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Holiday Wreath Sale 2023

Table of Contents

The Holiday Wreath Sale Tradition

The annual holiday wreath sale is our primary fundraising event for Troops 57 and 4057 of Palo Alto. This activity gives scouts a great learning and entrepreneurial experience, and the annual sale provides a significant portion of the operating budget for our Troops. The money is used for supplies, travel expenses and equipment for all the outings, as well as other scouting needs such as scholarships for families that might need assistance. 

We expect each scout and family to participate in helping us meet our goal. As in prior years, we are asking all scouts to commit to selling at least 18 wreaths, and there are great prizes for those who go above and beyond. The good news is that this is a longstanding tradition within the Palo Alto community, with friends and neighbors often eagerly awaiting to purchase their annual wreath (or several wreaths!), so scouts will typically find this a very positive selling experience — and a great way to engage with their neighborhood.

KEY DATES – Timeline for Sales and Activities

  • Oct 7 – Holiday Wreath Sale kick-off
  • Oct 18 – Preliminary wreath estimates due from scouts (to be entered on shared Google sheet)
  • Nov 10 – Final wreath commitments due from scouts (i.e. number of wreaths you will be picking up, minimum 18)
  • ~ Nov 27 – Wreaths arrive, wreath pick-up by scouts for delivery to their customers (exact date to be confirmed)
  • Nov 28 – Dec 2 – Scouts deliver wreaths to their customers
  • Dec 2 – Sidewalk sale
  • Dec 4 – Deadline to turn in all wreath funds to the Troop

 Prizes!

Each scout is expected to commit to selling at least 18 wreaths. If you are ambitious and a real go-getter, there are some great prizes to be awarded to the top sellers:

$200 gift card for selling more than 150 wreaths!!

$150 gift card for selling more than 120 wreaths

$90 gift card for selling more than 78 wreaths

$60 gift card for selling more than 60 wreaths

$40 gift card for selling more than 48 wreaths

$30 gift card for selling more than 36 wreaths

$15 gift card for selling more than 30 wreaths

$10 gift card for selling more than 24 wreaths

*Note: Maximum 1 prize per scout

How to Sell Wreaths – Tips and Tricks

The best way to sell a LOT of wreaths is through pre-sales! We know it may seem early to be asking about holiday wreaths, but we know the community loves to support scouting. The Palo Alto community looks forward to our annual sale, and most neighbors would rather buy a holiday wreath from a scout than from a grocery store. Middle of October to early November before Thanksgiving is the best time to sell wreaths — and remember, it’s always easier when you’re the first one selling in the neighborhood!

Visiting your local neighborhood and knocking on doors will often result in several sales every block. Remember to wear your “Class A” uniform, and represent your troop well by being courteous and respectful whenever you are selling wreaths.

For your own safety and to support our Troops’ policies, please remember the following “Do’s and Don’ts”:

  • Do have a buddy
  • Do wear your full Class A uniform.
  • Don’t open gates to get to the houses’ doors.
  • Don’t enter anyone’s house… politely decline if invited in. 
  • Don’t approach dogs or enter yards with dogs.

Calling or emailing your friends, family, neighbors, and parents’ co-workers are also great ways to get sales. 

Be sure to track your selling efforts carefully. Most scouts who perform well build a well-organized spreadsheet that captures names, email address, phone numbers, street addresses, number of wreaths purchased, total amount due (each wreath = $30), delivery date, and date of payment collection. Also, it’s very useful to leave a “receipt” with each customer with your name and the expected delivery date. In prior years, we’ve received calls from customers who hadn’t received their wreaths and couldn’t remember from which scout they had purchased — a simple receipt helps avoid this issue, and also helps you build a strong client list for future years.

To assist your selling efforts, we have several sales tools available:

Sales Flyer template

Email template

Customer tracking list template

Customer receipt template

Wreath Forecast and Commitment

In order to help with our planning and logistics, we will need each scout to submit a forecast for the number of wreaths they are expecting to sell. There will be a shared google sheet available, and more details will be provided by email.

The preliminary forecast is due on Nov 10. This will give everyone a couple weeks of pre-selling time and a chance to review their prior customer list (if they sold in the past) to determine their target. The minimum quantity for all scouts is 18, and please keep in mind the prize levels… selling 24 or 30 (or maybe 36!) isn’t that far away!  For the preliminary forecast, it is really helpful for all scouts planning to sell more than 18 (and especially those going for the top prizes) to give an estimate so that we can reserve those wreaths.

The final committed quantity is due on Nov 10. This is the number that will be used for the pickup quantity after Thanksgiving, and scouts will be responsible for submitting payment for this quantity (# of wreaths x $30) by Dec 4. We cannot guarantee availability of any additional wreaths beyond this number, so please make sure you are covered for all of your customers.

Picking Up Your Wreaths

Our truckload of wreaths will arrive the week after Thanksgiving, and we will need several parent and scout volunteers to help with unloading and distributing to the individual scouts. Look for future emails with details for this.

Later that day and the next, scouts and parents will pick up their wreaths. There will be a signup sheet circulated beforehand for time slots in the afternoon and early evening. Parents will drive up to the Scout House (Fire Circle Gate) on the circle drive and volunteers will load the wreaths into the cars. It usually only takes a few minutes per scout.

Bows

Before delivery to customers, Scouts will attach a red bow to each wreath. We are excited to once again be hosting our traditional in-person bow-tying party this year where we pre-tie the bows for the wreaths. This is expected to take place on Thursday Nov 16 6-9pm at the ScoutHouse – look for more details by email. All families are asked to send at least one adult to help tie bows. Scouts will receive a batch of bows when they pick up their wreaths. Scouts will be responsible for attaching bows before delivery to their customers. 

In preparation for our bow-tying event, here is a video on how to tie a wreath bow:

Delivery to Customers

Scouts are responsible for final delivery of wreaths to their customers. Ideally, wreaths are delivered within a few days of pickup from the Scout House when they are nice and fresh and your neighbors are starting their holiday decorating. We strongly encourage all customer deliveries to be made by Saturday Dec 2, if not sooner. Customers will want to display their wreaths prominently in time for the holidays.

Money Collection

All wreaths are $30, and scouts are responsible for collecting money directly from their customers.  Most scouts collect the money upfront at the time of pre-sale. This typically works fine and most neighbors are comfortable with this. 

Ideally, scouts will collect individual customer payments by cash, check made out to the scout or scout parents, or digital payment to the scout or scout parents (e.g. paypal, venmo, etc) — and the scout family will then submit a single payment for the full amount for all wreaths to the troop by check (payable to “Troops 57 & 4057 of Palo Alto”) or digitally (look for more details by email). If individual customers want to pay by check payable to “Troops 57 & 4057 of Palo Alto”, that is also fine and you can submit those checks as part of the total due to the troop.

At the time of wreath distribution at the Fire Circle, scouts will receive a payment envelope that shows the number of wreaths, total amount due, and instructions on submitting the troop payment. 

Here are some other important details and important reminders:

  • Do not submit cash to the troop. Any cash received from individual customers should be converted to check or digital deposit by the scout family.
  • Please make sure that all checks for the troop are payable to “Troops 57 & 4057 of Palo Alto”.  Our bank is really strict on this, so checks made out to a different payee will be returned to the scout family to resolve.

The deadline for submitting wreath collection funds to the troop is Monday, Dec 4.

Sidewalk Sale

We plan to hold a Sidewalk Sale on Saturday, Dec 2 to sell any remaining inventory of wreaths. We’ll be at the usual spot on Waverley near Embarcadero. This will be staffed and managed by senior scouts. 

Holiday Wreath Sale FAQ

Is there an option to “opt-out” with a flat donation? 

No. Since we are able to resume in-person selling, we are expecting all scouts to participate and sell a minimum of 18 wreaths. 

What if I need more wreaths after the pickup date? 

If you need more wreaths before Saturday, Dec 2, please contact us and we will provide what we can from the remaining inventory.  After the Sidewalk Sale, you will need to reach out to other scouts to see if you can buy wreaths from them. 

I gave some of my wreaths to another scout. Do I still need to pay the troop for those wreaths?

YES, YES, YES. If you give wreaths to another scout, please make sure you collect money from them (as though they are one of your customers) so that you can submit your full payment to the troop. The troop is expecting you to submit payment for all wreaths you picked up.

Can I sell my wreaths online (e.g. Nextdoor)? 

In fairness to other scouts and to help promote engagement within our neighborhoods, we ask that you do not sell online prior to Sunday, Dec 3.

Any other questions?

Contact us at wreathsales@troop57.net.