Visa, Dell Invest $3 Million In Helping Girl Scouts Bring Their Beloved Cookies Online

A year after the Girl Scouts finally brought sales of their ever-popular cookies online, the long-running organization for girls' empowerment is ready to embrace the digital world.

After years of resisting the option of selling Girl Scout Cookies online over fears about the girls' safety, the group is "doubling down on technology," Girl Scouts chief executive, Anna Maria Chávez, told the New York Times. This year, Visa and Dell have committed to investing an estimated $3 million to update the Girl Scouts' digital cookie program, the platform that allows members to connect with customers online. Each Girl Scout troop keeps up to 20 percent of cookie sales to spend on its own special projects or trips.

The investment is meant to help incentivize cookie sales as well as provide some educational resources on math and technology — "part of the companies' interest in promoting an increased number of women in the technology industry," according to the Times. Added features to the digital cookie platform will help girls gain a better understanding of things like budgeting, marketing, and sales goals.

Visa and Dell, which have proudly added their names to the digital cookie platform, have also pledged to "scale up" their commitment to the Girl Scouts, providing a mentorship element to their investment so that young girls can make the most of being a generation of digital natives. Dell, which invested $2.5 million, plans to supply laptops and tablets to nearly 4,000 girls from underprivileged backgrounds.

"We're in the infancy of our efforts," Dell's vice president for corporate responsibility, told the Times.