Luckily, my daughter attends a school that does not hold sales fundraisers. But she is in a Girl Scout troop that participates in two fundraisers a year. When she first started selling these products, I had my doubts that it would be a good thing. I vaguely remember selling cookies door-to-door as a scout. My brothers helped themselves to many boxes of cookies, so they never got delivered, and my poor mother had to pay for them all. Not a very good cookie sale experience.
The Girl Scouts claims that product sales teach life skills like goal setting, money management, and people skills. When I read that, I thought “yeah, right” with a big eye roll. But after watching my daughter transform after her first sale, I’m here to tell you that it’s true!
When my daughter sets a goal for the incentives offered, she meets and exceeds it every time, even when I think there is no way. She’s learned to add up the total for the orders and even how to fill out the insidious order form grid. And last but not least, she has gained a great deal of confidence from talking to adults she doesn’t know very well (with my supervision) and asking for their orders.
So, please, before you turn that kid away who is at your door trying to sell you a coupon book or a box of cookies, think about the life lessons they are learning and how you can help build their confidence by supporting their organization.
