Girl Scout Partnerships with Cheddar Up

Girl Scout troops collect and manage a variety of payments and information in any given year: Membership dues, gear, badge-earning event sign-ups, program waivers, and ticket sales. Because Cheddar Up pairs payments with custom forms in one transaction, we make a great team. In fact, we specifically tailor some of our features to fit Girl Scouts’ special use cases.

Here’s a look at how Cheddar Up supports our Girl Scout partnerships.

5 Features to Help Manage Girl Scout Troop Needs

Cheddar Up differentiates itself from other payment platforms in a few key ways.

1. Custom forms connected to specific payments

In Girl Scout management, payments almost always require additional information. When you’re ordering shirts, for example, you need sizes. Registration fees need age and contact information. With Cheddar Up, you can collect (and require) this information in the same transaction — meaning you don’t have to send home paper forms and cross your fingers they come back with money attached.

2. Robust tracking

When parents submit forms and payments, we automatically categorize and tally the money by category. Think of it this way: Instead of asking parents to write “Vests” on a check memo line or in the Venmo description box, you send parents a custom URL used only for gear purchases. When they pay, our system automatically counts it toward uniform payments — and at one glance, you’ll see how much you’ve received for vests without it being mixed in with membership fees. Get a little more in-depth look at our reporting here.

3. Friction-free payments

This means parents do not need to download an app OR sign up for a new account just to pay you — which means less hurdles to pay, which means you may receive the money sooner.

4. Point-of-sale payments

Because we love to impulse shop at Girl Scout events, we know you also have a need to collect in-person payments. Our point-of-sale functionality allows you to take credit cards on the spot and seamlessly totals in-person sales with those made online.

But that’s not all! If you’re selling leftover inventory, you can set an available quantity, and any point-of-sale purchases will automatically subtract from that number. This means the troop leader selling at the grocery store and the troop leader at the pharmacy can see in real time how much of each item remains.

5. Streamlined troop leader transitions

When a new volunteer steps in as troop leader, you won’t need to hand over a big binder — for financials, at least. All your Cheddar Up history is stored in your troop’s cloud account, and you can add, remove, and change permissions for account managers as needed. Not only does this help with an easy hand-off, but it also offers important accountability and oversight. (Instead of one set of sign-in credentials being shared, everyone has their own.)

The Cheddar Up and Girl Scout Partnerships

Not only does Cheddar Up provide an efficient solution for Girl Scout troop leaders, but we also partner directly with regional councils to provide custom tools and marketing for troops at no extra cost. Here’s a look at that benefit and more.

Free premier plans

When a council partners with Cheddar Up, all of that council’s troops receive access to our top-tier plans — which include every exclusive feature we offer — for free. That’s a value of $432/year!

Custom tools and branding

A council can brand site banners and widely-used forms for efficiency and consistency.

Streamlined sign-up

Because council partnerships have provided underwriting and key details, individual troop registration takes minimal time.

Point-of-sale

The opt-in POS functionality is customized and available at reduced rates.

Oversight and reporting

Councils have access to a customized dashboard that details all participating troops’ Cheddar Up activity — which provides insight into what events are being held, how much money is being collected, for what and by whom.

Personalized training and support

In addition to annual webinars for Girl Scout troops, Cheddar Up has a responsive team dedicated specifically to troop-related questions.

An important component of this ongoing communication: We listen closely to scout-specific needs, and if our platform doesn’t currently meet them, we begin the process of making updates. We’ve built and rebuilt Cheddar Up — especially our Girl Scout partnerships — based on user input.

Marketing materials

Upon request, we can also provide marketing communications, including launch emails, website content and FAQs, training webinar email invites, and seasonal email campaigns.

Key collaborators — for launch and beyond

We consider this a true partnership: You won’t go at anything alone and neither will we! Every council has a primary contact who serves as the Cheddar Up liaison. We will set up one-on-one planning meetings during the launch period, and post-launch, we’ll connect at least quarterly to review communication, data, overall effectiveness, and future plans. Mutual communication, collaboration, and commitment (our “three key Cs”) help these partnerships thrive.

Current Girl Scout Partnerships

While many troops find (and love) Cheddar Up, these councils have worked with us to set up individualized plans.

Cheddar up’s growing council partnerships
  • Girl Scouts of Northern California
  • Girl Scouts of Greater Los Angeles
  • Girl Scouts of Greater Atlanta
  • Girl Scouts, Hornets’ Nest
  • Girl Scouts, North Carolina Coastal Pines
  • Girl Scouts of Central Indiana
  • Girl Scouts of Western New York
  • Girl Scouts of West Central Florida
  • Girl Scouts of North East Ohio
  • Girl Scouts of the Southern Appalachians
  • Girl Scouts of Gulfcoast Florida
  • Girl Scouts of Connecticut
  • Girl Scouts Silver Sage – Boise Idaho
  • Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri
  • Girl Scouts of Northern Indiana Michiana
  • Girl Scouts of San Jacinto
  • Girl Scouts of Alaska
  • Girl Scouts of Southern Illinois
  • Girl Scouts of Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho
  • Girl Scouts of Sierra Nevada
  • Girl Scouts of California’s Central Coast
  • Girl Scouts of Northern New Jersey
  • Girl Scouts of Eastern Iowa & Western Illinois
  • Girl Scouts Diamonds of Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas

“Girl Scouts of Northern California’s work with Cheddar Up has been a delight. We knew our troops and service units were looking for a right-fit payment platform, and we’ve been astounded by the adoption and positive feedback about Cheddar Up from our members.

It’s been clear to us from the beginning that Cheddar Up is committed to the success of the program over the long term for Girls Scouts of Northern California and our members, and their team has been instrumental in helping us create ongoing awareness of the platform.”

Marika Bergsund 

Senior Director of Membership & Volunteer Support
Girl Scouts of Northern California

 

How Do You Set up Girl Scout Partnerships with Cheddar Up?

It’s as simple as getting in touch. We’ll talk through your needs and how our platform can be a fit before we map out an execution plan.

Collect for FREE

Whether you’re collecting dues and fees, fundraising, managing an event, creating a sign up, or selling something online or in-person, you can do it with a Cheddar Up collection.