Retail Sales & Charity Donatlons -- Small Businesses Discussion Forum

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Subject: Retail Sales & Charity Donatlons

Author:
Dennis S. Vogel

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Date Posted: 12:33:03 01/29/17 Sun
In reply to: Dennis S. Vogel 's message, "Re: Online Shop" on 19:27:15 01/03/02 Thu

This is an update to a blog post from January 2002. The original post might've been a disguised promotion attempt. I took a chance & responded with some advice.
Based on what I wrote below, you may think I'm trying to dissuade you from using my suggestion. I'm just helping you be realistic.

This disclaimer is part of being realistic: I'm not a lawyer. You're responsible for being sure your promotions are legal in your area. My advice is based on a limited knowledge of your situation. There are things I don't know about your situation which can affect you & your customers. You need to follow through with due diligence to be sure you do what's necessary for success.

If you think you'll generate enough donations this way, you could suggest for church leaders to use the money for a specific cause or improvement. Example - If a repair is necessary, church leaders could dedicate your sales donations to pay for a repair. When the repair is made, people will have a personal reference & satisfaction in helping make the repair happen.

If there wouldn't likely be enough donations, you shouldn't link your business with something that won't be fulfilled. The cause or improvement should be something members think of as significant. The total cost of the cause or improvement should be what you could provide through a program like this.

You'd need input from members & leaders about what would be significant & fulfillable. After you get their input, you should consider the possibility of your sales & donations being lower than they anticipate. It's too easy for excitement to lead to high expectations.

Here are a few things to consider about a program like this: Success would depend on -
1 - the number of church members & their financial situations;
2 - how well you can fulfill enough sales to make it work in a specific time frame;
3 - how much & how often church leaders would encourage members to participate;
4 - your ability to promote it to each church group on a regular basis;
5 - your ability to track sales & send donations each month;
6 - your supply chain should be able to send you enough products to avoid inventory lapses

If you have ready access to members, you might be able to maintain top of mind awareness. If church leaders inspire members to order things each week, you might get enough orders each week.

You'd need to maintain a steady flow of donations based on your sales. If people order things but your donations lag behind, you could cause suspicion.

If you do this with more than one church at a time, you could have a hard time tracking sales & sending donations. I suggest moderation in setting up a program, so you can do it well. You'd need to be sure to track sales from specific groups & send the donations to the correct person in each group.

It can be run somewhat like an affiliate program. You might find software to help you administer it.
Your suppliers should provide enough high quality products to avoid an out-of-stock problem. If there are defects, people might return products or demand refunds. You need to be sure you allow for possible returns, when you send donations. If you send donations each month, you should limit returns & refunds to 30 days after a sale.

Your sales copy should specify the importance of people confirming their orders. You should specify refunds will only be available up to 30 days after a sale. After you make a donation & pay suppliers, you won't have funds available for refunds.

To prevent interruptions of sales & donations, church leaders should encourage people to only order what they intend to keep.

You should be sure your program fits all regulations where your business & the churches are. You might need guidance from a lawyer.

You can be successful with programs like this when you gather whatever insights you can.

I don't want to mislead you into thinking there are no risks in promotions.

Please use discretion in what you do & how much you do at any time.

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