February Reflections: Fundraising & Frozen Fingers

Over the last month, I’ve bounced from spending my weeks in strategy sessions to nonprofit fundraising on the weekends. National Girl Scout Cookie Weekend, an annual event where Girl Scouts of all ages across the country promote their sales and flex their entrepreneurial spirit through the iconic Girl Scout Cookie Program®, took place February 20–22, and as the end of the month rapidly approaches, it’s the ideal time to pause for a few minutes and reflect on the season.

On the morning of February 8^th, with the frigid weather a mere 18 degrees, one of my daughters’ Girl Scout troops set up their first booth of the season outside of a busy PetSmart in northern Virginia. The other adult volunteers and I spent the next two hours helping 10-year-olds learn to do something that intimidates people of every age: approach strangers, effectively make their pitch, handle rejection, and close sales.

In my day job, I help mission-driven organizations navigate the complexities of public policy and advance their business goals through strategic influence and impact. And in the policy arena, conversations about investing in communities, developing future leaders, and creating pathways for civic engagement never end.

Here’s what these past few weekends have reminded me: this work doesn’t just happen in conference rooms or legislative offices. It happens at folding tables in store parking lots, and it involves volunteers whose fingers are too cold to make proper change.

If you’re familiar with the Girl Scout Cookie Program (maybe you sold them as a kid, like I did), you may know that 100% of the proceeds earned stay local with councils and troops, so the scouts not only learn essential entrepreneurial and life skills from participating, but they also have fun doing it and building their confidence as they navigate new challenges.

On that day at PetSmart, I shared insights with my scouts about how to focus on their prospective customers’ interests. What possible better way could I do this than by bringing Brownie, one of our family’s Great Pyrenees/St. Bernard dogs, in all her fluffy glory, to bask in the cold weather? And despite the biting cold air, we weren’t about to miss the opportunity to pitch our Girl Scout cookies as the excellent Super Bowl snacks that they truly are. Ever tried Touchdown Tagalongs® Dip or Do-si-dos® Peanut Thai Chicken? Yes, we even have special recipes you can follow to put a creative spin on them.

Back to our fuzzy mascot: Great Pyrenees are patient and gentle, giant protectors that have a natural affinity for children and other animals. And with Brownie’s St. Bernard heritage mixed in, she has quite a pronounced stubborn—or shall we say persistent—streak, all of which positioned her well to help spark conversation and connection amongst the crowd.

If you now have or have ever had a scout in your family, you’ve seen firsthand how learning these skills helps equip them for future success, from becoming more resilient to developing social skills and becoming more aware of their capabilities. They’re learning that their goals matter enough for adults to show up, even when it’s inconvenient, and building memories that can last a lifetime.

Sure, I had a ton of other things I could have been doing these past weekends. But leadership—authentic leadership—is about presence. It’s about demonstrating that community investment isn’t just a talking point. It’s something you sometimes have to do with frozen fingers and folding chairs.

So far this season, this small troop of seven girls has sold nearly 800 boxes of cookies (without going viral on social media, even if we did strategically deploy an adorable rescue dog to tug on the heartstrings of pet owners outside of a pet store). More importantly, we showed a group of young women that their community shows up for them and that they are capable of being entrepreneurs, if they choose that path.

That’s the kind of foundation that strong communities are built on, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to play a role.

This is what investing in the next generation looks like. And it’s worth every frozen minute.