Discounts for Charities or Non-Profits??

[thinksigns]

I had a customer come in this morning saying he is doing a golf tournament to raise money to give to a charity that sends doctors to 3rd world countries to perform cleft surgery. He asked if we give discounts for signs like these. We don't. One of our customers puts on a yearly tournament that benefits the local children's hospital and we donate all the signs to it. I explained that we use that tournament as our charitable giving as a company. 2 or 3 years ago I would give a 20% discount for stuff like that, but you always have the ones come in that seem like a scam. How do you guys handle this?

 

[Rick]

I only give or discount to charities that I want to give too, the rest pay retail.

 

[James Burke]

Charge them the regular price, and then donate the cash back to the charity as you see fit. Discounts are a slippery slope, and once one finds out, they'll all be lining up for something.

 

[WrapperX]

A charitable donation is exactly that - its something you shouldn't feel obligated to give. If you support the event then give what you feel is suitable. I kind of feel these things are tricky because once people start to hear that you give out charitable prices for things like this then everyone comes to you for these signs and you make nothing off of them. Granted it could be a gateway to getting other business, assuming these customers aren't only coming around when they need some freebees or discounted pricing. My guess you will only see them when it comes down to their next event.

Tough choice.

 

[bob]

Not only do charities and non-profits, along with churches and any one else with their hand out, not get a discount, they get to pay up front.

'Charity's fine, subscribe to mine...' Fagin in Oliver!

 

[thinksigns]

This guy got mad at the no discount. When I told him I needed an official tax exempt form, not something on a letterhead, he says "you don't make it easy do you?"

I think the quickest way to a discount is to not ask, or come off as you are entitled to one.

 

[jiarby]

If I give you a discount then you may have excess money left and lose your non profit status. It is in your best interest to pay me as much as possible... after all, YOU are the non-profit, NOT ME!

 

[ProWraps]

these non profit jerk offs are a joke. all it means is that they cant profit at the end of the year. which translates to them taking everything as salary.

i dont get a discount from my supplier because you are a non profit so why the f*ck should i give you one? im self employed. im the one starving to make money.

i tell them instantly they pay the same as everyone else. PERIOD.

its funny becuase they throw that "we are a non profit we get a discount" line around like its nothing. to me, its offensive. i dont give a s*!t if you are the pope.

 

[HulkSmash]

I give Charities a 15% discount. I know what it's like because my old man has his own. He has an orphanage/clinic/school in Haiti. He's there a lot doing mission work, and i know that some charities have a hard time keeping up with funding. So yes i give it.

 

[CanuckSigns]

We have a bunch of charities that we give discounts/free work to, they are mostly groups that either have a personal connection to us (my sister has cerebral palsy) or loyal long term customers. we never give discounts to charities off the street just because they ask. One thing to keep in mind is that the non-profit/charity world is very close knit, and if word gets out that you offered a discount to one, the rest will all know about it.

 

[binki]

Most non-profits or charities are not or do not perform to their charter.

For obvious ones that are not we just say no. For everyone else we ask for their Articles of Incorporation. Their business plan for the charitable event. A financial statement outlining the expenses and the net that will go to the charitable effort. Their filing with the State on their charity.

Here in the PRC 90% of funds collected for a charity are supposed to be spent on their stated purpose and within the State. What we find from time to time is these charities have expenses of up to 90% with salaries taking up 40% of their income and very little going to the charity.

 

[cdiesel]

i dont give a shit if you are the pope.

That's awesome! Lol

We give discounts/freebies as we see fit. Very seldom are they given to people who ask for them.

I had a truck driver come in last Friday. We were slammed. We've been slammed, and our typical while you wait service for truck drivers has all but ceased. I saw him pull up, and my secretary came over to tell me he was up front asking for me. I walked over, fully prepared to tell him "sorry, can't help you today". He introduced himself, and mentioned that he noticed we were busy so he wouldn't take much of my time.

Turns out, he wasn't there for truck lettering. He is the captain of the local VFW, and was interested in having us print a 24x36 canvas print of a deceased Buffalo Soldier that they are naming a new American Legion post. He said he didn't have the file with him that day, he was just there to see how much it would run. I told him we'd take care of it for him. I've never seen somebody's eyes tear up so quickly. Those are the people who we help out.

 

[jrsc]

We don't give discounts to charities or non profits. If they are really pushing sometimes we will throw in an upgrade to the product if it doesn't cost us much. It allows you to still make the full amount on the job and also makes it look like you are giving them something (even though it wasn't something they would have purchased in the first place)

A lot of these events have some type of auction and if they are purchasing something from us we will give them something to auction off. It makes them feel like we are helping them out and they have to say our name during the auction for everyone at the event to hear.

 

[anotherdog]

We have our charities that we donate to and other charities that we do work for. The ones we do work for will at best get a break on pricing or free design, but we still make money on the jobs.

The charities we donate to we give cash or on occasion a free banner or big cheque.

There are dozens that walk in the door and hit us each year for free stuff, you have to stick to your guns because most of them are very worthy causes. That said if it was just something like a single print I would throw it on the end of another job...if it was golf hole signs (see a lot of them) I would charge a fair price.

 

[surf city]

If I do do work for a charitable organization, usually I will discount something but, if they come in and ask up front for a discount usually I don't. Their are good people ou there and then there are the jerkoff takers that I can't stand.

 

[CES020]

That's awesome! Lol

We give discounts/freebies as we see fit. Very seldom are they given to people who ask for them.

I had a truck driver come in last Friday. We were slammed. We've been slammed, and our typical while you wait service for truck drivers has all but ceased. I saw him pull up, and my secretary came over to tell me he was up front asking for me. I walked over, fully prepared to tell him "sorry, can't help you today". He introduced himself, and mentioned that he noticed we were busy so he wouldn't take much of my time.

Turns out, he wasn't there for truck lettering. He is the captain of the local VFW, and was interested in having us print a 24x36 canvas print of a deceased Buffalo Soldier that they are naming a new American Legion post. He said he didn't have the file with him that day, he was just there to see how much it would run. I told him we'd take care of it for him. I've never seen somebody's eyes tear up so quickly. Those are the people who we help out.

We did $50 worth of business for a new customer we were trying to get in with. Then they brought me a piece of engraved plastic that had been outside. You couldn't read it, it was in bad shape. It was a memorial for someone that worked there that passed away. She asked me if I could make another one for her. I took the liberty of making one out of Corian, engraved it and painted it. I took to her and told her "No charge, we're all squared away". Took me about 45 minutes, from start to finish. $10 in material.

She's now given me $1000's of dollars worth of work.

 

[binki]

... He is the captain of the local VFW,... Those are the people who we help out.

Yeah, we help our local post out too twice a year. They send packages to troops for Independence Day and Christmas and we act as a collection point and provide hats/shirts that they sell to raise money for the postage. Otto gives them a discount on the hats that are drop shipped to us and we embroider them and give a wholesale price. It is the only operation we have seen where 100% of the donation goes to the project.

 

[bob]

We did $50 worth of business for a new customer we were trying to get in with. Then they brought me a piece of engraved plastic that had been outside. You couldn't read it, it was in bad shape. It was a memorial for someone that worked there that passed away. She asked me if I could make another one for her. I took the liberty of making one out of Corian, engraved it and painted it. I took to her and told her "No charge, we're all squared away". Took me about 45 minutes, from start to finish. $10 in material.

She's now given me $1000's of dollars worth of work.

There's a big difference between bread cast upon the waters and handing out discounts willy-nilly to those that feel that they deserve it because they see themselves as special. I give away all sorts of things but it's always strategic and always on my terms.

 

[CES020]

I agree Bob, I wasn't suggesting anything other than that. They may be running a charity, but I'm not.

 

[Prairieboy]

I don't believe in giving away my work but there are benifets in working with non profit events. With any discounts you give for charity comes your chance to advertise your products. This is a way to bring in more business, any time I have helped out with some promontional signage or printing I Include my Logo and Business information on all items and make sure the organization aknowledges my help at the event. I have seen an increase in calls from people who have attended the event and liked the work. Sure you have people asking for handouts but you can quickly filter them out. The bestform of advertising is getting your product out there so don't be to quick to say no.