5 replies to this topic

[RHC]

We are starting out and are affliiating ourselves with charities to help us get places. We have 3 charities that we are interested in supporting and have thought of offering customers the choice of which to represent on the machines in their establishments. Would that be a good route to take or would it be better to perhaps support one charity fully and "put our eggs in one basket", so to speak.

The biggest benefits I see of doing one charity predominently is that we could have more support information and documention (not to mention certificates, shirts, etc) of one charity and fully represent them, instead of looking like we're hocking charities just to get machines in places; which while a big goal of ours is placement, we do believe in the causes we are thinking of offering, and would donate to all on our own as income dictates.

Would you stick with one, or offer say 3-4 to choose from.

[markvend]

I have found that as long as the charity is legitimate it doesn't make a lot of difference. We have built our business on using local charities by county or region of the state. Typically we use foodbanks or local fire departments as people tend to identify with these. I've noticed a trend that people seem to be more suspicious lately. I would advise having your documentation with you. Having said that I don't think it makes a lot of difference with the charity. We are contracted by county or counties and only do one charity in the allotted area. Hope this helps. By the way, I'm moving more to pay commissions to the owners if I think the place will do really well. Seems to ensure longevity of my accounts.

Thanks,
Mark

We are starting out and are affliiating ourselves with charities to help us get places. We have 3 charities that we are interested in supporting and have thought of offering customers the choice of which to represent on the machines in their establishments. Would that be a good route to take or would it be better to perhaps support one charity fully and "put our eggs in one basket", so to speak.

The biggest benefits I see of doing one charity predominently is that we could have more support information and documention (not to mention certificates, shirts, etc) of one charity and fully represent them, instead of looking like we're hocking charities just to get machines in places; which while a big goal of ours is placement, we do believe in the causes we are thinking of offering, and would donate to all on our own as income dictates.

Would you stick with one, or offer say 3-4 to choose from.

[markvend]

I have found that as long as the charity is legitimate it doesn't make a lot of difference. We have built our business on using local charities by county or region of the state. Typically we use foodbanks or local fire departments as people tend to identify with these. I've noticed a trend that people seem to be more suspicious lately. I would advise having your documentation with you. Having said that I don't think it makes a lot of difference with the charity. We are contracted by county or counties and only do one charity in the allotted area. Hope this helps. By the way, I'm moving more to pay commissions to the owners if I think the place will do really well. Seems to ensure longevity of my accounts.

Thanks,
Mark

We are starting out and are affliiating ourselves with charities to help us get places. We have 3 charities that we are interested in supporting and have thought of offering customers the choice of which to represent on the machines in their establishments. Would that be a good route to take or would it be better to perhaps support one charity fully and "put our eggs in one basket", so to speak.

The biggest benefits I see of doing one charity predominently is that we could have more support information and documention (not to mention certificates, shirts, etc) of one charity and fully represent them, instead of looking like we're hocking charities just to get machines in places; which while a big goal of ours is placement, we do believe in the causes we are thinking of offering, and would donate to all on our own as income dictates.

Would you stick with one, or offer say 3-4 to choose from.

[VendAndy81]

It might be a lot of hard work to try to help three charities at once to get organized, to start out it would be better off just working with one charity at once then after a while broadened your charity funds.

[RHC]

Thanks for the info. We've decided to start with just one (NCCS) for now, and may deal with a local church a bit down the road once we're settled in to a steady flow.

[marsmac]

Hi RHC,

It's probably best to stick to the one charity group like you mentioned. It starts to get confusing with different marketing material, scripts and stickers.

When we were dealing with 3 charity groups at the same time, we made the mistake of introducing ourselves from the wrong charity group!!

We wanted our donations to make more of a different so we chose a smaller, less well known charity...rather than one of the bigs ones like the Australian Red Cross. You may find you get better communication with the managers and staff of a smaller charity than you would a larger one.

Martin
Lion Vending
http://www.lionvending.com.au