On behalf of your group, thank you for being the coordinator of this unique fundraiser. What you do or don't do will have a big impact on the success of this project. Let's take a few moments to share with you a plan for success and the ideas that will make it happen for you and your group.

What do I do and when do I do it?

For several decades, wreaths has proven to be a successful fund raising activity. There is a formula

for success. First let's look at the timetable of what needs to be done:

1. Familiarize yourself with all the printed literature about the wreath project. These items will answer most of your questions. If you need any further additional information, please call your Distributor. They have years of experience with this project and are there to help you.

2. September - Obtain the Sales Order Forms from your Distributor. Meet with your group and fully explain the project to them. Distribute the Sales Order Forms to the members. Be sure to tell them about their goals and when the orders are due.

3. October - Keep promoting the project. Toward end of month put on the final push.

4. November - Collect the Sales Order Forms. Compile the order. Complete the Wreath Purchase Order Form and any Mail Order Wreath Labels. Turn in these items to your Distributor by the deadline. Your Distributor will call to confirm your order and your pick-up time and location. Pick-up the wreaths at your assigned time and distribute them to your members.

5. December - Collect all monies due from your members. Pay your Distributor the amount due by the deadline. Enjoy all your profits from your successful project.

Each year some groups are more successful than other groups in selling the wreaths. What is it that the successful groups do that makes them thousands of dollars? How are they able to motivate their members to do so well? The answer to these questions and other success factors are outlined below.

How do we get our members to sell more?

This is the question we hear most often and there are some very good answers. The first and most important is setting sales goals. Goals that will meet your fund raising needs and goals that are achievable. Second, is communicating these sales goals to your members. And third is breaking the goal down into what that means for each individual member to accomplish.

When no individual goal is set, many members will only sell 3 to 4 wreaths. When the goal is set at just 5 wreaths, most members will sell 5 wreaths. When the goal is set at 10 wreaths, most members will sell 10 wreaths. People will usually do what is asked and expected of them, but only if you ask and expect it of them. Many groups have seen their sales jump tremendously by the simple process of setting a goal to be reached. (A goal of 10 wreaths or more per person is very attainable).

What can help our members reach those sales goals?

Setting up sales incentives can be a strong motivator. Some groups will offer small prizes to the top several sales persons. (A gift certificate, camping gear, pizza party, etc.). Some groups offer a sharing of the profits from the wreaths allocated in portion to each person’s level of sales. These can then be used for an up-coming group related event (help pay for summer camp, membership dues, camping equipment, and educational item, etc.). Talk to some of your members and see what would motivate them.

What do we say after we ring the doorbell?

Giving our members a "sales pitch" is necessary. For many young people this may be the first time they have had to ask someone to buy something from them. They don't know what to say or how to say it. When meeting with your group to discuss this project have a couple of the veteran sellers role play a sales call in front of the group.

These are the items that need to be in the "sales pitch":

1. Introduce yourself and name of your group.

2. Tell them why your group is raising funds.

3. Tell them about the wreaths and how nice their house or business would look having a fresh balsam wreath on their door or window. (Sell the benefit of the product)

4. Tell them the price. (The wreaths sales price is very market competitive).

5. Ask for their order.

6. Handle any questions and then ask for the order again.

7. Complete the Sales Order Form and collect any cash that your group requires up front.

What do the members need when they are out selling?

1. A Smile

2. Enthusiasm

3. Full Color Sales Order Form

4. Ballpoint Pen

5. Depending on age, an adult or older youth to accompany

How do we fill out the Sales Order Form?

When a member of your group is handed a Sales Order Form with no instruction as to what they are to do with it, they will do very little. It is important that you show them exactly how you want the Sales Order Form completed. The importance of: printing clearly; getting customer name spelled correctly; getting customer phone number; getting the order correctly taken; getting cash collected (if your group requires it up front); and getting mail order wreaths' full address information.

Why are we doing a fundraiser?

The few moments it takes to explain to your group what this wreath fundraiser is all about is very important. Tell them how the funds are to be used. Tell them how much money the group needs to raise. Tell them what they will gain personally by participating in the fundraiser (summer camp funding, patches, group activity funding, personal satisfaction, etc.). When people see how they will benefit, they will do a much better job.

What's the best way to utilize last year's Sales Order Forms?

If this is your group's 2nd or 20th year selling the wreaths you should have the Sales Order Forms from last year's sales. If you utilize these well, you will be well on your way to a successful project. First, return the prior year's Sales Order Forms to the member who sold them last year. Have them call on these customers first. (If the phone number is on the form, then an order is only a couple of minutes away.) A 90% re-order rate is not uncommon. Second, if the Sales Order Form belongs to a person that is no longer a member, give it to a different responsible member to make the phone calls. It would be a shame to disappoint your group's past customers by not having someone from your group call. There are a lot of future sales in the past Sales Order Forms.