Game-Changing Enhancement to Cookie Program Makes Its National Debut

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

December 1, 2014

Contact:
Girl Scouts of the USA Press Room
media@girlscouts.org
(212) 852-8525

New York, N.Y.—Girl Scouts of the USA (GSUSA) today unveiled Digital Cookie, a groundbreaking new addition to the Girl Scout Cookie Program that creates a fun, safe, interactive space for girls to sell cookies. Marking the first national digital platform in the history of the iconic cookie program, this revolutionary enhancement adds a digital layer that expands and strengthens the ways girls learn the essential 5 Skills of goal setting, decision making, money management, people skills, and business ethics. The future of the Girl Scout Cookie Program, Digital Cookie will introduce vital 21st-century lessons about online marketing, app usage, and ecommerce to more than 1 million excited Girl Scouts who will be in the driver's seat of their own digital cookie businesses.

Thanks to the Girl Scout Cookie Program, over two-thirds of female CEOs on the Fortune 500 list learned basic business acumen by selling Girl Scout Cookies. Yet just 21 percent of chief information officers at Fortune 100 companies are women, and an even smaller number are CEOs of firms engaged in science, engineering, technology, or mathematics, known as the STEM fields. Digital Cookie has the potential to help change this reality, evolving the traditional Girl Scout Cookie Program to fit the modern world, providing girls with an important foundation in technology that will be vital to their experiences in school, business, and life in general in the years ahead. Digital Cookie will also allow customers to help girls learn 21st-century skills grounded in technology, along with valuable interpersonal skills girls will acquire through their continued participation in traditional booth and door to door sales.

"For almost a century, the Girl Scout Cookie Program has been teaching girls to be leaders in the world of business and finance, and we intend to ensure that legacy continues in the digital age," said Anna Maria Chávez, CEO of GSUSA. "Digital Cookie is a game-changer for Girl Scouts, and a quantum leap forward in the evolution of the cookie program, coupling traditional sales activities with an online sales experience that teaches skills like online marketing and ecommerce, all in a digital space that puts an emphasis on learning, fun, and safety. If you buy Girl Scout Cookies online this year, you could be helping to prepare the next female leader of a global tech giant who changes our world forever. Join us in making Girl Scout history this cookie season!"

With Digital Cookie, customers will be able to buy Girl Scout Cookies through two separate digital sales platforms, depending on their market area. Some girls will market their online cookie business by inviting customers via email to visit their personalized cookie websites. There, consumers can order cookies from the comfort of their living room. Other girls will take in-person orders using a unique mobile app newly enhanced to allow for credit card processing and direct shipping, in addition to directing customers to a non-personalized website where cookies can be purchased.

Additionally, Digital Cookie emphasizes the safety of both girls and customers. Girls and their caregivers take an Internet safety pledge before using the web-based platform, and caregivers must approve all updates and changes girls make when customizing their Digital Cookie site. Girls using the mobile platform will adhere to the same safety standards as those participating in traditional Girl Scout Cookie sales.

As with the traditional Girl Scout Cookie Program, with Digital Cookie 100 percent of the net revenue earned from cookie sales will remain with the Girl Scout council that sponsors the sale. Girls decide how to spend their troop cookie money and reinvest it in their neighborhoods through service projects and learning experiences, including travel. As a result, customers who purchase Girl Scout Cookies are not only getting a delicious treat—they are also making an important investment in their communities.

Today's launch of Digital Cookie represents an initial phase of a program that will progress over time. Future versions of Digital Cookie will see improved user experiences for girls and customers alike and a more robust customer interface. The majority of the 112 Girl Scout councils nationwide are participating in Digital Cookie during the 2014–2015 cookie season, with additional councils expected to be on board by the end of 2015, using an updated "version 2.0."

Visit www.girlscouts.org/digitalcookie to see if Digital Cookie is available in your market.

We're Girl Scouts of the USA
We're the preeminent leadership development organization for girls. It began over 100 years ago, with one woman, Girl Scouts' founder Juliette Gordon "Daisy" Low, who believed in the power of every girl. Juliette organized the first Girl Scout troop on March 12, 1912, in Savannah, Georgia, and every year since, we've made her vision a reality, helping girls discover their strengths, passions, and talents. Today, as yesterday, Girl Scouts builds girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place. And with programs for girls from coast to coast and across the globe, Girl Scouts offers every girl a chance to do something amazing. To volunteer, reconnect, donate, or join, visit www.girlscouts.org.

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