What's Poppin' Edition 2

2018 What's Poppin' Edition 2

Welcome to the 2018 Fall Product Sale (Popcorn and Nuts)

It may seem like Fall is forever away, but it is just around the corner. Just think soon the wonderful buttery aroma of freshly popped corn will be in the air, and your 2018 Council popcorn team has been working hard to have it all ready for you.

Whether this is your first time or your 20 ^th we would like to THANK YOU for making this sale a reality for the youth of your Troop, Pack or Crew. Your efforts help the over 5,000 youth of the Pennsylvania Dutch council here in Lancaster and Lebanon Counties to have the best year of Scouting possible.

To help you through the entire sale we invite you and anyone in your unit that is interested, to follow our What’s Poppin’ Newsletter. This newsletter is our way to communicate with your key dates, reminders and important information regarding the sale, as well as helpful hints and suggestions that allow you to get the most out of your sale.

To make sure that we have the most up-to-date information on you and your unit, please make sure that you have completed a 2018 Popcorn unit commitment. You should have received an email from Trails End, or the LINK can be downloaded here and sent to us. You may also pick up a hardcopy at the office if you would like.

Please, note that you are not alone in this whole process. WE have a dedicated team of volunteers and professionals to support you in your sale. If you have questions at any time, please don’t hesitate to contact any of us. The contact information for each of our key volunteers and professional staff advisors are below. If you aren’t sure where to start, send an email to [email protected] and we will get your question to the correct person.

Thank you again for all that you do to make Scouting great in the Pennsylvania Dutch Council and have a great sale.

2018 Youth Kickoff

Last year we tried a big change in the popcorn kickoff, and it went so well that we will be offering it again. While there will be a separate Leader’s Kickoff on July 25 ^th there is a special kickoff for your members, yes that’s the Scouts. It will be August 8 ^th , at Sky Zone in Lancaster. We will offer a two-hour event. The first hour will be a round robin training by stations. The first hour will cover items like Safety Rules, Making your Sales Pitch, How to Create your Own Personal Trails End Site, What Prizes we are offering and how to earn them. Each Scout will receive a passport when they sign-in at Sky Zone. At each station the Scout will be acknowledged that they were there and once the pass port is filled we have a great activity planned. An hour of Free jumping for the Scout.

Registered Scout families will be sent an invitation email, from the email we have on file. Scouts will need to preregister, as space is limited. There will be multiple sessions to choose from, sessions will fill on a first come first served basis. At each station they will be acknowledged that they were there and then when the passport is filled the Scouts will have an hour in the park. Sky Zone will generously be offering a special deal for families. Any sibling of a Scout will be able to bounce at a reduced fee of $12.00, plus $2.50 for socks for the full 2 hours. Things went so well last year that the Scouts who attended had a gross increase of over $28,000 in sales. So please, start sharing the date with your families now for this great and fun event.

What is your Goal?

What do your Scouts hope to do this coming year? Go to summer camp? Visit a zoo? Go to Philmont? Sleep on a battleship? If you can dream it, you can do it and Popcorn and Nuts can help.

If you know what your unit wants to do, you can easily put together a goal for this year's sale. We often get the comment when Unit Kernels submit their Unit Commitment Form , "I don't know what my goal should be."

At your unit planning conference did you determine your unit budget for the year? That is the first step. If you don’t know what you are going to spend, you don’t know what you need to raise. There is a program planning sheet available for anyone on the council website under popcorn forms, one for Packs and one for Troops. It helps to show you what your unit needs might be, and how the fall sale can help you offset those costs you need to operate.

Can your Scouts sell the average amount of popcorn and nuts sold across the Council? We bet they can! On average a Scout sells between 8 and 14 items! We bet with encouragement every Scout can sell at least 10 items. This automatically creates $100.00 or more in sales, which means at least $32.00 directly to your unit.

To help you reach your goal make sure each Scout sets an individual goal. Be sure to use the prizes to show them what they can achieve. Help them to stretch, but be realistic as well. Last year nearly 100 Scouts throughout the council sold $1000 or more of product, and 19 sold over $2750 of product. Make sure your parents understand this will help reduce their out-of-pocket expenses and even more importantly, how learning to help pay their way is an important part of a Scout being thrifty. One last note, units who set goals and have their youth set personal goals, even if they don’t reach them, wind up having better sales than units that do not. Good luck!

Unit Kickoff

You are committed to the Fall Product Sale. Your unit Committee has come up with a program plan for the year and determined a budget to make it all come true. What’s the next step for having a successful sale? Why it’s having a great kickoff to get the Scouts and their parents behind it.

The Unit Kickoff is one of the most important parts of a successful sale. Kickoffs should be scheduled for one of the unit’s first meetings in August or September. Kickoffs can happen as early as July 26 ^th , (the night after the Council Kickoff), or later in September if the unit is only going to participate in Take Order and/or Online Sale.

Objectives are:

o Emphasize what the Scouts will receive for hitting their goal; prizes, Scouting programs, camp, etc.

o Get Scouts and families excited! Consider using some of the Unit’s commissions to offer additional incentives that your Scouts really want.

Tips for a Successful Kickoff

o Provide plenty of popcorn and snacks and make it exciting for your sales team-The Scouts.

o Review the year’s Scouting Program calendar and explain to the families how the entire program can be funded with one fundraiser: The Popcorn and Nut Sale.

o Determine how much product you will need to sell to reach your goal:

Communicate the Unit’s sales goal and each Scout’s sales goal. Have the Scouts write their personal goals on the Take Order Forms.

o Show the Scouts what prizes they can earn by hitting their sales goal.

o Have a prize for the top seller in the Unit and/or each Den/Patrol (Ticket to local amusement park, a video game, gift cards, etc.)

o Review the Prize and Scholarship Program and all the Council Level Incentives ($1000 Club, $1,500 Club, $2,000 Club, $2,750 Club, $3,500 Club and Free weeks at camp)

o Role-play with the Scouts on how to sell.

o Review sales materials and key dates.

o Do a skit or fun activity to get the boys trained and excited about the sale, and to teach them about safety when selling.

o Sample agendas are included in the Unit Leader’s Guide

During the gathering period, have a popcorn display and samples. Use the pictures taken at camp to create a collage of activities the unit participated in last year and what you want to do this year. Have a poster with the Scout’s names and a place for them to write in their goals.

Reserve the Popcorn Popper

o The Council has a Popcorn Machine that units can reserve for their kickoff at no cost

o Kernels, oil, and bags are provided. (each pack serves about 10 people)

o You can submit a request to reserve the Popcorn Popper by visiting www.padutchbsa.org/popcorn/

o To check on availability, contact Leisha at [email protected]

Reserve the Prize Table

o This year the Kernel Team is happy to share a selection of prizes from the Prize Mania Prize Program that you can display at your kickoff

o Being able to see some of the prizes that the Scouts can earn helps to build excitement and to set goals

o The unit is responsible for any prizes that are missing or broken

o You can submit a request to reserve the prizes by visiting www.padutchbsa.org/popcorn/

o To check on availability, contact Leisha at [email protected]

Council Popcorn Machine

The popcorn machine is available for units to borrow for their Kickoff and Show and Sell Events this fall! It’s a great way to help generate excitement for the sale!! You can obtain the form from Leisha, [email protected] to schedule the use of it. Machine use is on a first come first served basis. As long as the machine is being used as part of your sale there is no fee. Use of the machine includes corn and oil packets, the first 5 packets are free. Additional packets are available at $1.00 each. Each packet feeds approximately 10 people. Please be sure to clean the machine before returning. If you would like to use the machine for other events there is a small cost.

Past Issues

Missed a “What’s Poppin’” or accidentally deleted it. Don’t worry. There is an archive of past issues on the Council Website. Just go to http://padutchbsa.org/popcorn/whats-poppin/ , look at the menu on the left hand side and click on “What’s Poppin’,” and pick the issue you are looking for.