"how much actually goes to the charity?"

[chad]

well I knew I would eventually get asked that question. A lady asked me that today in this one location where they have a sign up saying that procedes from this machine go to NCCS.

Do you sometimes feel guilty about using the charity as a sales pitch? I think most of us here that use charity stickers really play up the that the machine is sponsored by a charity even though we only give $1 for each machine.

Do you tell the poeple at the location how much you give or do you dance around the question?

[caserri]

Chad,

Here is a re-post from a few months ago.

Hope this helps!

Steve

Any bulk vendor who places machines using a charity will someday be asked this very common question. We all want to do our part in supporting our chosen charity but at the same time, we are still a "for profit" business. So whats the best way to handle this delicate question?  Allow me to tell how I deal with it when it arises.

First off, When seeking locations, I always immediately push the charity aspect. I try to represent myself as a partner of the charity as much as possible. I always go in equipped with informational flyers and such explaining what the charity does and who it helps. That almost always leads to the inevitable question of "How much goes to this charity?"

I explain to them that 100% of my machines are placed for charity purposes. Now I know what you are thinking, It sounds deceiving but bear with me. The 100% line is just an attention getter although it happens to be the truth, ALL my machines ARE placed under the intent of generating royalties for the charity.

Then, if needed, I go into actual numbers. Here is where it gets fun. Instead of telling the locations that $1.00 per month goes to the charity (or whatever your particular donation is) try the following approach. Figure out how much money you will be giving to the charity on a yearly basis. For example, I run over 600 machines, All of which are placed for charity. I can tell a location that I give $1.00 a month to the charity OR I can tell them how much my machines, as a whole, will generate for the charity.

600 machines X $1.00 = $600.00 X 12 months = $7,200.00. To me, that sounds more impressive than saying $1.00 a month. If you don't have 600 machines, you can still use the same formula and tailor it to suit your needs. Another avenue you can go down is to use the "GOAL" method. this works well for those of you how have only a handful of machines.

The GOAL method is simply telling your location what your goal is by year end. Simply set a goal amount that you would like to donate. say for example you set it at $1,000.00. Tell your locations, when they ask, that you have a yearly goal of $1000.00 and to achieve that you have to place 83 machines or "X" number of remaining machines if you don't want to disclose how many it takes to achieve your goal. That way they know that the machine you put in their location will count towards that 83. $1,000.00 a year sounds much better than $1.00 a month.

Bottom line is, always consider your fleet as a whole when you are asked this question. There is no reason why you have to tell the location how much of just their machine will go to the charity. Instead tell them how much you (all machines) will be able donate with their help.

Another great line to use is right on my website. It is based on facts given by the charity. "The revenue we receive from our bulk machines help us to do our part in raising over $500,000.00 each year for this worthy cause." This line is written right on the promotional flyer supplied by the charity. See the BULK page on my website to see how I use it to answer the "how much" question. It can be found on my website at http://www.caserrivending.com.

This is how I answer the question. I have had great results with it. I hope you find it useful.

Steve

[LInksthorbiz]

Very helpful.  When asked about how much a charity gets.

[mississippizip]

In thinking about this, I remembered looking at a bottled water in Starbucks that raises money to provide water in 3rd world countries. For a bottled water that I believe cost over $1.50, the fine print on the back says it donated 10 cents per bottle. I'd say percentage wise - most of you are donating roughly the same amount.

It's not wrong to take pay for your time. If the charity were doing this, they pay someone to go around and collect. Granted you are making more than they would be paid, but that's not really the issue.

[caserri]

Another point to consider is that we all, well with the exception of a few of us, are "For Profit" businesses. We choose to give a certain percentage of our profits to our chosen charity. There seems to be a common misconception in the public that we should exist solely to generate revenue for the charity. That is simply not the case.

If I am asked about this, I now tell locations what percentage of gross goes to the charity. Assuming I average $15.00 per month on a machine and pay $1.50 for the charity sticker, I can comfortably say that we give 10% of the proceeds to the charity. Granted, most of the time that is met with disdain due to the misconception stated above. When I get the negative remarks I simply tell them that I am not aware of any other "for profit"  business in the area that gives 10% of their annual gross revenue to charity. That includes the location I am speaking with so they usually see it my way after that. If not, there is always commission!  It's amazing how some locations balk at the amount you give to a charity but are more than happy to accept that money themselves and deprive your charity all together.

Steve

[G-man422]

I give 15% of gross, and I feel that is very fair.  If the location feels otherwise, I find a different one.

[pinkbeats]

WoW!!! That was extremely helpful!!! Thanks!!

[novacane]

well I knew I would eventually get asked that question. A lady asked me that today in this one location where they have a sign up saying that procedes from this machine go to NCCS.

Do you sometimes feel guilty about using the charity as a sales pitch? I think most of us here that use charity stickers really play up the that the machine is sponsored by a charity even though we only give $1 for each machine.

Do you tell the poeple at the location how much you give or do you dance around the question?

 

 

   So what did you tell her Chad?

[chad]

haha....well thats been several months ago now but I told her something along the lines of that they receieve lots of money through the vending program and things like that. I never directly answerred her question. She wasnt satisfied with that answer.  Shortly after that I got a call from her telling me to come get the machine. She got on the NCCS website and seen it was only $1 a month.

When I went to get it she started telling me how it was misleading with the charity and I told her that we give the charity what they want. They are happy with $1 a month per machine and that it all adds up to a very nice amt of money per year for them. She still made me take it. It wasnt a very good location anyway.

She caught me off guard when she asked me that. I was still very new and didnt have to answer that question yet. I know i wasnt very smooth in answerring her and probably seemed suspicious,lol. Thats why she got on the website. But really, we give the charity what they want so I dont feel bad about it.

[dperry]

You can also ask the location how much they give to charity?  Ask them how much they themselves would consider giving to charity from their own business.  Would they give 100% of their income from their business to charity?  What about 10%?  Would that be more agreable?  Most candy machines are lucky to get $10/mo from any location.  At $1 per sticker, that's 10% of the income from the machine going to the charity.

You can also point out to them that 1) you are donating the equipment at no cost to the charity, 2) you are donating the product at no cost to the charity, 3) you are donating your time and gas at no cost to the charity.

You can also say that whenever a location owner like themselves agrees to assist the charity in this way, that allows you to give even more to the charity that you could not normally have done.

[pinkbeats]

LOL Wow that's coldblooded!!!  She made you pick it up???!!!  So I know what NOT to do!!     Thanks for sharing!!