Donating an Item Vs. a Gift Certificate

[ChefSandyK]

Hi all. I've learned so much from this board, I figured I'd come to you (all) for advice.

I am going to set up a table at an Army Officers' Spouses Club luncheon later in the month. (They will be playing bingo for Polish Pottery Prizes, etc.) There is no cost for the table, but they do request I donate an item or a gift certificate for a raffle. Which do you think is better? I'm leaning toward a gift certificate redeemable only through me. Any advice?

Thanks (and btw...had what will probably turn out to be my first 1,000 show on Friday night. It's at 900 + right now and she still has some orders to come in. whoohoo - Show to Go here I come!)

Have a great day,
Sandy

 

[jenniferlynne]

I just had a booth and had to donate a $25 gift. I made up a gift bag with different items, small chillzanne bowl, large spatula, package of Twixit Clips and a Seasons Best catalog. Afterwards I wished I had done a gift certificate. My gift is gone and I have no idea who even won it (I wasn't the one that drew for it, the group that sponsored the event was) or if they liked it. If I had done a gift certificate, they would have to call me and hopefully they would have ordered more than what the gift certificate was even worth!

 

[pamperedbecky]

I think a gift certificate is better. That way, you'll definitely have some contact with them. Just do your own gift certificate and state on there that it's only redeemable through you. You can provide them with a catalog too. With a gift certificate, if they really go nuts and want more, you can suggest hosting a show or at least they'd order MORE than the gift certificate is worth. You can also give away a FREE kitchen show (you buy the ingredients) as part of the prize as well!

 

[ChefSandyK]

Thanks for the feedbackI have decided to go with the gift certificate. Now to decide how much. The contact person suggested 10-15, but that seems a bit cheap to me. Don't get me wrong, I can't really afford to do much more than that...I just think that when someone sees the direct shipping charges are 5-6 dollars, they are going to think it isn't much of a gift, at all. Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Sandy

 

[dawn424383]

I saw a post on here somewhere that someone offers a gift certificate for a certain amount (let's say $15) but they will double it if the person wants to host a kitchen or catalog show. You can apply that $30 worth of stuff onto their order, which would be atleast a 20% discount (hopefully more!) and factoring in your commission rate (atleast 20%), that $30 in products only costs you $19.20 out-of-pocket (maybe less!) and you'll have a really happy host! If they don't want to host a show, you could add their order on to another show to avoid the direct shipping. That should make them happy, and the host of the show you add it to would be thrilled to get a little more sales for her show! It seems like a winning situation for all! Good Luck! HTH

Dawn Trudell
Independent Kitchen Consultant
Fort Wayne, IN
www.pamperedchef.biz/dawntrudell