Halloween Candy Buy Back 2007

FINAL NEWSLETTER

We have some fantastic suggestions for planning next year's HCBB event:

1. Overestimate for goody bags and give-aways!  More kids will come next year than this year, and even more the year after that!  It is better to be overprepared for the throngs of candy donors than to run out of supplies unexpectedly.
2. Have your shipping boxes ready and waiting. The candy can be dumped into them right away rather than transferred at a later time.  This makes it much easier on you and your staff!  And the kids can see how much others have given and how their own donations will be sent.  You'll get shock factor, trust me!  
3. Find a local business to donate boxes to the cause! You can offer to promote THEIR name with your event, and we don't hear "no" a lot when we tell people what our cause is. Also, same-size boxes are MUCH easier to pack up and send. 
4. Ask as many local businesses as you can toco-sponsor the event with donation of coupons, samples, etc.  Do this as early as possible.  Don't wait for them to find you!  You have to cold-call or stop in, then follow up once or twice, and finally stop by to pick up the donations.  Make sure to mention that you will be promoting them to all these families and through the media in exchange for their generosity. 
5. Send a personalletter of appreciation to all your sponsors along with pictures of the event, your business card, and even a great offer for their employees. 
6. Make sure your patients know what you are doing! From sending out a short letter to your active patient database to letting it all take place in your office while patients are waiting, your patients will appreciate what you are doing and hopefully bring their own children in.
7. Cash donations are always welcome! Ask your favorite banks or credit unions to chip in to help defray those expensive shipping costs.  You want to be the fun collection center, not the entire factory! 
8. Find out if major distributors, like the vendors you buy your dental supplies from, will donate toothbrushes, toothpaste, and dental floss for the soldiers!  They will need it after eating all the candy you send.  You can be sure that business people will see the value in donating for this terrific, popular cause.  Make it a community event!
9. At least one office provided a big card for children to sign for the troops.  What a great idea this is, and how easy would it be to set up a small table with posterboard and markers?  Or find some inexpensive, blank cards that the kids can write their own message in.  This creates fun for small children and will win big points with the soldiers.  Just think of the servicemen and -women who open a package with a card like this!  Make their day brighter and their jobs a little easier with a heartfelt greeting from home.  Make color copies if you are sending multiple boxes.         

Dr. Stephen Markus, from the office that collected 5,200 pounds of candy, 
also shared some wonderful suggestions for success:

• First of all, a dollar a pound could have been very expensive.  I have a friend who got hit heavily by a local "service" club that used his money as their fund raiser.  Go to a local Radio Shack or Best Buy and ask them to donate an inexpensive mp3 player or two.
• Notify the PTA or school nurses of all local schools, with a letter, about a month ahead of time.
• Send an e-mail blast to all your patients using Smile Reminder or other such service.
• Start compiling a list of all local media sources.  Put the names in an Excel spreadsheet.  Copy and paste about 35 names at a time to the BCC line of your email and then attach a press release.  We had TV crews at the office 4 times in one week!  Keep sending different press releases out as the event progresses.
• Be sure you're open at night a few times before your cut off date for collection, and your office is staffed by at least one person during that time.  Next year Halloween will be on Friday night, so you're going to have to plan ahead to have your office staffed on Saturday, which should be an incredible day for collection or for a radio station to hold a live remote from your office.  In fact, this might be a good idea to get rolling about 4 months ahead of time, and get a station behind the campaign.

We received this letter from Carolyn at Operation Gratitude to share it with all of you: