There comes a time each year that some forget about until a young girl wearing a badge or tie appears at their door or grocery store sporting a cheerful smile and offering the treat they suddenly crave: Girl Scout Cookies.
Yes, it is indeed Girl Scout Cookie season, but this year will look different as many scouts will be selling cookies online rather than knocking door-to-door.
“Given the community unrest and the instability in our communities, many of our Girl Scouts are choosing not to sell cookies in person,” Girl Scouts River Valley chief experience officer Susan Andersson said.
From now until March 29, Girl Scouts River Valleys’ cookie program will go digital. That includes 49 counties in Minnesota and Wisconsin plus Osceola County in Iowa.
The public can purchase cookies through specific troops, individual scouts, or by using the “cookie finder” feature on the Girl Scouts River Valleys website, girlscoutsrv.org.
Some scouts may continue to sell cookies door-to-door or at cookie booths in the state, though the public can anticipate seeing fewer scouts out and about than usual.
“There’s no playbook for what we’re going through right now, and it’s hard to forge the way forward when there is no precedent,” said Tammy Freese, senior director of product program. “That’s the most challenging thing is that we’re in a place that we haven’t been before. COVID was also full of uncertainties, but this just seems very, very different.”
Freese said the decision to go online was made to ensure the comfort of troop members and their families, who may not feel comfortable selling cookies in public during a time when immigration enforcement actions are going on.
“Girl Scouts has been around for 100-plus years, and one off-season won’t slow these girls down,” Girl Scouts River Valleys stated. “Cookie season remains the largest girl-led entrepreneurship program in the world, and it represents all girls, including daughters of immigrants, daughters of police officers, and girls from every kind of family and neighborhood.”
Digital Cookie
During the early COVID years, Girl Scouts used a platform called Smart Cookie to deliver online sales. In 2026, the organization is using Digital Cookie, an updated platform with “more bells and whistles,” according to Freese.
Girl Scouts with the new 2026 Exploremores cookies. The organization anticipates that many of its members will opt to sell cookies online instead of the traditional door-knocking method this year. (Courtesy of Girl Scouts)
With Digital Cookie, troops and individual Girl Scouts can create a personalized online storefront with information about the troop or Scout and what they’re raising money for. Scouts also have control over who sees their storefront and can choose to share a link to their business over social media, via text message and more. Once purchased, cookies can be shipped or directly delivered to the customer’s door, if the option is available.
“It’s a really great resource for Girl Scouts to learn real-world marketing and what it does take to be an entrepreneur these days,” Freese said.
Girl Scouts learn five main skills through the cookie program, Andersson said: goal setting, decision making, money management, people skills and business ethics. Traditionally, the cookie program teaches scouts these skills through in-person learning opportunities, and though the season will have significantly less in-person social interaction, Andersson said the Digital Cookie program continues to foster the same kinds of lessons.
Anderson said these days, more and more customers shop online, and this change is one way for Girl Scouts to consider meeting a need. She said going digital opens accessibility to a wider range of people and allows the public to support Girl Scouts programs without needing to show up in person.
“Not only are our girls learning those five very important skills, but they’re also learning how to pivot when things don’t go as planned, and that is so very, very important, because life doesn’t always go as we plan it, and building up that resilience and that grit is so important,” Freese said.
Troop 2026
Freese said community members have reached out to ask how they can support those who feel particularly vulnerable during the immigration enforcement surge.
Inspired by a volunteer suggestion, Girl Scouts River Valleys created Troop 2026 through the Care to Share Program, which takes proceeds from cookie sales and distributes them to specific initiatives, like supporting veterans or food shelves. Troop 2026 consists of Girl Scouts whose cookie seasons have been “impacted by events in our communities,” according to Girl Scouts. Purchasing through Troop 2026 is one way people can support Girl Scouts during this challenging season, Freese said.
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“Care to Share, and Troop 2026, also educates girls about philanthropy, how giving back is really important,” Andersson said.
The cookie program helps to support and make Girl Scouts possible, Freese said. The proceeds fund Girl Scouts initiatives, learning opportunities, travel plans and more. A lot of troops depend on the cookie program to help them achieve their goals, she said.
“We want to make sure that we honor all decisions for folks that have maybe decided this is the year that they can’t participate in the cookie program, and make sure that they realize that, yes, you are not only a valued member of the troop, even if cookie participation has to be paused this year, but you’re also a valuable number of Girl Scouts River Valleys,” Freese said.
Getting Girl Scout Cookies
Individual Girl Scouts Digital Cookie storefronts went live Wednesday, Feb. 11, and will be active through the end of March.
Purchase cookies directly through a scout’s storefront or using the cookie finder on Girl Scouts River Valleys’ website, girlscoutsrv.org or by texting “cookies” to 59618.
Buy cookies from Troop 2026, a virtual troop made up of scouts impacted by immigration enforcement activity, search for Troop 2026 at girlscoutsrv.org.
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