davco1 Posted June 10, 2013 Posted June 10, 2013 If you are upfront with your locations explaining that you are a for profit company and you own the machine and the charity only gets a portion of the proceeds, is this a legitimate way to operate? Or do some of you still think that it's fraudulent?
caserri Posted June 10, 2013 Posted June 10, 2013 Powder keg.... Fuse... Match... I will say that if all the circumstances you described are true then yes, it is a legitimate way to operate. Honesty is KEY when operating a charity route. Some locations may not like it but as long as you are upfront about everything, then you can sleep well at night. Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 4 Beta
davco1 Posted June 10, 2013 Author Posted June 10, 2013 My wife and I operate about 200 charity stops and we're always very honest with the decision makers and of course we have the real NCCS stickers not some stupid copy. We've even tried to offer commissions to some of our stops and they decline. So I don't feel like we're being dishonest or fraudulent in any way.
sherlock Posted June 10, 2013 Posted June 10, 2013 My wife and I operate about 200 charity stops and we're always very honest with the decision makers and of course we have the real NCCS stickers not some stupid copy. We've even tried to offer commissions to some of our stops and they decline. So I don't feel like we're being dishonest or fraudulent in any way. So what's the purpose of this thread? If you sleep well at night, don't worry about what other vendors have to say about your way of doing business. If you do not sleep well at night, ask YOURSELF direct questions about what it is about your business practices that bothers you and change those things. Don't allow strangers on the internet to shape your morals and virtues...you will only be disappointed.
davco1 Posted June 10, 2013 Author Posted June 10, 2013 Oh they don't partner. I just wanted to put this out there because I've seen some derogatory remarks on charity operations and I wanted to start a discussion on it. Having just started out a year and a half ago using the charity method I think it's a great way to enter the business and learn the basics. And, I don't want other beginners to be discouraged from going this route because of negative comments they may have seen on the forum. I'm not wanting to stir up anything just hoping to start a good discussion on the subject.
Makes Cents Posted June 11, 2013 Posted June 11, 2013 Its legitimate if the charity you are using is legitimate. Unfortunately many charities give little to the cause and much of the revenue goes for salaries and inflated admin costs. But If you use a well rated charity and donate $$$ per month to their vending outreach program, I view that as a benefit to you, them and the locations you are in..
Rick Posted June 11, 2013 Posted June 11, 2013 So what's the purpose of this thread? If you sleep well at night, don't worry about what other vendors have to say about your way of doing business. If you do not sleep well at night, ask YOURSELF direct questions about what it is about your business practices that bothers you and change those things. Don't allow strangers on the internet to shape your morals and virtues...you will only be disappointed. Well said.
VendingExperts Posted June 11, 2013 Posted June 11, 2013 I personally give 10% gross to charity, not just the dollar per machine. My accounts know this from jump street. I feel that if you are honest there is no scam about it. Even if you only gave $1/ machine. I feel that if the account knows that up front, where's the harm in that? I have had potential locations say ..." We'll what happens to the other 90%?" As they expect to get something too. I also think that some business's are unaware if the amount these machines generate. Some think less than $5.00/month others think $500/month.
davco1 Posted June 11, 2013 Author Posted June 11, 2013 In my experiences, the Charity Vending is a Scam. Please elaborate.
SeaTurtle Vending Posted June 11, 2013 Posted June 11, 2013 Charity vending is far from a scam. The charity I work with has over 95% of the donations go to the actual cause. they operate with very little overhead. As an example, the CEO takes no compensation. She is wealthy through other means and operates the charity for her own feel good reasons. Whatever, the reason may be, the charity does well, and does not waste money. If an account wants a commission, then I give them the commission, AND I will stay pay the charity for the machine.
thevendingguru Posted June 16, 2013 Posted June 16, 2013 As a charity vendor myself, I am really on the fence about this one. On the one hand, does anyone really care where the money goes? The. Vendor vends a product and members of the public buy it. When I buy a product from a machine, I buy it for the product, and not because I am donating to blah blah charity. Also, when I try to find a location for my machine, the charity is definately not paying for my gas and locating expenses. The charity also does not pay for my machine.say a new machine with product and a location costs $170 in total, the charity doesn't pay for it, and just like business owners do not know how much goes to the charity, so too do they not know how much the owner has to pay for it. On the other hand, I don't think it is good to lie about it either. So what do I do? I have a standard spiel that I think is fair, honest and non deceitful. When I meet a decision maker, I chat him up and say "my name is ____ and I have a candy machine. I am working with ________ charity to HELP RAISE SOME FUNDS for them, and I am wondering if you would mind having the machine in your business in order to give US a hand." Notice that I don't specify how much I give, and few owners even ask. If they do ask, I am honest about it, but most don't. Of course, they might not want a machine if they knew only $1 a month was going to charity. If owners knew how little was going to charity, then the $1 from the hundreds of thousands of machines in america wouldn't be going to charities either. The bottom line is that charities are making money, vendors are making money, and business owners are HELPING to support many charities by doing no work. It is a win-win-win.
onecent@atime Posted June 16, 2013 Posted June 16, 2013 In my experiences, the Charity Vending is a Scam. The truth is it should not matter what happens to the money once you give it, I say that to say if you are in a giving spirit then so be it if you donate 1.00 or 35% to the charity on labeled on your machine. Just do your part and let a higher power sort out the rest. Do you audit the VA's books too after you donate to them outside walmart, are you shaking down girl scouts to see there net profit ? I dont want to be that guy who's so anal he pops a blood vessel over the little things. Truth is I bet less then 10% of the vendors out there that pay commission hand out or turn in forms for there locations that collect more than 500.00 a year from the racks we have in their business ?
chada75 Posted June 16, 2013 Posted June 16, 2013 I used Two different Charity Vending Locators to place a total of 15 Machines Three years ago. All but Two are still with me. As for the Charity I was using. Don't sign a contract with them and they don't you excatly what they do and how they work. Many Charities are scams as a whole but there's a few that don't throw away money on high-dollar Salaries and other high-end costs.
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