“Guidelines for Success”

Sales and Marketing

Table of Contents

Ver. 3.1

Creating a Successful Holiday Fundraising Programs

All Organizations ............................................................................................ 3

The Fundraising Committee ........................................................................... 4

Building Enthusiasm ....................................................................................... 4

Establishing Goals .......................................................................................... 5

Getting Your Fundraising Noticed ........................................................................ 6

Where to Sell - “Suggestions” .............................................................................. 7

Creating Your Sales Flyers .................................................................................. 8

Selling Steps

Selling Steps .................................................................................................. 9

Taking Orders ................................................................................................. 10

Turning in Your Order ..................................................................................... 10

Maximizing Your Sales ........................................................................................ 11

Fundraising Tips for the Beginner ........................................................................ 13

Door to Door Sales .............................................................................................. 14

Expanding the Day .............................................................................................. 15

Proper Tree Care ................................................................................................. 16

2

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Creating a Successful Holiday Fundraising Program

All Organizations

This “How To” information worksheet is provided to help you organize your fundraising event into a

successful annual program. This fundraiser has the potential to raise significant profits, helping you

reach your yearly financial goals.

This program can be tailored to fit your own specific requirements. Whether you are a School Athletic

Director, Coach, ASB Director, booster club member or on the PTSA, you can choose to work as a

independent program or as an entire school.

We realize that every organization is unique with varying circumstances. It is our desire to develop a

program that works specifically for you.

It only takes one person to get things started, someone who is willing to step forward and make a

commitment to get the fundraising event off the ground. Don’t wait, start now!

If your are working with multiple groups, determine the contact person for each group that you

want involved in the fundraiser. This can be a coach, director or any other member of your

school staff involved with a specific group.

Contact additional assistant coaches, booster club members and department heads by email

or a note in their mail box letting them know about the fundraiser and your intentions to move

forward. It always helps to personally involve a few key people and let them know what you

are doing.

Part of your email or note should include a request to have each coach or department head

provide a list of active parents who are involved with that particular group. This might be the

president of the booster club or any other sport activity that has an organized group of parents

supporting that activity.

If your school has an active PTSA, this is the perfect time to contact the president and ask

them to help you or even participate together.

During this information gathering time, it’s beneficial to search for key people who are willing to

take the lead.

If you are the Athletic Director, it helps greatly to discuss this fundraiser at your next coaches

meeting and let them know the potential for raising thousands of dollars working together as a

group.

If you are the ASB Director, present the idea of the fundraiser to your student leaders and

department heads, Grad Night boosters and anyone else who will benefit from this fundraiser.

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Involve a few key individuals who will take the ball and run with it. Once the idea of the

fundraiser takes hold they will make sure it is successful. From that point, all they need is your

guidance and support.

When the key people are in place, they should begin organizing the fundraising committee.

The Wood Mountain manual will direct them in every step of this process.

In addition, the Fundraising Leader should contact Wood Mountain at the earliest possible

time to let us know your school or organization is officially on board, and who will be the

contact person.

In the Southern California area, it is beneficial to have a Wood Mountain representative attend

one of your upcoming meetings to present the details of the fundraising event and answer any

questions that may arise.

The Fundraising Committee

The committee should familiarize themselves with the Wood Mountain Fundraising manual.

Everything you will need to know is detailed in this manual.

The committee members should contact each group leader and involve parents to let them know

about the fundraising program and how it’s going to work.

Building Enthusiasm

Building enthusiasm for the fundraising event is the number one key to its success. There are many

ways to develop interest and enthusiasm.

Everyone always wants to know how much they can earn from their efforts. It will depend on

how you structure distribution of the proceeds. This will determine how much interest is going

to be generated. For example: If each group receives their portion of the proceeds from their

own individual sales, then it’s very likely each group will want to participate.

For example: If the band sells 200 trees, they would receive approximately $30.00 average

per sale x 200 trees or $6000.00. If the baseball team sells 150 trees they would earn about

$4500.00.

Create even more enthusiasm by letting each group know their $$$ potential.

If the average high school size is 2800 students and only half of them sold one tree the total

income for your school could easily reach 2800 divided by two or 1400 x $30.00 or $42,000.00.

That’s a successful fundraiser!

If the swimming team has 100 members and each member sold just 2 trees they would

generate $6000.00 in income.

Creating interest throughout the community is also vital to a successful program. Many

schools are reaching out to other non profit organizations’ such as Rotary, Kiwanis and the

Chamber of Commerce for additional assistance.

Create a competitive and fun attitude between groups. Offer incentives for sales, etc.

Create a sales goal poster located in a prominent location on the campus that shows the

progress of sales.

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Let each group that is participating know where they are in relation to their goals.

Update Weekly!

Have each participant declare their personal sales goal and how they will meet these goals i.e.

participation from parents, neighbors, aunts, uncles, grandparents, friends, local business

contacts, etc.

Pep rallies, announcements at football games, posters, flyers, local newspaper and radio all

help add to the enthusiasm of students, parents and others.

Establishing Goals

Establishing and declaring goals are pivotal for the success of your fundraiser. It’s similar to a road

map and directions. Without a destination, you can drive around aimlessly ending up going nowhere.

When goals are set, you can develop the “how-to’s” to reach and achieve your desired sales and

profits.

If the football or baseball team needs uniforms, know what the costs will be and then figure out how

many trees and wreaths will need to be sold to meet these costs.

This is a great topic to discuss at your meetings. You will find that participation on your fundraisers

will increase if a set goal is determined.

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GETTING YOUR FUNDRAISER NOTICED

NEVER ASSUME, NEVER ASSUME, NEVER ASSUME!!!

Never assume that everyone will know about your fundraiser. Get the word out way ahead of time

and to anyone and everyone.

1. GET YOUR FUNDRAISER ADVERTISED

It’s very important that people know about your fundraising event. Be sure to make the

message clear: WHO it’s for, WHAT it’s for, WHEN are the dates, WHERE the fundraiser is

being held and HOW much you are trying to raise. Use local radio station community spots,

community newspaper, posters, newsletters, local TV, and flyers.

2. PICK A CENTRAL WELL-KNOWN LOCATION

Pick a location that everyone knows by name, just directing customers to an address will

reduce your attendance. Also, pick a location that can handle the requirements of your

fundraising event as well as possible large crowds.

3. CONFIRM DAY OF DISTRIBUTION

Dates will be confirmed by Wood Mountain in mid September. Your volunteers should plan to

help on these days when notified far enough in advance. In some cases, you may also benefit

from other special events taking place in the community.

4. ASK TRUSTED VOLUNTEERS TO HELP

Make sure you have the commitment of your fundraising event volunteers. Your fundraiser will

fall short if you’re not able to rely on your helpers. Arrange back up staffing in case of absent

helpers. Always have a contingency plan in place. Better to overstaff than need more helpers.

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WHERE TO SELL - “SUGGESTIONS”

Sometimes, some of the most obvious sales opportunities are overlooked. Keep your mind and ideas

open to exploring various sales avenues.

1. FAMILY MEMBERS PLACE OF EMPLOYMENT

Ask your parents, aunts and uncles or any other relatives or friends if you can post a flyer at

their place of employment promoting the sale of trees. Be sure to specify where the money

should be turned into. Remember, Christmas tree and product money needs to be collected at

the time of the sale so that your organization can pay for the trees and products they will be

ordering.

2. LOCAL BUSINESSES

Christmas trees and wreaths make great holiday gifts for employees. Ask local businesses to

purchase trees for their employees in support of your organization. Another option would be

that businesses can purchase trees or wreaths to be donated to local charitable organizations.

Your organization raises money, a charity benefits from the donations and the business can

write-off the expense as a charitable contribution.

3. SPORTING EVENTS

Be sure your group has a table set up at all sporting events that parents and guests will be

attending.

4. CAR DEALERSHIPS

Ask local car dealerships to support your organization by giving a tree to everyone who

purchases a car within a certain time frame (i.e. October – November). Ask to put flyers next

to the customer service department for visibility when customers pick up their cars. Ask if

dealerships will allow banners on their property.

5. CHURCHES

Ask church personnel if you can put a “note” in the church newsletter about the sale of trees

and wreaths. If possible, obtain permission to set up a table to collect sales at church events

and after services.

6. RETIREMENT CENTERS

Most won’t let you solicit door to door. Check with management personnel to see if you can

set up a table or booth on a particular day. Schedule the event on the centers calendar and

ask that a “note” about your organization and event be added to the community newsletter.

7. RESTAURANT

Most restaurants put up a tree during the holiday season. Wood Mountain offers a wide

variety of trees and sizes

8. STATE, COUNTY AND HOLIDAY CRAFT FAIRS

9. OBJECTIONS TO SALE

Some will decline buying a fresh tree because they have an artificial tree. A positive reply

would be to ask them to purchase a wreath or evergreen swag or purchase a tree for donation

to a needy family. Again, they can utilize the expense as a tax write off as well as supporting

your organization. Remember, selling isn’t selling until the customer says, “No”. Always

maintain integrity and honesty.

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CREATING YOUR SALES FLYERS

The key factors in creating and developing your sales flyer are to ask the questions:

WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE, AND WHY?

The following responses are only suggestions to these questions. Each organization should

customize their flyers to fit their own program.

WHO

Name of your organization

WHAT

We are pre-selling Christmas trees, wreaths, evergreen swags and garland.

WHEN

From October through November 18th

WHERE

Location and address of distribution site

WHY

Due to the current economic climate and upcoming major budget cuts, many programs are in

jeopardy of being eliminated. Through the sales of Christmas trees, wreaths and garland, we

have the opportunity to raise thousands of dollars to support our programs. This is one

fundraising event that doesn’t require additional funds to be spent over-and-above normal

expenditures at Christmas time. The majority of families will purchase a Christmas tree each

year. Knowing that the purchase will support these programs makes it an easy sale.

Wood Mountain has created a special section on our website so that every organization and/or team

can create their own customized flyers. There is a customized flyer template located in the “Members”

section under “Flyers” on our website. Follow the directions in the “Forms” section labeled “Flyer

Templates” for more information.

Always remember to ask for the sale. Will you support our “school, club, etc.” this year? How many

trees would you like to purchase? One for themselves and one for a needy family? Or the additional

purchase of a wreath for a gift?

Remember your goals!

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SELLING STEPS

A SUCCESSFUL SALES PROGRAM WILL ALWAYS ASK:

WHO? WHAT? WHEN? WHERE? & WHY?

The following is a guide to help you sell Christmas trees, wreaths, evergreen swags and garland.

1. Show the customer the sales flyer and explain that you are selling Christmas trees, wreaths,

evergreen swags and garland to raise funds for your (identify your cause or reason that you

are raising funds). This is the time to also share your personal goal for sales. For example:

“Hello, my name is Tom Franklin and I am with the football team at Silverton High School. We

are raising money to support our team this year for uniforms and transportation costs. My goal

is to sell 15 trees, 20 wreaths, 10 evergreen swags and 150 feet of garland. Will you help me

reach my goal today?”

2. Let the customer know that every tree is cut 48 hours prior to shipping and are grown by the

finest growers in the Pacific Northwest. Each product is guaranteed fresh and of the highest

quality.

3. It’s important to let the customer know that when they pick up their tree they will be able to

choose from any tree they wish from the type and size group they have selected and paid for.

All trees are distributed on a first come, first serve basis. Just like a retail lot.

4. If you are a non-profit organization, let your buyers know that their purchase may be a tax

deductible donation. (Verify TAX ID # if applicable)

5. Let the customer know the date and location for them to pick up their tree and times the

distribution site will be open for business.

6. If the customer says, “thank you, but we already have an artificial tree”, ask them if they would

like to purchase a fresh wreath or some garland to help your cause. In addition, you may ask

them to purchase a tree for a donation to a family in need from your community. Please make

a note on your receipt if this is a donation and the tree will not be picked up. If they still

decline, thank them for their time and wish them a wonderful holiday season.

Remember, not everyone is going to purchase a Christmas tree, but many families do every year. If

you don’t sell a tree to them, someone else will! Explain to them that they will be supporting your

organization and the trees are the finest quality in the industry,

Remind them that it’s better to help your organization, a non-profit program, vs. a “for-profit” purchase

at a Home Depot, Lowes or Wal-Mart.

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TAKING THE ORDER

1. Take a fundraising receipt from your sales envelope and fill in all of the information required

i.e. name, address and phone number.

2. If your customer is purchasing a tree, make sure that you indicate the type and size of the tree

on the space provided.

3. If your customer wants to purchase more than one tree, there is a space provided on your

receipt form for a second tree purchase. Specify on the receipt for wreaths, evergreen swags,

garland or tree stand where indicated.

4. If your organization is using credit cards, please put the authorization number on the back of

the receipt. Check with your own accountant/bookkeeper for best practices.

5. If your customer is purchasing more than two trees, you will need to fill out a second receipt to

complete the sale.

6. Double check your order with your customer to make sure you have the correct information

written down. It might be a good idea to have them initial the order.

7. Total the amount and place in the sales total column.

8. Finish filling out the remainder of your receipt. Ask for a check or cash and give a copy of the

receipt to your customer.

9. Once the order is finished, write the customer’s name, address and phone number on the back

of your sales envelope. Ask your customer for more than one phone number if possible. This

is an additional safety precaution in case your sales receipt is lost or misplaced.

TURNING IN YOUR ORDER

At the end of each week of your sales campaign, make sure you turn in your envelope with the

receipt, cash and/or your check to your group’s contact person.

Be responsible for turning in your sales receipts and money every Friday to your contact

person. Keep neat and legible records.

Continue to sell at every opportunity!

Keep enthusiastic – This is your program!!!

MAKE IT FUN……HAVE FUN!!!!

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MAXIMIZING YOUR SALES

The magic formula of all successful SALES:

SWSWSWSW

Some Will, Some Won’t, So What… and Someone’s Waiting. What that means to you is that you may

have to ask a lot of people a lot of times to finally get what you want. The key to making your

fundraiser a success is persistence and asking lots of lots of people. Some people will say no, but

remember someone out there is waiting for you to ask. So ask! Ask! Ask! So, go for it----right now!!

Check out the great ideas that have been submitted!!!

School newspaper

Local newspaper (PR & fundraising stories)

Football games (ticket sales counter)

Announce fundraiser at football games

Set up table at golf tournaments, other fundraising events

Flyers and e-blasts to booster club members

PTSA involvement (VERY successful)

Create competition with coaching staff

Prizes for number of trees, wreaths and evergreen swags that each participant sells

Contacting local churches inquiring needy family donations (opportunity to sell to church

congregation

Involve all other clubs, offer % to those participating (i.e. first two trees go to your effort, the

other trees back to the other clubs.

Employers and businesses buying wreaths for all employees for Christmas gifts. So much

nicer than baskets!!

Sponsors, supports sending out e-blasts and information to their data base.

Each participant can ask parents, relatives & friends to take a sales envelope to their place of

work, asking co-workers to support your organization.

Keep track of sales by placing a large paper tree in a visible location. Paper ornaments track

the progress of your goals. (i.e. ornaments represent every 10, 20, etc. trees sold)

Hand out a flyer to parents waiting to pick up their children at school. High Schools, middle

schools and elementary schools.

Flyers distributed at local pizza parlors.

Community hours are needed from students, even if they are not a part of the group selling

and benefiting from the fundraiser.

Organize pep rallies at lunch time.

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Create banners on all areas that local traffic will see. Repetition will create sales. Be sure and

put Last Day to order on the banner.

Ask ALL local businesses to put flyers in windows and at point of purchase locations in store.

(i.e. Starbucks, Panda Express, Coffee Bean, Markets, Dental offices, Doctor’s office,

hospitals, etc.)

Car Washes (Lots of time to read flyer while waiting)

Set up table with banner at local markets every Saturday. Now is when people are ready to

buy. It usually takes a couple of times for them to see your table and then decide to buy.

Set up table outside the church on Sunday mornings.

Provide sales incentive gifts for 1st, 2nd, 3rd place. (i.e. Xbox, Video Recorders, DVD players,

Flat screen) The local Best Buy may offer some type of discount or sponsor these gift items.

Ask all your teachers and administration to buy!

Ask Kiwanis, Rotary, VFW, Chamber of Commerce and other service clubs to purchase.

Distribute flyers at sporting events on Saturday’s games. Little League, soccer, Pop Warner.

Lots of parents!! Lots of people!!!

REMEMBER: “The only people who fail are those who do not try!!”

Thank you to our customers for sharing their ideas!!!

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FUNDRAISING TIPS FOR THE BEGINNER

These fundamental, time-tested tips will help you and your group sell your fundraiser more effectively.

These tips are designed to help the first-time salesperson as well as a refresher for the lifetime adult

sales professional. Read and think about each topic before you go out to sell.

1. Remember you are making a sale to a living, feeling person and treat each one as such.

2. When dealing with customers, be honest and treat them with integrity. Your honesty and

integrity helps create positive public opinion for you and your group.

3. People love to buy, but hate to be sold to. Avoid hard-sell tactics; help them buy instead.

Think of your job as helping your customers feel good about buying from your group.

4. The best salespeople have fun and enjoy selling. They help customers buy.

5. Be conscious, alert and focused on each sale as it is occurring. Do not become a robot

repeating memorized sales pitch word for word. Remember your job is to help your customer

feel good about helping your groups fundraising effort.

6. When you get a “no” remember it is only a word. Do not attach any emotions to it. A “NO” is

just a stepping stone to a “yes”. Just say, “thank you for your time”, and go on to the next sale.

It is a good idea to do some “role-playing” exercises to have some good answers to enhance

your sales.

7. People feel best doing something they want to do, not something they are forced to do. This is

true for customers as well as sales people. Relax, be friendly, feel good and excited about

what you are doing. Heart feelings are contagious.

8. Rehearse your sales techniques with family or friends. Switch roles back and forth as buyer

and seller. In each role, visualize a successful conclusion. When you’re out selling, choose to

be successful.

9. Imagine you are the buyer. How do you feel and respond to the items offered and the sales

pitch used? Also, ask friends and relatives for their opinions about sale items and sales

pitches.

10. What are your personal goals for this fundraising event? Write out your goals and your sales

pitch on a single sheet of paper. If you don’t have any goals or a defined sales approach, write

one or two of your best ideas. There are no wrong answers. Remember, it will help you be

internally motivated as a team if you have a goal and or a mission statement for your

organization. You can also have a contest for the best mission statement.

11. While you create your own reality, if you focus on things going wrong, they probably will.

Instead, focus on all the things that can go right. See your reality as positive, dynamic and

upbeat.

12. If you feel uncomfortable do a few easy sales first. Start with relatives and friends. With a few

of these sales under your belt, your sales pitch will be polished and your confidence level up.

13. Ask people who successfully sell similar items in fundraisers for their sales suggestions and

tips. Find out what they did right, what they did wrong and how they would do it differently

today.

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SALES SAFETY STRATEGY FOR

DOOR TO DOOR SOLICITATION

While fundraising activities can be positive and confidence building experiences for children, door-to-

door solicitations pose risks for child safety, even within the confines of your own neighborhood.

Parents and supervising adults should be aware of the potential hazards involved, as well as the

policies and ordinances that may be in place within a school system or locality, prohibiting this type of

solicitation. If you are considering whether or not to allow your children to participate in door-to-door

solicitations, please review the below-noted guidelines.

1. Children should never be allowed to participate in door-to-door solicitations without adult

supervision, preferably their parents, and they should never participate in “street” solicitations

where they stand in the medians of busy highways to collect money.

2. Door-to-door solicitation should only be conducted during daylight hours, never at night.

Children should only solicit in neighborhoods known to them and the supervising adult.

3. Children should be under direct line of sight supervision by the supervising adult. Children

should never enter anyone’s home without checking first with (and being accompanied by) the

supervising adults.

4. Children should never reveal personal information about themselves to anyone, including their

telephone number. If a contact telephone number is needed; it should be that of the

organization benefiting from the solicitation.

5. Consider other means of solicitation. For example, instead of going door-to-door, explore the

possibility of having children solicit at a public place, such as a grocery store, with adult

supervision. This makes it convenient for shoppers and safer for the children who are

participating.

6. Parents can become involved by selling fundraiser items to their friends and co-workers while

the children handle the order and fulfillment process.

7. Children should be encouraged to work as a team on solicitation projects so that individual

children work together instead of competing with one another. This also encourages

cooperation and reinforces the safety rules.

8. Parents should be encouraged to participate in their children’s solicitation activities and should

be fully apprised of all aspects of the project.

9. Remind your children to get away from any people or situations that are threatening and to

TELL you or a trusted adult if anyone or anything makes them feel frightened, uncomfortable

or confused.

These door-to-door solicitation safety tips are brought to you by the

NATIONAL CENTER FOR MISSING AND EXPLOITED CHILDREN

Distributed by: S.A.F.E. Network, Inc.

PMB 142, 1295 Shaw Avenue #104

Clovis, CA 93612

800.643.3310

http://www.safenetwork.org

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EXPANDING THE DAY!

EXPANDING PROFITS!

EXPANDING FUN!

The day of your Christmas tree, wreath, evergreen swag and garland distribution can be an annual

event. What a perfect time to create a memorable family experience and generate even more income

for your school.

Many of our customers have expanded this day to include:

Pictures with Santa

Food items i.e. baked goods, candy, “In & Out” hamburgers, hot dogs, pizza, donuts, coffee

bar, hot chocolate, cotton candy

Sales of Individual Sports Items i.e. jackets, “Spirit Packs”, lap blankets, hats, water bottles

Craft fair

Hand made ornaments

Tree skirts

Gift Wrapping

Pre-assembled bows and ribbon

Face Painting

Radio Podcasts

Involve Local Businesses – Giveaways

Sale of CD’s – Choir, Band

Strolling Christmas Carolers – Donation

Raffles

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PROPER TREE CARE

Proper care of your trees is very important.

Drying winds and heat from any source, whether it be sun, asphalt, concrete, storage trailers with heat

build-up or even the reflections of adjacent buildings, are all enemies of freshly cut Christmas trees.

The key to maintaining maximum freshness in your trees is to protect them from the heat, sun and

wind, as well as properly adding water to the trees. Because rainfall is normally continuous in the

Northwest during the harvest period, trees have little chance to dry prior to shipment.

1. RECEIVING TREES

Prepare a shaded, cool, clean area to unload your trees. Stockpile trees away from metal

fences, buildings or hot pavement (never store trees in direct sunlight). A good

groundcover of woodchips, sawdust, pallets or burlap is recommended. Tents or canopies are

ideal shade covers. We discourage the use of hay due to mold and dampness issues.

2. STORAGE

Storage of your trees depend on weather conditions and rate of sales. Maintain a high level of

humidity (moisture) in tree storage areas in climates that are dry and/or windy.

In HOT CLIMATES, if no shade is near, lay or hang nurseryman’s sunscreen-cloth or wet burlap over

any storage piles. Sun and wind will dry out trees fast. Use common sense as you would in handling

any fresh product.

Light sprinkling of the trees or stacks of trees in the early morning and evening helps prevent trees

from drying out. Be aware, trees stored on hot asphalt can absorb a petroleum smell and residue. In

addition, the heat absorbed by the asphalt during the day will be radiating to the trees at night and

cause further drying. It is always best to keep asphalt or concrete wet to help stored trees retain their

freshness.

If possible store your trees on pallets or burlap covered by nursery shade cloth or burlap. Shade cloth

will block out a high percentage of the sunlight and may be purchased through a local nursery supply

store. Do not use plastic tarps as they will cook the trees.

Leave your stored trees bailed to reduce the amount of surface exposed to drying conditions. Do not

leave moistened trees in piles more than one week to avoid mold forming.

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