Selling Christmas Cards

In addition to all the excellent advice already offered, check out www.cardsforgoodcauses.org

They have a sophisticated operation selling cards for many charities. IIRC they have a number of main charities in all their shops, and scope to allow some local charities to participate at each location.

However, if you sell into this market, you'll be competing on price and quality - people who want to buy your cards will want to buy them directly from you.

You should also be aware that this is not a goldmine - I know it looks like easy money, but it's risky, capital intensive and hard work, and the margins are pretty tight!

Cheers

Gerry

Gerry Beldon FInstF
Director, 26-01 CIC
www.26-01.com

Charity Christmas cards often have two target audiences - corporate supporters and individual.

Companies are usually offered and charged for an overprinting option to enable them to place their logo and message inside the card which they send to their customers, partners, distributors etc.

Individuals usually buy the standard non-personalised Christmas cards.

It's worth knowing if you'll be expected to sell to both markets because they'll need different approaches.

Martin's right: work outwards from your existing supporters. Promote the Christmas cards to them first (and August is no bad time, based on the arrival of other charity's Christmas catalogues). Use your charity's newsletter, website, social networking sites etc; sell them at any events your charity runs or attends; advertise them in the window of your office or shops (if you run charity shops); encourage your local supporter groups to sell them at their events etc.

And promote them to your corporate supporters too, even if you can't offer the overprinting option.

You'll get a much better response from these supporters than hawking cards round local shops.

Have a look at the Association of Charity Shops to see if they offer any more advice on this:

www.charityshops.org.uk

People is the simple answer.

Your trustees, your staff, your volunteers, your supporters.
If you or they know shopkeepers, maybe strike some sort of deal with them (sale or return) perhaps.
But the cheapest and by far the easiest is your own people that already know your charity.
They are your salesforce.