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Thank you for visiting us to find out more about conducting a flower bulb
fund raiser with Van Engelen and John Scheepers. Our fund raisers are
conducted through Van Engelen to take advantage of volume discount. We
appreciate the possibility of working with you this fall.
We do not offer a "canned" fund raising brochure since most of our fund
raising clients are experienced horticulturists who prefer to sell unique
varieties of flower bulbs geared to their own particular audience. They find
that it is the most successful to sell unique varieties of the finest
quality and size bulbs that are not found in local nurseries or big chain
stores~not simply a red tulip or a yellow daffodil.
Narcissus Manly |
Selecting the Flower Bulb Varieties for Your Fund Raiser
Some groups, like arboretums or botanical gardens, may want to consider
conducting a special flower bulb sale on site at the same time that seminars
or workshops are scheduled, such as programs on landscape design, companion
plantings, environmental issues or how to force pots of flower bulbs over
the winter. In this case, a larger selection of varieties may be selected to
appeal to its particular membership or to coordinate with its educational
focus. We would be happy to help you with your selections as well as with
photography for posters, booth displays or promotional literature.
Our flower bulbs are available for shipment the third week in September with
the exception of Lilies, Eremurus and Royal Dutch Hybrid Amaryllis that are
not available until the second week in October. When scheduling your fund
raiser, please keep in mind that flower bulbs should be not be planted until
after the ground temperature has chilled to or below 55°F.
You may visit us at www.vanengelen.com or
phone us at (860) 567-8734 for help in selecting the best flower bulb
varieties to sell for your group. You may want to consider which flower
bulbs are good for warmer climates, shady spots, more moist soil, a munching
deer population or which flower bulbs are fragrant and which are good
naturalizers. There are many good themes or ways in which to select flower
bulbs for your fund raiser. We would be happy to help you pick them out too.
Planning Your Fund Raiser
Fund raisers can be conducted through a one-on-one volunteer sales effort
with a sell sheet and order form, followed by a scheduled pick-up and/or
supplemental sales event. As you can see from the enclosed samples, your
sell sheet and order form can be made easily on a computer. They seem to
work best when they are simple and easy to use. You may use the photographs
in our Beauty from Bulbs catalog~just scan them for your group's
personalized sell-sheet. Feel free to use any of our descriptions or
horticultural information copied from our website or catalog for your
fundraiser's bag labels or materials.
We encourage you to recruit a sufficient number of volunteers to make the
sell sheet, do the actual selling, repackage the bulbs and assist with the
order distribution. By having enough volunteers, the process should be fun
for everyone, hugely profitable and quite likely a program that everyone
will want to repeat in the future.
Setting the Prices for Your Fund Raiser
Community groups typically order their flower bulbs through Van Engelen, our
wholesale company. You determine the prices that are charged for the bulbs:
groups usually charge $1 per tulip; more for narcissi and less for crocus or
muscari. Often, groups offer a volume discount: 10 Tulip Angelique might
cost $10 while 25 would cost $20. Other groups give an incentive for buying
one bag each of several varieties: for example, buy one bag each of four
varieties of tulips and get a free bag of ten crocus bulbs.
When to Order Your Flower Bulbs
As soon as you decide to run a flower bulb fund raiser, call us to let us
know what varieties of flower bulbs you intend to sell before you actually
start the fund raiser...the sooner, the better. We will set up an initial
"hold" order for you based on your best estimate of how many bulbs will be
sold. Over the course of the fund raiser, we ask that you give us periodic
updates to make sure that we are reserving adequate inventory to cover your
sales. To reserve your bulbs, we require a Visa or Mastercard. We do not
charge credit cards until fall shipment so there is no cost associated with
placing your initial hold order. Once you finalize your order, you may mail
us an organizational check as payment. Once we receive your check, we would
delete the credit card from the order.
Your order will be shipped in time for you to repackage and distribute them
to your customers. Please note that we generally start shipping the third
week in September. If your group requires it flower bulbs earlier than that,
please call us in advance to make special arrangements. Perishable flower
bulbs cannot be returned once shipped, so we will work as closely with you
as possible to make sure that you order the proper quantity of flower bulbs
to cover your sales.
Muscari Armeniacum |
Repackaging Your Flower Bulbs
Once you receive your group's flower bulb order from us, examine your order
and make sure that you have received everything as detailed on your packing
slip. If you have any concerns or questions, please contact us immediately.
Before repackaging your order, store flower bulbs in a cool dry spot at 55
to 65 degrees F out of the sun with good air circulation, like in a garage.
Keep the exterior carton and the interior boxes open for good air
circulation.
Your volunteers are responsible for repackaging the bulbs into smaller units
for your customers. Use simple paper lunch bags with air holes punched in
them. Preprint the correct number of bag labels for each variety to make
sure that the bulbs are being repackaged correctly. Find a computer-savvy
volunteer to prepare your bag labels: include variety name, number of bulbs,
height and color. Some groups have had a local business donate the paper
bags and a local company produce the computer-generated bag labels. Some
groups associated with children have used their drawings and handwriting as
scanned "artwork" for the labels.
Repack one variety at a time to avoid mixing up the bulbs. (Individual tulip
and narcissus varieties are difficult to tell apart once mixed up.) Do not
put flower bulbs in plastic bags~the bulbs cannot breathe. Your volunteers
should wear latex or neoprene gloves while touching hyacinths: some people
have an itchy reaction to them. After the bulbs are repackaged, store them
in a cool dry spot at 55 to 65 degrees F out of the sun with good air
circulation again.
The next step in the process is to "pick" each individual order. Make sure
that the exterior bag or box is clearly marked with the customer's name and
address (or pickup site) and the contents. Again, until distribution, store
the orders in a cool dry spot at 55 to 65 degrees F out of the sun with good
air circulation again. Don't forget to have a couple of volunteers in charge
of refreshments to help keep the bulb packing aspect of the fund raiser fun.
Happy volunteers tend to want to come back for the next year's fund raising
effort too!
Distributing the Flower Bulbs to Your Customers
Distribute your customers' flower bulb orders through your volunteer network
or announce a place and time where your customers may pick them up. Some
groups order extra bulbs for on-the-spot sales at their scheduled pickup
event like at community events in October, such as school book fairs,
football games, car washes, church fairs or local farmer's markets.
Distribute flower bulb orders to your customers so that they may plant them
after the ground starts to cool down beneath 60 degrees F, normally after
the first killing frost (two weeks of continuous sweater weather).
When you place your initial hold order with us, we will ship you
Horticultural Tip brochures so that you may include one with each of your
customers' orders. Just give us a ballpark quantity of anticipated orders.
Or, you can prepare your own horticultural tips based on our information if
you prefer to not disclose us as your supplier. When you are setting up your
fund raiser, don't forget to network throughout the whole community. Develop
partnerships with other community organizations and their boards and
members, student groups and high traffic local businesses. Piggy back sales
events with other existing community events.
Amaryllis Lambada |
Establish a Garden Angel Program
Many groups have had success with what has been called "The Garden Angel
Program". If someone does not want to buy flower bulbs for their own garden,
your volunteer can ask if they would like to be a "Garden Angel". This means
that they would purchase bulbs for a special community garden that your
group would sponsor. By doing so, "Garden Angels" can support your fund
raising project as well as donate flower bulbs to your group's special
garden at a town green, hospice, day care program or senior citizen center.
The Garden Angel program makes everyone happy. Local newspapers typically
carry news of it~publicity helps promote future flower bulb sales and
community involvement. You may even want to contact your local garden club
to see if they would like to get involved.
When We Ship the Flower Bulbs to You
Most of our flower bulbs are available for shipment from the third week in
September through the end of October. When you place your initial hold
order, we will ask you when you need the bulbs for your repackaging "party"
so that we can schedule a "ship-week-of" date. If your group plans to sell
Van Engelen's collections, Oriental Lilies, Chinese Trumpet Lilies or Dutch
amaryllis, they are not available for shipment to you until the middle of
October depending on the harvest. So, if you have to have an early shipdate,
you probably should not include these items in your fund raiser.
Paperwhites and Amaryllis
Paperwhites and amaryllis may be sold at a late fall event or when outdoor
bulb orders are distributed. Some have packaged them into little net bundles
tied with raffia. Others have selected or decorated special holidays pots
and composed containers of planted paperwhites or amaryllis. You may also
sell paperwhite or Dutch amaryllis gift boxes for holiday gift giving:
normally, they are available for shipment in mid-October depending on the
harvest.
Please Call Us! We Are Here to Help!
Please call us to request our fund raising packet. We will enclose our
full-sized John Scheepers Beauty from Bulbs catalog, the little digest
version organized by bloom time, the Van Engelen wholesale price list and a
horticultural tips brochure for you. If there is any other information you
need, please do not hesitate to call. We would be happy to help you and your
colleagues in any way we can.
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