Did You Know? Salesmanship Responsibility Entrepreneurship. Leadership Money handling

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1 Did You Know? Our Scouts sold more than $24,000 worth of popcorn online in 2016 Scouts benefit from the popcorn sale. Popcorn provides an opportunity to earn a higher commission compared to other sales, which means more funding with less fundraising. Popcorn teaches Scouts: Salesmanship Responsibility Entrepreneurship Leadership Money handling The purpose of participating in the popcorn sale is to provide units an opportunity to pay for a full year of dynamic Scouting program. The possibilities of how a unit uses the funding are endless. Units not only receive funds to support their program but also help to ensure council services and opportunities are available for all Scouts in the WLACC. All units receive support from the council and their district to help achieve their popcorn goals. This support is in the form of training opportunities, additional Scout rewards, marketing materials, the opportunity to return excess product and, if needed, personalized customer service from the district popcorn team. Trails-end believes that every eligible youth should have the opportunity to experience the life changing adventures that Scouting offers. Trails-end also believes that a partnership with Scouts, Scouting Units, and Local Councils to make Scouting affordable is the best way to we can create a generation of ethical decision makers guided by the values of the Scout Oath and Law. Each year the Western Los Angeles County Council partners with Trails-end to sell popcorn to help units deliver the best possible program possible to our Scouts. Thank you for your commitment to serve as a Unit Kernel for the 2017 Fall Popcorn Sale. As a Unit Kernel you play an important role in helping the young men in your unit learn how to pay their own way. In addition, you provide your unit the support needed to have an amazing program during the upcoming year. We have made a few additions to this year s program so please read this information thoroughly. 1

2 This guidebook will help you to: Know the sale step by step from beginning to end Learn more about sales techniques Understand and promote prize programs Discover the resources available to you, your unit, and your Scouts Keep track of critical dates Provide contact information for when you need a helping hand Please feel free to share your thoughts and questions with your District Popcorn Kernel or District Executive. Your comments are truly appreciated. Congratulations on joining our sale, and for making a commitment to help your boys, your unit, and our council! Together we can achieve our goals and continue to provide our young men and women with remarkable programs and values building experiences. Coordinate the 2017 Popcorn Sale in your unit. Attend the unit leader training and encourage other adults in your unit to attend. Conduct a unit program planning meeting that generates a group goal to fund a full year of Scouting for your unit. Commit online through the trails-end recruitment tracker Contact all registered youth in your unit and explain the 2017 Popcorn Sale. Hold a dynamic unit kickoff event that encourages every family to participate Encourage participation in online, store front, show and deliver, and take order programs Coach participating Scouts on how to approach potential customers and sell, sell, sell! Tabulate and submit your unit orders online. Submit the prize selections online and on time Make sure you turn in all forms on time to ensure your unit receives all prizes, awards, and incentives. 2

3 The popcorn sale can be broken into three easy to manage parts: pre-sale preparation, the selling season, and the closeout. In the following sections we will describe each briefly. Pre-sale Preparation The pre-sale involves making sure that your unit is ready and excited about the sale. The period of the pre-sale is from August 1 st through September 9 th and during this time you will want to: o Meet with your parent s committee to recruit other parents to help you o Conduct your annual unit program planning meeting and determine what your popcorn goal should be to fund a full year of Scouting o Plan and hold a kickoff event for your Unit to get the boys excited about selling o Make sure to schedule selling locations with dates and times o Place your order for the store front sales and in-person sales by August 25 rd o Hold an Online Sales and Signup Party for you Unit Show & Selling Season The show and selling season is all about getting your unit out into your community so that they can use all four sales methods: store front sales, door to door sales with product, door to door sales with the take order forms for later delivery, and online sales. This part of the sale runs from September 9 th and continues through October 30 th or a little later depending on your Unit s available product. During this time, you will want to: o Plan to hold your first store front sale after you pick up your popcorn from your District Distribution site on September 9th o Have your Unit Leader provide 5 minutes every meeting to recognize your top weekly seller with weekly competitions for your boys o Schedule show and sell locations with a recommended 2-hour rotation with 2-3 boys per rotation o Regularly check your inventory to make sure you are not overstocked or close to running out (the units can often get more popcorn from the district during the sale or arrange for transfers of product from another unit) o Keep track of your boy s individual sales for the prize and commission programs o Make on-time payments to any Council Service Center o Make any allowable and necessary returns on or well before October 30 th o Arrange a neighborhood blitz day during the sale to get every boy selling for 2 hours The Closeout Closing out your sale is all about making sure your unit finishes strong and will begin on or before October 30th and run through November 20 th. To run a closeout, you will want to: o Take a final inventory of all your unit s available product o Collect all of your boy s unfulfilled take order forms o Calculate your unit s final order based on the difference between stock on hand and required stock to fulfill orders o Submit your unit s final payment and prize order 3

4 August 1 Online Sales open on trails-end.com August 7-11 District Specific Follow-up trainings held August 5 Youth Kickoff Event Held August Top 50 Seller Kickoff Event Held August 23- Unit Popcorn Orders Due (Must be submitted online through trails-end.com) September 9 First Distribution Day October 6 50% of Outstanding Balance Due November 1 Final Day to Return Unopened Product November 2 Take Orders Due (Must be submitted online through trails-end.com) November % of Remaining Balance Due November 18 Final Distribution November 25 Prize Order Due December 15 First Commission checks mailed January 12 Second Commission checks mailed January 26 Final Commission checks mailed Unit Campaign Planning Follow these 5 steps for a successful campaign! 1. Create your annual program plan for and determine how much popcorn your unit needs to sell to provide your dream program. 2. Showcase your annual program and explain to the families how the entire program can be funded with one fundraiser: Popcorn! 3. Communicate the Per Scout Popcorn Sale Goals and approximately how many items that equates to. Have the Scouts write their individual goal on their Take Order Form. 4. Distribute a Popcorn starter kit to families with a selection of product to sell in their neighborhood. 5. Have actual unit prizes on display to show the Scouts what they can earn for selling popcorn, or have them mark the prizes they want to earn on the prize form. 6. Monitor your sale to expect every family to participate. One method to assist you is by having weekly or bi-weekly incentives. 7. Do a skit or fun activity to get the boys trained and excited about the purpose and goals of the sale. Make sure you cover safety as a priority in the sale. 4

5 Unit Kickoff This unit-run event is an opportunity to explain the benefits of the popcorn sale to parents, build excitement and communicate expectations. Timing of the kickoff is important to give Scouts as much time as possible to meet their sales goal. Kickoff Agenda (40 minutes) Grand Opening (5 minutes) Gather ideas from the online video training Play music, dim the lights and have fun! Serve popcorn Explain the Scouting program and key dates (10 minutes) Make sure families understand the benefit of selling popcorn to pay for Scouting programs. Highlight key dates important to the popcorn sale. Train your Scouts (10 minutes) Show Scout training videos on leaders.trails-end.com at your kickoff. Download these videos ahead of time if the kickoff location does not have an Internet connection. Explain the different ways Scouts can sell (face-to-face or online). Role play selling popcorn with your top sellers from the prior year. Showcase your Scout Rewards (10 minutes) Introduce the unit incentive program, starting with the pie in the face. Big Finish (5 minutes) Have the top sellers from last year throw pies in the faces of the leaders. Send everyone home motivated to sell. 5

6 Prizes are one of the most significant motivators for your boys as they continue to sell popcorn. Units are encouraged to run weekly promotions that allow each boy a fighting chance to report new sales and not be outdistanced by a standout seller. We also encourage you to reward your Unit s top seller at the end of the season. Many successful Units offer Unit prizes in addition to Council and Trail s End promotions. These Unit prizes do not need to be lavish and often improve with creativity instead of cash outlays; as demonstrated by a Cub s love of hitting their Cubmaster in the face with a whipped cream pie. Total Sales Cub Scout Prizes Scout Prizes Sell One Item Patch Patch $150 Level 2 Level 2 $300 Level 3 Level 3 $450 Level 4 Level 4 $600 $600 BONUS Prize $600 BONUS Prize $750 Level 5 Level 6 $1,000 Level 6 Level 7 $1,250 BONUS King s Game (2 Tickets) BONUS King s Game (2 Tickets) $1,750 Level 7 Level 7 $2,500 BONUS 6% Scholarship BONUS 6% Scholarship $2,750 Level 8 Level 8 $3,500 Prize Level 9 Prize Level 9 $4,000 Prize Level 10 Prize Level 10 $5,000 Prize Level 11 Prize Level 11 *The value of prizes earned for selling $5,000 as a Boy Scout is $3,059* Commission Structure Percentage Base Commission 30% On Time Payments 1% Attend Sales Kickoff 1% 60% participation of Scouts at $250 per Scout, or sales 4% equal to that number (June 30 th Membership used) **All Online Sales Same as sale end % earned Total potential 36% 6

7 Prizes encourage a Scout to keep selling through each stage of the sale, and all of his sales count toward his prize level even online sales. Please note that there are some important things to know about prizes including: Each Scout receives a 2017 patch for selling a single item. Every boy who sells $1,250 or more will be given two tickets to the King s Game Units are able to return unopened cases of product, with the exception of products containing chocolate. This means that full opened cases are not eligible to be returned. Returns can be made at any council office no later than October 30 th. The WLACC is unable to return popcorn to Trials-end after the sale. Every case of popcorn that is left over at the conclusion of the sale is money that is not going to provide programming to youth. All popcorn is a liability for the Council so we encourage you to follow a few key practices: Check on your outstanding inventory and make frequent honest assessments on your Unit s ability to sell Subscribe to a time based sales plan (i.e. we are halfway through the sale have we sold at least half of our inventory) Check in with your District Kernel or District Executive if you have an inventory challenge too much or too little popcorn can usually find a home with enough notice Work toward a zero return policy so that every dollar of popcorn revenue provides better program for our boys 7

8 Chocolate Lovers $55 Yes Yes No Box Operation Gratitude Donation $50 Yes Yes N/A Card Cheese Lover s Collection $35 Yes Yes Yes Box Operation Gratitude Donation $30 Yes Yes N/A Card Salted Caramel Corn $25 Yes Yes Yes Bag White Chocolatey Pretzels $25 Yes Yes No Bag Chocolatey Caramel Crunch $25 Yes Yes No Bag Microwave Kettle Corn $22 Yes Yes Yes Box Premium Caramel Corn w/nuts $20 Yes Yes Yes Bag Unbelievable Butter Microwave $18 Yes Yes Yes Box White Cheddar $15 Yes Yes Yes Bag Small Caramel Corn $10 Yes Yes Yes Bag Popping Corn $10 Yes Yes Yes Bag 8

9 Ordering Tips If you are new to the sale and do not know what you should order, your District Executive or Kernel can pull your Unit s order from the previous year and make recommendations Please take into account the changes in your Unit s membership: Did you increase youth membership? Did your top selling boy move to another unit? How many show & sell locations have you secured? What is your actual participation likely to be (don t count the number of families, count the number of selling families) Discern what your most popular products were from the year before. Make sure that you have enough climate controlled storage space for the full quantity of your chocolate products There are a variety of excellent resources available at both our Council website ( and the Trails End Website ( which will help to bolster your sale administration and the success of your Scouts. Some of the different resources on the sites are: Unit product and prize ordering, invoices, and sale administration: Council promotions, downloadable take order form, scholarship application, and list signup: Unit sale planning tools including program planner spreadsheet and more: Secure enough vehicles to carry your entire product. Wait until all of your drivers are at the distribution site to begin loading. Have a copy of your order with you. Bring the appropriate number and types of vehicles: o Midsize car: 20 Cases o Minivan: Cases o Large SUV: 50 Cases o Pickup Truck: Cases 9

10 Popcorn distribution for the Show & Sell and Take Orders are handled at four different locations and are determined by your Unit s district. Each unit will be contacted by a District Kernel or District Executive within 4 days of the distribution to determine a time to pick up your order. Antelope Valley TBD Balboa Oaks, Cahuenga, Las Colinas Fed Ex Distribution Center Branford St. Sun Valley, CA Bill Hart Crescent Bay Alfred Mann Foundation A-American Self Storage Rye Canyon Loop 2300 Federal Ave Santa Clarita, CA Los Angeles, CA Chocolate Products: Any single product or collection of products that contain chocolate Family Guide: the printed guide that includes prize information, rules, and the take order form Neighborhood Blitz: a day when your unit turns out to visit an entire neighborhood with a 2 boy team per street Show & Deliver: a door to door sale where the product is delivered as soon as the purchase is made Show & Sell: the part of the sale where product is sold in person after it is shown, typically in a store front setting Take Order: any part of the sale where product is sold for future delivery, often door to door or office sales Unit Kickoff: a rally held to excite and train your boys, introduce prizes, and provide a fun start to the sale Unit payments can be mailed into the Anna Ruggieri Scout Service Center in Van Nuys and addressed as follows: BSA-WLACC c/o Popcorn Team Sherman Way Ste. C8 Van Nuys, CA Payments may also be dropped off at your local Scout Service Center in Antelope Valley, Santa Clarita, Van Nuys, or the Westside. Unit Payments should be made out to WLACC-BSA with district and unit number in the memo section. Credit Card Payments will not be accepted for your unit order. 10

11 ONLY ENTER DATA IN HIGHLIGHTED SPACES 1. Enter all your activities and costs per Scout under each month. Unit Type and Unit # 0 2. Enter your number of Scouts and unit commission %. Number of Scouts in Unit 0 3. Fill in the five shaded fields at the bottom of the sheet. Unit Commission % 0% September October November Activities Cost Activities Cost Activities Cost Total Cost $0.00 Total Cost $0.00 Total Cost $0.00 December January February Activities Cost Activities Cost Activities Cost Total Cost $0.00 Total Cost $0.00 Total Cost $0.00 March April May Activities Cost Activities Cost Activities Cost Total Cost $0.00 Total Cost $0.00 Total Cost $0.00 $0 Registration & Insurance $0 Boys' Life Unit Total Activity Cost & Expenses $0 Scout Total Activity Cost & Expenses $0 $0 Uniform Other Expenses $0 $0 Advancements Unit Sales Goal #DIV/0! $0 Total Expenses Scout Sales Goal #DIV/0! Unit Commission #DIV/0! 11