In the next few days, fundraising representatives and numerous schools will be finding out that a prominent fundraising company in Minnesota and surrounding states has closed it's doors. It's sad news.
Geckler Companies, Inc. Fundraising was locked out by banks last week. Although the specifics of the lockout are not common knowledge at this point, one thing is clear - the fundraising industry has another casualty.
By all accounts, Geckler Fundraising was a customer service oriented company with long-standing customers. In our opinion, Geckler was a generous company with aspirations of becoming a national player.
The schools that are currently working with them are sure to be caught off-guard. They will be surprised to hear that the company is no longer.
The fundraising reps that work so hard to keep schools happy and well-financed throughout the year will be looking for work. Some will find jobs outside the industry but many fundraising reps will go out in search of another fundraising company product lines to offer.
What isn't so clear is if the untimely lockout forced any schools into a situation where they had no product and no fundraising profits. If there is a silver lining, it's that the spring fundraising season is just beginning and fall fundraising season is a ways off.
What is clear is that the newly acquired school supply division of the company, Desktop School Supplies, struggled to deliver this fall. Reports from numerous schools reported that their paid supplies were not delivered.
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Geckler Companies in the news Fall 2009:
Lakeville Company Leaves MN Schools Without School Supplies
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It would appear that Geckler made good on as many deliveries or refunds they could since this news article ran but the fast growth rate of the company combined with the current banking landscape appears to have overwhelmed them.
As the dust settles we extend our best wishes for each and every employee, fundraising rep and school that now will begin the search for another good vendor for Spring and Fall fundraisers. Certainly, we feel for any schools affected if it turns out there are any.
The reality is that business can be extremely difficult and the current fundraising landscape and economic realities put pressure on companies of all types - fundraising or not. What remains is a feeling that a good company is gone and it's a sad reality.
There just aren't many good ones left in the fundraising industry.
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Jay Moneta is the Vice President of Believe Kids Fundraising and can be reached via twitter - twitter.com/BelieveKids
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