Step by Step guidelines for a successful H&GP fundraiser!

Thank you for choosing Home and Garden Party for your organization’s fundraiser! I appreciate the opportunity to work with your organization and to help you achieve your fundraising goal.  Please carefully review the following information to assure a successful fundraiser and save all paperwork for future use: 

Agreement Form – Please be sure you have reviewed all terms of the Agreement Form, saved a copy and returned the original to Deb Goodridge prior to starting your fundraiser.  Upon requesting brochures your organization will in good faith sell a minimum of 20 products to compensate for the Ind. Representative's expense of purchasing brochures and shipping charges.  Furthermore, if your fundraiser is cancelled you will need to promptly return all brochures within two weeks, in good condition, and reimburse for any postal charges.  Agreement Form must be submitted prior to starting your fundraiser.

Tax Exemption Groups - If your organization is tax exempt you must refer to the "Tax Exemption" page at www.FundraisingWithCandleFundraisers.com before setting your prices to verify that you have the appropriate document.  Requirements are very specific and must be met to waive tax.  Some states provide a blank form which can be printed out on the "Tax Exempt Groups" page.  By law, we are required to collect state and local tax unless you can provide the required document stipulated by your state to Home & Garden Party.  Your order will not be shipped until the correct document is provided or the tax paid.  Provision of tax exempt numbers only will not be accepted.  If you have any questions regarding your tax exempt document I encourage you to send it to me and request pre-approval prior to starting your fundraiser.  Provide documentation for state tax exemption, not federal.  For more information you can also visit www.fundraisetaxlaw.org. 

Non-Tax Exempt Groups - Organizations who are not tax exempt must pay tax when the order is placed. Tax percentage is based on the shipping address of where your products will be shipped.  State and local taxes will apply.  Prior to starting your fundraiser it is important that you are aware of the actual tax due per item in order to establish the best selling prices.  Once you have completed your Master Order Form you are required to call me to verify the amount of tax due with your order.  Important: Tax is charged on the fundraising prices charged by H&GP as listed in your Agreement Form, not the price you are paying per item or the price you are selling the products for.  As an Independent Rep I am personally contributing towards your fundraiser by offering your organization discounted pricing, not the prices charged by H&GP.  Tax is based on the full price charged by H&GP and must be paid in full to avoid a shipping delay. 

Option to preorder candles - If you would like to increase sales by displaying samples an order of 20 or more items can be submitted.  The same discounted pricing and free shipping applies. Orders less than 35 items will be charged a $5.00 handling fee.  If you are tax exempt please be sure to provide your tax exempt document.  Allow two weeks for delivery.  You can later subtract the candles from your final fundraising order because you will already have the candles in stock.  If you would prefer to order a greater quantity to sell to your customers in addition to your brochure sales I'd be happy in helping you by sharing a list of the current top selling items.  Although most organizations sell candles by taking sales with the brochures some organizations prefer to simply order cases of candles upfront, distribute them to their participants and require that a participant sell a minimum number of candles.  Please note that the candles are purchased when ordered and may not be returned. 

Set a goal! – Your greatest challenge will be getting each participant to make a commitment to sell.  They need to understand that their individual participation DOES make a difference!  Selling the candles is easy! To assure success I encourage you to set a goal! Determine specifically what the funds will be used for and share that information with your participants.  Determine the total number of items needed to be sold by each participant.  Work with your group and describe your goal. If they understand what you hope to achieve they will be more likely to participate. Additionally, if the customers they are selling to know what the funds are being raised for not only will they will find value in the fundraiser and be more willing to contribute but generally they'll purchase more. One of the biggest obstacles with any fundraiser is convincing each participant that their contribution does make a difference.   With large groups especially, an individual participant may not believe that their participation will make much of a difference in the outcome.  Explain to your group that in order to reach your goal you are counting on everyone's participation and that you are asking each person to try to sell a minimum of candles.  For a school fundraiser be sure to send a letter home describing your goal!

Do you want to offer incentives? - For some groups offering incentives can increase overall sales.  The goal is to increase the sales of all participants not just a few who are trying to be the top seller.  Ask for donations such as free pizza, movie tickets, no homework passes, contributions from your community, school, parents etc.  The best way to increase overall sales is to offer an opportunity for all participants to win a prize.  For example, for every 10 items sold a student will earn a ticket for a chance to win a prize and/or offer prizes for the top sellers!  Hold a group kick-off assembly, describe the goal, and show pictures.

Establish your prices – You choose your own selling prices!  Based on the economic area in which you are located and the overall target market you are selling to you are able to choose the price that is right for your organization.  You will want to select the highest price you believe will be perceived as a fair value in order to raise the funds you need.  Do not, however, overprice the items. You will want to consider the profit you will make per customer sale, not just the profit per item.   You will profit more funds if a customer feels they are getting a fair value and purchases multiple items, rather than if they only purchase one item.  Additionally, if you over price the items it will be more difficult for your participants to sell the items and they may get discouraged and stop selling. Please refer to the following chart for selecting your prices.  Profit is based on orders qualified for tax exemption. 

Prepare your brochures - You may wish to attach a cover letter with each brochure and share information about your organization and why you are fundraising.  Write the prices of the items on the brochures or include the prices in your cover letter.  You should also include a statement that says "Please make checks payable to:____________".  If you are not including a cover letter place a label on each brochure requesting that checks are to be made payable to your organization.  Make sure your participants understand that all payments by check are to be made payable to your organization and to not accept checks payable to Home & Garden Party because you will not be able to cash them and they will not be accepted as payment for your fundraiser.  Deposit all payments asap into your account and allow sufficient time for checks to clear before writing a check against them.  Your payment will be deposited immediately.

Ideas to increase participation and sales - Let your participants know the value of their participation and that their contribution makes a difference in the outcome.  Encourage your participants to start selling right away, request them to sell a minimum per person, and to ask several people to assist them in selling.  Teamwork is what makes a successful fundraiser!  Encourage each participant to invite others to assist them with selling.  Rather than just asking relatives, friends and neighbors to purchase products have them ask "Could you help me with my fundraiser for just one day by taking my brochure to work with you?"  Advertise your fundraiser as much as possible. Make announcements in your group’s newsletter, at meetings or classes - keep the fundraiser at the forefront of your participant’s minds.  You may also wish to offer a discount if customers order multiple candles.

Follow up and remind! - Most fundraisers generally run for a period of 2-3 weeks, including two full weekends.  About 1/2 way through the fundraiser contact your participants and remind them of the minimum number of items you are asking them to try to sell.  Keep them motivated!  Send out a reminder notice a day or two before the order forms are due.  Make daily reminder announcements if possible.

Set a deadline - Provide a date to your participants for submitting the order forms back to you.  In planning your schedule build in a few days for collecting straggler orders! Even though you set a deadline you can probably count on some participants submitting their orders past the deadline! 

Tally the orders - Once you have collected all of your order forms tally the quantities of each item and complete the Master Order Form.  Double check your numbers! You are accountable for the accuracy of your order.  Keep a photocopy the Master Order Form to verify your order when it arrives.  Once you have completed your Master Order Form call me prior to mailing your payment and I will verify your balance due.

Payment – You keep your profit upfront and only send payment for the full amount due to purchase the items.  Payment by bank check or money order is preferred and will enable your order to be processed faster.  Business checks, school checks etc must clear before the order can be placed. Personal checks are not accepted.  Only if necessary, a credit card may be used. Visa, MasterCard, and Discover are accepted.  If paying by credit card you can fax your Master Order Form and you will receive a phone call within 48 hours to obtain your credit card information.  An original, signed Credit Card Authorization received by USPS mail will be required.  Please be sure to make your check or money order payable to Deb Goodridge, and not to H&GP.  Checks payable to H&GP cannot be accepted and will delay your order until the correct payment has been made.  Please send your payment to Deb Goodridge, 9 Candlewood Lane, Granby CT 06035 along with your completed Master Order Form.  Include your tax exempt documentation if not already submitted.

Late Orders - If order forms are submitted after you have turned in your order to me you may still submit subsequent orders. Orders less than 20 items will not, however, qualify for the discounted prices and a $5.00 handling fee will be applied.  Orders with the Spring/Summer 2008 brochures may be placed through July 2008.  After that date, many of the items will be retired.

Delivery - Once your order has been entered you can expect delivery in approximately two weeks.   Generally, your order will be processed by H&GP within 3-7 days and will then be shipped by Fed Ex Home Delivery.  Length of shipping will vary depending upon your location.  All shipments are sent from Texas and are delivered Tuesday-Saturday.  Residential addresses are encouraged and will be left without requiring a signature. If your scheduled delivery falls on a Saturday to a business or school which is closed the delivery will be returned on Tuesday of the following week.  Signatures are required for business deliveries.  You are welcome to call me about 7 days after your order has been placed and I'd be happy to check the Fed Ex tracking for you to provide you with the quantity of boxes to expect and the estimated delivery date.  Please note that boxes may arrive over a 2-3 day period, especially with large orders. The boxes will indicate the total number of boxes being shipped to you.  Simply wait until you have received all of your boxes before distributing the products.

Photocopy brochures - I suggest that you make a photocopy of the original participant order forms for your records in case of loss or discrepancy.  You may choose to have your participants sign for their products when they are distributed. That will protect you from a participant saying they are missing items.

Check In of your products – Requests for missing or broken items will not be accepted unless a completed Check In Form is submitted.  Phone calls or emails listing shortages will not be accepted.  Upon receipt of your products it is very important to verify that your delivery is accurate prior to distributing your products. To complete your inventory sort all of your items and line them up in the order as listed on the back of the order forms.  Inventory and then compare the totals received of each scent with the quantities ordered.  If there are any discrepancies please recheck for accuracy.  All boxes are weighed for accuracy prior to being shipped.  Jar Candles will be shipped in cases of 12 when possible with the remainder boxed individually.  At this point you must complete your Check-In Form.  If any items are missing, extra, or broken include that information on your Check-In Form.  Once completed, fax your Check-In Form to me and any necessary replacements will be shipped by Fed Ex. If an inventory is not completed prior to distributing the products you may discover with the last few brochures that you have the wrong number of items to fulfill the remaining orders.  In that scenario you would not be able to determine if you received the incorrect quantity, tallied your order incorrectly or distributed them incorrectly.  In order to receive replacements for any missing items you must inventory your products and fax a Check-In Form within 7 days of your delivery.  

Distribution - After completing your Check-In Form you can begin distributing the products.  Bags will be provided with your delivery.  For each order form simply go down the inventory line and fill the tally at the bottom of the brochure.  Have someone at the end of the line double check the order for accuracy.  The order form and the products are now ready for distribution to each participant. 

Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to help you with your fundraiser!  If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me. 

Best wishes with your fundraiser,

Deb Goodridge