Don’t run the sale alone.

Why coordinators burn out

Coordinators come and go. Most don’t quit over one bad day. They quit because they did it all, every year, alone. And every count had to be right.

Meanwhile, lots of parents say “let me know if you need anything.” They mean it. They just don’t know what to do. So give them something small.

Let the coordinator lead

The coordinator keeps the big calls: the dates, the supplier, the questions and the final count. They usually run pickup day too. Almost everything else can be handed off.

Small jobs for helpful parents

Make a short list before the kickoff. Each job gets one name, one date, and takes an hour or two at most.

• •Send reminder texts to five or six families.
• •Collect forms and money at practice.
• •Run the table at the kickoff meeting.
• •Count cases with the driver on delivery day.
• •Sort the piles by family on pickup day.
• •Help count the money each week.

Ask people one at a time, for one job. A group text asking for “help” gets silence. “Can you count cases on the 14th?” gets a yes.

Let the treasurer own the money

Most of the treasurer’s work is before and after the sale. Before: what the group needs, what it costs, and the goal. After: check the money, pay the supplier on time, and make the deposit.

Making a deposit sounds easy, until you hand a teller 450 checks. Many small youth group accounts cap how many checks you can deposit in a week. Ask your bank before the sale, and spread the deposits out if you need to. Find out when your supplier needs paying, and have the money in the bank by then.

Give each job a backup

Give the coordinator and the treasurer each a backup. A backup knows where it all is: the supplier’s phone number, the order spreadsheet, the job list and the money. Keep it in the group’s shared folder, not on one laptop. Then a sick day, or a new face next year, doesn’t start from zero.

Put the coordinator’s and treasurer’s names in your kickoff message. Sale questions go to one, and money questions go to the other.

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A quick example

A band boosters coordinator kept the supplier and the dates for their cookie dough sale, and handed out six jobs at the kickoff. Two parents sent the reminder texts. One collected forms at practice. Two counted at the truck, and three sorted piles at pickup. The treasurer called the bank first. The account took 100 checks a week, so 380 checks went in over four weeks, and the supplier got paid on time. When the coordinator got the flu on pickup week, her backup had the spreadsheet. Nothing stopped.

How The Order Buddy handles it

With The Order Buddy, families enter their own orders as they take them. Nobody spends a night typing up forms, and the totals add themselves up.

Your group can have more than one coordinator, too. Add them in your group’s settings. Each one sees every seller, every order and every report, so a helper can step in any day. Families only see their own.

For the money side, every order shows how it was paid, or that it hasn’t been. The reports show paid or not for every customer. Want to take cards? We can set that up for your sale. Fees may apply.

After the sale, Insights keeps every sale’s numbers, so next year starts with last year’s, not a blank sheet.

What it won’t do is make the deposit. That trip to the bank is still on you.

Want to see it on your own sale? Request a demo, or read straight answers on how it works.

Your checklist

• A short list of small jobs, each with one name and a date
• The coordinator and treasurer clear on who owns what
• Bank asked about check deposit limits
• Supplier payment date known, and the deposits planned around it
• A backup for each, with everything in a shared folder
• Both names in the kickoff message