Runtime - June 2000

Will fundraising thrive, survive... or not?

The following is an excerpt from a recent PRIORITY Newsletter. Hopefully, you'll see the difference in design between PRIORITY and RUNTIME. Runtime is our promotional newsletter, our main marketing tool -- (perhaps soon to be web replaced). The point is, Runtime is designed to encourage you to send money. Priority, on the other hand, is designed to be focused on training and information related to, appropriate for, or adjusted to fit the fundraising industry.

A recent article in PC Computing had a sentence that really jumped out at me. In his article, “Is Your Company Next?”, Marty Jerome writes that “The bigger lesson lies in how the Web forces all middle-men to get honest with their customers. Take heed: If you don’t add genuine value to a transaction, you don’t deserve a cut. And some cyber-business is going to grab your slice.” (PC Magazine, February 2000).

Think of some of these businesses that are going or gone. Who needs to pay high commission to stock brokers now when there is e-trade? What about insurance? You can get direct quotes instantly on-line and, without the middle-man commission, probably a better deal. Check out eHealthInsurance, InsWeb.com, QuickenInsurance and HealthAxis.com. What about travel agencies? You’ve probably heard the ads for Priceline.com.  In our last flight to the AFRDS show, we got on-line and could even select our seats on the airline by looking at a diagram of the model of jet we would be on. Last year, over $800 million in plane tickets were Internet-bought. Car dealers are on the run from the likes of Autobytel and Autoweb. Not only can you find out the dealer cost on a vehicle, you can actually order one and just go pick it up at the local dealership when it arrives. Grocery stores and pharmacies have to watch for to-the-door-deliveries by the likes of Webvan and PlanetRx.com.

By selling at razor-thin margins, the customer gets a clear choice between price and service. Here’s a local example. I have a clarinet student ready for a new instrument. Price was not going to be a problem (father is a doctor). Since it had been a while, I did some research on pricing. The local music store’s price on the model I was looking for was $300 ($2200 vs $1900) higher than the one posted by an on-line music store. A box of 10 reeds was $17 on-line or $23 if I drive 20 miles to the music store to pick them up. Similarly, you don’t find as many local office supply stores as a result of Office Depot, Staples, Office Max and Quill. Personally, the only time I go to the local office supply store is when I’m desperate for something I have to have TODAY vs tomorrow.        

Do we really think the mom & pop type fundraising businesses that most of us run are going to be immune from this type of attack, i.e. schools getting more choices and better offers on-line?

Let’s compare the advantages we like to wave in front of our customers as reasons why they must work with us, the local company, vs a national company or, heaven forbid (at least we hope for now), an on-line service provider. For my example, I’ll include some of the items from my “Priority Services” handout: (Actual list of services listed and described in PRIORITY).

Uh-oh.... here’s the one we’re all hoping no one can knock off. The rep himself. Out of the four items listed there, which one would be difficult to beat – yes, the personal, professional kick-off. BUT..... consider a professionally done video. No more flubbed up presentations or hecklers to deal with. The school can just show the video on the in-classroom TV’s.... and everybody knows kids are spell-bound with attention in front of a TV, right? The price of the video would be equivalent to the commission I’d pay a rep for a couple good schools.

Where is the “off-line”, full-service, typical small business distributor vulnerable? 

Consider Joe’sFundraising.com (my apologies in advance if there really is such a site).  Joe just got out of college and hasn’t found a full-time job yet, but he knows he sold a lot of stuff when he was in high school and decides to dabble in fundraising while he’s searching some job sites. He has a computer in his apartment, two domain names, a web site and an on-line store. He out sources the computerization, pre-pack and shipping of the product, so he pays a little for service but has almost no overhead, no investment in stock or storage. He has a voice mail system to manage more calls as he is home alone. But because he is at home and not out driving all around the countryside, he’s got more time for customer service and is probably responding to on-line customers faster than you who get messages off your answering machines when you get home at the end of a long day. Instead of spending time and gas to get his name in front of people, he’s emailing schools and PTA people, using some direct mail and selective advertising in school magazines where his ad claims his to be the “premiere” web-based fundraising company.  While you’re driving between this school and the next, Joe is tweaking his web site, adding some new items to his on-line store, submitting his domain name to search engines, reading books and articles on e-commerce and emailing 50 of your schools and sponsors. In addition to (or perhaps even instead of) the toll-free line, however, he offers a response form and has a customer service email address for his customers’ convenience. And so, with no rent, no travel expense, no staff, no storage, no product commitments , he can offer a higher profit percentage while paying only for products and services used.

There are already some on-line fundraising sites offering up to 70% profit to the group. How long before your schools find them?

NOTE (and semi-advertisement): Hire QDP to design a basic web site for you and host it for a year, and I will share with you my detailed ideas of an on-line, high-profit, super store. And..... if you want one, we can talk.

But, that’s not all. Consider a couple extra on-line promotions. Joe is offering $10 FREE Product from his online store for every seller in the group. Wow, so for a school of 500, can he really give away $5000? Yes, he can..... it costs him $0.00 to do it?  (remainder of this paragraph exclusive to PRIORITY -- omitted from Runtime).

Joe has access to most of the brochures you do. If he can’t qualify to buy direct from a vendor, due to brochure or territorial protection, he will find another distributor willing to make a few extra bucks and buy from him. Remember, Joe just got out of college and has the latest business teachings that put more emphasis on outsourcing than on warehousing, on email rather than door to door sales, on e-commerce rather than overstock buyers, and on technology instead of manpower.

Are you running into Joe, yet? You can beat him at his own game, because what he doesn't have that you do have is (omitted from Runtime). But, if you wait 'til he's taking business away from you, just remember that playing catch up can be costly.

 Subscribe to PRIORITY News for $49/yr

So, Suppliers, is it going to be 1 Bar Code, 2 or 3?

After suppliers became satisfied that putting bar codes on their product would enable distributors to increase their efficiency and accuracy via scanning on the pre-pack line, most have become compliant by placing some type of standard bar code on their product. But now, we're ready to tackle fundraising's Bottleneck #3. Click here for more.

Scanning product off the truck and in the warehouse.

We've developed I-Scan, which uses a rechargeable batch scanner, to scan the product off the truck and accomplish multiple goals as easy as 1-2, or 1-2-3.

1.   First, you scan the cases. I-Scan keeps track of the number of cases you've scanned or entered to give you a box count that you can use to verify the Bill of Lading while the truck driver is still there.

2.   If everything came in full cases, then you can skip step 2. If you received Mixed Cases, however, now that the driver is gone, you can change from case to piece mode on the scanner and scan the pieces in the mixed cases.

3.   Once you have scanned all product, you set the scanner in the recharging cradle, connected to the WinUltra computer, and upload that information as Merchandise Received into the inventory module.

But, now we're hearing a new twist. Instead of pieces and cases, we're now facing (from some suppliers), pieces / cases and master cases.

Here's the logic (economics) as I understand it currently. It is less expensive to bring in imported product, or for smaller lighter weight items, to use larger case sizes. Fewer boxes mean less expense, right? But with one of the major players now shipping full cases only, combined with mega-sized brochures, ordering cases of 144 or 288 is not an easy pill for some distributors to swallow.

The answer -- Master Cases. Master Cases are not new. Some importers have been using them for years. Inside the Master Cases are "inner packs", which are smaller containers. Once, last Fall, we ordered 10 cases of product and received 4 boxes. Two of the boxes were master cases, each containing four "cases" inside.

One problem with the inner packs is that they are not usable. They are normally too flimsy to use in pre-pack and would not survive UPS.

At least one supplier is now touting "shippable" inner packs, which will be an improvement, but still presents a perplexity for you, the distributor, and for us, the software developer.

Do we want 2 bar codes (pieces / cases) or 3 (pieces / cases / master cases)? The obvious quick answer is THREE. That way, the person scanning the product off the truck does not have to pay attention to which type of box they are scanning.

But…. three bar codes means we have to change both the WinUltra program (currently it has input for piece and case bar code) and add that new capability to our I-Scan program.

And, for the distributor, it means inputting THREE strings of 12-digit numbers for every product you carry.

Two pieces of good news. First, it is a one time operation and not something you would be doing frequently. And second, we now have a way to "scan" the bar codes into WinUltra instead of typing them in.

Surveys for Suppliers and Distributors.

Enclosed should be a Distributor Survey that we would appreciate your taking the 2 minutes it would take to fill it out -- so that we can better communicate with the suppliers AND respond to your needs and preferences. If you respond, we'll email you access to a private page where you can see the ongoing results of BOTH the distributor AND the supplier surveys.

Note: The survey is on a scannable form. I say that to discuss another concept with you -- school surveys as a service, a profit center, or a signing bonus to use with your schools. (See School Surveys).

School Surveys

• as a signing bonus or service to your schools

• as a profit center

• some possibilities

Have you noticed more Customer Response cards in restaurants? Or, that the registration information you send in about products you purchase seem longer and more detailed? And what about those "free" magazine subscriptions if you fill out the customer survey?

One of the themes heard often in education is that of communication between the parents and the school. Why is attendance at PTO meetings so poor? Are the meetings on the wrong night of the week? What kinds of foods should be considered for lunches that would encourage students to do a better job of finishing their meals? What do parents know, understand or feel about team teaching, in school suspension, recess time, discipline programs and field trips?

What if the PTO were to conduct a talent search survey to find the strengths and desires of the parents and then consider those preferences and abilities in planning projects?

If conducting surveys like that would help the school and the parent group, why aren't they doing it? The answer is simple.  Time & Money, but mostly time.

What if you had a solution to offer?  "… and if you work with my fundraising company, I will provide a service I think you will find invaluable. Just like most business today uses customer surveys as a powerful part of TQM (Total Quality Management), I'd like to offer a service of providing a report of parent responses to 25 multiple choice or rating questions. Choose from a suggested list of questions from a Parent Group, Teacher or Principal perspective -- or construct your own. I will provide copies of the survey to go home with students, will pick them up after they are returned to the school, will scan and tally the results, and will provide you a report of the results. Few schools conduct surveys of their families, mainly because of the amount of time it takes to tally and organize the results.

And, it would cost hundreds, if not thousands of dollars to have an outside service conduct the survey and report the results.  We have access to sophisticated scanners and software to offer this as a service to you.  We've all heard how important it is for schools and parents to increase communication. You've been doing your part with newsletters and information going home to the parents. Here's a chance to hear back from them.  And, to encourage to good response, I'll buy an ice cream treat for your choice of either the classroom with the highest percentage of participation in the survey, or the first class to get 100% of their surveys back. "

There are basically three ways you could offer such a service or promotion for your schools:

1.   Do it yourself -- manually. Actually, you wouldn't need sophisticated scanning software and high speed document scanner capabilities to conduct and tally a survey, but you would discover, as the schools already know, how incredibly time consuming that would be. Well, consider how time consuming it would be to manually tally the fund raising orders if you had to calculate all the dollar amounts. Same concept.

2.   Do it yourself -- automatically. We would recommend the same software that would be used to scan your fundraising order forms into the computer. Using it for this type of survey would be to increase its usage and help justify the cost, which is significant.

3.   Outsource.  That is one of the most often used words in business magazines and writings these days. One of the most extreme examples: Disney out sources the sale of Disney items on Disney property. Anyway, we have the equipment and the know-how to design the form, scan it and tally the results for you.

When will E-commerce be big?

It seems like just a few months ago when we were reading about people being afraid of using their credit cards on-line. According to Forrester Research, however, there were $20 Billion dollars spent (that's a "B", not an "M") on e-commerce. And the projection for 2003 is $143 Billion. When do you want to start thinking about it?

There are quite a few fundraising distributors with web sites now. Consider these scenarios.

First, there are those who are attempting to conduct "normal" business via the Internet. They are registering domain names that make it easy to find them and are promoting that site via search engines, magazine advertisements, telemarketing, mailings and more. They have a description of their product lines, may include actual pictures or graphics and enable customers to make contact for a fundraising program, or to order product.

Far fewer distributors are utilizing e-commerce to show and sell merchandise directly to the public. In addition to a newer way of selling overstocks profitably, some are also using it to offer promotional ideas.

And then, there are some sites operating under names other than the distributor's regular name, where groups can run the fundraiser for higher profit. Presented as a "no frills" fundraiser, or a "pay for services you need", this encourages groups to work with someone via the Internet and get higher profit than working with a local rep.

Domain names are going fast. About two months ago, I wanted to reserve three domain names.  I went ahead and reserved two, thinking I would reserve the third later. Now, that third domain name is no longer available without high cost. There are entities purchasing common names and then selling them to those who eventually try to reserve one of those names.

QDP now offers web site and e-commerce development for fundraisers. If interested, contact sara@qdpcorp.com.

Introducing Sara Phares

Sara is not new at QDP, but we just hired her full time. She has been with us part time for the past year as she completed her Bachelor of Science in Computer Science degree at Huntington College. Finishing in just three years, Sara graduated summa cum laude (translation = real smart) in May, 00.

Sara will be assisting with software testing, writing documentation, designing newer tech support tools and helping us as we continue to strive to improve our programs. Sara is available this summer to provide on-site training.  Also, she will be developing web pages and setting up e-commerce stores.

If you'd like to send a note of congratulations, or to learn more about getting on the web, having on-site training, call Sara at 1-800-FIRST-OK or email Sara@QDPCorp.com.

WinUltra Notes

Latest update available on the web

Available only for v1.2 users, we are keeping a copy of the latest program updates posted to the web site available for download. If you have questions about that, contact support@QDPCorp.com.

CD & On-Line Manual

The manual for WinUltra v1.2 is now part of the program. Press F1 and pull up abbreviated information while you're in WinUltra. Also, with all new demos and programs, our CD now includes Adobe Reader and a PDF file version of the manual. On screen is a table of contents with bookmarks to those areas in the manual. We will also be making the PDF version of the manual available for download from our web site. Not having to reprint hard copies of the manual will make it easier for us to keep it up to date for our users.

Why QDP?

The main thing that makes us different from every competitor is the wide variety of experience that we have.

• John & Joan Gardner were both Teachers prior to getting involved in fundraising. John also has 18 years experience as a fundraiser. Having a background in education helps when working with schools. Being a fundraiser means we know what we need our programs to do because we use them ourselves. Joan has been managing the computer tally operation at QDP for 15 years.

• Max Garwood is a Computer Programmer, an Electrical Engineer and a Lawyer. 

• Dave Jones was an Assistant Principal at a Middle School prior to joining QDP as a fundraising sales rep over a decade ago and is currently a School Board President. When we want to know how something should operate inside a school, we ask Dave.

• Ron Green has been fundraising since the early 80's and has experience working with national and regional companies. He competes in a market where he sees most of the gimmicks; i.e. guarantees, signing bonuses, progressive profit percentages, mega events, etc.

• Dennis Barnum has a Computer Science degree and over a decade of experience programming for order tallying.

• Sara Phares has a Computer Science degree and brings much knowledge about working with the Internet, with e-commerce and with combinations of powerful office software applications.

News

Software

WinUltra, our Windows environment tally program, is in its third year and version. Ultra, the DOS predecessor, has 15 years under its belt. Our users have access to tech support via phone, fax, email and the web. Some recent signings attributed to WinUltra include:

• Lincoln School just switched from a national company offering 50% plus 4% in free cases (a candy bar sale) to a 50% sale w/o the 4% because we offered personalized pre-pay envelopes and name labels for the boxes.  Pre-pay envelopes print from entering a school roster. For this 500 student school, we will spend about 1hr inputting names and 1hr printing envelopes. The name labels will print in about 5 minutes and come from the same roster information. In Lincoln's case, they have parents sign a permission slip prior to the sale and then want to put name labels on the cases of candy going home with those students.

• Lancaster School just completed a $43,000 sale. They used multiple brochure programs but all orders went on one personalized catalog order form.  After orders were tallied, a prize problem report was faxed to the school to indicate sellers who had qualified for a prize but failed to select one and those who chose a prize from the wrong level. (I lost a school once because I missed a couple kids' prizes. One happened to be one of the parent volunteer's kids and the other one was related to the principal.  Never again.) Orders were pre-packed using UltraScan and bar coded Collection Envelopes with Labels. In addition to the normal class/team reports, we provided a top ten seller list so they could recognize their top sellers on the school awards day, and invitation list to the ice cream party listing the 196 who sold $100+ and the cash booth participation list for those who sold $250+.  Because this was a post-collect sale, prizes were delivered separate from the product, but they were pre-packed with name labels that included information about the room, seller and prize. Principal Patty Felton, in a referral letter, says that "The manner in which merchandise is returned to the school is outstanding. It is organized in such a way as to make it extremely easy to distribute to students and causes minimal to no effort for teachers."

Here are a couple older ones, either of which would have more than paid for the program in sales commission:

• Blackhawk had just finished a 2-yr contract and was offering a bid on a new one. They started with 10 companies. I made the first cut and came back for the "final three". I was showing a Scott's program at 5% less profit than one of my competitors, but I got the sale. When I asked why, the principal said. "One of the biggest problems we have after our 850 kids leave the kick-off to get on the busses, is that a couple hundred of them throw the brochures in the school yard -- and I don't think they'll do that with their names on stuff." The orders must have gotten home, because the sale increased from $42,000 to $63,000.

• Woodside Middle School had been working with the same QSP rep for over a decade. I was always greeted courteously and politely told that, unless he fell off the planet (my interpretation), they were not going to change. It was during a time, however, when the company I worked for was asking us to talk to 10 people a day. It was 3:30 in the afternoon and I had only talked to 9. So, I decided to pull into Woodside, mainly to get my 10^th mark. I don't remember WHY I asked, but I asked how their record-keeping went. The principal asked me back to his office and we signed the program without even selecting the product, based on the information I said I could provide. I worked with Woodside for six years.

NOTE: The time to purchase or upgrade to WinUltra is over the summer when things are slower. Take advantage of our 30 day trial and "try before you buy".  Check out the specials, including payment plan opportunities, for even more incentive.

UltraScan is our bar code scanning system for Order Accuracy Verification.  We're not surprised to learn our system is not the cheapest. If I had to compete with us, I'd compete on price too.

Ask any supplier in the industry who "encouraged" them to put bar codes on their products.

We use top of the line scanners, some with 2.5yr warranties… and we offer "express replacement" to get a replacement into your hands quickly should your warranty scanner need repair.

NOTE: We have a new module that allows you to "scan" the bar code numbers into your inventory file, rather than typing them in. Watch the specials page on the web site (for availability, price and qualifications). If you're too late, consider subscribing to Priority News, as the announcement went to them via first class mail rather than "standard" rate.

TallyScan. For the large volume distributor, or for someone who absolutely can't keep up with the October bottleneck, or for the company in an area where the tight labor market makes it impossible to find good help at any price, this higher ticket solution may be worth examining. Instead of typing in everything, order forms are scanned and then after the computer reads what it can, you verify questionable data.  Unlike UltraScan, however, where we can prove a 3-wk payback, TallyScan is more for volume and speed than economics. If numbers like $25,000 scare you, then go no further. Otherwise, check out www.QDPCorp.com/products/tallyscan.

I-Scan. The concept is good, i.e. scanning product off the truck and, in one pass, getting the case count for the driver and receive the products into inventory. The program works, too. However, before we can market it aggressively, we need for the suppliers to bar code their cases. We have mailed a note and survey to nearly 100 AFRDS suppliers to inform them and find out where they are in the process. Enclosed with this letter is a survey for distributors. Your 5 minutes in filling it out and faxing back to us (260-672-8320) will do much to help us expedite that service, plus adjust our other offerings to meet your needs. Thanks. For more on I-Scan, visit www.QDPCorp.com/products/iscan.

Services

Order Tally Service. Is yours a small operation? Are product brochures not a major part of what you do? Are you just getting started and cash is tight? We can do the work for you. Send us your order forms and we ship back professional looking printouts with your company name on them.

We have some new people who will be ready to tally your orders in the Fall. Emily has a Math Education Degree and is currently a stay at home mom with her two pre-schoolers. Kathleen is married to a Math teacher and is also a stay at home mom.  We still have Joan, Susan, Sara, Jeanette, Lila and Natalie available for tallying. 

NOTE: A high percentage of our tally customers eventually purchase our software. That means we're always replacing software customers. Let us show you why we claim to have order tallying to a near "science".

Web Design.  Wow, are there ever the statistics out there to prove that e-commerce and Internet marketing is the way to go. For fundraising, it won't replace what we do, but it could certainly augment it. There are two main options to web page design, including:

1.   Doing it yourself. Oh, there are even some freebie programs available to help. But, what you get is a home-made looking site. Or, you could buy web development software and spend dozens to hundreds of hours figuring it out.

2.   Hiring it done. Now, the hiring it done certainly opens up the options. Price and capability is all over the place. We have three people at QDP with web-page design knowledge and experience, but I'm not going to tell you we'll fill up your screen with the fanciest graphics (mostly, because I'm more interested in content. Case in point: this newsletter. Are you reading it? Why?) Let us get you up and running quickly and efficiently.

E-Commerce.  I get BusinessWeek magazine. In that magazine are dozens of ads per issue of companies that want to build an e-commerce presence. I even got excited this week when I learned that Maximizer (that's the company we use for contact management) has a new e-commerce package…. until I saw the price - $50,000.

So, just like web design, e-commerce is all over the place. I'll tell you this: we're certainly not using a $50,000 program to design our site. Imagine selling your leftover products at RETAIL instead of $.20 on the dollar.  Or, instead of dropping off an entire set of brochures per school cold call (@$5/pop), leave one (maybe) with a card that instructs them where to go to see ALL of your programs. Does anybody know of a school without Internet access?

If you subscribe to Priority news, or contract with us for consulting and designing your site, we'll share our ideas with you.

Total TALLY & PRE-PACK Service Provider.  Just in case it doesn't make this mailing, check out our custom Childhood Memories brochure. Do you need an exclusive brochure? Really exclusive? Do you need a backup shopper for those times when you work with two groups close together? Do you want a program where you don't have to tie up cash flow in inventory and receivables? We can do it all; provide brochures and samples, tally the orders, pack and ship the product, invoice the customer and pay the commission.

Last Modified:  05/27/2008