Appropriate to Sell Kid's Girl Scout Cookies at Work?

February 5, 2009

School aged kids always have something to sell from Girl Scout cookies to World's Finest chocolate bars and wrapping paper to magazine subscriptions. While fundraisers often offset education or activity costs, is it appropriate for parents to peddle their child's wares to co-workers at the office?

10 Comments

2 years 18 weeks

I think this is awful to do to co-workers...every one of the ladies I talked to felt pressured and obligated with dad standing there with his daugher cornering the employee in their office or cubicle...I WOULD NEVER DO THIS and never did, if they sent my son home with stuff I sent it back or bought it all. This does not belong at work...the peer-pressure is terrible, the ladies felt upset that they were forced to buy...would you want to do that to someone? year after year?

SusanTeufel 4 years 14 weeks

Being a Girl Scout as a girl, and my Dad not working in an office, it was unfair for the girls not to sell their own cookies, instead selling hundreds through their parents... Sorry to sound mad, but a sour point for me.

Michelann 4 years 14 weeks

I can see how feeling pressured into buying cookies would be a problem, but otherwise it's not so bad. This is how I get my cookies, and I can't survive without my girl scout cookies! I'm eating a thin mint right now...

millarci 4 years 14 weeks

As long as no one makes me feel obligated to buy one from them, then I'm fine with it.

Hanna1117 4 years 14 weeks

Oh I should mention that the sign up sheets are just mounted on a common bulletin board in our office...no one forces it upon me.

Hanna1117 4 years 14 weeks

That's the only way I get girl scout cookies! I live on the main road thorugh our neighboorhood so it's much busier and less safe to go door to door on. I barely get any trick or treaters let alone girl scouts!

lickety split 4 years 14 weeks

i don't like it, although the way they do it at hausfrau's old job would be okay. there was one job in particular where my boss sort of suggested that i HAD to buy things for his kids fundraiser, kept mentioning that i was the only one who hadn't purchased anything, etc. the job had no value to me by that time (i knew i was leaving w/i a few weeks) so i didn't care. but otherwise i would have felt intimidated into buying something. that's wrong.

hausfrau 4 years 14 weeks

Kim I pretty much agree with you. But I also think it might be how the fundraiser is presented. I worked in an environment where there were hundreds of people working in this one location so you can imagine how many people had kids selling stuff. Instead of allowing them to sell directly to their co-workers, the company allowed you to put your catalog of whatever it was or a flyer in the bathrooms and locker rooms. That way if people wanted to buy they could, but no one felt obligated. I think it worked very well.

HoneyBrown1976 4 years 14 weeks

Yes, it's fine.

Kimpossible 4 years 14 weeks

I have such a pet peeve about this. Even when my daughters were in scouts I hated this. Many companies have a policy against solicitations in the workplace. Not all companies enforce that policy. Another issue too is that if you or your spouse are in a position of authority at work then it can be seen as coercing your employees even when no pressure is put on the option to purchase. People may feel obligated simply because it's the boss. I think it's very unprofessional to bring fundraisers to work. Which is one of the reasons I'm so against fundraisers these days. It's not safe to go door to door, and even if it was most of these children live in the same area so neighbors are bombarded with solicitations to buy things, and one kid always seems to get out there before anyone else and get all the sales. And it's unprofessional to bring it to work, there has to be a better way to do fundraisers.

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