SaveAround's Community Conversation

As a fundraising expert, you are well aware that there are many products and services available to pitch to your groups. Everything from quick and easy to complicated and slower, you need to familiarize yourself with the products available to you and understand the value of them and why they make sense for you, your business, and your groups.

1. ROI - Return on investment
If the customer spends $20 or $25 for the coupon book they want to know what’s in it for them?
Flip through the market (or markets) that you have available to sell through the groups. GET FAMILIAR with them. Know the offers and the merchants. Know the location of merchants close by the school or on the way to the downtown area. Run a quick scenario of 4 or 5 merchants using a single coupon each and add up the savings. Once you hit the $20 or $25 mark you have recovered the investment by the customer, the group still makes their profit amount, and the customer has the remainder of the book PLUS the coupons on the app to use for the duration of the book until expiration.

2. Mobile App
Refer back to the 8/27 newsletter edition to get the step by step instructions on how to download the app to your phone and how to best utilize it. This is an EXCELLENT tool in maximizing your coupons and offers. Most of the coupons in the book are also on the app. So you are basically doubling your coupons by using the offers on the App. Remember EVERYONE takes their phone with them … some will forget the book or leave it in their other car or at home.

3. Profit Margin
This is a strong value proposition for groups that are going to run the coupon book sale. Most will start out at the $10 profit per item and some will go up to $12.50 profit per item ($25 retail). When running 40% - 50% that is a great value for the coupon book and profit to the group. The majority of the time it is half profit to the group and the other half covers book production costs, rep commission, shipping costs, warehousing/storage, printing, etc.

When 100 books are sold @ a $10.00 profit margin that group just earned $1,000.00.
When 100 books are sold @ a $12.50 profit margin that group just earned $1,250.00.

Not a bad day’s work when you only have 25 kids in a group selling a minimum of 4 books each.

4. Shipping options
SaveAround is proud to offer competitive pricing when it comes to shipping across the country. Keep in mind that the online sales are a 40% profit with FREE shipping to the customer’s home address. The extra 10% collected helps to cover the cost of shipping books individually to a home address. Bulk shipping on traditional sales (to the school or to the group) are covered in full by the company. SaveAround also provides return shipping labels for leftover books at the end of the sale to be sent back to the warehouse in New York. All value-added reasons for running a coupon book sale. Please note previous shipping articles and help us keep shipping costs down by limiting shipments to 2 per group (initial shipment and final shipment).

5. Other points of interest
The coupon books are an excellent option for an extended shelf life. Generally, they have an 18 month expiration date, do not “go bad on the shelf”, and can be used daily, weekly, or as often as the customer wants to use it. Coupon books are a great option to get into a school that doesn’t allow “food sales” or they want a “non-food” option due to allergies or taking extra precautions. Coupon books are easy to explain from the viewpoint of an elementary student and customers can quickly see the value for their money while supporting the group at the same time. Donation platforms tend to only work seasonally because the customer (eventually) wants something in return for their contribution.

If you have questions about the coupon books or need further information about your specific market, please contact the Sales Support team via email at sales@savearound.com.

Pitching the Sprint Sale Option

Whenever you are pitching the idea to run a sprint sale option with a group - try this approach:

Hey Coach Smith …

How would you like to raise money in less than an hour?

What if I had a solution to involve your players for one afternoon while raising money?

What if we could set up a fundraiser that doesn’t interfere with practice time?

How does $1000 raised in an hour sound to you?

Which sounds better? A two week fundraiser or one that’s finished in an hour?

These simple pitches and phrases might pique the interest of the coach or sponsor you are going after and get an appointment. That’s all you need is to get in the door. The coupon books and the Sprint program will sell itself on its own merit - but you have to be able to present it and know how to pitch it effectively. (Refer back to the article featuring Dan Reyome ~ 7/16 edition of the newsletter regarding Sprint Sales - he has some great ideas and proven ideas that work).

Orders and Shipments

OK, your groups are signed up, you’ve submitted the contract to group relations - now what?!?!?!

Here are a few reminders on how to ensure on-time delivery for your books:

Confirm the date ahead of time with your sponsor. Make sure nothing has changed.

Answer the phone. One of the team members may reach out to you to confirm dates and shipment amounts. Please let us know that it is still a “go” or if something has changed.

Once confirmed with your group and contact person, please reach out to Group Relations and make sure the order is in the system and scheduled to go out.

Confirm the needed by date or the must arrive by date. Is the school closed the Friday before a holiday? If so, request to ship the books a day or two earlier.

Watch your email for the tracking #. Use it and track it yourself. Update your sponsor.

Confirm receipt of the books at the school (front office, who signed for them, time of delivery). You will need to know all of those things because the books aren’t the only delivery that came in on that day. This is especially important if your sponsor doesn’t work on campus at that location (i.e. your sponsor teaches at a different school, but coaches in the afternoons at the school signed up to do the sale).

If you have any questions or concerns about your book shipments, contact the Group Relations team ASAP and they will be glad to assist. grouprelations@savearound.com

1. The idea first became public in 1882. In September 1882, the unions of New York City decided to have a parade to celebrate their members being in unions and to show support for all unions. At least 20,000 people were there, and the workers had to give up a day’s pay to attend.

2. The New York parade inspired other unions. Other regions started having parades, and by 1887, Oregon, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, and Colorado made Labor Day a state holiday.

3. How did the Haymarket Affair influence Labor Day? On May 4, 1886, a bomb exploded at a union rally in Chicago’s Haymarket Square, which led to violence that killed seven police officers and four others.

4. Two people with similar names are credited with that first New York City event. Matthew Maguire, a machinist, and Peter McGuire, a carpenter, have been linked to the 1882 parade. The men were from rival unions; in 2011, Linda Stinson, a former U.S. Department of Labor’s historian, said she didn't know which man should be credited - partially because people over the years confused them because of their similar-sounding names.

5. Grover Cleveland helped make Labor Day a national holiday. After violence related to the Pullman railroad strike, President Cleveland and lawmakers in Washington wanted a federal holiday to celebrate labor. Cleveland signed an act in 1894 establishing the federal holiday on the first Monday of September and most states had already passed laws establishing a Labor Day holiday by that point. It was approved on June 28, 1894.

6. The holiday has evolved over the years. In the late 19th century, celebrations focused on parades in urban areas. Now the holiday is a celebration that honors organized labor with fewer parades, and more activities. It also marks the end of the summer season.

7. Can you wear white after Labor Day? This old tradition goes back to the late Victorian era, where it was a fashion faux pas to wear any white clothing after the summer officially ended on Labor Day. The tradition isn’t really followed anymore.

8. Labor Day is the unofficial end of Hot Dog season. The National Hot Dog and Sausage Council say between Memorial Day and Labor Day, Americans will eat 7 billion hot dogs.

9. How many people are union members today? According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were 14.8 million union members in the workforce in 2017. There were 17.7 million in 1983.

10. What is the biggest union today? The National Education Association has about 3 million people who are members, including inactive and lifetime members.

11. Oregon was the first state to declare Labor Day an official holiday in 1887.

12. Labor Day is considered the “unofficial NFL season kickoff” as 99% of the time, the NFL plays its first official season game the Thursday after Labor Day.

13. Waffle House opened its first restaurant in 1955 in Avondale Estates, GA, opening its doors to the public.

14. Why do we celebrate Labor Day? It marks the contributions and achievements of the 155 million men and women who are in the U.S. workforce.