Fundraising FAQ

How can we sell the placemats if people do not know what they will be getting?

Since you are a potential fundraising customer, we are willing to provide you with one set of all four placemats at the greatly reduced cost of $10 including shipping and handling. (This would ordinarily cost $24 plus S & H. Contact us and include the name of your organziation and a brief description of your organization along with the name, address, phone number, and email address of the contact person. Also, take a look at our sales flyers that you can download for free and use to help you promote your fundraiser.

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How many do we need to buy?

There is a price break when you purchase 100 placemats (Fundraising Level I: 25 of each design). Then there is another break at 200 placemats (Fundraising Level II: 50 of each design.) (There is also the Small Sale Sampler, directed at synagogue gift shops, where the minimum order is much lower (only 10 of each design) but the price break is not quite as much.)

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We do not like risking our funds by laying out money in advance.

So this is what you do. Use the sales flyers provided here to do all of your selling up front, before you even place your order with us. You will see whether you can sell enough to feel comfortable ordering 100 or 200 placemats. You can even collect the money in advance to allow you to pay for your order without laying out any of your organization’s own funds. The checklist on the fundraising support page shows in more detail how this can be done. Part of what you need to decide is how many to buy. The fundraising support page shows an example of what to do if you pre-sell 150 placemats. It turns out to be a very sound idea to go with buying 200. However, you should choose the amount to buy based on your own comfort level. If you only buy the exact amount that you have presold, then there is no risk at all!

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How much money can we make?

The retail price of the placemats is $8 for a single placemat or $6 each when buying a set of four. So you will bring in between $6 and $8 per placemat that you sell, depending on whether you sell them singley or in sets. It will likely be a mixture of the two.

100 Placemat Example

If you buy 100 of them (25 of each of the four designs), you will be paying only $3 per placemat plus shipping  ($18). So, for an order of 100 placemats, you will have a profit of between about $280 and $480, depending on how many you sell singley and how many in sets of 4. For a detailed accounting of this example, see 100 Placemat Example.

200 Placemat Example

For an order of 200, you are paying $2.50 per placemat plus shipping (about $30), so you will have a profit of between $670 and $1070 depending on how many you sell singley and how many in sets of 4. For a detailed accounting of this example, see 200 Placemat Example.

If you can sell 500 of them, 125 of each design, you can earn well over $2000 for your organization!

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What if we buy more than we pre-sold and then the rest of them are not selling well?

You can sell the rest of them at a reduced price. If you go low enough, they will sell easily. It will reduce your profit somewhat, but you are still better off buying upward to get the lower price.

On the Fundraising Support page you will find an example showing what your profit will be if you have only presold 150, and whether it is better to buy at the Fundraising Level I rate or to buy 200 at the lower Fundraising Level II rate. (Hint: the answer is going to be 200!)

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