if your dd is in it or whatever does your troop keep saving up the cookie money the troop earns or do they spend it right away on the girls? My DD sold alot of cookies this year & the leader said she will just keep saving the money for the girls year after year for when they are older. I kinda dont like the idea I mean what if she isnt the leader next year or some of the girls move things happen. ANd I mean people move alot & even the leader could move ya know? And so it kinda irks me I mean I could see saving some for next year but keep saving year after year seems kinda odd to me maybe thats how it is I mean am I missing something? I havent been in it for over 20yrs so I suppose it could have changed but is this fair to the girls who wont be around forever in this area

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mom of 3 greats girls

I have 2 DD's one in Brownies and one in Juniors. Their troops have always spent the money on the girls immediately (saving some for start up in the fall). The girls plan and work hard toward a goal and need to be rewarded. They have always decided as a troop what they would like to do with the money. Last yr. DD's troop went to Savannah and stayed in a hotel.

I agree, not fair to girls who quit or leave that they don't get to enjoy the fruits of their labor.

Thats my point exactly I worked hard with dd to sale as many as we did I think they should be rewarded now if not I dont think dd will join next year I just dont think its fair to sale all those cookies & we may not even live around here in a few years I mean the reality is I have lived here 9yrs & would like to move in the next few years & if we did it would be out of this area at the least & we sure arent doing all this cookie junk for nothing ya know

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mom of 3 greats girls

I am a GS leader. We use some of the money towards the current year's activities, and save some for startup for next year, just as Twocrazykids mentioned.

I wouldn't want to hold onto too much money in our troop account. Membership changes, leadership changes, and it just doesn't make sense. It's not an investment account--it's to benefit the girls now.

Both my daughters were/are in scouts. Oldest has quit, youngest is still in. I was a leader for 4 years and have been a cookie mom for 4 years. We spend most of the money in the year it's earned. Our goal is to save about $100 for the next year, but we tell the girls the council sales goal (we've made our troop goal every year!) and let them vote on what they want to do with their money. Some of it does get used for troop expenses and service projects, but they pick something they want to do. Some things they've picked are Build-A-Bear (twice), stay at a local hotel with a water park, Bump City (kind of a gymnatics/tumbling place), Club Libby Lu, stuff like that. I agree with you and the others that some girls choose to quit or move.

I do know some of the older girls save money across years for over-seas trips and big stuff, but if you're in middle/high school and still in scouts then you're pretty serious about it. I think the elementary girls should spend it since they earned it and most girls drop by middle school anyway.

Lisa

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"It's not having what you want,
It's wanting what you've got"

I am also a girl scout leader and wouldn't for one minute think to save all the money for next year. The girls work hard to sell the cookies and I believe should be rewarded for it. We will be going to the Nickelodeon Hotel in May for an overnight. Last year we went to SeaWorld and slept with the penquins and the year before that we went to Wannado City and Rainforest Cafe. The girls are the ones who should decide what they want to do with the money. I would question this. Your points are all valid.

HTH

Judi

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"Try to see the glass half-full."

My troop is still going strong after 11 years ~ who would've thought that?!?! All my troop girls are now juniors in high school and have been in scouting since either kindergarden or first grade.

When my girls were younger, we used our cookie money for a year-end event every year. It is Girl Scout policy that the money be spent on the girls that earned it (as in the current year troop - even if all the girls didn't sell cookies). When my girls got older and decided to go all the way (through 12th grade), we decided to save for a big trip. It took 3 years of saving, but last summer my co-leader and our 8 girls went on a 4-day & night Baja Cruise! The girls only had to bring tip & spending money. It was an amazing trip and one we will all remember for the rest of our lives.

ok so the policy is to spend it on the current troop so if she tries to keep it I can call the Girl Scout office or something?? I am just so peeved dd sold alot of cookies & I helped her so her troop could have some fun ya know what I mean who knows the leader could possibly move away

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mom of 3 greats girls

How do the other parents feel? I would probably try speaking to those I knew well, and see if there is a general sense of discontent. If so, you can approach the leader in a "hey, we're all wondering why this is the decision, and how we can redirect this money to benefit the girls more immediately." If you wish to call the local council rep, you certainly can--but I don't know how it will be received by the leader. I would really approach her myself first, try to get other parents on board, and use the council as the last resort if you can't get anywhere. She may just be unsure what she is supposed to do.

ya thats kinda what I am thinking I guess I will wait & see what happens & maybe try to speak to the other parents I dont really know any of them their kids all go to the same school & my dd to another

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mom of 3 greats girls

I agree with momshops ~ you need to speak to the leader before you go to your local GS Council. It isn't up to the leader how/when the money is spent. It is up to the GIRLS. The leader is there to guide the girls and help them to understand what is possible and what isn't and make a good choice. Btw, the money belongs to the troop - not the leader. Unless the leader empties the account (which is always possible but shouldn't happen as all troop accounts have to have 2 signers on each check), the money stays in the troop account and the next leader takes over. Should the troop completely disband and there is money still in the account, the money is supposed to back to either the Service Unit or Council. The Service Unit Manager is supposed to keep an eye on this kind of thing.

I don't know if different areas have different rules but our leader wanted to save some of the money for the next year so the girls would not be doing a lot of fun things at one time (Sea World, Legoland, bowling etc..) and was told she couldn't do it. I think she was able to save some of the money but not very much.

Our troop saved till the end of the current year, then we went to Build a bear. We havd 40 girls last year and they all got a bear in brownie outfit.

We haven't decided what this year they will do. The kids always vote on what they want to do with the money.

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My dd was in scouts right through high school, (silver & gold award). They spent most of the money when they were young, the troops seems to be bigger, them when they get older many girls do not continue. When the girls were younger we used the money to pay for badges and programs they attended.

I was co-leader with another Mom and the troop in high school was down to two girls. Back then council didn't put too many rules on fund raising, so we went to the local stores every Sunday night and collected coupon inserts and sold them to a woman that ran a coupon service, we used that money and the girls went to London. It was a great way to earn easy money


I would approach the leader with your concerns.

Girl Scouts was a wonderful thing for my daughter, even helped getting $$ off the college tuition. Many colleges like to see the gold award.

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Sometimes the elevator often the shaft

We used the money for an end of the year activity, divided equally among all the girls no matter how many cookies each girl sold....I'd want an accounting of the money she keeps saving year after year..

I find it very odd that she would want to save the money till "they were older". How old? their wedding? Prom?, what?
thats not even a goal. My 7 yr old DD is a brownie She made it her goal to sell 500 boxes. Im so glad she made a goal but I'm hoping she isnt crushed if she does not make it, shes selling her little heart out. She (meaning me, Dh and her) has sold maybe 150 boxes. Her troop does the same as most spends some on them and saves a little for next year.
I would look into it more. i hate to say it but it sounds fishy to me

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I have OCCD
Obsessive-Compulsive Coupon Disorder!!!

ya seems odd to me too I guess I will wait see what happens if nothing then I will take action but she sounds like she was gonna save it & dh was at another meeting earlier before the sale started & she talked like they would use it then now the tune changed so not sure I guess I just dont trust it my gs one year ran off with our cookie sale money so I dont trust it much

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mom of 3 greats girls

How well known is this leader and how long has she been the leader.
I ask this because we had a leader back when my girls were young who was a first year leader. The girls sold quite a lot of cookies, but before the year was out, there was no money left. When it was found out, the leader quit. She had pocketed the money.

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Barb


My GOD Bless our Country and our Troops, and rid the World of terroists.

I would talk to the leader about it. You definitely have a right to know what's going on. Is there a plan in place for the money? or is the plan to save it and figure that out later? Doesn't sound quite right to me.

We switched troops this year because we moved but the money has always been spent that year. In our last troop we had a core group of girls but some that came and went. It's only fair that those who participated in selling the cookies get to reap the benefits from it. This particuarly troop has also disbanded and we're still trying to figure out something for the girls from that troop to do with the money even though the troop is no longer together.

This year my daughter's new troop decided to use their profits from cookie sales to go camping...so they will be going in April. I believe they also save some of the money because when it came time for investiture/re-investiture ceremony the leader bought all the badges/patches and when field trips come up (they try to go once a month), it is either all or partially paid by troop money (depending on the cost). Plus, the leaders buy all the supplies (assuming with troop money) for any actiivites they do during their meetings. We did pay a one-time dues at the beginning of the year and each parent/girl brought in non-perishable snacks (enough for one meeting) and the leaders take care of bringing that to each meeting.

peapie

yes I will check more into it & make sure dd can reap the benifits of her hard work & not someone else dh & I think they got at least $500 as a troop so they better do something with that money she is a first year leader & she herself is from somewhere far away so thats another thing she could easily move home across country


Barb M your kids leader sounds like what mine did when I was a kid my mom ended up turning her in & the gs council went after her to recope the money she moved & was never seen again neither were her kids I always wondered about them

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mom of 3 greats girls

Well this is from boy scouts but it's probably about the same . . . I was co-leader for 3 years and I really thought we were doing a great job of planning outings, earning badges, and having fun with the boys. I was shocked to find out one of the parents (the evil one) started a lot of crap about money. Our council gave us $100 for a dinner banquet for 8 scouts and all of their family (and extended family) and the leader decided that we have potluck (just like the year before) and save the money to go to Knott's Berry Farm at the end of the year. I personally sent out 50 letters asking for donations for our banquet and went to about 25 local places and I recieved over $1000 in gift certificates donations for our event for our raffle. Well, the evil parent thought we were pocketing $100 and had a fit and started rumors behind our backs and went to the pack/council and complained. I thought it to be so petty and I completely did not understand. We never even asked for monthly dues, we just payed for everything, all the supplies for every meeting, all the gas to go on outings. I thought we were doing so much for the boys, enriching their lives, making new friends, I really was totally shocked that people could be so petty about a few $$. Plus we live in a pretty nice area so I thought the other parents could appreciate what we were doing for their kids, but no, no thanks, no nothing. I still find it extremely petty.

So I don't know how much money 'cookie money' is but I hope it's more that the $100 that made the leader and I both to drop out of scouts instantly and leave a lot of little boys with no leader and nobody stepped up to take over and . . . guess who lost out . . my little boy that wanted to be a scout and got forced out by stupid evil petty parents.

So my point is . . . watch your step, don't conspire with other parents unless something is really wrong. If she is evil, let her go. If she is a good leader, don't piss her off ! !

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Mommy to three wonderful boys, Justin (11), Nicholas (9) and Scottie (8)

I just deposited my cookie money last week and it was about $3200 total for 8 girls. Our troop profit was $489, so it can be a significant amount of money.

Lisa

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"It's not having what you want,
It's wanting what you've got"

yes mkjn I dont want to loose her as a leader or tick anyone off thats why I posted here for opinions first I dont really want to talk to the other parents until thier is a problem but the way she is talking about saving it for like 8 yrs I am kinda concerned no I understand the leaders do thier thing & go above & beyond I do know that I am not saying she is stealing the money like my leader did but I also want my dd to benifit because in 8yrs where will everyone be chances are not good they will all still be in it or that the leader we still be around

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mom of 3 greats girls

Last year my girlfriend's daughter's leader kept the money. She didn't do anything with the girls that earned it. She just says now that it is gone. She can't explain where the money went and the local council never held this person accountable.

My girlfriend did not let her daughter do scouts this year because of this.

This sounds like a big problem that the Girl Scouts need to address as a national group.

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Donna

I agree & its also a joke that they make the girls sale when its -30 degrees out luckily for dd she didnt have to do much door to door but she did enough that it makes me not even want her in it next year

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mom of 3 greats girls

All 3 of my girls have been in Scouts, the youngest is not in this year since there wasn't enough for a troop. We always spent all of money at the end of the year for a fun activity/party for the girls. We only ever kept about $20 or so to start out the next year for craft activinties or something.

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visit my homepage http://penny.mycoupons.com/

I have been a Girl Scout leader also, and I have to agree with the other poster about not selling your dd's leader down the river over this. I don't think most parents know what it takes to actually be a leader in Girl Scouts these days. I was constantly at a training, had to take CPR and renew it every single year (all day one Saturday of my own time as were all trainings, some in the evenings on school nights and many were several hours away) go to service unit and council meetings and attend other numerous Girl Scout functions, keep up my huge manual, etc. The first year I was a troop leader, I started my troop from scratch. We raised (pocketed for our troop) over $1,000 in cookie money (my DH and I raised a huge amount of that, some kids didn't even bother selling one box but expected to reap all of the rewards of course, but you'll always have those); please note however that as a new troop, we began with NOTHING. Everything we did as a troop, generally came out of my pocket or my asst. leader's pocket or a very small handful of parents would actually step up and pay their child's dues or some even gave us a little cash here and there; some even brought or donated some items to use for crafts, etc. Generally speaking though, it came out of my pocket or my assistant leader's pocket. I can't even begin to tell you the hoops you have to jump through (in my council anyway; it is not the same all over the U.S. I am sure) to get to do anything at all with your troop, so that may be what's holding your leader back. The rules were amazingly ridiculous (a lot of them for a good reason of course but some of them just looney--and I am a very cautious person and very responsible also). I was responsible at all times for 17 girls at every event (rarely did a parent volunteer to help) with my asst. leader. A few of my girls even had serious health issues and i had to be on top of that too. I'm not complaining, just showing you how much work went into volunteering to do this (I've volunteered forever at something, and I honestly am just blown away at how out there the Girl Scout program is--at least my council is this way, maybe not everyone's is?). I loved working with the girls but boy, the overly strict rules and regulations, all of the trainings all of the time, service club meetings, etc., was just too much for me. And truthfully, I really bet I can count on one hand how many parents actually were grateful or tried to get involved with their daughters. Seriously.

Now I'll try and get off of my vent (sorry--I just get all bent out of shape over the Girl Scout topic ha ha). I can't imagine that your leader is pocketing the money the girls have raised (but you never know I suppose). We had very strict rules about the money; had to have two signatures on every check; I was accountable every single month for a detailed budget WITH receipts to my council treasurer. It was seriously like a second job. I was a Girl Scout when I was a kid, but boy being a leader did me in quickly. I have a different view of the Girls Scouts lets just say. Please also keep in mind that your leader probably has her own family at home that she is trying to balance while getting meetings together (this can be a huge process), keep up with badges, make trips for supplies from the Girl Scout supply store, keep up with the zillion trainings that she has to have before troop xyz can do basically anything at all. In our area, first year troops couldn't do much of anything at all unless the council was throwing it. I never once heard anything at all about 'you can't leave a lot of money in your account from year to year' though. I was also of the belief as a leader that the girls that earned the money should be the ones that got to spend it also (council says you can't do it that way though--everyone is treated equal whether they sell or not, which was fine by me, I just wanted to use up the money the girls earned; not save it all for next years' troop of new girls, some old, etc.), but my asst. leader was a serious cheapskate and didn't want to spend a dime (she was co-signer on the checkbook that I carried so of course there were some issues regarding money and how it was spent). This is ultimately one of the main reasons I quit and handed my troop over to her. She wanted to continue to spend our own money to foot the bills for the entire troop and sit on over a thousand dollars. I found it ridiculous also. Those girls earned that money and they should be enjoying it. This is really ultimately what turns a lot of girls off from scouting, the fact that some leaders want to sit on the money and not spend it, not do anything at all with it (that and the red tape mentioned throughout by the council on troop activity). It does state in the leader training that Girl Scouts isn't a 'money making corporation after all', it's to raise money that is first set as a goal by the girls. The girls should have decided/written down what they planned to do with the money (some will be saved, some will be spent, etc.) when they got their cookie packets. Each girl signed a cookie pledge, etc. during this time also so I know your leader has that packet. I would certainly speak with your leader about the money situation and how you feel. I would not go behind her back to other parents (she will find out I promise and it may seriously be the last straw and your leader may walk). IF you do not get a decent reason WHY she is holding on to the money from year to year (and she shouldn't be holding all of it from year to year--she really may just be seriously afraid of being in the same situation next year as in the beginning of this one--from August until March or April is a LOOONG time to go without any funds!), THEN I would go rally the other parents and have a discussion. You guys will need to approach her with whatever you are thinking (assuming that all parents will be on the same page, which they may or may not be). If you still don't get a decent answer, go to the Service Unit president and have a talk. The treasurer of the Service Unit will be more than happy to sit down with you and show you all of the debits and credits I'm sure, as well as a current balance. The Service Unit treasurer receives a monthly bank statement of your dd's troop, so any major withdrawals should be noticed. Everything in our Girl Scout troops had to balance to a penny, you had to have the actual/legitimate receipt (no hand receipts), etc. Of course I have no way of knowing what your council allows, but I bet it's similar if not the same. I can't imagine them not holding each leader seriously accountable for the money. They may want to talk with the leader and help her understand that holding large amounts of money from year to year, while her troop does literally nothing is not going to work out in the long-run; girls (or their parents) will drop Girl Scouts and the troop will dissolve. Did you also know that if you are not happy with your child's troop, you can fill out a form, transfer your child to another open troop and also in this process you can file paperwork to take the money (money remaining unspent that is) your child raised while in this troop to this new troop? That is an option but I bet a lot of leaders aren't aware of that, and of course probably no parents are. I would not worry about the troop leader leaving and the money leaving with her. If the leader quits and no one else steps up to volunteer to lead the troop, and the troop dissolves, the Council and Service Unit will take the money. If you think that your dd's leader is really out there and not following the rules of Girl Scouting, pick up a troop leader manual or go to your council office and get some information. I would be willing to bet though that your dd's leader is just afraid that if the troop spends all of the funds now, they will be up a creek next year, especially if it's a Brownie troop and you can't do any other fundraising besides the cookie sale once a year. Let us know what you guys do/work out. I'm curious to see how it ends up.

thanks yes I can see where some do all the work & others do none but my dd was the top seller & she did say we will save the money for years so when they are teens they can go do big stuff but um I am sure dd wont be in it as a teen only about 2 girls that are teens are in it at all & no I wouldnt mind if it was used next year I dont think she is the type to steal it not saying that at all just dont like the idea of saving yes I will post what they end up doing & yes I know what the leaders have to do believe me I know its just crazy so no I wouldnt mind if they used it for next year to get going & no they do have other sales at the beginning of the year so cookies is not the only one

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mom of 3 greats girls