Leaders,
Council recently sent out an update on cookie sale information via ebudde. I'd like to highlight a couple things from the email in case not everyone got it, and also answer some of the questions that were brought up at leader meetings.
Council is allowing us to accept credit cards for booth sales, and will reimburse troops for the cost of processing. Credit card acceptance requires use of a smart phone like an Android phone or iPhone. If you are interested, please see the information in the council email, or contact me for a copy of it. I have one of the credit card readers and have tested it, and it seems to work fine for me. It does take a few days to get your card reader in the mail and set up the bank account information, so if you plan to make use of this I'd suggest setting it up a week or two in advance--and if you have questions I'm happy to try to help. This is a great new option for us, but like anything new, it's likely to have glitches. Please let me know your experiences.
There are two kinds of gift-of-caring available when someone wants to donate cookies: Council Gift of Caring cookies are referred to as virtual cookies, because the troop does not take delivery of them. In contrast, Troop Gift of Caring cookies are not part of the initial order, but are added afterward--and they are delivered to the troop. I'm excited by the idea of virtual cookies, but the whole thing sounds complicated to me. If you will be using gift of caring, please see the council email, or contact me for a copy if you didn't get it.
Here are the questions from prior meetings:
Q: What about troops that don't have checks--how do they fill out the purple form?
A: If they don't have a check, just make sure to write down the account/routing number.
Q: Can girls without a troop sell cookies?
A: Yes, their orders go through the service unit. (As of yesterday I heard we had at least one girl waiting for a troop because she switched schools.)
Q: Can troops that don't yet have a troop number sell cookies?
A: It's complicated. I have been in contact separately with all the troops I know of, please let me know of any I've missed.
Q: Can Daisies do the community cookie booth?
A: Yes
Q: Do the routing and account number need to be entered into ebudde for cookies to be ordered?
A: No
Q: Are booth sales covered by the second bank sweep that happens in mid-April?
A: Yes, troops keep the proceeds, they get cookies for 2.95 and sell for 3.50.
This has not been an easy year for cookie sales, because of timing for training and delivery--sorry things are chaotic, and thanks for your help and patience! If you have questions that haven't been answered, or other questions I should ask at Council, please let me know by Wednesday as I'll be there that evening for the ebudde training.
Thanks
Charlie Sears
(Co-cookie manager 2012, with Susan Witte)
