations for the Service Unit from previous years (GSCB will provide last year’s spreadsheet upon request)
- Businesses where the consumption and selling of beer or alcohol are permitted such as Beer and wine tastings and restaurants.
- Your booth locations may not include the following words in the Business Name column. They will not populate in the Booth Locator: Liquor(s), Beer, Dispensary, Gun(s) Show/Range/Club, “Residence,” “Home Address,” Rifle or Pistol
- Be creative, remember that booth locations should:
- Be by busy pedestrian traffic areas
- Have little or no competition between locations/other troops (do not have more than one booth in the same strip mall or shopping center at the same day/time – unless they’re very far apart)
- Be in places where customers may be more receptive to purchasing cookies (grocery stores, home improvement stores, craft stores, convenience stores, etc.)
- Be scheduled during peak traffic times and after school hours (Friday afternoons, evenings, and weekends)
- When considering a location, ask yourself “Does this booth help Girl Scouts stay true to the brand values like leadership and inclusion?” or “Will this location send the wrong message to the public?”
- Utilize Booth Coordinating Template Letters
If troops end the program with leftover cookies, they may continue selling them as long as all Cookie Program rules, pricing and regulations are followed.
Troops wouldn’t earn towards rewards any longer, but the troop would still earn proceeds for those sales (they would earn back what they already paid for at full price to council during the ACH).
Troops may talk to the SU Booth Champion to set up additional cookie booths after the regular program ends. They must still approve all booths.
Troops that break rules and regulations or attempt to sell cookies at different prices after March 10, 2024 will lose their booth or Cookie Program privileges and may not be permitted to participate in future Product Programs.
- Locations such as clubs, or “members only” spaces that are not open to the public should not be on your booth spreadsheet. It’s still important that you know this type of booth is happening in the event of any issues or questions that are asked later. If there are “private” booths that are open to the public, you do not need to mark it as private, but be sure to include it on your spreadsheet.
Timeline
Booth lotteries for troop selection should be held during the beginning of the month of January (or earlier, if necessary).
Best Practices
Many Service Unit’s hold a lottery based on a few different factors, but your Service Unit team must approve a fair and equitable way for booth selection.
Don’t forget to include Juliettes in your SU to select booths in the lottery. If you don’t know who they are, reach out to your SUM and SU Volunteer Support Specialist for assistance to include them.
The SU booth lottery should not end until all troops have either exhausted the selection of booths, or each troop has selected the number of booths they wish to fill – even after each of the lottery selection rounds.
Some give more chances to troops who have completed certain steps such as renewals from last year, attendance at Service Unit meetings, etc. Troops that meet those standards get more entries than those who have not.
A booth template spreadsheet is provided and should be used to turn in any and all secured SU Cookie Booths. Spreadsheets should include the troop numbers and the time slot(s) selected.
Deadline
Booth spreadsheets are due to council on January 23rd, 2026 by end of business (5pm EST).
Formatting Spreadsheet
- Booth spreadsheet formatting should not be changed. A few sample lines are provided by GSCB to help guide you.
- A simple naming convention should be used. Please do not add details about the location name in the “Name” column. (For example, in the name column should appear “Walmart”, no spaces or dashes. The same goes for other locations such as “Redners” and “Wawa”. Simple is better!)
- Do NOT use locations with the following words in the naming convention as they will not populate in the online Booth Locator: Liquor(s), Beer, Dispensary, Gun(s) Show/Range/Club, “Residence,” “Home Address,” Rifle or Pistol
- Last year’s spreadsheet will be provided upon request to ProductPrograms@cbgsc.org
Booth Sleuths are a position filled by an adult volunteer who is willing to visit Cookie Booths throughout the Service Unit and talk to girls about cookies, their booth, a knowledge “quiz”, and/or plans for their cookie proceeds.
Booth Sleuthing is NOT meant to critique the booth setup, rule compliance or etiquette.
Booth Sleuthing is meant to be a fun way for SU volunteers to meet the girls at booths and talk to them about the cookie program, what they want to do with their troop proceeds and engage them in a conversation about the cookie program.
- Service Unit’s are provided a limited quantity of patches for Booth Sleuths to hand out to girls at booths. For 2026, the “Super” patch will be utilized. Patches are limited for 2026 and will be given to the SU Cookie Champion.
- Booth Sleuths should be familiar with Cookie Booths so they can engage the girls in conversation.
- As a Booth Sleuth, after you have talked with the girls, and you’re ready to leave, you can hand patches to the adult volunteer(s) or to the girls for a job well done – we suggest the adult present so the girls don’t lose their patch.
- Booth Sleuths may visit one or more booths any given booth day, so they’ll need to work with their Booth Coordinator to find out where to go or use the booth finder.
- Booth Sleuths should visit different troops in their SU each year, and each time they go out looking for booths to sleuth. They should not limit patches to certain troops or the same troops each year or each outing.
- Booth Sleuthing is about the girls and getting them to work on their communication and People Skills.
Booth Sleuths Should:
- Engage with girls to start a conversation about the cookie program or test their knowledge.
- Ask girls questions about the cookie program such as what they would like to do with their proceeds earned.
- Talk with girls about some fun cookie program trivia.
- Be respectful to the troop volunteers, girls and customers.
Booth Sleuths are NOT:
- For critiquing the troop’s booth setup.
- To question the troop’s compliance with booth guidelines or traditional booth setup.
- For yelling or arguing with troop volunteers present.
If there is an issue the Booth Sleuth would like to talk to troop about, they should NOT do it at the booth. The Booth Sleuth should talk to the troop volunteers at a later time, and be kind!
If a booth rule or etiquette is being broken, the Booth Sleuth should not reprimand, yell or argue with the volunteer at the booth – especially NOT in front of the other troop members, GIRLS, or customers.
Once the booth has ended, and at an appropriate time away from girls, the booth sleuth should bring up the issue with the troop volunteers at that particular booth and make it a learning opportunity. It should NOT be a scolding, argument or complaint.
GSCB carries liability insurance in the event that a girl or volunteer is injured while at the booth location or in the unlikely event that damages occur to the booth location property.
- Complete the Certificate of Insurance Request Form or email MemberCare@cbgsc.org for any requests for Certificates of Insurance.
- Include the business’s full name, contact person at the location, the location’s physical address (where the booth will be held) and a contact phone number for the location.
- All requests should be made at least one week prior to the Cookie Booth.
- Certificates of Insurance are not required to host a Cookie Booth, but to cover all those involved, it is always helpful to provide one to the business.
- Once GSCB receives the request, it will be emailed back to the Booth Coordinator, unless otherwise directed.
Communication
Troops should contact the SU Booth Coordinator if any conflicts arise. If the Booth Coordinator needs assistance with a conflict, they should reach out to the GSCB Product Program team for help. Please send an email and include all the details possible to MemberCare@cbgsc.org to document the issue.
Procedure
- Remind all parties to remain calm, especially in front of girls.
- Determine if the troops involved belong to your Service Unit, or a neighboring Service Unit.
- Attempt to find out how the conflict occurred (get both sides of the story, if possible).
- Offer suggestions to the troop on how to resolve the disagreement, such as setting up a booth at two different entrances (make sure you have permission from the business first) or splitting the booth time evenly.
- DO NOT involved the store manager. This is not their fault and they should not be contacted. The goal is to quickly and peacefully resolve disagreements.
Introductory Letter – Utilize this template to make initial contact with previous Cookie Booth locations you would like to set up a booth at.
Confirmation Letter – Once you have confirmed a booth with a location, send this follow up letter with the location, date and time, so you both have it documented.
Booth Champion Thank You Note Sample – Booth Champions can use this sample of a thank you note to send to booth locations at the close of the program.
Troop Leader Thank You Note Sample – A Troop Leader can use this same of a thank you note to send to the booth location(s) their troop visited.
Three Key Reports
As a SU user, you will be able to pull a booth report by going to the Reports tab. There are three main reports that will support you in your role as Booth Champion.
Troop Signup Detail
This report shows the troops that have signed up for booth sites in your SU.
From the Reports tab:
- Click to open Troop Signup Detail Report.
- Next to “Restrict to Troops in SU number” type in your three-digit service unit number, click the “Generate New Report” button at the bottom of the screen. Once the report is ready, you will receive an email from eBudde – you will need to refresh the Reports tab to open the report.
- Select View Current XLS Report or View Current PDF Report.
Note that the Service Unit is the only field you should be filling in. All other fields must be blank for this report.
Troop Signup Recap
This report lists all the troops in the service unit and their total number of signups in a summarized view.
From the Reports tab:
- Click to open the Troop Signup Recap report.
- Click the “exportable” button to include all the details on each row of the report. If you don’t click this box, only the first row of the business information will populate.
- Click the “XLSX” or “PDF” button for the type of download you wish to pull.
Available Booth Slots
Prints a listing of council booth sites still available for sign up.
From the Reports tab:
- On the Available Booth Slots report row, select the option (if you choose) for “Future Only” and/or “Exportable” then click the Regenerate button to run the report with the most up to date information. If you click the exportable button, the report will generate the booth location information on each row, otherwise it will only show up on the first row of the business.
- Wait for the system to send you an email that the report is ready to pull.
- Then go back to the “Reports” tab and scroll to that section. Click the XLSX report or PDF report button for whichever version you want and the report will open.
Complete your Booth Champion Agreement
Work in partnership with your SU Cookie Team.
Assist in educating Troop Cookie Champions (TCC) and Co-Leaders, as needed, about Cookie Booth rules, processes, procedures and etiquette.
Contact local community merchants to request cookie booth locations, dates and time periods.
Coordinate fair allocation of booths to troops using a lottery system, as needed.
Submit booth location spreadsheet to GSCB on or before deadline.
Incorporate Juliette Girl Scouts and outreach troops in booth lottery, if applicable to your Service Unit.
Coordinate with GSCB in working with other SUs to fill booth slots available in eBudde’s booth tab and across SU lines, when needed.
Thank businesses for their support in person (when/if possible), with letter or with PR cookies available from the SU.
Have ability and willingness to utilize Microsoft Excel to fill out booth spreadsheet.
Report regularly to Product Program department and SU Cookie Champion on problems encountered during booths and participate in problem solving.
“Clean-up” booths are permitted after March 15, ONLY if the SU Booth Champion is aware of and approves them (Booth Champs, please be as open as possible to these “clean-up” booths for your troops. These booths do not get entered into eBudde.
- No booths are permitted after March 30, 2026. Any remaining troop inventory can only be sold to friends and family after this time.
Troops that break rules and regulations or attempt to sell cookies at different prices or hold booths after March 30, 2026 will lose their booth or Cookie Program privileges and may not be permitted to participate in future Product Programs.
There are multiple ways for girls to participate in a Cookie Booth. Remember that booths are a troop effort and are NEVER conducted by individual family members or girls, with the exception of Juliettes and Cookie Stand Booths. See below:
Traditional Booth
- Set up at high-traffic community businesses or other locations in the Service Unit boundaries
Council/GSUSA Sponsored
- Booths that GSCB or GSUSA assist SU’s in securing the actual dates and times/locations or gather details about booths and offer to the SU to add to their booth selections/lotteries including but not limited to:
- Christiana Mall
- Walmart
- Food Lion
- ACME/Safeway
- Wawa
- (Wawa has denied booths for over four years, if you have a relationship, or wish to reach out to your local SU area Wawa managers, please feel free to ask if you can host booths/porch sales. However, be aware that corporate has denied them, so the local managers may do so too.)
Cookie Stand Booth
- Girls may work with their caregiver to host a Cookie Stand! A Cookie Stand is similar to a lemonade stand. Girls from one household, with their caregiver, may participate in their own Cookie Stand.
- Please understand that Cookie Stands may NOT be held anywhere outside your place of residence. If you do not live on a main street of your neighborhood, you may NOT host a cookie booth in a location that you do not live at.
- The caregiver is responsible for the cookies they sign out from their troop, and since they are supervising their own Girl Scout, membership and background checks are not required. This will allow girls to have the booth experience without additional requirements for caregivers.
- Cookie Stands are not permitted to be submitted in eBudde as a booth to be found on Booth Finder.
- For a Cookie Stand, you must have a minimum of one adult/caregiver and maximum 2 girls from the same household.
- Cookie Booth vs. Cookie Stand – Cookie Stands allow for one adult and Girl Scouts from the same household to manage cookie sales on their own property. This does not change the guidelines for traditional booths to have 2 unrelated adults (due to the troop’s financial responsibility and girl-adult ratio requirements).
- Financial Responsibility – The caregiver must connect with the Troop Cookie Champion (TCC) to obtain cookie inventory (and sign receipts) for their Cookie Stand. Any cookies obtained by a caregiver for a Cookie Stand follow our caregiver debt responsibility guidelines.
- Multiple Troops – Household with girls from more than one troop must work with each troop’s TCC for inventory calculations and funds due if girls are working on a Cookie Stand together. Cookie sales through the Digital Cookie app are not transferable between girls in different troops, so be cognizant of how cookie sales occur at stands.
- All general cookie booth guidelines as pertaining to etiquette, setup, and teardown policies must be followed at Cookie Stands.
Milk and Cookies Break
- Milk and Cookies breaks are sales purchased by an employer, in bulk, for their employees. Cookie booths may also be set up at places of employment, with permission, to promote additional cookie sales.
- Troops should inform the Service Unit Booth Coordinator of these cookie booths at all times. If booths are outside of the SU jurisdiction, GSCB Product Program team may need to be informed so they can notify the Booth Coordinator for that location.
- Milk and Cookies breaks follow normal GSCB booth guidelines.
Walkabouts
- Walkabouts are portable Cookie Booths. Girls fill up wagons, trucks, sleds, mini-vans, etc. with the assistance of a buddy and adult(s) to canvas their neighborhood, apartment complexes, senior citizen facilities or local college dorms. Approval from the business/location is required prior to the walkabout and the Booth Coordinator must be informed.
- Girls can use blowhorns, posters, flags and other portable decorations like cookie costumes.
Drive-Thrus
- Drive-Thru booths are a new way to manage contactless Cookie Booth purchases. Locations that are willing to rent out an actual drive-thru for cars for free is acceptable, but you can also create a drive-thru in locations with the help of the business.
- Locations with large parking lots and/or unused parking could be ideal spots for a Drive-Thru.
- Consider using a pop-up tent and/or posters to draw attention to the booth. Create a line using cones, ribbons, and “Slow”/”Enter Only” signs. It’s important to encourage cars to drive slowly through the drive-thru line.
- Normal GSCB Cookie Booth guidelines still apply to drive-thru booths. Girls should maintain 6-feet of distance between themselves and vehicles while taking orders. Caregivers should be the ones approaching vehicles for safety.
See Direct Sale page’s Booth Types section for more details.
Some locations may be willing to rent out a drive-thru for cars, but you can also create a drive-thru in locations with large parking lots using pop-up tents (bring your own weights to keep it grounded for safety!), posters, cones, ribbons and appropriate signage. With specific safety steps in place, it can be a lucrative booth for your troop!
Tips:
- Encourage drivers to drive slowly. Ensure an adult is directing traffic and not a girl.
- Have signs for girls to handle and volunteers take payments from the customers using Digital Cookie troop link.
- Make sure it’s easily noticeable how a car should drive up, have cones or signs and keep the girls a safe distance away.
- Drive Thru Booths may not be safe for younger girl troops, so be cognizant of having enough adult supervision and consider requiring each girl have their caregiver present to take care of their own child.
- GSCB recommends that you do not have more than three (3) girls plus adults at a drive thru booth for safety and security reasons. Switch girls out as time permits.
Start with “Enter Here” Sign
Next, a “Stop Here to Order” Sign for order taking
Thirdly, if needed, a “Pay Here” sign
Last, a spot for “Pickup Cookies” Sign
Follow all GSCB/GSUSA rules and regulations as they apply to both the Cookie Program and Cookie Boothing!