No More Free Yarn

No More Free Yarn

It’s September, and the local yarn stores (LYS) in the region where your company has its dyestudio have scheduled their annual yarn crawl. As a nationally-known dyer whose skeins are snapped up the minute you update your online store and are traded eagerly in a secondary market on Ravelry’s ISO/Destash yarn board, of course you’re going to donate a sweater’s quantity of your flagship MCN worsted for the Grand Prize Raffle basket to be awarded to the lucky ticket holder at the end of the crawl. Aren’t you?

Or it’s May, and carnival time at your kid’s school. You’re going to put together a fabulous prize basket for the silent auction, aren’t you? Or it’s whenever, and this non-profit arts organization, as well as that one, is depending on your donation to make their particular benefit gala extra-lucrative. You run a successful company, and everyone knows that a successful company has an obligation to give back to the community, so of course you’re going to contribute to every worthy cause that solicits a donation from you. Aren’t you?

Well, what’s really in it for you? You are actually allowed to consider that question before agreeing to requests for free yarn. Donating your product as a prize or as a reward to serve as incentive for others to make a donation can be a great way to get exposure for your company and engender goodwill in your community. But the fit has to be right, and, as a small-business owner, your charitable donations can’t cut into your bottom line.

no more free yarn

Additionally, what if it’s not exactly a charitable donation, like the raffle basket for the yarn crawl? This is a group of for-profit businesses who have joined forces in a promotional event designed to increase business for all of them. Your donation is helping them sell tickets for the yarn crawl; i.e., increase their customer base. There’s no tax advantage for you, so it’s important for you to decide how valuable that donation will be to your business. What factors should you consider?

First, ask yourself this: are any of the LYSes on the crawl your stockists? If your yarn is already available for purchase in the area, you may not need to introduce it via the raffle basket. If you’re looking at the donation as a way to break into retail outlets in a particular region, go ahead and make the donation. In fact, you may want to find out whether there’s a yarn crawl in an area into which you want to expand and approach them first. It can be a step to getting your product into an LYS.

But maybe you have national distribution and as many retail outlets as you can currently handle. You may be getting the yarn crawl request from 50 different regions a year. You can’t honor all of them, but you don’t want to offend your existing business relationships. You want to have clear criteria that you can point to when you are approached for a donation. A set policy simplifies your decision-making and clear procedures allow you to weed out requests that don’t follow the guidelines. Set your parameters and stick to them:
Choose the number of donations your company will make each year. Don’t go over it.
Set a cycle for requests. Accept them for a limited period, make your decisions, send your donations, and you’re done for the year. Answer any out-of-cycle requests by pointing them to the guidelines. People can learn to follow them if they really want something from you.
Consider making a commitment to one or two organizations and choose the others by a lottery. In the case of the yarn crawl prize, maybe you commit to your local LYS crawl, and a couple others each year from around the country. You’re not saying “no” forever, but you maintain a reputation for supporting your community while extending your brand. It may even create a bit of a buzz for your company.
Counter-offer. Know that you’re going to be asked to give the moon, or its equivalent in luxury hand-dyed yarn. Offer to give the stars, which may be three skeins of your staple base worsted-weight wool or whatever you determine a reasonable donation to be. They’re not going to refuse it.

Now, how do you say “no” gracefully? If you have set up solicitation guidelines and posted them on your website, your refusal becomes easier. You could even automate responses, especially for the requests that come in off-cycle. But keeping it personal can help maintain relationships that you want to keep. Here’s a template for a polite refusal:

Dear (Group Asking for Free Yarn)

Thank you for thinking of (Your Company). We have received your request for a donation of (Your Product) to be offered as a (Grand Prize) in the (Greater Valley Hills Yarn Crawl). What a great group of shops! We know it will be a lot of fun.
Each year, we receive many requests for such donations. We always support (Your Local Yarn Crawl) and choose two other Yarn Crawls from around the country. To enter the lottery for 2017, please submit your request via (this link) by the specified date.
We hope to hear from you and wish you luck in getting one of our donation slots for 2017.

Sincerely,

(Your Name)
(Your Company)

Or, for the counter-offer:

Dear (Group Asking for Free Yarn)

Thank you for thinking of (Your Company). We have received your request for a donation of (Your Product) to be offered as a (Grand Prize) in the (Greater Valley Hills Yarn Crawl). What a great group of shops! We know it will be a lot of fun.
Production demands for (Your High-End Luxury Yarn) prevent us from being able to donate the quantity you requested at this time. We can offer you (quantity) of (product) or (quantity) of (alternate product). Please let us know your preference and we will send it out in time for (Their Event).

Sincerely,

(Your Name)
(Your Company)

There now, that wasn’t so bad, was it? You don’t have to apologize to be polite. You’re not going to offend anyone, and trust us, they will ask again.

If you found this advice helpful, we have lots more ideas for your craft-based business. Contact Leanne@stitchcraftmarketing.com to find out what else we can help you do.

No Comments

Post A Comment