Would you...


hogwild63

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.. make a donation of $25 and get a HHHUSA logo mug or a $50 donation and get HHHUSA calendar if we offered such a thing?

Actually, I do have some calendars and am working on getting the mugs.

This is the first year for the calendar so its kind of test run so we are looking for feedback, ways to improve the quality, and reduce the cost next year. If you want a calendar, you can use the paypal on our website and make a note about wanting a calendar.

Here are some pictures featured on the calendar. I took these pictures so...

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Thanks for responding. That's the information I need to report to the board when looking at how many to order, etc. The calendars have a short shelf life but mugs do not so I did not want to over order this late. This was new for use this year. I will be getting a head start for 2017 so hopefully ppl won't be so overwhelmed with calendars when ours comes out.

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Just being straight up here at those prices you are asking for donations, I wouldn't give $50 for a calendar as a "purchase". The calendar and pics in it are nice though. Think a price reduction may be a move in the right direction, but rather keep with the make a donation over said dollars and get this gift type thing.

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To see this as a "purchase" would be missing the point. It is a tax-deductible donation we are seeking and the calendar (and mug) is an incentive to help with raising funds for our mission. Unless you buy calendars in bulk, they are expensive and most places have minimum orders (especially the mugs) so we don't want to be sitting on a lot of mugs if they do not move. These calendars are actually high quality though. We are still researching other options to possibly lower the cost therefore reducing the donation amount but think about how much the purchase price of Girl Scout cookies are and you know you are not buying them just because they are really good cookies. Thanks for your input!

Edited by hogwild63
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Yeah i get it, that was my point. Rather than sitting on a lot of product that you never give to contributors, lower that min threshold and give away more product. Might promote more contributors and increase number of those aware of your organization. Those folks that were already gonna give more than 50 dollars were probably not gonna be swayed by a calendar but you may pick up some contributors that would give say 30 for the calendar that weren't otherwise gonna give at all. Has to be a cutoff point between margins and without knowing costs involved and with the unknowns on how many you will be able to move that's a guessing game. Would help to know the annual average, min, and max contributions when trying to plan.

May talk with a marketing consultant and get a professional opinion.

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If I were to donate and had a check box for a calendar I would click - no thank you. I get a couple each year and while some have great pics they still go to the recycle bin. I think the mug is a better idea. If I am donating to a cause I want to know about the cause and would prefer a nice deer on the mug with the logo as well. Perhaps the logo on one side, deer on the other. In addition I would have multiple animals to pic from as some guys are just duck hunters and others just deer. If I supported the cause I'd give 25 and click yes to the mug. I would REALLY have to support the cause to go 50.

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Wow! Great feedback!

Regarding the “cause”, it may be helpful to know more about HHHUSA. Although we have testimonies on our website, we don’t have much about the organizational side. We are a small organization with an all volunteer board – no paid staff. We are all regular family guys who have F/T jobs, like hunting and want to help. All monies donated go to grants with the exception of a small amount going to website maintenance (and even that is a donation specifically allocated for the website). Since our board members are throughout the States, everything is done by phone and/or internet, including due diligence investigating applicants claims, and so is fundraising. We do not have an office or staff so the mugs and calendars would be stored at my house and shipped from there and by me. The conundrum is to find a method of fundraising that is continual and not labor-intensive. All of that to say this – most marketing professional advice I have been given is too labor-intensive or cost-prohibitive for an all volunteer, P/T board with no physical location for operations and 95% or more of its funds designated for its mission, and more suited for a organization like RMEF.

The on-line company I used for the calendars has its advantages and disadvantages. The company is designed to make personalized gifts for loved ones from your personal photos. The advantage for me is I could take my time to design with my own ideas and photos – which was FREE. I made the decision too late for 2016 but I needed to know the unknowns - was my creativity good enough and would it be enough to sway someone to make a donation. I could work out the kinks this year and start now for 2017. The disadvantage of doing it this way was the mainly cost. With shipping (not including shipping to the donor), the cost of each calendar is very close to the $30 donation suggestion. I was able to get the first (and only) order on a 50% off promotion. There is also no “standard” discount for bulk orders. I will say that the quality of these calendars is much more than the $5 calendars that can be purchased at Walmart.

I have yet to find a promotional logo company that has drop-ship services which would be costly I am betting. If we did mugs with our logo and several different multiple animals (I love that idea!), that would mean speculating on how many of each animal would be requested, etc as well as the issue of storing the mugs and shipping each donors individual locations. While the mugs are not time sensitive but the calendars have a shelf life so mugs are more practical.

This feedback has helped me come to these conclusions. If the feedback was $50 is not a lot to ask, then I would only have the difficulty of ordering the right amount and shipping to the donor which is a good problem to have. The unknown of how much of a donation is too much to ask for is no longer unknown - apparently it is too much. I also know the current method of producing the calendar is not cost effective especially if it is successful. I knew that I would have to start now for next years calendar, but now I have to add finding a new way to produce the calendar. I am confident of the mugs as a “promotion” to generate donations but not so confident of calendars returning next year unless I can reduce the cost. As personally satisfying it was to hear the wonderful feedback of my photography and the calendar itself, it may not be worth it. I think it was worth it to give it a try though.

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