LLL in the USA WORLD BREASTFEEDING WEEK CELEBRATION
FUNDRAISING IDEAS
Sales
Cooperative Action: “It’s a Good Thing”
by Robin Rziha, Great Bend, Kansas LLL
Have you ever dreamt of a business that would welcome a nursing mother and her baby by having products specifically for the mother-baby dyad? And what if that business also provided a mother with a comfortable, discreet place to nurse her baby and offered free breastfeeding information? Does this sound too good to be possible? Actually it gets even better! What if this business also benefited La Leche League financially and helped to further LLL’s mission?
Great Bend LLL has the privilege of working with an owner of a children’s retail clothing store called Completely Kids to provide a selection of quality breastfeeding aid products and breast pumps, as well as books and baby slings. The owner of the store is also one of our long-time Groups members. For each of the items sold, 100% of the sale price goes to our local Group.
When the owner of the store was making plans to open her store, I visited with her about the possibility of allowing our Group to have a display stocked merchandise in her store. She thought it was a good idea, since no other business in town (or even within 70 miles) offered these products. This became a cooperative action between Completely Kids and Great Bend LLL.
Our Group is responsible for keeping the display stocked with merchandise. Most of the merchandise is purchased through Medela except for the books and baby slings. Invoices are provided from our Group and when a customer makes a purchase, the store completes one of our invoices for LLL sales. Having this system keeps the store sales and our sales separate. Once or twice a month I collect the money and receipts from the sales, restock the display, and order additional merchandise as necessary.
The goals of this venture are three-fold. First and foremost, our goal is to provide a much-needed service for mothers in our community and the surrounding communities. For a mother needing a quality breast pump because she is returning to work or if her baby is ill or premature and not nursing well, the mother will now be able to obtain a breast pump to meet her needs. The breast pumps are only available for purchase. While no breast pumps are rented through the store, I handle breast pump rentals through our Group. If a mother does want to rent a hospital-grade breast pump, she can contact me and an appointment is made for her to either come to my home or for me to go to her home. Breastfeeding information and meeting information are also available with the display at the store, along with several books for purchase, including THE WOMANLY ART OF BREASTFEEDING.
The second goal is that the venture will provide publicity for our Group, LLL, and breastfeeding in general. Customers who come to the store, shopping or just browsing, will see the display and if they are interested they may take information with them. The store owner has also placed and advertisement in the Fiest Area-Wide telephone directory under the heading of “Breastfeeding Information.”
The third and last goal is the most obvious. The sales from the products will help our Group further the mission of LLL. So far, the sales from this venture have been equivalent to that of having a successful fundraiser each month.
The store owner will also benefit from the venture. Our Group provided an advertisement (free of charge) for Completely Kids in our meeting brochure detailing the products available at the store. When a mother comes to the store to purchase one of our Group items, she is likely to also make a purchase from Completely Kids or she will now be familiar with the store and return for a future purchase. The store owner was very appreciative of the display when her television commercial was filmed. She said the display helped to add a completeness to her store.
Cooperative action with a retailer is really a “good thing” for mothers, babies, LLL, and the retailer. In 2003 our Great Bend LLL donated 100% of our breast pump rental and sales for the month of August to the World Walk. Without having to do anything “extra” we were able to raise over $1300 from sales.
