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2024 Wreath Sale Fundraiser

Holiday Wreath Sale Tradition

The annual holiday wreath sale is the primary fundraising event for Troops 57 and 4057 of Palo Alto. This activity gives scouts a great learning and entrepreneurial experience, and the annual sale provides a significant portion of the operating budget for our Troops. The money is used for supplies, travel expenses and equipment for all the outings, as well as other scouting needs such as scholarships for families that might need assistance. 

We expect each scout and family to participate in helping us meet our goal. As in prior years, we are asking all scouts to commit to sell at least 18 wreaths. Wreaths sell for $30 per wreath, a very competitive price for a high-quality product we source from a farm in Oregon. There are great prizes for those who go above and beyond. The good news is that this is a longstanding tradition within the Palo Alto community, with friends and neighbors often eagerly awaiting to purchase their annual wreath (or several wreaths!), so scouts will typically find this a very positive selling experience — and a great way to engage with their neighborhood.

KEY DATES – Timeline for Sales and Activities

  • Oct 5, 2024 – Holiday Wreath Sale Fundraiser kick-off
  • Oct 23, 2024– Preliminary wreath estimates due from scouts (to be entered on shared Google sheet)
  • Nov 10, 2024 – Final wreath commitments due from scouts (i.e. number of wreaths you will be picking up, minimum 18)
  • Nov 30 (est) – Wreaths arrive, wreath pick-up by scouts for delivery to their customers (exact date to be confirmed)
  • Dec 2-8, 2024 – Scouts deliver wreaths to their customers
  • Dec 7/8, 2024 – Sidewalk sale @ Gamble Garden
  • Dec 9, 2024– Deadline to turn in all wreath funds to the Troop

Prizes!

Each scout is expected to commit to selling at least 18 wreaths. There are some great prizes to be awarded to the top sellers:

Gift cards — every scout who sells 24 or more wreaths will receive a gift card in an amount according to how many wreaths they sell*

Patches — all scouts who sell 36 wreaths (double the minimum) or more will receive a wreath sale top seller patch

Plaque — the top 3 sellers will have their names added to the wreath sale plaque located in the Scout House

*Note: Maximum 1 prize per scout

How to Sell Wreaths – Tips and Tricks

The best way to sell a LOT of wreaths is through pre-sales! We know it may seem early to be asking about holiday wreaths, but we know the community loves to support scouting. The Palo Alto community looks forward to our annual sale, and most neighbors would rather buy a holiday wreath from a scout than from a grocery store. Middle of October to early November before Thanksgiving is the best time to sell wreaths — and remember, it’s always easier when you’re the first one selling in the neighborhood!

Visiting your local neighborhood and knocking on doors will often result in several sales every block. Remember to wear your “Class A” uniform, and represent your troop well by being courteous and respectful whenever you are selling wreaths.

For your own safety and to support our Troops’ policies, please remember the following “Do’s and Don’ts”:

  • Do have a buddy
  • Do wear your full Class A uniform.
  • Don’t open gates to get to the houses’ doors.
  • Don’t enter anyone’s house… politely decline if invited in. 
  • Don’t approach dogs or enter yards with dogs.

Calling or emailing your friends, family, neighbors, and parents’ co-workers are also great ways to get sales. 

Be sure to track your selling efforts carefully. Most scouts who perform well build a well-organized spreadsheet that captures names, email address, phone numbers, street addresses, number of wreaths purchased, total amount due (each wreath = $30), delivery date, and date of payment collection. Also, it’s very useful to leave a “receipt” with each customer with your name and the expected delivery date. In prior years, we’ve received calls from customers who hadn’t received their wreaths and couldn’t remember from which scout they had purchased — a simple receipt helps avoid this issue, and also helps you build a strong client list for future years.

To assist your selling efforts, we have several sales tools available:

Sales Poster template

Sales Flyer template

Sales Email template

Customer order form template

Customer receipt template

Customer tracking list template

Wreath Sale Commitment

In order to help with our planning and logistics, we will need each scout to submit a forecast for the number of wreaths they are expecting to sell. There will be a shared google sheet available, and more details will be provided by email.

The preliminary forecast is due on October 23, 2024. This will give everyone a couple weeks of pre-selling time and a chance to review their prior customer list (if they sold in the past) to determine their target. The minimum quantity for all scouts is 18, and please keep in mind the prize levels… selling 24 or 30 (or maybe 36…) isn’t that far away!  For the preliminary forecast, it is really helpful for all scouts planning to sell more than 18 (and especially those going for the top prizes) to give an estimate so that we can reserve those wreaths.

The final committed quantity is due November 10, 2024. This is the number that will be used for the pickup quantity when the wreaths are delivered, and scouts will be responsible for submitting payment for this quantity (# of wreaths x $30) by the deadline in the first week of December. We cannot guarantee availability of any additional wreaths beyond this number, so please make sure you are covered for all of your customers.

Picking Up Your Wreaths

Our truckload of wreaths will typically arrive the weekend after Thanksgiving, and we will need several parent and scout volunteers to help with unloading and distributing to the individual scouts. Look for future emails with details for this.

Once the wreaths are delivered, scouts and parents will pick up their wreaths over the course of 2 nights according to a pre-arranged schedule. There will be a signup sheet circulated beforehand for time slots in the afternoon and early evening. Parents will drive up to the Fire Circle Gate on the curved drive in front of LCC. Families will check in at the table and volunteers will load the wreaths into the vehicles.The process is usually quick; time slots are only 5min long.

Bows

Before delivery to customers, Scouts will attach a red bow to each wreath. We are excited to once again be hosting our traditional in-person bow-tying party this year where we pre-tie the bows for the wreaths. This is expected to take place on Thursday Nov 14 6-9pm at the ScoutHouse – look for more details by email. All families are asked to send at least one adult to help tie bows. Scouts will receive a batch of bows when they pick up their wreaths. Scouts will be responsible for attaching bows before delivering wreaths to their customers. 

In preparation for our bow-tying event, here is a video on how to tie a wreath bow:

Delivery to Customers

Scouts are responsible for final delivery of wreaths to their customers. Ideally, wreaths are delivered within a few days of pickup from the Scout House when they are nice and fresh and your neighbors are starting their holiday decorating. We strongly encourage all customer deliveries to be made by Saturday Dec 7, if not sooner. Customers will want to display their wreaths prominently in time for the holidays.

Money Collection

All wreaths sell for $30, and scouts are responsible for collecting money directly from their customers.  Most scouts collect the money upfront at the time of pre-sale and issue customers a receipt. (See above for link to sales kit templates.) This typically works fine and most neighbors are comfortable with this. If any customer asks to pay the troop directly through a digital method, explain that this would not be practical for tracking individual sales, that it is in fact much better for the customer to have a direct relationship with the scout.

Ideally, scouts will collect individual customer payments by cash, check made out to the scout or scout parents, or digital payment to the scout or scout parents (e.g. paypal, venmo, etc) — and the scout family will then submit a single payment for the full amount for all wreaths to the troop by check (payable to “Troops 57 & 4057 of Palo Alto”) or digitally (look for more details by email). If individual customers want to pay by check payable to “Troops 57 & 4057 of Palo Alto”, that is also fine and you can submit those checks as part of the total due to the troop. NOTE: All checks must be filled out with this exact payee, or else the troops will not be able to cash the check.

At the time of wreath distribution at the Fire Circle, scouts will receive a payment envelope that shows the number of wreaths, total amount due, and instructions on submitting the troop payment. Payments will NOT be collected on distribution nights. Instructions for submitting payments will be issued closer to the wreath distribution date.

Here are some other important details and important reminders:

  • Do not submit cash to the troops. Any cash received from individual customers should be converted to check or digital deposit by the scout family.
  • Please make sure that all checks for the troop are payable to “Troops 57 & 4057 of Palo Alto”.  The bank is really strict on this, so checks made out to a different payee will be returned to the scout family to resolve.

The deadline for submitting wreath collection funds to the troop is Monday, Dec 9.

Sidewalk Sale

We plan to hold a Sidewalk Sale on Saturday & Sunday, Dec 7 & 8 to sell any remaining inventory of wreaths. We’ll be at the usual spot on Waverley near Embarcadero near Gamble Gardens. This will be staffed and managed by senior scouts who have been selected in advance of the sale. 

Wreath Sale FAQ

Is there an option to “opt-out” with a flat donation? 

No. Since we are able to resume in-person selling, we are expecting all scouts to participate and sell a minimum of 18 wreaths. 

What if I need more wreaths after the pickup date? 

If you need more wreaths before Saturday, Dec 7, please contact us and we will provide what we can from the remaining inventory.  After the Sidewalk Sale, you will need to reach out to other scouts to see if you can buy wreaths from them. 

I gave some of my wreaths to another scout. Do I still need to pay the troop for those wreaths?

YES, YES, YES. If you give wreaths to another scout, please make sure you collect money from them (as though they are one of your customers) so that you can submit your full payment to the troop. The troop is expecting you to submit payment for all wreaths you picked up.

Can I sell my wreaths online (e.g. Nextdoor)? 

In fairness to other scouts and to help promote engagement within our neighborhoods, we ask that you do not sell online prior to Sunday, Dec 7.

Any other questions?

Contact the Wreath Sale Team at wreathsales@troop57.net.