Sometimes, you need to spend money to make money!
As the high school band’s largest fundraising event of the year was approaching, the group was still desperately short of the help that they needed to staff the assigned concession stand spots. Partially because this was no ordinary concession stand assignment, the group found it very challenging to get all of the help that they needed. Tasked with filling ten days in a row of concession stand workers at the areas largest sporting event of the year, the group could make somewhere between $30,000 and $50,000, but not if you started the event with unfilled work shifts. the latest email from the volunteer organizer spoke to the desperation of the situation:
I have good news and bad news. The good news is we are getting closer to having every slot filled! Thank you to everyone who has stepped up to support our kids. We still need 104 slots filled, though, and we still have a lot of families not doing their part!! This is unacceptable and hurts the program as a whole. Each and every student benefits from this fundraiser, as it provides 80% of the Booster Club’s operating budget for the year. The money is used for things like safe transportation to and from competitions, new instruments, uniforms, flags, drum major camp, and the writing of the marching show! It is vital that this fundraiser be a HUGE SUCCESS!
Now for the bad news. The food service company has changed a few policies and we, as group leads, will no longer be the ones to dismiss the volunteers. This means that if you are volunteering on a day that has two games and two shifts of workers, you will not be allowed to leave until your replacement has arrived in the stand. For example, on June 19th there are two games and neither are completely filled, but the second is less staffed, so if you are at the first game and there is no one to replace you, you will be working both games. Levy workers will be walking around and monitoring the stands to make sure that we do not have unacceptably long lines. If we do we will be asked to provide more workers for upcoming games.
It is a lot to ask from volunteers, but it is better than selling coupon packs to the local grocery store. Better than sending your kids door to door selling dark chocolate candy bars! And that thought of having to do dozens of ridiculous low profit fundraisers gave the group leaders an idea. They decided if they spent a little money on some managed printing services they might be able to get the last of the families to join. With some cleverly designed fliers, one of the dads who had professional experience in electronic document management systems organized a more effective email campaign. It was on a far smaller scale than what the print management software was used for at work, but his scaled down replica did the job. The clever documents that visually screamed: No More Door to Door! and Candy Bar Scmandy Bar! shamed the remaining parents into doing their part.
The Power of Print!
Whether it is delivered to your door handle or you mailbox, whether it arrives in a group email or a personalized correspondence, it is difficult to ignore the power of print management software. Used correctly, print management software solutions help large corporations and small volunteer groups alike reach their communication goals. From the companies that you lease copiers and then make sure that they are always full of toner to actual offsite printing that is delivered to your office or shipped to your customers, the print management software industry is an untapped platform for many groups.
Understanding that you sometimes need to make money, even when you are working with a volunteer group, can have a big impact. Combined printer and copier costs are typically the third-largest office expense, falling in line behind rent and payroll. In fact, an average employee?s printing expenses can cost companies $600 to $1,300 a year. What are you doing to make sure that these resources are used wisely?
