As you kick it into the final gear, there are a few things to remember before you cross the finish line for the Fall ‘23 season.
Closeouts
All groups that ran in Fall ‘23 should be closed out, sent an invoice and books accounted for by December 15th.
Referrals
When you are closing out the group and especially if they had a good or very successful sale, that is PRIME TIME to ask for a referral. Do they know anyone else in the school that could use some help raising money? Their sale is done at that point. They are happy with the results. You have just calculated their profits. Why not ask for a referral (or two) at that very opportune time? All they can say is “no, I don’t know anyone.” They might also know a fellow teacher or a fellow coach at another school that is in need of funds to help their program. Make a note to ASK every time you complete the close out.
Email
Be sure to send an email to grouprelations@savearound.com to be sure that they know the close out is completed and to match the close out numbers to the numbers in the system. This is an important step because if payment is received, but the system is not zeroed out then the account will not be closed out.
Commission
Rep commission will be processed when payment is received plus an accounting of all books. BOTH items must happen to close out and commission to be processed.
After all of your groups are closed out and the group relations team has been notified, there are a few additional things to do before you start your holiday festivities.
Send a thank you note (or email) to your sponsors thanking them for their business. Ask for a referral in that note. Maybe include a business card with your contact info.
Help us collect payment for any outstanding groups - contact the bookkeeper directly.
Evaluate your Fall season and determine how it went. Make notes for next Fall planning.
Turn in any Spring contracts NOW especially for any early January kickoffs.
Next continue your Spring 2024 plans. Ask yourself these questions:
What is your income goal for Spring?
How many groups do you need to run?
How many groups do you need to contract by Dec 31?
Continue thinking about Spring and work to get those groups contracted ASAP.
Resigns for 2024
As you are continuing to re-sign groups for Fall 2023 or Spring 2024, 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 quickly search. (Saint Ella School vs. St. Ella School). Questions? grouprelations@savearound.com
Invoices, Returned Books, and Payments
As the fall winds down, lots of groups will be closing out. There are a few important steps to ensure a smooth and efficient close out process. This will affect your commission, too.
Fill out the close out on the chairperson portal. If you don’t know how to do this, contact sales@savearound.com and we’ll be glad to help walk you through this process.
Final orders will be processed. Remember we want to limit all groups to 2 shipments if at all possible. One initial order to get started and then a final order to fulfill everything. Small multiple shipments are costly and not efficient.
Request the invoice be sent to your sponsor and you will receive a copy too. Follow up with your chairperson to be sure they received it and have passed it onto the bookkeeper or accounting department.
Do they have any leftover books? If so we can issue shipping labels or you can pick those up to move to another group. We need an accounting of all books.
Email grouprelations@savearound.com to let us know the close out information is final and to send the invoice. This signals the Group Relations team to match the system with the close out #’s so when payment comes in it will zero out the account. If this step is missed the account may have a balance that carries over and your commission will be delayed. Help us follow up and collect payment. The sooner the group pays, the sooner you will receive your commission.
Payments: Payments should be made payable to Enjoy the City North and mailed to the address on the invoice. DO NOT INCLUDE payments with book returns. Books go to the warehouse and a check could easily get lost in the shuffle. We can accept payment by Credit Card and you can even pay by Check on the chairperson portal as well (EFT).
Returned Books: Notify Group Relations that you need a return shipping label. Only books should be sent to the warehouse with those labels. Don’t include anything else (i.e. correspondence, payment, etc.). Only send books using those shipping labels (if applicable).
Help follow up on both - remember this is a 2-part step in the close out process - payment AND accounting of all books - are required to close out an account.
November is a time of community suppers, feasts of thanksgiving and general elections.
November 1st is All Saint’s Day or All Hallows’ Day intended to honor all saints of the church in Christianity.
Thanksgiving falls on the 4th Thursday of November.
November is Banana Pudding Lovers Month.
Daylight savings time ends in November.
Veteran’s Day is November 11th.
Hanukkah begins in November.
30 days and the 11th month generally mark the start of winter even though the winter solstice isn’t until December.
Birthstone is Topaz which is a symbol of strength and honor. Topaz is also believed to bring longevity and wisdom.
The November flower is the Chrysanthemum.
IDEAS, SUGGESTIONS, OR RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE NEWSLETTER?
Do you have an idea or topic that you would like to see covered in the Community Conversation newsletter? If so, please send it to sales@savearound.com and we’ll get right on it. Remember if it is something that you would like to know more about or learn about then chances are someone else needs to know it, too.
