Tag: nonprofits

Prepare for a Summer of Volunteering

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Summer is the Season for Non-Profits and Small Businesses to Shine

Even though summer can be seen as a great time to relax and recharge, it can sometimes feel like one of the busiest seasons of the year. Because kids are off from school and parents may have a bit more flexibility in their schedules, many organizations run large events or fundraisers. The warm weather is the perfect setting for these events whether they’re aimed at kids or adults.

Take advantage of summer activities and events by using them as an opportunity to generate publicity for your organization. Here are four tips to help your organization stand out and attract more interest.

1. Define who you are.

People want to work with organizations that align with their beliefs and values. Working at, or attending, community events is an excellent way to ensure people know who you are, what you do, and how they can get involved. If you have the opportunity to speak and mingle with people at events, do so. Otherwise, something as simple as a logoed t-shirt with a short mission statement can be enough to get people to visit your website and learn more.

The work of non-profit organizations is essential but can go unnoticed. Use this summer as a time to get out and get noticed.

2. Demonstrate your value.

Whether you are hosting an event, organizing volunteers, or looking to make a charitable contribution to a good cause, a summer kitting party can be an excellent way to demonstrate your organization’s value to the community. From fun runs to fairs and everything in between, summer events require volunteers. Help take care of these folks with an essential volunteer with items like umbrellas, sunscreen, hats, and water bottles in it. Not only will this make a lasting positive impression on volunteers, but it may also inspire others to seek out volunteer opportunities with your organization.

DollarDays makes it easy to prepare your volunteers with all these items (and more) available in bulk at wholesale prices!

3. Host an event.

Nonprofits and small businesses alike need to be sure to build relationships among their employees. But office parties and events can feel nearly impossible when trying to stay within a tight budget. Summer offers the chance to secure cheap (often free!) outdoor venues like community parks.

DollarDays can provide you with all the necessary bulk party supplies at competitive prices so you don’t go over budget without sacrificing fun. Employees and volunteers will appreciate spending time relaxing and enjoying the company of colleagues building goodwill for the rest of the year.

4. Show you care.

Summer is the perfect time to increase donations to worthy causes. Consider helping summer camp programs in disadvantaged areas. Give kids a summer to remember with swimming trunks and t-shirts, flip flops, and brand-new toys and games. Stage an epic water gun battle, have a jump rope contest or start a band with digital air drumsticks. There is nothing more rewarding than bringing a smile to kids’ faces with a generous donation.

With DollarDays unbeatable selection of bulk school supplies, you can also make an impactful back-to-school donation so kids can start the year feeling confident and prepared to succeed. Fill a backpack with all the essentials like notebooks, folders, and pens and pencils, or an entire school supply kit.

We hope you have a wonderful and safe summer full of volunteering, event planning, and giving back to your community.


Wholesale Toy Store

Introducing our 2020 Wholesale Toy Catalog!

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We are very excited to announce the release of our 2020 Wholesale Toy Catalog. This year there is likely going to be supply issues as we move into the holiday shopping season. We know the popular toys usually sell out first, so we can expect those to sell out even earlier this year. We also anticipate that the number of children who will be in need of toy donations will be much greater than in any years past. We highly encourage people to purchase their toys early to make sure kids in need will have something under the tree.

Each year we work to expand our assortment of toys that are available in bulk. We are excited to announce some exciting brands have been added to our line up including Barbie, Disney and Crayola.

As we mentioned, with the pandemic impacting supplies of toys this year, we suggest make your purchases early to make sure you get the toys you need for your missions. Visit our Toy Shop where we have made finding the right toys by age, price and category easy as pie.

DollarDays’ Nonprofit Purchasing Index Reports Top 10 Most-wanted Items for the Holiday Season

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DollarDays today released its first Nonprofit Purchasing Index (NPI), which reveals nonprofits’ top 10 most-wanted goods for the holiday season. Based on nearly 12 years of purchasing data, the NPI highlights the products most frequently purchased from DollarDays by the company’s nonprofit partners. Since 2007, DollarDays has processed more than 141,000 orders with over 56 million products for nonprofit organizations.

This year, the most-ordered products on the NPI are personal care items, which include soap, deodorant, lotions and oral care essentials. DollarDays has sold more than 22 million personal care items to nonprofit organizations since starting to aggregate its purchasing data. This category represents nearly 22% of all nonprofit orders for the holiday season and 40% of total units sold.

“Personal care items are used by organizations across the country because they’re critically needed by so many, allowing them to focus on their core missions while saving time and money,” said Shelly Chaney, Vice President and General Manager of DollarDays. “The items also provide basic necessities that meet a variety of needs for homeless shelters, people who have been forced to leave their homes because of a natural disaster, or for basic personal care needs. When nonprofits buy from DollarDays, they can be assured they’re purchasing quality products.”

Rounding out the top five on the NPI are holiday-themed items (15%), such as gift-wrapping supplies, decorations and books; toys and games (14.7%); winter accessories (12.6%); and clothing (7.4%).

Chaney added, “Nonprofit soften get unwrapped donations and have holiday-themed celebrations. DollarDays offers inexpensive gift-wrapping supplies and decorations to make sure they can provide wrapped gifts and affordable celebrations during the season.”

No. 3 on the NPI is toys and games. DollarDays is a wholesale toys destination, selling 8.2 million toys to nonprofits since 2007. Recently, DollarDays partnered with the U.S. Marines Toys for Tots Program to provide personal assistance for more than 800 Toys for Tots Coordinators across the country. DollarDays’ 2018 holiday toy catalog also gives organizations like Toys for Tots convenient access to the right toys for kids of all ages.

The complete list of the top 10 most-wanted products for nonprofits based on DollarDays’ NPI is as follows:

  1. Personal Care
  2. Holiday & Party Supplies
  3. Toys & Games
  4. Winter Accessories
  5. Clothing
  6. Socks
  7. Food
  8. Blankets
  9. Baby Care
  10. Hygiene Kits

“Our partners such as United Way, Salvation Army, Good360, Catholic Charities and Rotary receive a high volume of product donations leading up to the holidays. In some cases, the contributions don’t meet all of their needs, so they use donation dollars to purchase items that fill the gaps,” explained Chaney. “This is where DollarDays comes in. We provide a wide variety of affordable products that help our partners stretch their dollars so they can help as many people as possible.”

As a leading supplier of wholesale goods for the past 18 years, DollarDays has collected a significant amount of data that the company shares with its partners and uses to improve its own operations. This information helps DollarDays’ customers track their spending habits, refine their processes, monitor cost savings, identify new opportunities and maximize their donation dollars. DollarDays also plans to use its extensive data resources to publish a variety of procurement reports.

“Selling products is only part of who we are,” said Chaney. “We’ve collected a wealth of data over the years, which our nonprofit partners use to help extract trends down to the product and regional levels. We share this information in an easy-to-understand and visual way so if our partners have questions, they can quickly find answers and discover new ways to assess their projects and achieve their missions.”

About DollarDays
Founded in 2001, DollarDays is the leading supplier of wholesale goods for nonprofits, businesses and betterment organizations. By sourcing affordable products, backed by exceptional service and meaningful community engagement, we strive to inspire and empower our customers to accomplish their missions to improve the lives of people around the world. Recognized as the City of Phoenix Mayor’s Office “2018 Product Exporter of the Year” and Internet Retailer Magazine’s “B2B E-commerce Marketer of the Year” for 2016 and 2017, DollarDays is headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona. For more information, visit www.dollardays.com.

Private-label Products: Bringing Value to Our Nonprofit Partners

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Private-label offerings are playing an increasingly critical role in some of the country’s largest online marketplaces, with house brands now accounting for as much as 30% of all sales. This trend not only indicates changes in the way consumers shop, especially when searching by brand and price, but also presents a new challenge for online retailers seeking to remain competitive.

For DollarDays, developing affordable, private-label brands as a means to better serve its large nonprofit customer base was a no-brainer. The company launched its Big Box™ bulk school supplies line in spring of 2017, contributing to a reported sale of more than 11 million units of school supplies annually. Big Box™ encompasses a full line of high-quality, low-cost school supplies, pre-filled backpacks and pencil pouches, and flip-flops, all of which has been hand-picked by DollarDays’ in-house merchandising team. The company plans to expand the line to include additional school essentials through the end of 2018.

“We understood private labels had to become part of our go-to-market strategy,” explains Shelly Chaney, Vice President and General Manager of DollarDays. “Online shopping means our customers have the ability to compare products and have better visibility on quality and price points. With private-label lines, we can better hit these targets, giving even more value to our nonprofit partners.”

Encouraged by the success of their Big Box™ line, DollarDays next pursued the opportunity to create a backpack label that met their nonprofit partners’ needs for premium bags at an entry-level price for backpack drives and other back-to-school initiatives. The resulting Forward™ backpack line, rolled out in early 2018, features a more spacious front pocket, reinforced strap-to-bag seams and contoured, fully adjustable shoulder straps with mesh. This attention to detail helps ensure Forward™ backpacks can compete against more expensive brand-name lines.

“With our private-label brands, we’re able to customize every aspect to the needs of our very niche consumers, like nonprofits,” says Melissa Castelo, Senior Product Manager at DollarDays. “It enables us to control not only the brand positioning but the distribution and activation, as well.”

By building out its own labels, DollarDays has found new ways to differentiate itself during the search process and drive destination shopping. Additionally, the company can continue to offer national brands and remain competitive in a “good, better, best” scenario while still capturing market share with an aggressively low price point. Through the remainder of 2018, DollarDays will continue to explore other product categories that may help them increase their presence outside of school essentials.

“Consumers today expect exceptional products at a price point that is cost effective,” stated Chaney. “We’re working on cultivating other private-label lines that focus on helping our nonprofit partners meet the fundamental needs of communities around the world.”

Random Acts of Kindness Define Who We Really Are

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Watching the news, watching the divisiveness caused by the elections and watching interactions in our daily lives, we realize we are living in very scary times—[a]nd everything we see and experience is amplified in the eyes of our children.

Children learn by watching adults. According to Love to Know, babies and toddlers learn by observing adults, even when we aren’t intentionally trying to teach them anything. Just watch as the toddler picks up any object and pretends to talk on it just like their parents are talking on their phone. You can teach your child to mimic loving behavior by being affectionate and making sure you accept their affection when they are ready. At the same time, if the adult cusses or throws things, watch how the child is quick to imitate. Preschool years are when children make a big jump in language, imitating the way their adults talk and the words they use, meaning these kids pick up on our tone of voice and the use of grammar. This is also the time they learn what to eat, so if parents routinely eat a variety of healthy foods, so will the kids, and, on the other hand, if adults eat junk food and fast food, this instills that pattern of eating with the child.

Adults can create positive modeling behaviors in kids. Read[ing] often to your child and let[ting] your child see you reading […] make reading a healthy and normal part of everyday life. Use polite words and speak kindly to others in front of the kids. Let your children see you doing the chores you expect them to do. Explain the consequences when you make a mistake so the child sees the results of negative behaviors. If the parent ends up doing good deeds, watch the kids starting to do good deeds.

You’ve gotta dance like there’s nobody watching, love like you’ll never be hurt, sing like there’s nobody listening, and live like it’s heaven on earth.

William Purkey, public school teacher

[According to Happify Daily], small acts of kindness […] like leaving a meal for a homeless person or paying off a stranger’s layaway balance at Kmart start trends, with more people getting in on the act because they are such feel-good stories. The benefactors are happy to have done a good deed, and the recipients are pleased to have been given a small but meaningful helping hand. [Studies have shown that] recipients of kindness want to keep paying it forward, and a single act of kindness inspires more acts of generosity; […] this chain of altruism [is called] “upstream reciprocity.” So the next time you drop a quarter into an expired parking meter, there is a good chance the recipient of that small act of kindness will be inspired to do a kind act for someone else, and on and on.

[James Fowler, a professor at the University of California-San Diego], says that since humans often mimic behavior they see in the media, like generosity, they become inspired to be generous on their own, often starting their own chain of giving. That is why role models like sports figures, politicians, movie stars and rock stars can inspire a wave of giving. [Conversely], these same role models who give off negative vibes can have an adverse effect on our […] kindness to others.

[Former NBA star Derek Anderson], one such celebrity for the positive, […] started the Stamina Foundation, which is teaching young adults how to [perform] acts of kindness. Last month, he held his acts-of-kindness gala at the Muhammad Ali Center in Louisville, [perhaps] the best place on earth to hold this event, [considering] Muhammad Ali had such an influence on the youth of America.

[Y]ou don’t have to be famous to set an example of kindness. CBS News reports about Jesse Frank in Las Vegas, who lived on the streets in Houston before joining the Air Force. As an active airman, he has started […] B-Kind, [an] organization where he and his family help a homeless person each month […] with [support] from local businesses like the barbershop, eye doctor and dentist. […]

If you can’t come up with your own idea [for] an act of kindness, there are plenty of nonprofits [to which] you can donate. […] At Random Acts, your donations provide laptops to hardworking students, funding for dental supplies and […] flea medication for pet shelters, [among other causes]. Even in […] the American Red Cross, you can donate blood and money to help people you don’t know in the path of Hurricane Matthew. […]

Random acts of kindness come in all forms. Just giving someone an unsolicited compliment today will put a smile on both of your faces. Teaching a stranger how to tie his tie or bringing lunch to a neighbor coming out of the hospital brightens [the day for both of you]. Thanking a police officer or firefighter for their service, […] picking up the trash in a public park, or offering to babysit for a single mom just feels right. If we show compassion, our kids will show compassion. What we give to others in our lifetime defines who we really are.

Never forget—our kids are always watching us.

Original article here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marc-joseph/random-acts-of-kindness-d_b_12755834.html

A Nation Built by Refugees

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Today, the number of displaced people in the world is at its highest level ever, according to CNN. We have surpassed World War ll numbers, when the world was dealing with the most devastating event in history. [Approximately] 65.3 million people are away from their home today, [or] one out of every 113. […] Anyone watching the news knows what is causing this devastating number.

We lose [sight] here in the U.S.A. that, since our founding, we have offered freedom and opportunity to refugees fleeing the world’s most dangerous and desperate situations, according to the Department of State’s Bureau of Refugees. Our refugee resettlement program reflects the core values of our country and has a tradition of [being] a safe haven for the oppressed.

Refugees have been coming to our shores since the pilgrims fled religious persecution and were searching for a place to freely practice, which is the very heart of American identity. Other seekers of religious freedom found a home in the colonies, whether they were Protestants fleeing persecution by Catholics or Catholics fleeing persecution by Protestants. Starting in 1846, English colonialism stripped the lands of the Irish, and two million people fled Ireland, whose country population today is still below what it was in 1846. Between 1845 and 1855, one million Germans fled to the U.S.A. to escape economic hardship. The Civil War temporarily reduced the refugee flow, but then it began again, with four million Italians coming to America between 1880 and 1924, [along with] two million Jews from Russia and Eastern Europe. […] Another one million Mexicans came because of the Mexican Revolution in 1910.

Fast forward to the Cuban Revolution in the 1950s, when the American Cuban population was 71,000 and, today, has grown to close to two million. [T]he Vietnam War brought 125,000 Vietnamese in 1975 and another 280,000 between 1978 and the mid-1980s. Since 1975, the United States has resettled more than three million refugees from 70 different countries.

Refugees coming to the U.S.A. have shown spirit, toughness and strength. Their backgrounds are diverse — from doctors, scientists and journalists, as well as those who have never even used electricity. Most refugees seize the chance for a new start. They pay taxes, attend our schools, serve in the military, and make our communities more vibrant and diverse. After five years, refugees can apply to become American citizens. Many of our top citizens were once refugees, like Albert Einstein and former secretaries of state Madeleine Albright and Henry Kissinger.

Today, 28.5% of all new businesses in the U.S.A. are launched by foreign-born Americans, according to the Kauffman Foundation. In Silicon Valley, the technical heartbeat of our country, immigrant founders started 52% of all new companies, reported by Inc. Magazine. Our country has a long history of foreign-born Americans creating businesses, from Alexander Graham Bell to Sergey Brin of Google. Forty percent of our current top Fortune 500 companies were founded by an immigrant or a child of an immigrant.

America has hundreds of nonprofit organizations that recognize the importance of refugees’ contributions to our country, and these organizations also have the compassion to help those in need worldwide. The International Rescue Committee helped 23 million people in 2015. Asylum Access helps refugees with basic human and legal rights. Many faith-based organizations like Catholic Relief Services, HIAS and Islamic Relief are dedicated to helping refugees who have been forced to flee their homelands because of who they are, including being ethnic, religious or sexual minorities. All of these organizations are dedicated to helping refugees rebuild their lives in safety and dignity. Save the Children is working to help displaced kids in refugee camps with basic needs. The World Food Program is the largest humanitarian agency fighting the hunger of these refugees. All of us should be helping with donations to any of these nonprofits. […]

With 65.3 million people displaced in this world, we cannot, in good [conscience], live our lives as if nothing is wrong. These refugees have been forced to flee their homes by violence, persecution and instability. Everyone […] deserves shelter, basic services, medical care, and the chance for their children to go back to school and parents to begin work again. Helping refugees is not just up to the governments around the world; [e]very American should be playing a role, whether it is volunteering to help or donating so others can help. All of our families were, at one time, refugees coming to America.

Original article here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marc-joseph/a-nation-built-by-refugee_b_12315096.html

Who is Helping the Kids Left Behind?

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America now has 1,571,056 tax-exempt organizations, of which 1,097,689 are public charities, according to Urban Institute. [A]nother 105,030 […] are private foundations, and 368,337 are […] chambers of commerce, fraternal organizations and civic leagues.

Nonprofits accounted for 9.2% of all wages and salaries [last year], 5.3% of U.S. GDP [and reported] $1.74 trillion in revenues. [Approximately] 25.3% of Americans over the age of 16 volunteered for a nonprofit organization [in 2015], [and our nation’s total] volunteer time translates to 8.7 billion hours, which has a value of $179.2 billion.

All of these are big numbers, [s]o why do we still have so many Americans struggling to get by each day? […]

In New York City, there are 23,000 children between the ages of six and 13 [who] live in the city’s homeless […] shelter system. As we all know, homelessness places profound stress on a child’s life. [One] nonprofit, Homes for the Homeless, […] provide[s] a 16-day summer camp at […] Harriman State Park, […] 30 miles outside of NYC, for […] inner-city kids, [many of whom] have never left [the city, let alone] experienced nature up close. It gives these homeless children a chance to escape the stresses of everyday life and engage in healthy activities. What if every town had a program like this?

[In] Cleveland, [which] has a 58.5% poverty rate for children (compared to the national average of 21.1%), [t]he Footpath Foundation was founded by two mothers to help underprivileged and at-risk children by connecting them with positive life experiences. Like [in] NYC, these Cleveland kids are sent to local camps that temporarily help them let go of the pressures of life and begin to feel safe and at peace. […]

When schools close, millions of youths are cut off from access to education and nutritional support systems. This leads to [a] “slide,” [with] students [losing] educational achievements made during the previous year. In 2015, 46% of [students] who applied for summer jobs were turned down, so helping out our youth this summer is crucial.

[The White House has taken notice, and they’ve stepped in with several new initiatives.] The Department of Education [has issued] a grant […] to open five new achievement centers [to house] mentoring program[s] for underserved middle-school students [in Baltimore, Md.; Washington, D.C.; Pittsburgh, Penn.; and Richmond, Va.] The Corporation for National and Community Service [has] committed $15 million to launch Summer Opportunity AmeriCorps, which uses service-learning projects [to enable] 20,000 youth to gain new skills and earn money for college. The Department of Labor, [meanwhile], launched a $20 million grant competition [that provided] young people [in 10 communities] summer and year-round jobs connecting them to career pathways.

Cities are [also] stepping up to help. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti announced a [plan] to hire 15,000 young people in 2016 through his Hire LA Youth program. This program targets youth from low-income families, families on public assistance, foster youth, youth on probation and homeless youth. Seattle Mayor Ed Murray committed to reach out to 15,000 youth in his community with summer jobs and enrichment. The city will also serve 5,000 children over 200,000 meals and invest in 23 summer learning programs. In Charlotte, Mayor Jennifer Roberts, in a partnership with the Microsoft Charlotte Campus, is holding high-tech camps for 4,000 underprivileged kids. What is your city doing?

[At the national level, Big Brothers Big Sisters is the oldest and largest youth mentoring organization, serving hundreds of thousands of six- to 18-year-old kids. The Boys & Girls Club serves four million young people in 4,100 clubs throughout the country. […] The Children’s Defense Fund was formed to leave no child behind and works [to give] every child […] a healthy start [in life]. Southwest Key is [another] national nonprofit organization that is committed to keeping kids out of institutions and home with their families in their communities. […]

As much as our government and our cities are reaching out to pull the less-fortunate kids up, they are only affecting a small portion of those who need our help. We […] have a vibrant nonprofit system in place to begin to help those children in the most need, [b]ut these nonprofits need our help both financially and as volunteers. Giving is as good for your own soul as it is for the people you help. If you don’t have the cash, do what 25% of Americans do: volunteer to help a nonprofit that helps our youth. Giving your time or giving your hard-earned dollars [has] a rippling effect in our society; [a] single act of kindness can change several lives while helping to reduce the daunting statistics that [are] poverty and lost opportunity in this country.

Original article here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marc-joseph/who-is-helping-the-kids-l_b_10818040.html

DollarDays Supersizes the Buying Power for Nonprofits, Small Businesses

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The Crunch: Buying wholesale and bulk goods used to be difficult for small retailers, especially those without the big budgets larger businesses wield. DollarDays, a premier online wholesale distributor and closeout company, extends “the same kind of buying power” to small businesses and nonprofits by buying in bulk themselves and selling products affordably from their inventory. Clients can buy single cases of a product or a single item from over 200,000 goods in stock. Whether you’re buying hats for school fundraisers or purchasing holiday décor to sell in your store, DollarDays offers a wide selection of affordable products that meet the needs (and budgets) of small retailers.

We arrived that day at Casa Shalom, an orphanage nestled on a mountain in Guatemala, with duffel bags of arts-and-crafts supplies for the kids. Hundreds of toddlers, older kids and teens would be coming to the small, blue room throughout the week to make beaded necklaces and other crafts. Buying enough supplies to last the week wasn’t a small task; we had to start saving up and purchasing items as early as the day we got back from last year’s trip. It would’ve been easier to buy supplies from a wholesale distributor, but we couldn’t afford to buy tons of bulk cases. Had we known about DollarDays, the buying process would’ve flowed smoother and, perhaps, saved money that could’ve been spent elsewhere.

There are thousands of small retailers and nonprofits like us that need access to wholesale and bulk goods every day. That’s why DollarDays is so important to the retail community. Known as the “secret weapon” of small businesses, the online wholesale distributor offers over 200,000 high-quality goods in its inventory. Retailers can purchase anything from backpacks to leggings to toothpaste and have their order shipped to their businesses right on time. DollarDays is celebrated for giving small businesses the same kind of buying power that once was only available to big-box retailers.

“Our mission is to provide low-cost products to companies and support nonprofits to stretch their dollar,” said Marc Joseph, the CEO and founder of DollarDays.

A Man’s Vision on How the Internet Would Change Distribution

In 2001, Marc and his business partners saw the opportunity to launch a wholesale-distributing website and pave the way for delivering goods to small- and medium-sized retailers across the country. Big-box retailers could afford to purchase wholesale items in bulk quantities, but, without access to the resources of their larger competitors, it was difficult for small businesses to compete. Marc wanted to level the playing field. His vision allows small businesses to buy bulk goods in smaller batches and give larger retailers a run for their money (literally). 

“We thought the Internet would level the playing field so that small businesses could compete with the chains in their marketplaces,” Marc said. “Initially, we started off to serve small-business owners.”

Fifteen years later, DollarDays has changed the landscape of the wholesale distribution space for the better. Small retailers can buy anything from clothing to household items to beauty products whenever they need them, which makes ordering flexible and easy. 

Simplifying the wholesale-buying process has revolutionized the way small retailers and nonprofits do business. With access to similar resources, small businesses can compete with larger brands and fight for their fair share of customers. 

Small Retailers Can Pick from over 200,000 Goods at Any Time

Let’s say you own a kid’s hair salon called Pearls and Plunder Hair Cuttery Salon. As one of your unique selling points, you reward kids with a prize from the toy chest after they’ve received a haircut. Because you have a small (yet growing) client base, you wonder where you can buy small cases of toys and games without spending an excess amount of money. That’s where DollarDays steps in.

You can head to DollarDays.com, click on the “Toys & Games” tab, then start the peruse the different types of toys available. Your options include buying as few as one toy or purchasing a small case to save money. Once you select all the products you need, you can swiftly complete your order at checkout. Even if you remembered at midnight that you’re running low on supplies, you can place an order right then and there.

DollarDays stands out from wholesale competitors for one simple reason: the company’s flexible ordering system. Retailers have the option to try out a few products without “committing” to buying in bulk. In fact, DollarDays encourages customers to test out different products to see what works for them. If it ends up working out, the customer can then place a bulk order at DollarDays.com, eliminating waste for the retailer.

“We have become a one-stop for any business or association,” Marc said.

Let DollarDays Be “a Secret Weapon” for Your Business or Nonprofit

Even though we’re a small nonprofit with a smaller budget, using DollarDays is a smart way for us to buy all the future arts-and-crafts supplies we need to take to the orphanage. Whenever your small business or nonprofit needs to buy any type of bulk items, shopping at a wholesale distributor [like DollarDays] will help you save money. […]

DollarDays will continue to offer more quantities of low-cost goods to help small businesses compete with larger players in the space. The wholesale company is eager to help your business grow, one bulk case at a time.

Original article here: http://www.dealcrunch.com/blog/dollardays-supersizes-the-buying-power-for-small-businesses/

Nonprofits Buying in the Profit World Online

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Since the beginning of time, buyers have always intended to acquire goods at a low cost, and this is what drives competition. On the Internet, competition is even more intense, because comparing products and prices from one company to the next is only a click away, whereas in the traditional shopping experience, customers need to go from showroom to showroom to compare, which is time-consuming [and] tiring.

Currently, there are three levels of distribution on the Internet:

  1. Manufacturer. This is the company that actually makes the products. They are not set up to supply individual organizations with smaller quantities of their products. They ship by truckload either directly to chain organizations that have central warehousing that can hold large quantities of goods, or they ship to wholesalers and distributors who put the products in their warehouses and sell in smaller quantities. Manufacturers usually have Internet sites that provide information about their products but do not give pricing unless you can take a truckload of goods.
  2. Wholesaler and Distributor. This is the middleman who provides the service to the manufacturer of dealing with smaller accounts. Whereas a manufacturer is not interested in checking the creditworthiness of small accounts or worry[ing] about the shipments and tracking of these accounts, the wholesaler has built these functions into their business model. Wholesalers have the infrastructure to stock a lot of products and to take, fill and process orders from all sizes of nonprofits. Their model has the warehouse space, sales networks, computers and tracking systems to provide the proper customer service.
  3. Online Retailer. This is the final link of the online supply chain to get goods to the consumer shopping over the Internet. Neither the manufacturer or the wholesaler is set up to sell individual products to consumers, and this has created an entire business on the Internet much like there are brick-and-mortar stores for consumers to shop in their own neighborhoods.

Nonprofits need to pass by the online retailers and find the true wholesalers and distributors using the Internet. Most wholesalers will require you to submit the organization’s 501(c)(3) tax-exempt number, so have it handy when shopping through the Internet.

So how do you quickly find the right product at the right price that you can purchase from a trusted site? […]

  1. Use the major search engines. [D]on’t search for a generic term like “blankets,” because they will just return to you a bunch of retail sites, which becomes very frustrating. Always search for at least three words, and, if you have “wholesale” or “bulk” in your search, more than likely, it will get you closer to the distributors who can sell the goods by the case at much lower prices. For instance, [searching for] “wholesale fleece blankets” [returns at least] five different Internet sites where goods can be bought by the case at substantial savings, giving nonprofits more money to stretch their budgets to support their causes.
  2. There are several wholesale portals that pull together the top sites, giving you the ability to find the suppliers you need in one place. Go to WholesaleCentral.com or […] TopTenWholesale.com, [for instance], to find a listing of online distributors.

Even though you are on the cutting edge if you are a nonprofit organization using the Internet to source your needs, you still need to do your homework on the supplier before spending your organization’s hard-earned donations. The Internet can be a very cold place to do business. You have no idea who may be on the other side of the screen when looking at products. Can you trust them? Will they ship what is promised? Can you talk to them or do they only take email? [T]o protect your organization, your first order should be a test order to see if the supplier is who they say they are. Once received as promised, then you can get serious with this online supplier. If it is the right supplier, your job will be made easier for years to come.

Charity is in Our DNA

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Since the beginning of America, we have been a giving people.

  • [I]n 1630, [Pilgrams] relied on each other to survive the harsh winters. The settlers raised each other’s barns, hosted quilting bees for the community, and built common areas in their towns.
  • Benjamin Franklin, the founding father of American volunteerism, […] gathered volunteers to sweep the streets of Philadelphia, organized the nation’s first volunteer fire department, established a voluntary militia and organized a philosophical society. His philosophy was “individuals working together, un-coerced, for the common good.”
  • In the 1830s, two groups who felt their lack of power—women, who had no right to vote, and the clergy, whose political authority was weakened by the constitutional separation of church and state—formed benevolent societies to focus on issues [like] slavery, cruelty, drinking, illiteracy and more.

[Our passion for giving] continues [today] with the forming of the Red Cross, local libraries, community parks, defeating polio with the March of Dimes, and Paul Newman’s Foundation donating $300 million of [its] profits to his “Hole in the Wall” camps for kids with serious diseases and helping the nonprofit, Feeding America. […]

Many of us participate in charity in some form. It can be as simple as taking cookies to an aging neighbor or donating items you no longer use to a good cause. The Corporation for National & Community Service reports that 64.3 million Americans volunteered in a formal organization [in 2012], an increase of 1.5 million from [2011]. This is 26.8% of the population giving 7.9 billion hours, which has a value of $171 billion. The four most popular service activities were fundraising or selling items to raise money (26.2%); collecting, preparing, distributing or serving food (23.6%); engaging in general labor or transportation (20.3%); and tutoring or teaching (18.2%). One in three volunteers is […] age 55 and older, giving this group a lifetime of experience to tap into to help those in the greatest need.

According to the World Giving Index, the United States was the fifth most charitable nation [in 2012]. Australia was first, followed by Ireland, Canada and New Zealand. […] We [Americans] like to be No. 1 at everything, so it’s surprising [to me] we don’t even finish in the top three! Is it because we have lost the passion of our forefathers, or are we just too selfish to help others because the “me” generation stretches from birth to death?

This country has been so successful because it reaches out to others through immigration; government-sponsored help like social security, head-start [programs] and food stamps; and nonprofit organizations who coordinate projects from feeding the poor to aiding the homeless to providing for the sick. More of us have volunteered this year than last year, but we are still not at the point where we lead the world in kindness.

[The year 2013 is when] we need to pull the charity gene out of our DNA and use it to help our fellow Americans. Our economic recovery is still quite tough, and we are many years away from [returning to] where we were before [the] recession. More people need […] help now because [of] the [recent] implementation of […] sequestration. […] If you can’t make the time to volunteer to help others, at least give some financial support. Online, the Network for Good and Just [Giving] are a good start to help nonprofits needing our backing. […]

More than 200 years ago, [Benjamin] Franklin felt the average citizen must share in a commitment to the greater good of their community and their country. [Today], volunteering still forms the core of the American character. It is who we are and how we pass on freedom and caring to the next generation. Maybe that is one reason that seniors volunteer at a higher rate than our children. […] Now, if we can teach the younger generations to care more about others, perhaps we can become the No. 1 most charitable nation, just like our forefathers [envisioned].

Original article here:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marc-joseph/charity-is-in-our-dna_b_3385806.html