2017 popcorn campaign

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Tyler Roderick Benson
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1 2017 popcorn campaign

Why Scout Fundraising? A Proper Perspective The aims and methods of Scouting instruct that a Scout be thrifty and that he pay his own way for program and activities.

The fundraisers have a purpose and the purpose is to raise a targeted number of dollars to do something else. Different families have different resources at their disposal.

3 Why Scout Fundraising? A Proper Perspective The aims and methods of Scouting instruct that a Scout be thrifty and that he pay his own way for program and activities. Scouts learn the value of money and hard work by earning the money to pay for things. But they didn t join Scouting to do fundraisers! The fundraisers have a purpose and the purpose is to raise a targeted number of dollars to do something else. Different families have different resources at their disposal. Some families may not need to participate in fundraisers at all. Others in the same unit might need additional opportunities to raise funds. Troops, Packs and Crews pull together and enjoy activities as a group rather than individually. This calls for a unified approach to planning and funding the activities. The very first Journey to Excellence objective is Planning and Budget as it relates to fundraising. Gold level units involve the youth in producing a program plan and budget that is reviewed and approved by a committee that regularly meets. The natural outgrowth of this planning process should be consensus of youth and adult members on nature of the program for the coming year and the nature of the fundraising to accomplish it. Scouting families should enthusiastically embrace the fundraising process for what it is and what it accomplishes. With that said. Scouting should be fun not drudgery! Central Florida Council together with the Trails End Team have put together an amazing array of fun prizes and incentives to fuel this year s campaign and make it POP! Turn the pages of this booklet to see all the exciting things and experiences that you can earn while helping your unit deliver an unparalleled program. COUNCIL BLITZ WEEKEND If your Scout sells at least (ONE) item blitzing their neighborhoods during our blitz weekend, they can earn a cool BB POP patch! Blitz Weekend September 29 October 1, 2017 Unit popcorn kernels will enter each participating Scout and their sales made that weekend into the Trails End system. Patches will be delivered to unit representatives at the November Roundtable.

Counter-Intuitive Question Question: If the goal of this year s Popcorn campaign is to increase revenue, Isn t it counter-intuitive to cut the sale length from 16 weeks to 8?

If you are already maxing out your popcorn performance with simultaneous show and sells, 100% participation from your families, and every Scout selling online as well as take-order, then yes, it

Top performing units will need to focus on several things to increase total sales in a shorter time frame: 1) Increase your $ Sale/Scout ratio by teaching them to up-sell and asking customers to

Get better family buy-in and participation for extra show and sells. Play up the fun movie theme! Instruct every family on how to set up an online sales page.

We have been running ours for 16 weeks. This year we will sell for eight.

4 Counter-Intuitive Question Question: If the goal of this year s Popcorn campaign is to increase revenue, Isn t it counter-intuitive to cut the sale length from 16 weeks to 8? Answer: If you belong to one of the few high-functioning popcorn units in Central Florida, cutting the sale period may feel counter intuitive. If you are already maxing out your popcorn performance with simultaneous show and sells, 100% participation from your families, and every Scout selling online as well as take-order, then yes, it is going to be harder this year to increase sales. Top performing units will need to focus on several things to increase total sales in a shorter time frame: 1) Increase your $ Sale/Scout ratio by teaching them to up-sell and asking customers to double up their order; 2) Increase your number of show and sell and your family participation at each. Utilize off-beat and creative locations; 3) Put your unit Kick-Off to work for you. Get better family buy-in and participation for extra show and sells. Play up the fun movie theme! Instruct every family on how to set up an online sales page. You will receive a complete toolkit and tasting kit at the District Kick-off during the August Roundtable. Information will begin coming out in July via the Kernel Journal a weekly newsletter for 20 weeks. If you haven t heard, our new Scout Executive, Eric Magendantz, comes from Mid-America Council where their popcorn campaign yields twice as much in sales in FOUR weeks. We have been running ours for 16 weeks. This year we will sell for eight. The upside to having a shorter and more intense campaign is that if we are successful in increasing sales in the shorter time, we get the benefit of more time for Scouting and camping! Isn t that the purpose of fundraising anyway? We aren t Fundraisers of America, this is the Boy Scouts of America! POPCORN GROWTH TOOLKIT Improved training and campaign communications New strategies for Show and Sells Easier to attend, local district Kicks-offs to help energize families Shorter but more intense campaign period Scout-engaging movie theme and summer games Exciting new product, tins and incentives Council organized Blitz and Show and Sells Generous by-the-piece return policy Sept. 21. Easy to achieve, max 35% commission structure A full-time staff member for popcorn help and questions

5 POPCORN COMMISSION CHECKLIST

6 Show & Sell Kit This year, show and sells are more important than ever to increasing total sales. Competition for your favorite spot might be tougher too. Timing Book early and go for volume! Try to increase your number of show and sells from last year. As soon as possible, begin calling store managers of grocery and warehouse stores. Get off the beaten path Consider the advice of Rodolfo Ortega of Pack 369 in Challenger District (dad and uncle to council topsellers) Approach unique places such as Gas stations, Convenience Stores, Churches, Oil Change shops and Auto parts. Go for multiple locations that run simultaneously. He goes on to say This isn t Rocket Science, you just have to make up your mind to do it. Try one or more of the Council Organized Show and Sells: Bass Pro Shops September 9 October 28 Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs NY Giants NFL Game -October 1 Other opportunities TBA Details and sign-up opportunity will be communicated via Kernel Journal to Rosellen be sure to subscribe to this 20 issue, e-newsletter by sending a message to Rosellen.Kraus@cflscouting.org Find a way to accept plastic payment Let s face it, the price point for popcorn is now higher than the amount that most people carry in cash in their wallets. Having the ability to take cash, check and credit or debit cards is imperative! Don t let the form of payment be the reason you lose a sale. It s ok to charge convenience fees if you choose. See the page labeled Credit and Debit Card Options. Train and prep the Scouts and Families - Be prepared to have a fun and well-attended kick-off for your unit. Share the excitement and your enthusiasm with the families that could not come to Roundtable. Having 100% buy-in from all your families is critical. You will need their support to stay focused during the sale and to make the effort need to staff all the Show and Sells that you have scheduled. At this time, you can also train the Scouts. Have a willing Scout role play a sale and demonstrate how it goes. Staffing plan - Ask your families to sign up for the Show and Sells that you have scheduled. 2 Scouts per shift is optimal + 2 deep adult leadership. Remind everyone that Popcorn is what we do for September and October so weekends are free for camping and other activities the whole rest of the year. Upsell! - Every Scout should set a sales goal and should know what their per-scout sales average is. (If you participated in the sale last year, your DE will know the average for your unit). Make a goal and game out of increasing every transaction amount by upselling this is a technique where the next higher priced item is suggested to the customer. Once the customer has made their decision, try suggesting a second of the same item (called doubling up ) to maybe share with a friend. Avoiding competition - (lower ticket items and jars). As tempting as it might be to offer lower-ticket items for sale at your show and sell, or to set out a jar for cash donations. Don t do it. National statistics have shown that Scouting units that do this end up hurting their overall sale total. Remember that you can lose three customers for every $20 sale and still be ahead of the game and you will find that only one or two will walk away for every sale. Instead of randomly collecting donations use the military sale to upsell those donors. Encourage your Scouts to show the military patches that they are working toward and ask for $30 or $50 so they can earn silver and gold patches. Make sure your Scouts are well-versed on how the money turns into popcorn for military and veteran s groups so they can explain it to customers. Online Sales - Don t forget to utilize the Virtual Show and Sell! Objections to helping your Scouts to set up online sales range from the products seem too expensive to it s too hard technically. Additional help and instructions for the Trails End system will be provided to make the set up easier this year. Remember not to say no for your customers! Nationally, consumers spend more money this way: $62 per purchase vs $21 per purchase in traditional sales. It s easier for you since all orders are shipped directly to consumers and you don t have to handle any payment. Remember that 75% of every sale stays local and if you subtract the donation, all items are prices comparably or lower than traditional sale (see Online Product Mix Sheet for details) Wayne Gretzky says that you miss 100% of the shots you don t take. Online sales could be the tool that increases your total sale this year. Give it try!

Show & Sell - Inventory Recomendations Sample Package A: Try it All!

00 1 Salted Caramel Tin (NEW!) (6/case) $180 $63.

00 1 18-Pack MW Kettle Corn (6/case) $150 $52.

00 2 White Cheddar Cheese (12/case) $360 $126.00 2 Caramel Corn (12/case) $240 $84.

Retail (up to) 35% Commission 1 Salted Caramel Tin (NEW!) (6/case) $180 $63.

00 1 White Cheddar Cheese (12/case) $180 $63.00 1 Caramel Corn (12/case) $120 $42.

7 Show & Sell - Inventory Recomendations Sample Package A: Try it All! Retail (up to) 35% Commission 2 Cheese Lovers Collection (1/case) $60 $ Salted Caramel Tin (NEW!) (6/case) $180 $ Premium Caramel Corn with nuts (12/case) $240 $ Pack MW Kettle Corn (6/case) $150 $ Pack MW Unbelievable Butter (6/case) $120 $ White Cheddar Cheese (12/case) $360 $ Caramel Corn (12/case) $240 $ Popping Corn (12/case) $120 $42.00 Total: $1,470 $ Sample Package B: Try it Out! Retail (up to) 35% Commission 1 Salted Caramel Tin (NEW!) (6/case) $180 $ Premium Caramel Corn with nuts (12/case) $240 $ Pack MW Unbelievable Butter (6/case) $120 $ White Cheddar Cheese (12/case) $180 $ Caramel Corn (12/case) $120 $42.00 Total: $840 $ Credit and Debit Card Options Central Florida Council Boy Scouts makes no claim for the safety or security of these companies. As with any banking product, research your options and consider reviews. Rosellen has had good luck in her troop with both PayPal and the Square reader by using a dedicated credit union account limited to troop fundraisers. Be careful.

Scout Script - Helping Scouts Sell! 1) SMILE!

ladder If you like the classic caramel, you might really like

8 Scout Script - Helping Scouts Sell! 1) SMILE! 2) Remember that you are not selling popcorn, but Scouting. Can I count on your support? 3) Make suggestions to consider the next item up the price ladder If you like the classic caramel, you might really like the premium caramel with nuts. 4) Suggest a second of the same item one to eat and one to share! Answers at the Point of Sale

attended a party at The Church of Jesus Christ Latter-Day Saints,

a cool prize! The class sold over $181,000 total in sales!

will be invited to a private matinee viewing to see Star Wars - The

The Spin N Win party will also include a ticket to the movie,

Accompanying family members can purchase a ticket for $15 each.

14 Class of 2016 Top 100 Sellers! The Top 100 Sellers in the Council (stretched over 7 counties) attended a party at The Church of Jesus Christ Latter-Day Saints, Orlando and enjoyed pizza and wings and got to spin a wheel and earn a cool prize! The class sold over $181,000 total in sales! 2017 Class, Save the date for January 6, 2018 The 2017 Top 100 Class will be invited to a private matinee viewing to see Star Wars - The Last Jedi at Universal Cineplex. The Spin N Win party will also include a ticket to the movie, concession snack pack of popcorn, drink and gummy fruit snack. Accompanying family members can purchase a ticket for $15 each. Details and times to be shared with the winners by December 15, WILL YOU BE A PART OF THE NEXT SPIN? 2016 VIP Units 70 units sold over $5,000 and were treated to dinner at Tommy Bahama Restaurant at Point Orlando. Those units combined sold $570,000 to the 2016 Popcorn Campaign. ARE YOU GOING TO BE A VIP FOR 2017?

17 Scouting families should enthusiastically embrace the fundraising process for what it is and what it accomplishesthe prizes are a bonus!

18 Few activities demonstrate to Scouts the value of planning, organization, and commitment more clearly than a Troop s combined efforts in a popcorn sale. Scouts develop and practice new skills, learn about sales and marketing, and reach new levels of personal success. Consider how your annual popcorn sale can be incorporated into the following Boy Scout Merit Badges. Before proceeding, seek your Merit Badge Counselor s approval. ART Requirements 2, 4, 5 Produce an "America's Popcorn Sale" poster for local display, using pen and ink, watercolor, pencil, pastel, oil, tempera, acrylic paint or marker. DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY Requirements 6b: Draft a letter inviting parents to your unit s Popcorn Kickoff Requirements 6d: Report on your unit s popcorn fundraiser Requirements 6e: Take pictures of your unit s popcorn sale. GRAPHIC ARTS Requirements 3, 4 Design a poster for use during the popcorn sale, and follow the various steps described for ONE of the printing methods to produce copies of the poster. COMMUNICATIONS Requirements 2b: Make a popcorn sales presentation to your counselor. Requirements 3: Write your speech on how and why popcorn benefits Scouts beyond just earning money. Present it to your troop or a pack. Requirements 6: Plan and teach the skill of selling popcorn using the door-to-door method and/or at a Show N Sell. ENTREPRENEURSHIP Requirements 4, 5, 6 With Council permission and Merit Badge Counselor s guidance, use the Popcorn sale to meet many of the requirements for this badge. PUBLIC SPEAKING Requirements 2: Prepare and give a speech to a Cub Unit describing the benefits of popcorn sales to the Troop. Requirements 4: Prepare a speech on how to improve and promote the popcorn sale in your unit to your unit s Committee. MOVIEMAKING Requirements 1, 2 Create a storyboard for a video designed to show Cub Scouts how to sell Trail's End popcorn. PHOTOGRAPHY Requirements 4a or b Take photographs of Trail's End products, of Scouts selling and of other activities related to the sale and arrange the prints with selling techniques. Arrange the prints, with captions, to tell a story of the sale. PERSONAL MANAGEMENT Requirement 9 Use the popcorn sale as your project plan with your sales goal as your desired outcome. Even though it is a paper project you can still execute it for the sale. SALESMANSHIP Requirements All With Council permission, use the meetings, practices and procedures of the annual Trail's End popcorn sale to meet many, or all, of the requirements for this badge.

19 Navigating the Trail s End System for a Successful Popcorn Campaign Things to know: You will need a username and password to log on. This year the Popcorn Commitment System gave every unit the opportunity to sign in using their user name and password from last year. If you did not enter it in or needed to change it, you should have received an triggered by Council that came from the Trails End system issuing a new set. If you did not receive that or need to change it, please Kimmy.Orosco@scouting.org or Rosellen.Kraus@cflscouting.org The URL for the Trails End system is: <sell.trailsend.com> You can get to the Tool Kit, the Training and Incentives (including scholarship) information without logging on. This is also the main log-in page for both the Popcorn System and Online Selling. The Popcorn System: Before doing anything, you must select from the pull-down menu the Fundraising Cycle ( for this year). You must also select Fall 2017 from the next pull down menu and your role from the last pull down menu. Sometimes people have more than one role such as unit leader, district leader or council and this lets you see the appropriate options for that role. Note the three white bars on the blue bar at the very top of your screen. Click to see the following options: Home, Tools, Reporting, Help Documents, Online Sales Login, Printed Materials login (not all of these are available for every role) and **Contact for Help and Support Site** You can also get to the support site directly at There is also a complete manual of instructions for the Trails End system (Reference Guide for Unit Leaders) that is too big to duplicate here and an overview of 2017 functionality Enhancements (Unit Commitment Tracker, Trail s End University, and Unit Invoice ing). Both have been loaded on the blue USB/Thumb drive your unit will receive at kick-off and will be uploaded to the Council s popcorn website: popcorn.cflscouting.org The Online Sales System: Using the same user name and password log in and you can upload a picture of your Scout. The system will give you a Trails End Scout Code that people can use instead of the Scout s name to find the page and place orders. More instructions will made available via the Kernel Journal.

Rosellen Kraus Development Director of Product Sales

0135 Central Florida Council, Boy Scouts of America

Phone: 407.889.4403 Website: popcorn.cflscouting.

20 Rosellen Kraus Development Director of Product Sales Central Florida Council, Boy Scouts of America 1951 South Orange Blossom Trail, Apopka, FL Phone: Website: popcorn.cflscouting.org Inspiring the youth of Brevard Flagler Lake Orange Osceola Seminole Volusia Counties

Fall 2017 Popcorn Kick-off and University

Fall 2017 Popcorn Kick-off and University Since 1980, Trail s End has partnered with local councils to help councils, units and Scouts raise the money they need to provide quality program and to enjoy