Like you, we know that helping girls earn and manage money is an important part of the Girl Scout experience. Troop money-earning activities put girls in charge, giving them the opportunity to set goals, manage a budget, build lasting friendships, and even develop their entrepreneurial skills. 

For Alanna M., a Troop Leader from Fort Worth, Texas, money-earning is also a means of celebrating her girls’ unique skills and passions—and having lots of fun, too. After selling nearly 20,000 boxes of Girl Scout cookies from 2015 to 2017, her troop earned the rest of the funds to participate in Costa Rica: A Touch of the Tropics with EF Tours for Girl Scouts by looking again to their community. After some brainstorming, she and her girls organized a funky Zumbathon, some festive holiday giftwrapping sessions, and one seriously sweet cupcake decorating workshop—making for a creative, rewarding, and completely girl-led money-earning experience.

Zumbathon

So, what’s a Zumbathon? Think the music and aerobic dancing of a standard Zumba class, but with additional instructors and extended in length (two to three hours, with breaks). Alanna and her girls needed about 40 hours to plan this event, which included time for meetings, designing and distributing flyers and tickets, securing sponsorships and vendors, and event setup and breakdown. When asked for tips for hosting this event, she says, “get girl and parent commitment early and be sure to keep them engaged throughout planning.” She also advises that those preparing for their own Zumbathon have a minimum of six to ten team members. 

Giftwrapping

From here, Alanna’s troop secured giftwrapping sessions with their local Barnes and Noble Bookstores during the holiday season. “We made sure to practice our wrapping skills before hosting the events,” she says. “The girls were very enthusiastic and prepared to answer each guest’s questions about our upcoming tour.” Alanna made sure to schedule the wrapping sessions for Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays that fit best with her girls’ schedules. To their luck, these days also happened to be the busiest store days with the highest foot traffic.

Cupcake Decorating Workshop

For their third fundraising event, Alanna and her girls held a cupcake decorating workshop in honor of the 105th birthday of Girl Scouts. They needed about 40 hours to plan, which included meetings, a workshop for Alanna’s girls to complete a Cake Decorating Interest Project (and earn a badge for it, too), time for securing donors and purchasing supplies, and event setup and breakdown. “I recommend promoting your event at least two months in advance with social media presence in your troop’s community,” Alanna says. “We made sure to have event flyers at our cookie booths, too.” 

Their biggest adventure yet

Now that her troop’s trip to Costa Rica is just around the corner, Alanna can’t help but get excited about the opportunity for her girls to continue building their courage, confidence, and character. “I’m traveling with my girls to help them become global citizens and to expose them to new cultural and environmental landscapes,” she says. “It’s their chance to learn about educational norms for girls in Costa Rica, and explore the wonderful biodiversity of this tropical region.” She’s also excited about EF’s weShare program, a personalized learning experience that helps travelers harness their unique strengths to investigate an issue or topic that inspires them. Thinking about weShare, Alanna says, “Several of the girls have interests in education, conflict resolution, social concerns, and STEM fields. I can’t wait to see which topics they’ll explore during our tour.” Judging from the passion, creativity, and originality of her girls’ money-earning activities, we know the topics they choose will be nothing less than extraordinary.