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Deer Park, WI

Pap's thread a few weeks back about us fishin from the same pond got the ol wheels turning. As in the business world, creativity and innovation are what keep companies financially sound, failure to do so means your competition gobbles you up or your customers lose interest. Same logic applies to running a club/weighoff, we can only assume.

The St Croix Grower's Assoc. has their first auction coming up. I've seen these things generate piles of cash for other groups. Gets me excited we may actually have our prize purse solidified by the end of Feb. However, im pretty fricken concerned that the market has been saturated, meaning our all-star lineup of seeds may not generate the revenue we are depending upon to operate our event. Fear drives creativity and innovation. Creativity and innovation lead to outside-of-the-box ideas to generate income for the long term.

Which has led me to this- Can clubs partner with public gardening retail outlets to sell seed packs as a revenue generator? are there licensing requirements that are necessary to do this? If you club has done something similar, how successful was it? Where can one go to purchase a custom-designed seed display?

I'd like to hear your thoughts and experiences with this concept. I appreciate your input.

1/17/2009 2:06:44 PM

Menomonie, WI ([email protected])

Joe I do not think this would be very hard to do. I have had people send me blank seed packet promotions and the price of printing them. The problem I think would actually selling them and not paying taxes.

1/17/2009 2:25:42 PM

Little-TON - Colorado

Perhaps these four letters makes this difficult to achieve.

USDA.
I googled a bit....this should be an interesting thread......

Dont we have any Lawyer pumpkin growers out there?

1/17/2009 2:37:29 PM

hamilton,Ontario

I think some of the issues with these auctions is there needs to be more seeds at a cheaper price.i was at auction last week and couldnt beleive the amount some of the seeds sold for...so Yeah I think there are lawyers out there that can afford the big money for these......Im all for supporting clubs..heck the amount of support I get on here is beyond belief.i think somebody should freak out one of these auctions with lots of seeds ...random draws..have everyone do an email to a prez..and there is a random draw during the auction.can u imagine how many more people would come on chat if they thought they had a shot at a super seed that is rare....???...I just think its starting to get like golf...Unless u got a lot of big bucks.u aint gettin a great proven seed......just my two cents for what it is worth..............

1/17/2009 4:22:16 PM

Ohio

Joz, please dont take this the wrong way, but your making it sound like your trying to build your club into a empire or something, I thought most clubs just wanted to make a few bucks for prize money for a weigh off, and maybe for a patch tour or club dinner now and then.
Just how much money do you/or clubs really need to make? Is there a limit goal that you set for the club?

How much money would you need to make in a years time to be satisified to be able to cover everything your club needs to do in that year? Since Im not to familiar with what clubs actually make in a years time this is why I ask the question.

1/17/2009 5:59:43 PM

Deer Park, WI

Brooks & others-

As an event organizer, last year i had to put forth $750 of my own personal cash just to cover our measly $3000 prize purse, after our key sponsor backed out last minute. I have yet to recover that personal investment. For all those who have never had the **JOY** of organizing and pulling off a weighoff, i encourage you to walk even a step in the shoes of those who have, the perspective you gain will be worth it.

No offense taken by your post, just trying to tell it like it is. Our event needs about $4000 to cover costs of the site, equip, and prize purse. Right now, as i said, our org. is in the red $750. And your comment is spot on...we simply want to make a few bucks to pull off a good show. Since im just a simple pumpkin grower that wanted a place for upper midwesterners to throw a pumpkin on a scale, I organized a group, found a site, and tried to drum up some sponsorship dollars. Since I am NOT a high-flying PR guy, marketing exec, or wealthy philanthropist, I do not have the skills or resources to put our group in a comfortable position for the long term. Hence, the reason for my post. One may ask then, why bother? Our event is coming up on its 5th year. Each year, we've just barely scraped by with an occasional sponsor here, a helping hand there. Living year to year with this uncertainly wears on one. As any event organizer about their greatest fear. Likely their answer will be the same every time.

For those who look down upon the tactics leaders are using to raise funds, keep in mind that its their leadership that gives each of you a scale to put your pumpkin on and a check to cash at the end of the day.

1/17/2009 9:01:32 PM

Boise City, Oklahoma, USA

Joze, BTDT... I don't want to add up what trying to float a club and our weighoffs cost me out of my own pocket.

I understand the way your post was MEANT, in case the auction doesn't return like you and your club need, you're looking at alternatives.

Retail sales can be tricky, USDA and Dept of AG, as well as others. You need to make sure you have all the legal stuff sorted first, such as incorporating the club as a nonprofit 503c, doing the paperwork, and making sure you have everything proper with anything needed before trying to retail place seeds. I know, it blows wads, it's life.

Clubs are work. Weighoffs are work. Weighoffs are money. (as in they cost to put on) The nonfun parts. I'm agreeing here, we love growing but there's a lot more most don't have to get into or deal with, to provide that support; including keeping that organization (club) together, and doing a weighoff under the guidelines to let us recognize our own and what they accomplished.

As more of us get into growing, as more clubs happen and more weighoffs are born, the need to fund the other side of it will be come more of a concern. And that's what a lot of recent message threads are about; how to keep it happening. 6 pumpkins, 4 prizes, 1 E and 1 'certificate of merit'. Glad it happened. The 4 bigger ones I had were ineligible to encourage others. I'll do that again, if that's what it needs to get more momentum and keep things going.

I want it to happen again. Thanks to lots of generous growers out there, we have the seed to grow. We have growers wanting it. Same hills to climb all over again and they got bigger; to make it happen. (from growers to club to weighoffs).

Maybe we need a new message board; about the nuts and bolts; the legal, the financial, the fundraising, the club mechanics.

Grow'm big in 2009, and may your club hit their goals, and may the weighoffs continue.

1/17/2009 10:07:58 PM

Owensboro, Ky.

Great idea Debra, a club mechanics thread...maybe the GPC could help us here. We started here in Ky. w/ a small silent auction (thanks Burrhead) and have now held two auctions on bp.com. The auctions on bp.com have and will continue to allow our small group to grow. Kudo's to Ken D. and all the participants at all of the auctions!
PS...the exact date of the KGPG '09 weigh off will be posted soonly!!!!

1/18/2009 12:25:00 AM

Ohio

Fair enough statement Joze, now I understand. And thanks for the reply,there is more then meets the eye to what people actually see as far as running a club and there events.

1/18/2009 3:46:04 AM

Buffalo, MN ([email protected])

Joze, I truely understand your funding situation and the work involved to make the weighoff successful. Hopefully the auction will help the financials and the recruiting will bring more volunteers to help with the weighoff.
Selling seeds to the general public would be only a partial
solution. My suggestion would be to also sell through the club growing supplies. You probaly can work something out to resend the orders to Holland or etc. Thanks to the SCGA the last four years.

1/18/2009 7:32:39 PM

That State Up North

Joe

Another idea that you could easily pull off is to co-op with a couple local nurseries and sell the plants in the springtime. Make a nice little stand with pictures and info. Sell the plants for a fair price and include a "free info packet" You could print that up and have them for sale.
Just think if you find 3 good cooperating nurseries with desen't retail traffic you could sell at least 10 plants per and a price of $10-20 depending on the size of the plant
Could bring in an extra $300-600 - pots and potting soil you should add $200-500 to help make ends meet, and over years I am sure you could expand your sales dramatically.
I work with a lot of USDA regulations and it can be "fun", but there are also some ways around things. Declarations of being "not certified seed" don't travel too far or cross boarders with your sales plan. Keep it small, keep it simple. As far as the tax end for your business, depends how you organize your club financials, but it can be worked out.

1/19/2009 10:05:20 PM

Long Island,New York

I think your other club members should get together and sell a few 3-400lbers to get the cash you put out.

1/20/2009 4:52:05 PM