Another one bites the dust

The Paradigm Shift in product fundraising is pretty much complete now that Scott's of Wisconsin is closing its doors almost immediately. They are yet another victim of the current banking crisis and tight credit. Their fundraising division made a profit last year, but their catalog division (The Wisconsin Cheeseman) did not, plus they have a huge building that has been for sale and has not sold. The overhead was overwhelming and the bank shut them down.

This ends the era of large supply companies providing product to large fundraising companies with paid sales staffs. The industry has moved to independent small companies who service school and league companies, with support by pack and ship organizations or manufacturers who deal directly with the independents.

We continue to pick the top of the line in product quality. With Pine Valley as a cookie dough supplier, Pine River as a supplier of top quality Wisconsin Cheeses, Chocolates, and Sausages, AGI as a pack and ship organization for catalog sales based on cooperative buying group development of brochures and product offerings, Western Promotions as a flower bulb supplier, Unipak Supply as a supplier of frozen food programs, Wolfgang Candy as a source for high quality boxed chocolates, World's Finest Chocolate as a supplier of quality chocolate bars, and Neighborhood Flags as a source for embroidered and printed house and garden flags, we are confident we have a line that will sell at the door and which we can deliver.

After over two-thirds of the fundraising companies in the nation have gone out of business, we're still here. We service clients who will "do it our way" to maximize their sales. If you want the best, contact us.

The dust settles

The dust is finally starting to settle on the Fall 2010 fundraising season. We know now that two major pack and ship organizations in the eastern part of the country failed to deliver as promised. Both evidently had very attractive brochures that brought forth more sales than those companies' credit lines with their banks were able to support.

As mentioned before, banks are reluctant to lend, so it is a big gamble bringing in product for a catalog six months before sales even begin.

Our approach will be a careful and conservative one. We will be featuring products that we know are available and can be shipped. This may eliminate some of the cuter and more innovative items, but the problems in the supply chain this year indicate that this is the best course of action. Although "The Mackenzie Collection" set sales records in the schools, the very idea of having 31 different manufacturers represented in a brochure brought headaches and backorders.

Look for an attractive offering for Spring with items we are sure we can deliver. Look for an innovative and attractive and deliverable fall lineup, available for your inspection in late February or early March. It will be worth the wait, so don't be in any hurry to commit for fall 2011.