This week's tip:
If you haven't already begun to receive requests to donate gift baskets from various charities, you will soon. Various charitable and religious organizations seek gift basket donations for their fairs, boutiques, tournaments and other events all year long, but the intensity steps up during the holiday season.
As soon as people (including relatives) discover that you're in the gift basket business, they begin to think that because you buy wholesale, you have lots of inventory that was next to free. They also think that you can get a tax write-off for your donations, when in fact you can only write off the price of the contents, not the retail value nor your labor.
Here are my thoughts on donating gift baskets:
1. Donate to the charities of your best customers who have supported you all year. One of my realtors, for example, orders from me regularly throughout the year. I'm happy to donate to her golf tournament once a year.
2. Exchange your donation for something of value to you. When one of my hotel clients wanted me to donate more than one basket, I agreed to do so in exchange for a gift certificate for a free night stay.
3. Donate your gift baskets to organizations where you are active. They are more likely to bring future orders than donating to strangers, and if not, you'll at least create goodwill.
4. Donate at events where you can attend and make the presentation in person. That way you can make personal contact with the movers and shakers of the organization.
Although the charities always promise that your donation will bring you new customers, it's never happened to me.
Even though they may feature your name in the program or on a banner, it's unlikely to bring new business.
Some charities will contact you by mail. It's easy to just throw those away. But the ones who call must be dealt with more firmly. Some of my favorite responses are:
1. "We only donate to the charities of our customers. Would you like to become a customer?" (They begin hemming and hawing at this point, then promptly hang up.)
2. "We have fulfilled all our charitable giving for the year. Thank you." (Hang up with a smile.)
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©2006 Flora Brown Associates. All Rights Reserved.
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