SaveAround's Community Conversation

At the time of publication of this newsletter, we are almost into September. At this time, the calendar is quickly filled up with holidays and time off - Labor Day, Fall Break, Halloween followed immediately by Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, and Christmas holidays plus a two-week winter break (some are shorter and some are longer). So now it is time to re-evaluate the first month of progress and measure.

1. How many groups did you visit? How many groups did you kick off this month?
2. How many groups are on the schedule for September? October? November?
3. Have you checked on inventory and supply availability for the products you are selling?
4. Did you replace a group that canceled or moved to Spring?

Quick Calendar Review
3 days left in August (at time of publication 8/26/22)
21 days in September (off for Labor day)
16 days in October (week off for Fall Break)
17 days in November (week off for thanksgiving)
12 days in December (last day the 16th)
Another 5 days off (teacher inservice, stockpile, elections, Veteran’s Day)
64 days max remaining for Fall 2022 season

So … the countdown is on … how can I maximize the Fall season that remains?

1. Try to set up a kickoff every other day. Aim for 2 per day if possible with one office day a
Week. Sprint (1 hour) sales may allow more kickoffs per day or week.

2. Ask for referrals and follow up immediately - time is of the essence.
Who do you know that needs to fundraise?

3. Start early and finish later in the day - remember time is ticking!

4. Try to incorporate a Sprint Sale - remember those are only an hour or so in length and
results are immediate for the group.

Oh by the way, are you thinking about Spring ‘23, too? Winter break and holidays will zip by and then January will be here. Not to mention weather challenges and a shorter selling season as the school year end events tend to overshadow fundraising efforts. (January - April ~ only FOUR months for selling)!!!

SMART GOALS

Be sure as you are tracking your progress and keep up with things that you list out your goals with the SMART acronym as part of your review.

Specific - can you review your goals and get specific? This is where you need to sharpen the pencil and list out groups, #’s, sales, etc.

Measurable - you will want to compare you to yourself. Measure growth maybe year over year month over month - something along those lines. Did you run the same # of groups? Did they produce the same results? Less? More?

Attainable - If you wrote down that you were going to kick off 500 groups between now and December 1st is that really an attainable goal? You want to stretch and grow but not go crazy.

Realistic - How many groups can you see or help raise funds? Again stretch and work hard every single day - but is 30 groups a day unrealistic? Maybe so.

Timeline - As outlined in the 8/12 issue with the article named “Calendar Countdown” - you know EXACTLY how many available days you have to work with groups between now and the holidays. How can you effectively maximize your productivity in that set number of days?

We challenge you to put the SMART plan into action and use them when goal setting, planning, and making your attack plans to help raise groups much needed funds.

Resigns for 2023

As you are continuing to re-sign groups for Fall 2022 or Spring 2023, it is important that you mark if it is a RETURNING (re-signed group) or a NEW group. This helps us keep the records clean and eliminates setting up duplicate accounts in the system. Additionally if you have a returning group that uses Saint vs. St. be sure to list it just as it ran last year so we can search in that manner. (Saint Ella School vs. St. Ella School). If you have any questions about re-signs or need assistance, please email the team: grouprelations@savearound.com.

August is National Peach month. Here are some interesting fun facts about peaches.

1. Georgia’s nickname is the “Peach State”.

2. In Georgia, the world’s largest peach cobbler measuring 11 ft by 5 ft is made every year.

3. Georgia grows 130 million pounds of the fruit; however, South Carolina and California produce even more each year.

4. Every year, the United States grows 1.9 billion pounds of peaches.

5. National Peach Month is August.

6. The fuzzy fruit is handpicked from trees.

7. Standard-sized peach trees are 25 ft tall and wide. If you have a dwarf tree, it will only grow 6 ft tall and wide.

8. Peach trees produce fruit for about 12 years.

9. Each year, a tree can produce up to 66 pounds of the fruit.

10. From the time the flowers are pollinated, the fruit requires 3 to 5 months to reach harvest.

11. From June to the end of August is when the fruit is at its peak.

12. The fruit has three different flesh colors: yellow, white, and less common, red. In the United States, yellow is the most common.

13. To ensure the peach doesn’t overripe before it reaches the consumer, the fruit is rinsed through a hydro-cooler (ice-water bath) to stop it from ripening.

14. After going through a hydro-cooler, the fruit is cleaned, defuzzed, and culled to remove the least desirable ones.

15. Within three days of picking, the fruit is packed and shipped to retail stores.