Kate (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
float_on_alright) wrote2008-09-05 02:26 pm
float_on_alright) wrote2008-09-05 02:26 pm
Money Matters
My store just finished a month long "book drive" for underprivileged children in the Metrolina's, whatever that means. I suppose that's what they call the Charlotte and the surrounding areas in North and South Carolina, but I've never really been sure, but I do know that the books went to Second Harvest, an organization in the area that helps people in the area who are struggling. My point though isn't anything to do with who gets the books or with whom we're working.
This is how the yearly book drive works. Customers buy a book(s) to be donated, we catalog the price sticker and send the books off to be given away. The price tags enabled us to keep track of which books were donated, etc. Then we donate 5% of our profits from the books that we sell for donation to Second Harvest. Not 5% from our overall profits, 5% from those specific sales. So 95% of the profits from those donated books sales still go to our company. NEWS FLASH this is a ubiquitous big business practice. It's called Cause Related Marketing. I.E. There's a major car company that sets up cars to "test drive". There's a set path to follow, but for every mile put on the cars, they donate $1 to breast cancer research. I won't go into what I've seen of the Susan G. Koman Breast Cancer Foundation, but let me just say that I've been less than impressed with their so called "help" for women fighting breast cancer. But I will get to my point.
Companies advertise that they're doing some good work in the community, aka donating money to cancer or books to needy children, so people see the company saying "look we care, help us help others" what the company is really doing is finding a very easy way to guilt people into buying more of this companies product. Car company has people who wouldn't usually test drive these cars (as this is a fairly pricey brand) driving all the best and most alluring of their vehicles. Then, because the people have to register (you know prove they have a driver's license and such) they have a way to contact them for ages after with more ads about their cars. The money they donate they can use as tax deduction, and they get people to shop. It's brilliant really. People think they are helping by shopping with the company, so the company gains trust from customers, usually gets new ones, and they don't lose any money in the long run.
The manager announced that we did reach the book donation goal but since we were selling mostly bargain books, we didn't meet the monetary sells goal.
This is how the yearly book drive works. Customers buy a book(s) to be donated, we catalog the price sticker and send the books off to be given away. The price tags enabled us to keep track of which books were donated, etc. Then we donate 5% of our profits from the books that we sell for donation to Second Harvest. Not 5% from our overall profits, 5% from those specific sales. So 95% of the profits from those donated books sales still go to our company. NEWS FLASH this is a ubiquitous big business practice. It's called Cause Related Marketing. I.E. There's a major car company that sets up cars to "test drive". There's a set path to follow, but for every mile put on the cars, they donate $1 to breast cancer research. I won't go into what I've seen of the Susan G. Koman Breast Cancer Foundation, but let me just say that I've been less than impressed with their so called "help" for women fighting breast cancer. But I will get to my point.
Companies advertise that they're doing some good work in the community, aka donating money to cancer or books to needy children, so people see the company saying "look we care, help us help others" what the company is really doing is finding a very easy way to guilt people into buying more of this companies product. Car company has people who wouldn't usually test drive these cars (as this is a fairly pricey brand) driving all the best and most alluring of their vehicles. Then, because the people have to register (you know prove they have a driver's license and such) they have a way to contact them for ages after with more ads about their cars. The money they donate they can use as tax deduction, and they get people to shop. It's brilliant really. People think they are helping by shopping with the company, so the company gains trust from customers, usually gets new ones, and they don't lose any money in the long run.
The manager announced that we did reach the book donation goal but since we were selling mostly bargain books, we didn't meet the monetary sells goal.