By Sue DiFranco
Copyright © 2004 Sue DiFranco/Fun Facts Publishing  
 

Here are two ideas for any and all event organizers out there...

One:

When manufacturers donate product for your event, let them feel appreciated. We have donated to several events these past couple of years, and the response we recently received from Scrap That Idea! in Pennsylvania was excellent:

Shortly after their event, Snap and Scrap Academy, was held, they sent a package with:

A sweet thank-you letter detailing the event's success
A copy of the placemat each participant received, with all sponsors' information and logos
A thank you sheet signed by all participants
A photograph of all participants

It was an example of the "going the extra mile" principle. Sure, they could have sent an email thank you, or even a short letter (or not responded at all!). But by sending this package, sponsors were able to feel a connection with the participants - their product donations weren't just being sent out to random faceless scrapbookers. Great job, Tammy and Staci!

Two:

As part of our spring cleaning, we found a box with some forgotten scrapbooking t-shirts from our discontinued PossibiliTEES line. (Surprise!) We packaged them up to donate to a few events who had requested products, and then I decided to do a search to see if any other event organizers needed product.

To my surprise, of the events I found, very few of them had donation requests prominently displayed on their site. Granted, probably not too many manufacturers actively seek out places to send free stuff (although they should - see more on this below), but if they are, this information should be easy to find.

Those who do have this information on their sites, please write to us and let us know!

(P.S. - the shirts have all been sent out - sorry!)

Therefore...

I decided to dedicate an area of our Classifieds section to event organizers who want to connect with manufacturers. Organizers, send in your donation requests, and manufacturers will be able to take a look and decide what (if any) events they'd like to donate to. We can't promise anything, but it sure beats faxing/emailing hundreds of scrapbook manufacturers!

Send them to:
classifieds@funfactspublishing.com

Read them here:
http://www.funfactspublishing.com/classifieds.htm

A tip for smaller manufacturers: depending on your budget, we think it's a great marketing idea to donate products to various events. You can read more on this topic in the October issue of the Platinum Edition!