Choosing Charities to Get Your Gift Baskets
Designers frequently receive requests to donate gift baskets for raffles, auctions, and other charity-based functions.
How do you decide who will get or if you will give?
The two questions I’m often asked are:
Here are my suggestions.
1. Donate to the events that are closest to your heart, the events that align themselves with the causes in which you believe. This allows you to contact like-minded people with the highest potential to order after the event.
2. Set a limit on how much you will donate each month. When you reach that limit, tell the requesting charity, “We’ve reached our monthly donation limit.” It’s that simple.
The items that go into charity baskets depend on the event, and you can also base your selection on items you consider to be slow sellers. The article, How to Sell More by Giving Away Leftovers, will provide insight on this.
What’s your policy for handling donations?
Gift Basket Industry on the Internet
Here are links to visit while enjoying your morning beverage.
Do pictures speak louder than words? They do when Flora Brown shares a beautiful gift basket photo.
Check out her wordless Wednesday submission, a coffee maker and mug all dolled up as a basket-less gift.
Is branding an important part of your business? Lorie Obernauer of Apex Gift Foods shares her insights from a recently-published article. At the end, I bet you’ll realize how much you’re automatically building a brand.
Gift basket makers are getting younger. An 8 year old has made it his mission to create gift baskets for premature babies. You can read the story here. Too bad this online article doesn’t include a photo.
I’m attending the New York International Gift Fair this weekend so I can update entries on the Gift Basket Wholesale Supplies site. The nice thing is that it’s not really work because I enjoy connecting with wholesalers with great gift basket products.
Is Starting a Gift Basket Blog for You?
I’m noticing that quite a few gift basket designers are starting their own blogs. My Internet alert systems notify me when someone has set up a new one.
Here’s the explanation of a blog in case you’re not familiar with the definition. You’re reading a blog right now.
Why are designers blogging? I can think of three reasons. They:
1. Polled customers and found that many of them are Web surfers, so setting up a blog to inform them about gifts and baskets is a dynamic way to stay in touch online.
2. Realize that blogs are indexed quicker in search engines than Web sites, which may increase their search rankings faster.
3. Decided that creating a blog has the potential to reach more prospects and clients than a separate newsletter.
Speaking of newsletters, are you subscribed to the one that complements this blog? It’s published every Wednesday and Sunday. Subscribe here, and read back issues at GiftBasketsNewsletter.com.
Create and launch a blog of any of the three reasons above or reasons that match your marketing plan make blogging appropriate. But don’t start one because it’s trendy.
If you have no plan to blog consistently, which means a commitment to write an entry at least once a week, then blogging is not for you.
Instead, choose to reach customers through online newsletters (also called Ezines), postcards, five-minute talks in their offices, and other ways that cement relationships and encourage sales.
Do you have a blog? How does it help you connect with customers?
Success with State-Made Gift Baskets
I’ve often suggested that you consider making gift baskets with products made in your state.
These designs are a favorite of:
This state-made gift basket article, featured in WCFCourier.com, may provide you with ideas on products to look for when deciding to create your own designs.
Larger states, such as California and New York, often receive lots of attention regarding state-made baskets. This time it’s good to read a story about Iowa products.
Are state-made gift baskets part of your product line, or are you still not sure they will develop into a sales category?
Gift Basket Sales are Slow for the Big Boys
Did you see the earnings breakdown recently released for 1-800-Flowers?
Here’s the story, and be sure to read the last paragraph:
“Sales in Gourmet Food and Gift Baskets fell 11.9%, to $22.9 million…”
You may be saying to yourself, “I’ll take a hit like that anytime if my sales are $22.9 million,” but remember that this firm works with thousands of small outlets that receive orders through the 1-800-Flowers wire service.
If you’re part of that service, the numbers indicate that gift basket orders arriving at your location, in all probability, decreased.
If you work independently, sales may have also slowed, but the tide might be turning this month with student care package orders created by you and arriving at schools worldwide, a big boost for your revenue.
See this article for incentive to go after that market.
The big boys can afford a temporary dip in sales. I can promise you that they will experience a big increase during the holidays. Are you planning the same for your business?
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