Hello Troop 410,

The troop successfully concluded Phase 1 of our popcorn fundraiser, which is selling popcorn in front of supermarkets and delivering the popcorn right on the spot. The boys earned credit towards their $200 minimum based on the total sales for the sale they attended divided by the number of hours they worked at the sale. One scout, Luke S, earned $248 credit at his sale! (Other scouts who sold at the Show N Sells can see me at the meeting to learn how much credit they earned).

We are now ready to kick off Phase 2 which is our traditional sale where the boys take orders for popcorn that will be delivered in November. To meet the troop’s anticipated 2015/2016 funding needs, each scout will need to sell a minimum of $200 in popcorn. Families with religious or other objections to selling popcorn, or families that don’t reach the $200 requirement can meet their funding requirement with a $125 per child donation to the troop instead, but we discourage this option. (More about this later). $200 may seem like a difficult amount of popcorn to sell, but I assure you it is easily attainable. With the popcorn priced between $10-$55 per container, it doesn’t take too many sales to meet the quota. My son usually averages $250 a year in sales with very little effort (believe me!), and our popcorn champ last year sold over $900! Many boys in the troop sold between $250 and $700 last year so we know $200 is attainable for all. To ease the burden for families with multiple boys in the troop, each additional child after the first is required to sell $50 less. So a family with three boys in the troop would have a household requirement to sell $450 in popcorn. ($200 + $150 +$100).

Regarding prizes for selling popcorn, we learned from other troops that when it comes to selling popcorn, boys become most motivated when they can pick their own individual prizes. Nothing is more individual than cash! As we did last year, in lieu of physical prizes we are offering cash bonuses to boys who sell above the minimum $200 sales quota. We tried it last year and it was WILDLY successful as a motivator. Here’s how it works:

The profit that the troop earns on the first $200 sold by each scout will all go to the troop. There will be no prizes for just selling the minimum. But here’s where it gets interesting. For every dollar your boy sells past the $200 minimum, the troop will split the profit from that sales dollar 50/50 with the scout!!

Example:

Note: The troop’s profit on each sales dollar is around 40 cents. The chart below shows how much money in bonuses a scout could earn by working hard at selling popcorn.

Scout Sells	Profit	Scout Gets
$200	$80	$0
$250	$90	$10
$300	$100	$20
$350	$110	$30
$400	$120	$40
$450	$130	$50
$500	$140	$60
$550	$150	$70
$600	$160	$80

As you can see, with some concentrated effort, your son can really support his troop and earn some nice green in the process! And those who participated at the Show N Sells are that much closer to earning commissions!!

I WILL BE HANDING OUT SALES FORMS AT TOMORROW’S MEETING. PLEASE TRY TO MAKE THE MEETING SO YOU CAN GET A FORM AND BEGIN SELLING. THE LAST SELLING DAY IS WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 28, AND ALL ORDERS ARE DUE AT THE OCTOBER 28TH MEETING (OUR NEXT COURT OF HONOR). No money is due at that time; you will collect the money when you deliver the popcorn in November. The sale lasts for 3 weeks, and that time goes by QUICKLY, so please have your son start selling soon!

Please also read the document attached to this e-mail that explains the Top Nine Reasons Your Son Should Sell Popcorn (instead of you paying the $125 non-participation fee for him).

Happy selling!

John Johnson

The Troop 410 “Popcorn Kernal”

TOP NINE REASONS YOUR SON SHOULD SELL POPCORN.docx