Final Steps to Take Before Your Unit Popcorn Kickoff

As many Units get ready to start their Popcorn Sale, the Unit Kickoff can be the best tool you have to start your sale out right. Here are a few items to consider before you conduct your Unit Kickoff

1. Create and share your Unit Annual Plan and Unit Budget

It cannot be emphasized enough the importance of knowing why you are raising money and how much your program is going to cost. However, that is just the first step. In addition to creating your Annual Plan and Unit Budget, you should determine a way to share it with everyone in your Unit. It is best to do this a day or two prior to the day of your Popcorn Kickoff so people have a chance to get any questions answered on an individual basis. Nothing bogs a meeting down more than trying to answer individual questions in a group setting.

2. Do some calculations

Determine your Unit Sales Goal. The formula is as follows:

Unit Budget Total / Commission Rate = Unit Sales Goal

For example, if your Unit Budget is $4,200 and the Commission Rate you receive in your Council is 35% then the formula is $4,200/.35 = $12,000 in popcorn your Unit would need to sell to have everything covered in your Unit Budget.

The next formula is the Goal per Scout. This formula is below:

Unit Sales Goal / Number of Scouts = Sales per Scout Goal

Using the previous example, if your Unit Sales Goal is $12,000 and you have 25 Scouts, then the formula is $12,000/25 = $480 per Scout in Popcorn Sales. This gives each Scout a Sales Goal. You can break this down further by dividing the Scout Sales Goal by the average cost of containers. For example, in the previous illustration if the Scout Sales Goal is $480 and the average cost per container is $20 then the formula is $480/$20 = 24 containers.

3. Decide on Unit Incentives

As mentioned in an earlier blog, Unit Incentives are key to bringing excitement to your Unit Popcorn Sale. Units with the largest popcorn sales spend on average 3% of their total popcorn sale on Unit Incentives. Once you decide on the incentives, create a flyer or other piece to easily share the Unit Incentives with the Scouts and their parents.

4. Have a theme

As with most programs done in Scouting, it is important to have something that ties the whole thing together. That is where a theme comes in. It does not matter whether the theme is Duck Dynasty, Mission Impossible, or Indiana Jones, Scouts of all ages remember more when they can tie it to something to which they can relate. Here are a few examples I found on YouTube.

Mission Impossible

American Idol

Boxing Champion

Good luck everyone with their Unit Popcorn Kickoff and good luck on your Popcorn Sale.

4 Reasons Most Unit Leaders Are Not Successful With Their Popcorn Sale

They say the road to recovery starts with recognizing you have a problem. With this in mind, let’s look at the 4 reasons most Units do not succeed with their Popcorn Sale.

1. BELIEF In talking to Unit Leaders around the country about Popcorn Sales, I often get the “excuses”.

It is easier to sell a $1 candy bar.

It is easier for Cub Scouts, they are cute.

We already do too many fundraisers.

Nobody wants to help.

 

When you boil all of these justifications as to why a Unit does not do well, they all come down to “belief”. They do not believe in what they are doing. One has to believe that the Popcorn Sale is the best way to fund their entire Scouting program for the year. Henry Ford stated, “Whether you believe you can or you can’t, you are right.”

Before you can convince anyone else that something is possible, you must convince yourself. Do not let personal limitations transfer to other parents or more importantly to the Scouts you serve.

2. DON'T LIKE TO SELL

One limitation I consistently hear from parents is they are not sales people. They do not like to sell. What they do not understand is everyone sells. With every married couple, one person sold the other to "forsake all others" and be with them. Every person that has a job had to sell their employer to hire them over everyone else. Someone sold you on being a volunteer to help with Scouting. We all sell.

What they are really saying is I have not been successful in the past and do not want to try again. It is interesting that this is largely an adult phenomenon. Rejection can build up throughout a person’s lifetime to the point that opportunity is replaced with fear. If you say to a 7 or 8-year-old to go door to door and sell popcorn to strangers and be successful, most of the time they will not have a problem with it. With a little practice they can spout the best sales pitch with confidence. If there is one common thing I hear from parents on what they like best about the popcorn sale, it is how much they have seen their son grow in their confidence over the years. For more reasons on why Scouts should sell popcorn (other than money) go here.

3. DO NOT HAVE A PLAN

It does not matter if it is the Unit or the family, they must all have a plan. I am sure we have all heard the horror story about the leader that stand in front of a Unit and says, “Well, it is popcorn time again. Here are the forms. Bring them back at the next Pack Meeting.” That is not a plan.

The Unit needs to create the reasons for doing a fundraiser, translate that into a budget and transfer it into goals for each Scout. The Unit must teach the family how to reach that goal through family goal setting, sales training and providing opportunities to sell. Finally, the Unit needs to monitor the progress of each Scout and reward them for their efforts.

4. COMMUNICATION

Leaders need to be able to overcome their own beliefs, limitations, and bias to communicate to others all the aspects of the Popcorn Sale. Use all of the tools necessary to share information about the sale to the parents including why your raising money, how to sell and when and where to turn in the order forms and money. In addition, this communication needs to be consistent throughout the sale. As in life, we only affect the things we track. Leaders should use not only their preferred method of delivering the message, but the preferred method of the receiver. This way nothing is missed.

Once a person identifies and comprehends the challenges to being successful, it is much easier to overcome these obstacles. Once leaders understand that their own limitations are not the limits of others, they can truly travel down the path to success.

What to Consider (and Not) When Ordering Show and Sell Product for Your Popcorn Sale

If you are in a Council that does not do Show and Sell, you are in luck. You can wait until the end of the Popcorn Sale to place your order. If not and your Unit is going to do Show and Sell/Deliver, it is time to prepare for your initial order.

What factors go into determining how much product you should order? Here are 6 things to take into account (and one item not to consider) when preparing your Popcorn Order:

1. Unit Budget

As has been stated many times, Units should know how much their program costs and then determine how much one needs to sell to meet their goal. Units need to have as few fundraisers as possible and still meet their overall budget. They must know how much of their overall revenue is coming from the Popcorn Sale.

2. Number of Hours You Are Going to Sell

Selling hours consist of the number of locations and the number of dates you are selling. In trying to determine the amount of product you need, $100/hour is a conservative estimate of Show and Sell Product Sales. If you are selling for 4 hours on Friday, 8 hours on Saturday and 5 hours on Sunday at a location, then your Unit will need at least $1700 of product for the weekend. The more locations and dates you have, the more Product you will need.

3. Show and Deliver Participation

If your Unit does Show and Deliver, commonly known as the Red Wagon Sale where a Scout takes product door-to-door to sell, then there are two factors to consider: Number of Scouts participating and the Product you want Scouts to sell. I recommend Scouts having a limited variety of product. It is easier for a Scout to walk to a door with an order form and say, “This product will arrive in a few weeks. However, I happen to have this item on me (pointing to a product $20 or more).” Customers are far more likely to purchase the item the Scout has on hand. Remember, your total Show and Deliver product is in addition to the product needed for the Show and Sell locations.

4. Product Mix

Understand from a marketing standpoint, Show and Sell locations are an impulse item. Because of this, people will usually buy at the lowest amount possible. Normally, this means you will sell more $10 items than $20 items. In addition, customers usually stick to a certain product. Microwave popcorn people buy microwave popcorn, cheese-lover people buy cheese popcorn and so on. Every part of the country is a bit different. Ask your local Council for the product mix percentage of what sold last year and a recommendation for this year to get a fair product mix. 5. Initial Take Order If your Council starts their Take Order Sale prior to the Show and Sell, encourage Scouts contact their customers from last year that purchased items $30 or more. Have Scouts get their orders and include them in the initial delivery. This way, Scouts’ “best customers’ get their product early. They then can go back before the sale is over and sell to them again.

6. Council Return Policy

Units must understand their Council’s Return Policy. Some Councils have restrictions on the amount Units can order, have a restocking fee for product returned, or a bonus if no product is returned. In addition, some Councils only allow returns of full and/or unopened cases. Make sure you understand the return policy in your Council and take that into consideration when placing your order.

What is the one item you should not factor into your Show and Sell Order…The Amount Your Unit Sold Last Year.

This may be a surprise to some people.

If there is one constant in life (and Popcorn Sales) is change. Unit Budget, Unit Membership, Council Policies, and the way a Unit sells are just several items that change from year to year that can drastically change what a Unit does for their initial popcorn order. Using last year’s sale to figure out a basic product mix may help but with changes in product mix every year it is better to get this information from your Council.

Need Help Organizing Your Popcorn Sale? Ask a Scout!

Many adults get leery about volunteering to help with the Unit Popcorn Sale. The main reason is the amount of time and effort that goes into a sale, especially if there is just one adult in charge. In a previous blog, I spoke about recruiting different adult volunteers to handle items such as the Unit Kickoff, Distribution, Site Sale Location, and Prizes. However, one of your biggest helpers is the Scouts themselves.

The 2013 Guide to Advancement describes the “Four Steps of Advancement” and the Scout in this way. “He learns by doing, and as he learns, he grows in his ability to do his part as a member of the patrol and troop. As he develops knowledge and skill, he is asked to teach others; and in this way he learns and develops leadership.” It goes on to say, “Scouting skills—what a young person learns to do—are important, but not as important as the primary goal of personal growth achieved through participating in a Unit program. In addition, the theory of “Boy Run Units” can be implemented through the Popcorn Sale.

Cub Scouts can help in the same way Boy Scouts instruct with older boys teaching the younger ones. Webelos can help teach Tiger Cubs about how to look a person in the eye, say please and thank you, and how to help with filling out the paperwork. Boy Scouts and up can have a much greater role. I encourage every Boy Scout Unit to create a NEW Youth Position called the Popcorn Chief. In essence, this is a combination of the Scribe and an Instructor with the sole focus of Popcorn Sales in the Unit. A Scout could also use this role to “carry out a Scoutmaster-assigned leadership project to help the unit” which is a requirement for Star or Life Rank.

Here are some ways the Popcorn Chief can provide Leadership:

1. Be a representative on the Unit Committee regarding the selection of Unit Incentives
2. Teach other Scouts the proper way to conduct their Sales Pitch
3. Promote all the methods of selling in his Unit
4. Help with the Unit Kickoff
5. Collect the Order Forms from Scouts
6. Help Unit Kernel with entry of orders
7. Help with Pick-Up and Distribution of Product
8. Help with the collection of money

For a complete Job Description for the Popcorn Chief position, download the Job Descriptions Document for all Unit Popcorn Positions here.