Sally Foster is a school fundraising company. As far as school fundraising goes, it's a big name owned by an even bigger name - Entertainment Publications, LLC who produces promotional products worldwide including the Entertainment Book.
For years, schools across the nation have received fall fundraising catalogs and students have sold the famous 'thick' wrapping paper. Without a clear history on the thickness of wrapping paper over time, it is clear that Sally Foster is credited with raising awareness of the benefits of the thicker premium wrap and holiday wrappers thank her for it to the tune of $7-$10 per roll. Anyone in the know considers it well spent cash.
Clearly as a company that reportedly touts $100 million in annual sales is very substantial in the fundraising world. What's more is that they are owned by a company that does over $6.5 billion in revenue annually - plenty of money to make things happen.
So, when news surfaces that Sally Foster is changing the way they do business this fall, ears perk up. There are lots of small fundraising reps and companies that naturally would like to expand into new schools and areas. On the flip side, they may just be onto something.
So, what are their motives? Is it a cost-cutting measure? A response to the economy? A change in business plan? A great new idea who's time has come? I can only speculate but what is clear is that this will be a different way of fundraising.
As the electronic age continues to expand, the need for paper products will lessen. Books will be replaced by electronic devices (Kindle, iPad) and so on. What is clear is the fundraising will evolve with technology in some way.
Sally's Plan (yes, Sally is real but is not involved in the company)
In fall 2010, Sally Foster will be putting an emphasis on gift cards for online shopping. I understand that the following things will happen based on a post on the PTO today site:
40% profit will be offered across the board for a gift card sale. Folks will purchase a $20 gift care and get it activated so it will be good for purchases on their shopping site. It would appear that all sales will be for home delivery which would be subject to shipping and tax where applicable. I did hear that there may be a very limited catalog that get's folks excited to shop online but I have not confirmed this.
So, if you are a big fan of Sally Foster, it's time to give your Sally Foster fundraising rep a call and ask about the changes. Without personal clarification on the matter, it would appear that the company is betting on internet shoppers as the future of the industry.
Red Flag #1 As with anything new comes the need for explanation. Students will have to be educated on the new game plan and then teach potential customers how the program works. Parents faculty and customers will have to re-learn the fundraiser.
Red Flag #2 There is no proven history. As with any new endeavor, there are some unknowns. Will the students explain the program correctly? will the parents buy? A lot of unknowns. A group that needs to hit a certain budget is taking a large risk being the first group to sign up.
There have been so many changes in the industry that it's not a surprise that Sally Foster will make changes to their programs. The current economy has nearly every company internalizing to look at the effectiveness of their operations. I sincerely hope that for the sake of the industry that consumer confidence is not affected. Because of this sentiment, I offer the following personal thought:
This may be cool. I really can't wait to find out more about the program and I hope it has possibility for reasons I will outline below. As a fan of progress and technology I have high hopes that fundraising can move further into the digital age successfully.
In closing, a move that smaller companies can't make but a bigger company can. For whatever there motives, they will be testing the boundaries of electronic fundraising in schools all across the nation and it will be telling. They either believe in the change or are cutting cost.
As much as Sally Foster is a direct competitor and a much larger one at that, I look forward to seeing if their efforts this year will prove that fundraising is ready to take a leap forward.
If their motives are to cut cost, they may find that they also cut success. If they motives are to prove that digital fundraising is a reality today and succeed, then just like the thickness of the wrap changing the industry, they may just change the industry again.
Only time will tell.
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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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8 comments:
This was brought up at our PTA meeting last night and I really have some reservations about the Sally Foster fundraiser for next year. We live in a rural area where a lot of families don't have access to a personal computer. Plus, if I think about all the sweet Grandmas who purchase these items, a lot of them are not tech savvy either. We may still do it but reduce our estimated profit just in case it's a bust. Also, we were told the profit was still 50% by the rep, even though the literature said 40%. I may have to get that one in writing! We are trying the Yankee Candle Fundraiser right now to see if it's profitable. I also received literature about Innisbrooke wrap and they are still old school with catalogs and their wrap is pretty, thick and has guide lines for cutting on the underside. Plus they have candy, cookie dough, and some yummy looking big pretzels!
I think this is terrible. Most people, esp with the economy bad, can't afford a $20 gift card PLUS the SHIPPING they are going to have to pay. I'm not even allowing my daughter to ask our friends this year. In the past, people could buy something for $8 or whatever and feel like they were supporting her. I *might* buy a couple cards myself, but that's it. Terrible move on Sally Foster's part. And the reduction from 50% to 40% profit is pathetic! Naughty Sally Foster!!
Update: I took a look at the Sally Foster online store and it's pretty obvious to me that their strategy is a cost-cutting measure. As schools wrap up their fundraisers, hopefully we'll get some more comments here. I'm very interested in your feedback!
Not only is Sally Foster LLC cost cutting, but their whole "online" venture was a disaster...
It seems that the vendor (PeopleSoft) who sold them on this whole online idea, didn't bother to do ANY Quality Assurance on this. What the Heck ?
We had multiple buyers totally abandon their online purchases due to technical issues. And that was just the 10 or so who made us aware of this.
One such individual was a teacher whose bank account was held hostage by the Peoplesoft system and showed 10 "pending" transactions.
Not to mention the system was supposed to notify the student when an online order was placed on their behalf. Never happened.
Or the excel reports that were supposed to be generated to the school rep. again not working.
Dare I mention that we could only have one rep on the syteme at a time, lest the system kicked us off. Why are we forced online to MANUALLY enter each and every students name, classroom, and individual orders???
I will not go on with this disastrous list as it never ends...
Unfortunately, Sally Foster's Management is penny-wise and pound-foolish. This will turnoff a whole generation of parents from using this as a fundraising opportunity. Brand alone will not save them. Too many other fundraising companies out their that care about the client...
Bye bye Sally Foster from this school.
Signed, Bitterly Disappointed Parent
We wrapped up our Sally Foster gift cards down 6000.00 in profit from last year. The new program was so confusing and noone liked it. We did the leg work on the communication to ensure people understood the program. It flopped. We had to put a backup plan to ensure we could still afford our list of projects. If they do not change this significantly for next year we will not sign on again.
We are radicals. We stopped giving to the fundraisers and fundraising companies! Instead, we just write a check DIRECTLY TO THE SCHOOL!!!(And for 50% of what we would have spent, that's a generous "take" and more than most fundraisers earn the school anyway!)
The school was quite happy with taking our check. :)
I'm not all that happy that you used my blog to try to convince others that you've figured out a better way to fundraise than the schools and experts.
I mean really, fundraising companies aren't the enemy.
My impression of Sally Foster aside, most of the parents at a school are not participating in the fundraisers and even less than that are ever getting around to actually writing a check.
So while you're writing your check, someone else is not doing a darn thing. They're most likely using the same rationale you did when you circumvented the actual fundraiser. Something like... 'I'd rather give to only the baseball team' or 'The school should have enough money with all the taxes I pay. I'd rather they just send a bill.' or 'I'll get around to it.' or something and rationalize not giving.
One reason I disagree is that with catalog fundraisers, the sale goes nationwide ((I'm not intending this as a plug but if you want to see an example, head over to www.BelieveKids.com)).
No check writing campaign does that. Parents are single-handedly responsible for their donations. Fair enough I suppose, unless you can't write that check as easily as someone else.
Parents in areas where they can't 'just write a check' are no longer able to participate.
Oh, geez. There's a bunch of other reasons I could argue, but I don't want any trouble today. I'll just lay low and call it a day.
If your school hosts a fundraiser of a certain type, that's probably because they believe it to be the most effective way for them to raise money. They may not be right but you can join the PTA and change the way they do things at your school.
In the end, if writing checks is your overall mission, be prepared for schools to raise significantly less money.
I read this with interest as I am heading to a meeting in the morning about fundraisers for our little school this year. We did the Celebrating Home fundraiser last year using their full brochure and it went over very well. With only approximately 15-18 students out of 70 actually selling anything, the total sales was $2800, with the school getting a full 50% of that (it can be less depending on the enhancement options you choose). Celebrating Home this year has added online ordering to their lineup with direct shipping, but that will cause the buyer to be subject to shipping charges. However, anything purchased directly from the student still ships to the school for delivery. Of note, they do have a direct shipping choice that the school can opt into and pay just a minor amount extra per item to have it either shipped directly to the individual seller's house or the buyer. But we opted to ship directly to the school and we exceeded minimum sales goals so shipping was totally free to the school. There are still traditional fundraisers out there--just have to look for them. Also, with CH, you can have a local designer who works directly with you. Check it out if you haven't at their website under fundraising.
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