Tell me about being a Daisy troop leader
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Anonymous
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I'm not OP, but I just signed up to be my daughter's Daisy leader, so thanks for this thread!
My biggest stress point is the money. Do you charge dues, and if so how much? What does it cover? I'm thinking I want dues to be high enough to cover basic supplies and the badges/petals that they'll earn for sure. Do I also charge enough to cover other events we'll do (our council has some really cool sounding events, but they all cost additional money - usually between 10 and $20) or do you just collect that for each event based on who is going? I'd love to hear how you experienced leaders dealt with costs and collecting money. (We're planning on doing very low-key cookie sales - probably just a booth or two - so I don't want to rely on cookie money. If we make some, we'll use it for a bonus fun activity or a take action project or something) |
Anonymous
OP, Like you, I was totally NOT into cookie sales and didn't want to be about pimping the girls out to make money. And then I totally went the other way! I got tagged to be the cookie manager and figured at least that way I could make sure it was very low key. Low and behold... I found out how much the kids love to earn money... and I changed my perception of what the cookie sale is all about. It is not just another dumb school fundraiser to annoy your family and neighbors. It is a vehicle for the girls to learn to plan what they want to do, to work together as a team, to push them out of their comfort zone in speaking to and dealing with strangers (at booths) (for the extroverts this was easy -- for the introverts, it was a growth opportunity), to get the satisfaction of taking other people's MONEY!!! (they love this), to be part of a team and see the team's success, and then to talk about and vote on fun activities that they know THEY have earned themselves (not just having mom and dad hand over another $50). There is real personal value in all of those things. It's not like the school wrapping paper fund raiser where the kid takes the form home to mom/dad and then brings it back to school and never really sees the results. It's much direct to the girls. And as a Daisy leader -- I guarantee you -- they sell a TON of cookies at the booths just b/c they are so little and so cute!!! No one can resist the little Daisy scouts. Seriously. You MUST do booths. (No more than four girls and two adults, though, at one time. One hour shifts are best.) You will get b/t $35-60 in flat out cash donations too every time you set out your booth. (Can you tell I've done this more than once?) Anyway -- don't put a lot of pressure on the girls to sell a certain amount. But, DO get booth spots (note -- it is very competitve so be on your game when sign ups start). Some parents can take the form into the office and others can't. That doesn't matter. What matters is that every girl contributes to the TROOP's work and then every girl gets to participate in the reward. The lesson is EFFORT = REWARD. I know it can be overwhelming to take on leadership duties or cookie manager.... but the cookie sales are a big hit with the girls and I encourage you to let the girls have that experience. Part of the fun too is letting the GIRLS decide on how to spend the money (you help them with suggestions too). Do it! |
Anonymous
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Re - cookie sales. Don't have the girls sell individually. Just buy a couple hundred boxes and sign up for a booth or two in front of a store. Have girls "sell" in shifts. It is super easy and honestly it's what girls that age think selling Girl Scout cookies is.
The key with a Daisy troop is don't try to do too much and make sure the parents are all involved. Get a cookie mom, a treasurer and assign parents to run specific petal badges. |
Anonymous
At the parent meeting you tell them the cost of the uniform and either have them go buy it (which half won't) or you add that to the cost of dues. You will need to buy some supplies to start the troop -- a flag, a first aid kit, basic arts/craft supplies (maybe some can donate scissors, markers, pencils, clear tape, big sheets of paper, paper for your printer, cost that you have to get trained, glue, etc.). I had a big bin/box/bag that came with me every time. Your dues can be something like $30-50... + the cost of the uniform (if you are going to go out and get all of them). Don't be too conservative about asking for dues. As others have said, the beginning of the year is when people are the most compliant and grateful.... they will pay the dues. For those who can't pay (low income), they can fill out a financial need form and the National Capital Council will cover up to $25-30 in dues and they will pay for a uniform. But, the parent has to fill out the financial need form. Don't get me started on the families who fill out the aid form but their DDs have the ipods and ipads. I liked to have the girls make a troop Tshirt that they wore to all of our field trips. That way their vests (when older) wouldn't get destroyed at an activity. For brownies we just used light blue polo shirts. For Juniors we did various shirts. They looked good and I could always tell right away if a girl was one of mine or not (in a crowd). For Daisies, it might not matter b/c you may have parents with you or you may not go on many field trips. The dues are really about what supplies you will need to get the troop started and what you will need to carry out the badge activities. If you are going to plant flowers at some point --- that costs $$. If you are going to make bird houses or ornaments --- crafts cost $$. Going to have a picnic? -- Costs $$. Posters for the cookie sale? -- -Costs $$. It's better to get the $30-50 up front and then you have something to work with. |
Anonymous
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We skipped the cookies completely. They are not required AT ALL.
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Anonymous
Don't know how I forgot this b/c I spent a TON of money on it ..... FUN PATCHES!! A big portion of the dues went to buying fun patches to memorialize an experience the girls had. They are then ironed-on to the vest/tunic. (This is one reason the sash is a no-no. Not nearly enough room for the fun patches). Anyway, when the girls go to the firestation --- there's a fun patch for that (and they love getting a little "treat" at the end of the event). When the girls clean up a park --- fun patch earned! When the girls go ice skating -- fun patch! Went on a hike or to the zoo or horseback riding.... There's a fun patch for that too! Assume $1.25/fun patch. |
Anonymous
Huge mistake. Your girls never got the joy of knowing they earned their adventures. Mom and dad just wrote a check. |
Anonymous
LOL. They "earned" plenty of adventures. Just not one based on crappy cookies and commercialization. |
Anonymous
how did they "earn"...? |
Anonymous
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I always look at the online possible lesson plans for ideas but then just adapt or do whatever I think will be fun for the girls in keeping with the theme for the petal.
On money, there's different ways to do it. I have parents buy the vest and Daisy petals themselves, then pay 50 in dues which covers monthly room rental, craft supplies, fun patches, and fees for low cost activities that the troop participates in. For more expensive activities (like camping), I had the families that wanted to attend pay directly. In our troop, most of the parents indicated that they didn't want to have to send in little checks for $3 or $5 activities, and weren't upset that the kids that attend fewer activities might be slightly subsidizing the kids that attend more activities. Definitely set yourself up for help from the beginning. Have a signup genius and get each parent to sign up for 1-2 meetings to bring snack and assist. Even better if you can get the parent volunteer to actually plan the meeting. I personally like the meeting planning for the little ones so it's not a big deal for me but I had a couple parents volunteer to plan outings, which was a big help. Agree with PP that the goal of cookies is for the girls to acquire skills. If they aren't, it's not worth doing. Most K troops skip cookie sales. Attend the service unit meetings. Most of the cool stuff happens at the Service Unit level, and if you go to the meetings you'll know what's happening. |
Anonymous
A variety of ways. This was a helpful tool for planning petals/activities: https://www.girlscoutsrv.org/volunteers/troop-leaders/daisy-leaders/daisy-planning-guide/ Plenty of activities beyond hocking cookies. Some are actually meaningful. |
Anonymous
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Anonymous
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Brownie troop leader here - we did one year of Daisies, didn't start till 1st grade.
Recommendations: get parents used to volunteering right away, or you'll get stuck doing everything and all your parents will drop off their kids and run away, leaving you to corral 18 kids between 3 parents. Get a co-leader who has a slightly different skill set than you do. I'm the math person who handles all the back-of-the-house business and administration - money, cookies, council obligations, etc. My co-leader takes the lead on meeting planning. I choose the meetings I want to take the lead on, she picks her favorites and we brainstorm the others. She likes the artsy-craftsy stuff; I like the badges related to sports and STEM and money and music/dance. You don't have to sell cookies, unless someone really wants to. We didn't that first year. It's a lot of work for whoever gets suckered into being cookie mom. The nice thing about individual sales AND booth sales is that you can get an idea from individual sales what cookies to order for the booth sales. The proportions people buy might be different than what the council says. And girls do not *have* to sell anything - they don't have to do individual sales or man a booth. But if they don't do either, they don't get any cookie rewards, and it can be hard to watch 15 girls getting prizes while 1 doesn't. The daisy petals are pretty straightforward; there's a lot of info online with ideas of what to do for each. When you get to Brownies, you don't *have* to do journeys if you don't want to. You don't *have* to do certain badges you find boring. You don't *have* to go camping. The troop is what you decide it is; you can choose to focus on certain things. If you think you might want to do GS sleepaway camps, definitely join scouts. The discounts on the same camps YMCA uses are substantial. |
Anonymous
But you the parents PAID for everything. That is the point the PP is trying to make. You don't have to do door to door sale, you don't have to do cookie booths, you don't have to sell to family. You pick and choose. But giving the kids a goal that they choose (a camping trip, a day trip, etc..) figuring out the expenses and saving it up for it themselves is very important in letting kids know money doesn't grow on trees and they need to earn things in life. We also donate 20% of our proceeds to a different non-profit every year. The girls choose and we spend a day bringing the cookies, money, and cards we have made. |
Anonymous
| Thank you so much for the feedback, everyone! This has been tremendously helpful to me, I really appreciate the time you all took to help me out. |