1 Scouts benefit from the popcorn sale. Popcorn provides an opportunity to earn a higher commission compared to other sales, which means more funding with less fundraising. Popcorn teaches Scouts: Salesmanship Responsibility Entrepreneurship Leadership Money handling The purpose of selling popcorn is to provide units an opportunity to pay for everything Scouting families want to do while a member of the Boy Scouts of America. The possibilities of how a unit uses the funding are endless. Units not only receive funds to support their program but also help to ensure council services and opportunities are available for all Scouts in the WLACC. All units receive support from the council and their district to help achieve their popcorn goals. This support is in the form of training opportunities, additional Scout rewards, marketing materials, the opportunity to return excess product and, if needed, personalized customer service from the district popcorn team. Thank you for your commitment as a Unit Kernel for the 2015 Fall Popcorn Sale. As a Unit Kernel you play an important role in helping the young men and women in your unit learn how to pay their own way. In addition you provide your unit the support needed to have an amazing program during the upcoming year. We have made a few additions to this year’s program so please read this information thoroughly. This guidebook will help you to: Know the sale step by step from beginning to end Learn more about sales techniques Understand and promote prize programs Discover the resources available to you, your unit, and your Scouts Keep track of critical dates Provide contact information for when you need a helping hand Please feel free to share your thoughts and questions with your District Popcorn Kernel or District Executive. Your comments are truly appreciated. Did You Know? Our Scouts sold more than $25,000 worth of popcorn in 2014 online.
Transcript
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Scouts benefit from the popcorn sale. Popcorn provides an opportunity to earn a higher commission compared to other sales, which means more funding with less fundraising. Popcorn teaches Scouts:
Salesmanship
Responsibility
Entrepreneurship
Leadership
Money handling
The purpose of selling popcorn is to provide units an opportunity to pay for everything Scouting families want to do while a member of the Boy Scouts of America. The possibilities of how a unit uses the funding are endless. Units not only receive funds to support their program but also help to ensure council services and opportunities are available for all Scouts in the WLACC. All units receive support from the council and their district to help achieve their popcorn goals. This support is in the form of training opportunities, additional Scout rewards, marketing materials, the opportunity to return excess product and, if needed, personalized customer service from the district popcorn team.
Thank you for your commitment as a Unit Kernel for the 2015 Fall Popcorn Sale. As a Unit Kernel you play an important role in helping the young men and women in your unit learn how to pay their own way. In addition you provide your unit the support needed to have an amazing program during the upcoming year. We have made a few additions to this year’s program so please read this information thoroughly. This guidebook will help you to:
Know the sale step by step from beginning to end
Learn more about sales techniques
Understand and promote prize programs
Discover the resources available to you, your unit, and your Scouts
Keep track of critical dates
Provide contact information for when you need a helping hand Please feel free to share your thoughts and questions with your District Popcorn Kernel or District Executive. Your comments are truly appreciated.
Did You Know? Our Scouts sold more
than $25,000 worth
of popcorn in 2014
online.
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Congratulations on joining our sale, and for making a commitment to help your Scouts, your unit, and our council! Together we can achieve our goals and continue to provide our young men and women with remarkable programs and values building experiences.
Coordinate the 2015 Popcorn Sale in your unit.
Attend the unit leader training and encourage other adults in your unit to attend.
Contact all registered youth in your unit and explain the 2015 Popcorn Sale.
Hold a unit kickoff event
Encourage participation in online, store front, show and deliver, and take order programs
Coach participating Scouts on how to approach potential customers and sell, sell, sell!
Tabulate and submit your unit orders online.
Submit the prize selections online and on time
Make sure you turn in all forms on time to ensure your unit receives all prizes, awards, and incentives.
The popcorn sale can be broken into three easy to manage parts: pre-sale preparation, the selling season, and the closeout. In the following sections we will describe each briefly. Pre-sale Preparation The pre-sale involves making sure that your unit is ready and excited about the sale. The period of the pre-sale is from July 1st through September 12th and during this time you will want to:
o Meet with your parent’s committee to recruit other parents to help you o Plan and hold a kickoff event for your Unit to get the boys excited about selling o Make sure to schedule selling locations with dates and times o Place your order for the store front sales and in-person sales by August 23rd
Show & Selling Season The show and selling season is all about getting your unit out into your community so that they can use all four sales methods: store front sales, door to door sales with product, door to door sales with the take order forms for later delivery, and online sales. This part of the sale runs from September 12th and continues through October 31st or a little later depending on your Unit’s available product. During this time you will want to:
o Plan to hold your first store front sale after you pick up your popcorn from your District Distribution site on September 12th
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o Have your Unit Leader provide 5 minutes every meeting to recognize your top weekly seller with weekly competitions for your boys
o Schedule show and sell locations with a recommended 2 hour rotation with 2-3 boys per rotation
o Regularly check your inventory to make sure you are not overstocked or close to running out (the units can often get more popcorn from the district during the sale or arrange for transfers of product from another unit)
o Keep track of your boy’s individual sales for the prize and commission programs o Make on-time payments to any Council Service Center o Make any allowable and necessary returns on or well before October 31st o Arrange a neighborhood blitz day during the sale to get every boy selling for 2 hours o Hold an Online Sales and Signup Party for you Unit
The Closeout Closing out your sale is all about making sure your unit finishes strong and will begin on or before October 24th and run through November 22nd. To run a closeout you will want to:
o Take a final inventory of all your unit’s available product o Collect all of your boy’s unfulfilled take order forms o Calculate your unit’s final order based on the difference between stock on hand and
required stock to fulfill orders o Submit your unit’s final payment and prize order
August 1 – Online Sales open on trails-end.com
August 4-15 – District Specific Training Held (BH, AV, SFV, CB)
August 8 – Youth Kickoff Events Held (BH, AV, SFV, CB)
August 23- Unit Popcorn Orders Due
September 12 – First Distribution Day
October 9 – 50% of Outstanding Balance Due
October 31 – Final Day to Return Unopened, Unglued, Untaped Cases of Product
November 1 – Take Orders Due
November 20 – 100% of Remaining Balance Due
November 21– Final Distribution
November 25 – Prize Order Due
December 19 – First Commission checks mailed
January 8 – Second Commission checks mailed
January 22 – Final Commission checks mailed
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Unit Campaign Planning Follow these 5 steps for a successful campaign! 1. Create your annual program plan for 2015-2016 and determine how much popcorn your unit needs to sell to provide your dream program. 2. Showcase your annual program and explain to the families how the entire program can be funded with one fundraiser: Popcorn! 3. Communicate the Per Scout Popcorn Sale Goals and approximately how many items that equates to. Have the Scouts write their individual goal on their Take Order Form. 4. Distribute a Popcorn starter kit to families with a selection of product to sell in their neighborhood. 5. Have actual unit prizes on display to show the Scouts what they can earn for selling popcorn, or have them mark the prizes they want to earn on the prize form. 6. Monitor your sale to expect every family to participate. One method to assist you is by having weekly or bi-weekly incentives. 7. Do a skit or fun activity to get the boys trained and excited about the purpose and goals of the sale. Make sure you cover safety as a priority in the sale.
Unit Kickoff This unit-run event is an opportunity to explain the benefits of the popcorn sale to parents, build excitement and communicate expectations. Timing of the kickoff is important to give Scouts as much time as possible to meet their sales goal.
Kickoff Agenda (40 minutes) Grand Opening (5 minutes) Gather ideas from the online video training Play music, dim the lights and have fun! Serve popcorn Explain the Scouting program and key dates (10 minutes) Make sure families understand the benefit of selling popcorn to pay for Scouting programs. Highlight key dates important to the popcorn sale. Train your Scouts (10 minutes) Show Scout training videos on leaders.trails-end.com at your kickoff. Download these videos ahead of time if the kickoff location does not have an Internet connection. Explain the different ways Scouts can sell (face-to-face or online). Role play selling popcorn with your top sellers from the prior year. Showcase your Scout Rewards (10 minutes) Introduce the unit incentive program, starting with the pie in the face. Big Finish (5 minutes) Have the top sellers from last year throw pies in the faces of the leaders. Send everyone home motivated to sell.
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Prizes are one of the most significant motivators for your boys as they continue to sell popcorn. Units are encouraged to run weekly promotions that allow each boy a fighting chance to report new sales and not be outdistanced by a standout seller. We also encourage you to reward your Unit’s top seller at the end of the season. Many successful Units offer Unit prizes in addition to Council and Trail’s End promotions. These Unit prizes do not need to be lavish and often improve with creativity instead of cash outlays; as demonstrated by a Cub’s love of hitting their Cubmaster in the face with a whipped cream pie.
*The value of prizes earned for selling $5,000 as a Boy Scout is $3,054*
Total Sales Cub Scout Prizes Scout Prizes Any Amount Patch Patch
$1,250 BONUS King’s Game (2 Tickets) BONUS King’s Game (2 Tickets)
$1,750 Level 7 Level 7
$2,500 BONUS 6% Scholarship BONUS 6% Scholarship
$2,750 Level 8 Level 8
$3,000 Camelbak Rim Runner Hydration Pack Camelback Rim Runner Hydration Pack
$4,000 Lego Benny’s Spaceship Summer Camp at Whitsett
$5,000 Webelos Resident or Day Camp Summer Camp at Emerald Bay
Commission Structure Percentage
Base Commission 30%
Attend Kickoff Training 1%
On Time Payments 1%
60% participation of Scouts at $250 per Scout, or sales equal to that number (June 30th Membership as listed on the Council District Totals Report used to determine the number of Scouts in each unit)
4%
Total potential 36%
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Prizes encourage a Scout to keep selling through each stage of the sale, and all of his sales count toward his prize level…even online sales. Please note that there are some important things to know about prizes including:
Each Scout receives a 2015 patch for selling one item or more.
All gift card promotions are upgrades unless they are listed as bonuses (i.e. A Scout who sells $300 worth of popcorn will earn a level 3 prize. As soon as that Scout’s sale reach $450 his level 3 prize increases to a level 4 prize. In other words prizes are not cumulative unless they are listed as a bonus)
Every boy who sells $1,250 or more will be given two tickets to the LA King’s Game
Council promotions at the $2,000-$5,000 sales level are awarded at the highest level ie. A cub scout who sells $5,000 will receive only a Webelos Resident Camp or Day Camp experience. Scouts may choose a lesser prize if they would prefer.
Units are able to return unopened, unglued, untapped cases of product, with the exception of products containing chocolate. Returns can be made at any council office no later than October 31st. All popcorn is a liability for the Council so we encourage you to follow a few key practices:
Check on your outstanding inventory and make frequent honest assessments on your Unit’s ability to sell
Subscribe to a time based sales plan (i.e. we are halfway through the sale…have we sold at least half of our inventory)
Check in with your District Kernel or District Executive if you have an inventory challenge…too much or too little popcorn can usually find a home with enough notice
Work toward a zero return policy so that every dollar of popcorn revenue provides better program for our boys
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Product
Price
Show &
Sell
Take
Order
Returns
Packaging
Chocolate Lovers $55 Yes Yes No Box
Operation Gratitude Donation $50 Yes Yes N/A Card
Sweet & Savory Collection $40 Yes Yes No Box
Cheese Lover’s Collection $35 Yes Yes Yes Box
Operation Gratitude Donation $30 Yes Yes N/A Card
White Chocolatey Pretzels $25 Yes Yes No Bag
Chocolatey Caramel Crunch $25 Yes Yes No Bag
Kettle Corn Microwave $22 Yes Yes Yes Box
Chocolatey Triple Delight $20 Yes Yes No Bag
Premium Caramel Corn $20 Yes Yes Yes Bag
Unbelievable Butter Microwave $18 Yes Yes Yes Box
Butter Light Microwave $18 Yes Yes Yes Box
Jalapeno Cheddar $15 Yes Yes Yes Bag
White Cheddar $15 Yes Yes Yes Bag
Small Caramel Corn $10 Yes Yes Yes Bag
Popping Corn $10 Yes Yes Yes Bag
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Ordering Tips
If you are new to the sale and do not know what you should order, your District Executive or Kernel can pull your Unit’s order from the previous year and make recommendations
Please take into account the changes in your Unit’s membership: Did you increase youth membership? Did your top selling boy move to another unit?
How many show & sell locations have you secured?
What is your actual participation likely to be (don’t count the number of families, count the number of selling families)
Discern what your most popular products were from the year before.
Make sure that you have enough climate controlled storage space for the full quantity of your chocolate products
There are a variety of excellent resources available at both our Council website (www.bsa-la.org/popcorn) and the Trails End Website (www.trails-end.com) which will help to bolster your sale administration and the success of your Scouts. Some of the different resources on the sites are:
Unit product and prize ordering, invoices, and sale administration: http://scouting.trails-end.com/TESales/
Council promotions, downloadable take order form, scholarship application, and email list signup: www.bsa-la.org/popcorn
Unit sale planning tools including program planner spreadsheet and more: http://www.trails-end.com/trailsend/dynamic_content.jsp?id=1100016
Secure enough vehicles to carry your entire product.
Wait until all of your drivers are at the distribution site to begin loading.
Have a copy of your order with you.
Bring the appropriate number and types of vehicles: o Midsize car: 20 Cases o Minivan: 35-40 Cases o Large SUV: 50 Cases o Pickup Truck: 55-75 Cases
Popcorn distribution for the Show & Sell and Take Orders are handled at four different locations and are determined by your Unit’s district. Each unit will be contacted by a District Kernel or District Executive within 4 days of the distribution to determine a time to pick up your order. Antelope Valley Balboa Oaks, Cahuenga, Las Colinas TBD Fed Ex Distribution Center 11911 Branford St.
Sun Valley, CA 91352 Bill Hart Crescent Bay Alfred Mann Foundation Westside Service Center 25134 Rye Canyon Loop 10131 National Blvd. #A Santa Clarita, CA 91355 Los Angeles, CA 90034
Chocolate Products: Any single product or collection of products that contain chocolate Family Guide: the printed guide that includes prize information, rules, and the take order form Neighborhood Blitz: a day when your unit turns out to visit an entire neighborhood with a 2 boy team per street Show & Deliver: a door to door sale where the product is delivered as soon as the purchase is made Show & Sell: the part of the sale where product is sold in person after it is shown, typically in a store front setting Take Order: any part of the sale where product is sold for future delivery, often door to door or office sales Unit Kickoff: a rally held to excite and train your boys, introduce prizes, and provide a fun start to the sale
Unit payments can be mailed into the Anna Ruggieri Scout Service Center in Van Nuys and addressed as follows:
BSA-WLACC c/o Popcorn Team
16525 Sherman Way Ste. C8 Van Nuys, CA 91406
Payments may also be dropped off at your local Scout Service Center in Antelope Valley, Santa Clarita, Van Nuys, or the Westside. Unit Payments should be made out to “WLACC-BSA” with district and unit number in the memo section. Credit Card Payments will not be accepted for you unit order.
