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The Order Buddy

Check in at the halfway mark.

Most families sell in the last few days, when the deadline finally pulls them away from busy lives. A halfway check gets them moving sooner.

3 min read When: the middle of the sale, and every week Time it takes: about 20 minutes, plus a few texts

Jump to how The Order Buddy does it ↓

The short version

  • Check in every week, at practice or your group meeting.
  • At the halfway mark, find who hasn’t started and who’s behind.
  • Nudge people privately. Don’t post the zeros, and don’t move the close.

Why the sale goes quiet in the middle

We see it in sale after sale: quiet for weeks, then a rush at the end, when families finally set aside their hectic lives and sell. A goal that’s too easy keeps it that way (more on goals). And without last year’s order form, families are left knocking on neighbors’ doors, if another kid hasn’t already, or calling relatives.

Keep a pulse on the sale

On paper, you have no idea who’s selling until the forms come back. So ask. Check in every week at practice or your group meeting, with a quick count for each family. Or have families text you their number every Friday.

At the halfway mark

  1. 1.Check the total against your goal. A little under half is normal. Most sales finish with a rush.
  2. 2.Sort sellers into three piles: ahead, behind and not started. Thank the first. Help the second. Talk to the third.
  3. 3.Ask what’s in the way. Not started usually means a lost form or link, or not knowing who to ask.
  4. 4.Hand out last year’s customers. Give each family its own list of past buyers who haven’t ordered yet.
  5. 5.Send one group update. Celebrate, remind everyone of the close, and leave the date where it is.

Copy this

For a family that hasn’t started (send privately)

Hi [parent]! Quick check-in on the [product] sale. I don’t have any orders for [seller] yet, which usually just means life happened. Need a new form or last year’s customer list? The sale closes [day] at [time].

The one group update

We’re halfway! We’re at [total] of [goal], and a big thank-you to everyone who’s started. The sale closes [day] at [time], and that’s a real deadline.

A quick example

A soccer club with 40 players and a 16-day pizza kit sale checked in at practice every Tuesday. At the halfway mark, 14 players hadn’t started. Two had lost their forms, and most didn’t know who to ask. The coordinator sent each of those families a private note and their list of last year’s customers. By the close, ten of the fourteen had sold, and the last-weekend rush was a little smaller.

How The Order Buddy handles it

With The Order Buddy, you don’t have to wait for the forms or ask for a show of hands. Families enter each order as they take it, so you see the whole sale as it happens: every family’s orders and how far they are from the goal, including the families who haven’t started.

The Unsold Customers list shows everyone who bought from your group in the past two years and hasn’t ordered yet, with the family closest to them. Families see their own list, with an Add order button beside each name.

The coordinator’s Unsold Customers list: past buyers who haven’t ordered yet, each with the closest family, the last seller, the last sale and what they spent.
Unsold Customers: last year’s buyers who haven’t ordered yet, and who’s closest to them.

After the sale, the orders-by-day chart shows how much waited for the last weekend, so next year you’ll know when to push.

What it won’t do is send the nudges for you. They work best coming from someone they know.

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

Your checklist

  • Weekly check-ins planned, at practice or meetings
  • Halfway total checked against the goal
  • Sellers sorted: ahead, behind, not started
  • A private note to every family that hasn’t started
  • Last year’s customers handed out, family by family
  • One group update sent; close date unchanged

All nine steps

  1. 1.Set three dates, and treat the close as a hard stop
  2. 2.Share the work, beyond your coordinator
  3. 3.Give every seller a goal they can see
  4. 4.Kick off with one meeting and one link
  5. 5.Know the risk in every way to pay
  6. 6.Check in at the halfway mark
  7. 7.Close on time and send one clean supplier order
  8. 8.Make pickup day boring
  9. 9.Wrap up and hand next year a head start

Fundraising will always be work. It doesn’t have to be miserable.

$125 per event. You keep what you raise.

or write to info@theorderbuddy.com