Cookies & Corks Event Planning

Guide

Girl Scouts of Greater Atlanta

Raising Awareness about modern Girl Scouting

Event Overview

A Cookies & Corks event is a fundraising event to help

your Service Unit reach your Annual Fund goal.

It is also an opportunity to engage local Girl Scout alum

and to bring community members and business leaders

together to support local Girl Scouts.

If you choose to, it can also be an opportunity to honor a

local Girl Scout who has made significant impacts in the

community and serves as an example of the Girl Scout

ideals.

This event has three key priorities:

Engaging community members + alum

Fundraising

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Event Details

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Cookies for wine pairings

Wine & Cookie pairing signs

Promotional materials (images for social media, flyers, email headers, etc.)

customized for your event

A Give Lively fundraising page customized for your event and "Text to

Give" signs to encourage people to donate

A list of Girl Scout Alum in your area to invite

A sponsorship letter and sample benefits package to ask local businesses

to sponsor your event

An in-kind donation letter to share with local businesses when soliciting a

donation of goods/services for your event

What GSGATL provides:

Suggested ticket price: $25-30

Consider having name tags available for guests.

You can provide additional food/appetizers for guests if you'd like

to. Try to get any extra food as in-kind donations to save money!

It's great to have a professional photographer or a designated iPhone

photographer to take photos throughout the night!

You can use some of your girls' vests as decoration. Having all of

these patches and badges on display is a great conversation starter!

You can also decorate the space with framed photos of your Girl

Scouts at camp, completing community service projects, etc.

If you plan your event during Cookie Season or Treats & Keeps

Season, you can have a troop selling items at the event.

At the conclusion of your event, you will need to complete the

Financial Reporting spreadsheet provided by GSGATL.

A few things to consider:

Getting Started

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To get started, complete a Cookies &Corks Event application.

This will let GSGATL know that you are interested in hosting an

event in your community. We will then reach out with additional

resources to start planning your event.

Closer to your event, we will provide promotional images customized

with your date, time, and venue. We will also provide boxes of Girl

Scout Cookies to serve at the event with wine.

Planning Timeline

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6 months before the event

Complete your JotForm application to let GSGATL know that you are

interested in hosting a Cookies & Corks event in your community.

5 months before the event

Book your venue.

Select your caterer (or provide the food yourself).

Ask for in-kind donations of wine.

4 months before the event

Find local Girl Scouts to speak at the event.

If your event is during Cookie Season or Treats & Keeps, select one troop

to sell items at the event.

Invite people to the event via email, social media, and word of mouth.

3 months before the event

Continue to invite people to the event.

2 months before the event

Continue to invite people to the event.

1 month before the event

Send registrants a reminder about the event.

Pick up your Girl Scout Cookies from GSGATL.

1 week before the event

Review all of your plans and confirm information with speakers, vendors,

etc.

1 week after the event

Return all supplies to GSGATL

Complete the Financial Reporting spreadsheet.

Event Promotions

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Once you have finalized the date, time, and

location of your event, GSGATL will provide

promotional graphics to share on social

media, in emails, at Service Unit and troop

meetings, etc.

Sample Event Promotional Image

Event Photos

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Sample Run of Show

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4:00 p.m. - Event planners arrive at the venue for set-up.

5:30 p.m. - Event starts. As people arrive, they can get a glass ofwine. Girl Scout Cookies with signs suggesting wine pairings shouldbe placed around the room.

5:50 p.m. - Welcome Announcement (Thank everyone for attendingthe event and supporting Girl Scouts).

5:55 p.m. - A parent or volunteer speaker can share their story, thedifference Girl Scouting makes in the lives of girls, and why it's soimportant that others financially support our mission.

Call to Action: Donate with our text-to-give platform. Text[yourcustomcode] to 44321.

6:15 p.m. - Girl Speaker(s) share their experience as a Girl Scout.

6:30 p.m. - Make an announcement thanking any sponsors and in-kind donors.

6:35 p.m. - Mix & Mingle.

7:15 p.m. - Make a “last call” announcement and encourage people todonate before they leave.

7:30 p.m. - Event Ends

Fundraising

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The goal of this event is to raise money for the GSGATL Annual

Fund to help your Service Unit meet its Annual Fund goal for

the year.

Ask people to donate at the event. People can donate through your

customized Give Lively page by texting your customized code to

44321 or by writing a check to "Girl Scouts of Greater Atlanta." You

can have signs around the venue with information about how to

donate and ask people to donate directly after sharing volunteer or

girl stories. These stories should show others what makes Girl

Scouts so special and should be inspiring enough to encourage them

to donate.

You will receive a customized code to direct people to your Give Lively donation page.

Ticket Sales

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You should set up an account on "Cheddar Up" to sell tickets for your

event. To learn more about Cheddar Up, click here.

Ticket sales can help you raise money, but you cannot count the

entire ticket price as a donation. Finance rules require that the cost

of any goods provided to people in exchange for their ticket

purchase be deducted from any potential donation. To find out if any

of the ticket price can count as a donation, add up the cost of the

venue, food, and drink. Divide this cost by the number of tickets

sold. If the cost per person is equal to or higher than the ticket price,

none of it is a donation. If the cost per person is less than the ticket

price, the difference is considered a donation.

In-Kind Donations

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Venue space (Note: you can save money on venue space by

hosting the event at someone's house)

Food/appetizers

Wine

The best way to make this event a successful fundraiser is to

ask for items to be donated from local businesses.

Below is a list of things that you could ask to be donated:

To ask someone for a donation of goods or services for your event,

simply customize the in-kind donation form that GSGATL will

provide once you submit your event application. You can add the

individual or organization's name and the specific item(s) or

service(s) you are asking them to donate.

Any individual or organization that donates items to your event will

receive a tax deduction letter from GSGATL. To process their

donation, complete the in-kind donation form that GSGATL will

provide once you submit your event application.

Community Sponsors

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To make your event a successful fundraiser, ask local

organizations to sponsor your event.

All sponsorship donations will count towards your fundraising total

and will help your Service Unit reach your Annual Fund goal.

Any organization that sponsors your event will receive a tax

deduction letter from GSGATL.

To ask an organization to sponsor your event, simply customize the

sponsorship letter that GSGATL will provide once you submit your

event application.

Contact Information

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GSGATL point of contact:

Shelby Swiney, Annual Giving Manager

sswiney@gsgatl.org

770-853-0892

GSGATL Mailing Address:

Girl Scouts of Greater Atlanta

Attn: Shelby Swiney, Fund Development

5601 N Allen Rd SE

Mableton, GA 30126