Holiday Shopping Made Simple with Meadow Farms and The Lil’ Shopper’s Shoppe

Fall may have just started but the holidays are right around the corner! That is why we are excited to let you know about The Lil Shopper’s Shoppe. This is a fun and unique in school shopping experience that allows children to select gifts for their friends and family, all while learning how to budget. What’s even better is that The Lil’ Shopper’s Shoppe features over 100 QUALITY items all priced affordably. Nothing is over $10, while most of it is priced around $3! Excited to learn more? Here are four other reasons the Lil’ Shopper’s Shoppe is a great choice for any school:

1. Popular: The Lil’ Shopper’s Shoppe has been around for over 35 years, helping thousands of schools reach their fundraising goals.

2. Convenient: The holidays are a busy time for parents, so the parents of your school will appreciate the help they get during this season. For administrators this is a program that’s risk free and easy to run. Meadow Farms can provide you with everything you need and more!

3. Educational: Students can learn not only the value of giving but also the value of money (with the help of parents and teachers of course).

4. Safe: Students shop under adult supervision in a SAFE indoor environment. Volunteers help out, however they never pressure children to buy.

If this hasn't gotten you in the holiday spirit, would it help if we mention that if you sign up by October 31st you can get one of these bonuses:

For more information about the program or to sign up click here!

Online Fundraising With Meadow Farms

For your convenience Meadow Farms Fundraising has taken their efforts online. To register your child simply follow the steps below.

 

1. Visit www.meadowfarms.com and click "Register Child." 

2. Enter your School ID enclosed in your brochure packet from Meadow Farms Fundraising.

3. Enter your 7-digit student ID that can be found on the bottom left-hand corner of your order form.

4. Be sure to fill in all necessary information and include a unique message & photo that will be seen on YOUR shopping site. Don't forget to write down your Student ID & Password to login to your account in the future.

5. If all necessary information is filled in correctly you will be prompted to the Seller's Registration Success screen. From here you can view your shopping site and start forwarding the site to your friends and family!

After registration you will have the ability to login to your seller account and view your shopping site, sales report and your registration information. To login to your seller account follow these 3 easy steps:

1. Visit www.meadowfarms.com and select Seller Login from the Online Portal drop down menu.

2. Once you reach the Seller's Login page, enter your Student ID and the password you created during registration.

3. From here you can track your sales, view your shopping site and change any registration information if necessary. 

Rate Your Fundraiser

Not all fundraisers are created equal. Does yours fit your needs?

1. Know Why You Need Money

Parent groups raise money for many reasons. Before you embark on any fundraising project, consider exactly why your group needs the money. Are you raising funds to support the basic program budget? Maybe your PTO is funding a special project, such as a playground or new technology equipment. Perhaps you’ll realize that you’re just raising funds for the sake of it, with no real spending plan. According to the Association of Fund-Raising Distributors and Suppliers, participation in fundraisers increases when the customer knows the reason for the request. So be sure you take the time to really understand—and communicate—why your group is asking for financial support.

2. Consider the Work/Reward Tradeoff

Some fundraising programs are easier to manage than others. But it’s not enough to consider workload alone when deciding whether your parent group should run a certain project. Balance the workload against the relative financial payback. For example, maybe the coupon-cutting program can be handled by just one volunteer. But if all her hours of hard work translate into only a few dollars of profit, ditch the program. That dedicated volunteer’s time may be better spent on a different PTO initiative.

3. Understand Your Customers

Typically, PTO fundraising depends on the financial support of the parents in your school. You should consider the project from their perspective before automatically assuming you have a good fit. Several factors influence your parents’ ability to support your group. Consider the local economy: Are these good economic times or bad? What about other fundraising requests around the community—with whom are you competing for your parents’ fundraising dollars? If you’re selling a product, do you consider the desirability of the product within your community? If every booster club in town is selling candles, for instance, maybe it’s time to drop your candle sale.

4. Avoid Fundraising Fatigue

How many times a year does your parent group ask for money? Are you constantly bombarding your customers, your parent community, with fundraising messages that could overshadow the good work of your PTO? Ongoing financial appeals can lead to a phenomenon called fundraising fatigue. Even a so-called little fundraiser consumes precious volunteer effort. It demands attention from your parents, buy-in from your school administration, marketing, collection, delivery, and follow-up. Don’t be fooled into thinking your parents can simply ignore all those “little”fundraising requests if they choose. Most PTOs would rather be known as the group that makes the school a better place than as an obsessed fundraising machine.

5. Don’t Change on a Whim

Changing fundraisers shouldn’t be done lightly. It puts added pressure on volunteers as they work to increase awareness and support for the new program while also hoping to make budget. If your parent group has been successful with a particular fundraising strategy, stick with it. Fundraisers that are repeated year after year can continue to meet your financial goals even if a few people complain that they’re bored with the same old project. Your profit level will tell you whether the parent community as a whole is losing interest.

Visit  http://www.ptotoday.com/pto-today-articles to learn more!

Visit us online to learn more about our Spring or Fall Fundraising Options! Earn up to 50% on most items.

Ask us about our FREE HOME DELIVERY COOKIE DOUGH!

ARE YOU EXPERIENCING FUNDRAISING FATIGUE?

ptotoday.com

"Fundraising fatigue" isn't a national trend that you can't fight. It's a problem that can be addressed by rethinking the way you conduct fundraisers.

Twice a year, once around this time and once around back-to-school, local and national newspapers trot out their old standby fundraising story. I can see the headlines now:

"Parents Burned Out by Fundraising Barrage!"

"Too Much Fundraising?"

"Fundraising Fatigue Hits Local Parents"

Almost invariably, the article author finds one parent who will give some version of "I wish I could just write a check and not be bothered by all this." And the writer will conclude that the world would be a better place if all this fundraising would just go away.

My opinion: That's bunk. Sure, it would be great if we had every dollar we ever needed to satisfy our every school desire. But I'd also like to be better-looking, thinner, and smarter. Sometimes you just have to deal with reality. I'm not saying that fundraising fatigue doesn't happen, just that it doesn't have to happen. And that it has a lot more to do with how we fundraise—we overworked, underpaid parent-group leaders—than with fundraising itself.

If you're feeling the negative effects of fundraising fatigue—perhaps your latest sale didn't go as well as last year's or you're having trouble finding volunteers to help out with the counting—then the problem is likely with your group's fundraising habits. Nine times out of 10, fundraising struggles are self-inflicted.

Most often, two mistakes lead to fundraising fatigue and less-effective fundraising efforts. The first is nickel-and-diming your parents year round. Does it seem like you have some fundraising message or other in nearly all of your communications? Are you collecting this or clipping that or shopping here or selling there all year? If so, then it's no wonder your parents feel put upon. We have to run fewer fundraisers, but run those few more effectively. (Dump a couple—you'll live!) Two weeks of really hard work and focused fundraising attention is often way better than 12 weeks where some combination of smaller fundraisers are taking place.

The second mistake is forgetting to focus on the why of fundraising. It's not about $2,000 or $10,000. It's about the new playground. It's about the community-building efforts. It's about the many other good works that your group does. You have to make sure to shout about your great goals and results.

The reality is that fundraising provides essential funds for the extras that turn schools from piles of bricks with teachers inside into magical places of discovery and learning and community. Playgrounds. Field trips. A child's first exposure to the theater or music. The family event that cements friendships that last a lifetime. These are the essentials of fundraising.

Next time you read that tired fundraising feature in the local paper, send the author pictures of your latest townwide fall fiesta, your packed arts-and-crafts night, or your kids, eyes aglow, on their latest fantastic learning adventure funded by your efforts.

We have to do a better job of reminding parents—and the masses—of these realities. No one gets fatigued from smiling faces and playgrounds and creating special memories for kids and families.

STAY TUNED FOR OUR NEXT BLOG POSTING!