One of my Inner Circle members sent me an interesting report.   It is just another clever twist to help set up a Win/Win/Win situation.

"We are often hit with requests from non-profits for donations for events and silent auctions and we were trying to figure out how to get a solid return on the investment.  We’ve been implementing two tactics that have worked well.

The first involves the donation.  We offer a year of orchids and an in-home horticultural evaluation to be offered at the Silent Auction.  The year of orchids does not include any ongoing care…we simply drop off an orchid at the recipient’s home every 7 weeks.  Many of the recipients have liked it so much, they have renewed their year of orchids.  Plus, the in-home consultation has enabled us to pick up several residential clients that we would probably never found on our own.

The second approach involves pitching the Year of Orchid Program vs cut florals for their event tables.  They usually have a budget for florals already so the dollars are there to be spent.  We bill the non profit per unit  (say, $75.00) and the non-profit sells the orchids to attendees for $125.00-$150.00.  Its a win-win for both the interiorsacper and the non-profit.  We also affix our contact info to the bottom of the container.  Its a great way to get your name out.  At a recent such event we did 100 orchid table arrangements.  It was a nice splash of revenue, great exposure, and turned what would have been an expense into an income generator for the non-profit.  The best part is that it was so successful, they’ve promised to do it every year."

Now  how’s that for a new lemonade?  I’d like to thank Andrew for this helpful hint and add that consider doing somethin like this for Poinsettias at Holiday time.  Now go out there and get ‘em and if you have other tips you would like to share, email them to me at barbhelfman@aol.com and let me know if I have your permission to use your full name or not.  Thanks.