Is This Any Place to Sell Candy? - product fundraising in the workplace - Brief Article

Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine, Jan, 1999 by Janet Bodnar

* Bringing your kids into the office to sell their wares is foul play.

To look at the glossy gift-wrap brochure in the hands of that fresh-faced sixth-grader, you would never suspect the insidious means by which it got there. But one local newspaper recently took a behind-the-lines look at gift-wrap wars--how companies compete to have their product become the paper of choice of PTAs and other parent groups that raise money for schools. To win the hearts and minds of parents, companies battle it out not only with splashy designs but also with sniping at their rivals and, yes, even psychological weapons--in the form of muffin-and-croissant breakfasts for the parent group.

I've engaged in a few giftwrap skirmishes of my own. Every year I'm in a friendly competition with the art director of this magazine because we both sell Sally Foster paper at the same time. We have our informal line of demarcation, with the art department on one side and editorial on the other, and our coworkers as the spoils of war.

The annual fund-raising season traditionally starts with gift wrap in the fall, runs through Girl Scout cookies in winter, and winds up with candy bars or potted plants in spring. It's tough to tell who dreads it more--the parents who have to sell all this stuff, or the co-workers who see them coming. "You're a prime target, especially if you don't have kids," someone complained to me recently. "And it seems there's a lot more of it going on than in the past."

Actually, there isn't. Studies done for the Association of Fund Raisers and Direct Sellers (AFRDS) found that the market for "product" fundraising--gift wrap, candy, cheesecake, gourmet desserts, pizza kits, even wild-bird food--was about the same in 1997 as it was in 1994, around $4 billion a year. Of course, if many of your contemporaries suddenly have school-age children, your personal sales curve will increase more steeply.

Most of that $4 billion--which doesn't include Girl Scout cookies--is raised by school and school-related groups, says Russell Lemieux of the AFRDS, and the organizations get to keep about half of the total. The National PTA tries to downplay fundraising, but over the years all those candy bars have sent thousands of kids on class trips and bought enough band uniforms to outfit the Russian army. Sometimes schools depend on fund-raising efforts to get money for their day-to-day operations. And lots of people actually like to buy high-quality gift wrap or fresh citrus fruit in the dead of winter.

But if colleagues in the workplace are tempting targets, they shouldn't be sitting ducks. I'd like to propose a truce in fund-raising wars at the office, with a code of conduct for sellers and suckers ... er, buyers.

* Avoid cyberclutter. Don't annoy coworkers with general e-mail telling everyone what you're peddling. One exception: situations that require an immediate response. One of our Kiplinger's colleagues recently sent an e-mail asking if we'd like to sign up for a Korean box lunch, delivered to our desks the same week, to raise money for youth programs at the Korean YMCA.

* Target your sales. Most effective are personal appeals to three groups of people: those who have expressed interest in your product, those who have been customers in the past, and those from whom you have bought something.

* Let the rest come to you. Post a signup sheet or notice in some central area. One mom set out a box of candy bars that her saxophonist son was selling for his band, along with this note: "Don't feel obliged, but feel free (and don't forget to leave $1)."

* Don't exploit your position. The higher up you are in the company hierarchy, the less latitude you have. People who work for you shouldn't feel pressured to buy anything.

* Don't bring your kids to work and let them sell office-door-to-office-door. Sure, you'll be told that it's good for kids to participate in the effort. But let's be honest. The purpose of fundraising is to raise money, not a child's self-esteem. Entrepreneurial kids will find other ways to sharpen their skills.

* Thank your colleagues for their support--and have your checkbook out when they pay you a return visit.

REPORTER: IAN BALDWIN

Janet Bodnar, senior editor of this magazine, is Also the author of Dr. Tightward's Money-Smart Kids (Kiplinger, $15; 800-280-7165). Send Questions and comments to her at 1729 H. St., N.W., Washington, DC 20006; or e-mail her at jbodnar@kiplinger.com.