Are you affiliated with educational and professional associations? This includes colleges and their related fraternities and sororities, as well as our state and national professional organizations. These organizations promote our success, past, and future. We continue our affiliated out of gratitude and, in some cases, for the continuing professional and personal opportunities they provide.
Our better natures compel us to “give back” to those who help us achieve the success we enjoy today. Typically, we can give our own time and our money. However, occasionally we are called on to “solicit” support from other people. Many of us heed the call, but few of us actually like asking for donations.
What if there were a solution that could raise SIGNIFICANT DONATIONS, not just on a single fund-raising drive, but year-round? And, what if that solution was “free” to the association and the donor? This solution exists and can be realized through engaging Retail Benefits, Inc. as part of your fundraising strategy.
Associations that regularly communicate to 10,000 or more people are great candidates for Retail Benefits. This includes most colleges, universities, and their affiliated fraternities and sororities. When Retail Benefits cashback shopping is engaged as an element of fundraising, the following advantages will be realized:
Year-Round Fund Raising – Cashback giving is automatic and on-going. Once the donor signs up and downloads the shopping app, everything happens automatically.
No out-of-pocket expense for donors – Cashback donations are from the money that has always been spent shopping. Therefore, no new donor expenditures are required
Reduce/Eliminate the cost of membership – Association can apply cashback to reduce or eliminate dues making it easier for members to join and/or stay affiliated
Drive engagement – A portion of cashback can be directed to the donor as “donor bucks” to purchase special offers and merchandise (such as hats, shirts, pins, etc.)
Designated donations to multiple purposes – Donations can be subdivided to support annual dues, the building fund, and/or special causes
Messaging – Communicate directly to participants via the app on association business
To learn more about cashback shopping and its potential for your association, contact Philip A. Davis at pdavishr@comcast.net or 678-977-5578.
Is it possible for Target to make money from purchases made on-line at Walmart? The astounding answer is YES!
Four Thousand plus (4,000+) on-line retailers offer cashback to shoppers to entice purchases through their websites, including Target and Walmart. If your online store is a cashback provider, there is now a way to make money on purchases made at all the other online retailers offering cashback. Your store makes money on every purchase from all other participating retailers AND in the process creates an incentive for future purchases at your store.
How It Works?
In our Target example, this giant retailer could offer its on-line shoppers the “Target Cash Back Shopping App” with the headline, “Earn cashback from all your online purchases at Target and all other participating retailers, and leverage it for great buys at Target.” Using this approach, the cashback from purchases made at Target and all other retailers is held for future on-line purchases at Target.
Key Advantages?
A retailer that adopts the “cashback shopping app” will realize the following advantages:
Grow revenue – Retain a portion of shopper cashback to enhance profitability
Earn money – Every time your customers shop on-line with other retailers
Gather competitive information
Know what and when shoppers are buying at other retailers, and
How much they are spending by item and in total
Craft offerings – Based on shopper and competitive insights
Message – Communicate directly to shoppers via the app on special offers, etc.
Next Steps?
Every Retailer has unique branding and messaging. My firm works with your marketing and IT professionals to customize our app to the look and feel of your online presence. The app itself is built for an easy download on to your shopper’s mobile and desktop devices. The Retailer provides advertising to entice shoppers to join the program. Money is earned when on-line purchases are made through the app.
Phillip Davis
To learn more about the cash back shopping app. and the business opportunity it represents, contact Philip A. Davis at pdavishr@comcast.net or 678-977-5578.
Have you heard of “cashback shopping”? If you have heard of Rakuten (formerly Ebates), then you have experienced the leading example of business to consumer (B2C) cashback shopping. In B2C cash back shopping, the cashback is paid directly to the shopper as an incentive to buy. Why? It is much less expensive to sell an item on-line than in a brick and mortar store. Online retailers take a portion of these savings and invest them in cashback advertising to bring more shoppers into their on-line stores and encourage on-line vs. in-store purchases.
This same cashback shopping concept can be also be applied in a business to business (B2B) environment. The biggest drawback of B2C cashback is that shoppers are reluctant to provide their personal contact information to someone they do not know, in this case, Rakuten. In the B2B environment, shoppers already have a relationship with the sponsoring organization. The sponsor might be their bank, church, favorite restaurant, or any number of other organizations. The key is for the sponsoring organization to have a trusted relationship with the shopper. In many cases, the sponsor may already have significant personal information on the shopper and be sending the shopper regular communications.
Most organizations with ten thousand plus (10,000+) patrons can benefit through adopting cashback shopping as a component of their on-going promotion program. The more potential shoppers, the greater the benefit. The cashback that flows to the organization can be utilized as a donation (for churches and charities), to pay for future purchases (retailers), and to pay a portion of the price of current purchases (grocery stores, insurance providers, and power companies). Most sponsors keep at least a portion of the cashback to pay expenses and as accretive to profit.
The benefit to the organization can be quite substantial. For example, a charitable organization that is keeping 100% of cashback as donations can expect to receive roughly $1 million per 10,000 shoppers. A commercial business will receive the same amount but will likely pass 80% or more on to the shopper in one form or another. Therefore, a commercial operation keeping 20% of cashback will be retaining roughly $200,000 per 10,000 shoppers.
To learn more about cashback shopping and its potential for your organization, contact Philip A. Davis at pdavishr@comcast.net or 678-977-5578.
Thank you for visiting our blog.
Jim Weber – Managing Partner, ITB Partners
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Phil Davis, of Retail Benefits, is looking for Agents to Market the Retail Benefits Cash-Back Program.
Retail Benefits (RBI) is the leading provider of organization sponsored B2B “cashback shopping” programs. RBI engages over 4500 on-line retailers in providing an average of 4% to 5% cashback on everyday purchases. The types of organizations that sponsor RBI include Banks and Credit Unions, Church and Charities, Not-for-profits, Retailers, and other organizations.
Just like newspapers and other media advertising, Cashback programs are designed by retailers to attract shoppers to their online portals.
You may have heard of Rakuten/Ebates, the biggest cashback provider in the direct to consumer space. Retail Benefits, Inc. (RBI), is the biggest provider in the business to business space.
Organizations that sponsor RBI include:
Banks and Credit Unions
Church and Charities
Delivery Services
Franchisors
Grocery Stores
Insurance Companies
Multiple Level Marketers
Political Parties
Power and Gas Companies
Resellers
Retailers
Social Media Providers
Unions
People say, “It’s not what you know, but WHO you know that matters.” Clearly it takes both, but the value of what you know is often realized through who you know.
As we all know, not all relationships are created equally. The referrals I seek share the following characteristics:
With an organization that regularly communicates to 10,000 or more consumers who may shop on-line.
The Partner’s relationship is with one or more senior executives in the organization. The closer to the C-Suite, the better.
And, it is a relationship of trust between you and your contact.
There are twelve distinct verticals that fit the Retail Benefits, cashback model. We will explore those sectors in the coming months. Because it’s an election year, let’s focus on “Political Parties.”
A political party that adopts the Retail Benefits cashback fundraising app and makes it their own (The Democrat Cash Back Shopping App) will realize the following advantages:
Year-Round Fund Raising – Cashback is automatic and on-going. Once the donor signs up and downloads the shopping app, everything happens automatically.
No out-of-pocket expense for donors – Cashback donations to the Party are from the money that has always been spent shopping. Therefore, no new donor expenditures are required
Drive engagement in the Party – A portion of cashback can be directed to the donor as “donor bucks” to purchase special offers and merchandise (such as hats, shirts, pins, etc.)
Designated the donations to multiple purposes – The donations can be subdivided to support designated candidates and/or party levels (national, state, and county).
For more information about Retail Benefits, please contact Phil Davis at: pdavishr@Comcast.net or 678-977-5578.
In our next article, I will be talking about the special advantages of Associations. Associations is a broad category that includes professional organizations, fraternities and sororities, and college and university fundraising.
I the meantime, if you need more information or if you think you might have a referral, contact me so we can explore the possibilities together.
Particularly in the era of “social distancing”, on-line shopping is growing at a rapid pace and with it, the opportunity presented by “Cash Back Shopping.” Cashback shopping taps into the normal marketing budgets of on-line retailers. Just like newspaper and other media advertising, Cash Back programs are designed by retailers to attract shoppers to their on-line shopping sites and to make purchases based on their standard pricing, discounts, reward, and customer service policies and the new dimension of cashback shopping. You’ve probably heard of the biggest cashback provider in the direct to consumer space which is Rakuten/Ebates. On the other hand, the biggest provider in the business to business space is Retail Benefits, Inc. (RBI).
Retail Benefits markets only through 3rd parties such as banks and credit unions, businesses (with large direct to consumer marketing reach), churches and charities, and political parties. Retail Benefits is an invisible partner to its sponsor organizations as RBI provides the downloadable app that connects the sponsor organization with its potential shoppers and over 4,500 on-line retailers who participate in the program. The RBI app is always customized and branded to each sponsor using the sponsor’s own marketing message and its standard “look and feel”. Using Retail Benefits is a one time download of the app onto the shopper’s desktop computer and/or mobile device. Once the installed the shopper shops as always and receives cash back on every purchase.
The cash flows from the retailer to RBI to the sponsor. Each sponsor then uses the cashback to advance its mission. Examples include charities that keep all or most of the cashback as a tax-deductible donation; banks and credit unions that add the cashback to enhance their existing cashback programs on the credit cards they are already offering, and business that keeps a portion of the cashback to enhance net income and convert the balance into “business bucks” to pay for the services they normally sale.
To learn more about how cashback shopping can create a strategic advantage for you and/or your contacts, contact Phil Davis, Retail Benefits Partner.
In the spring of 2018, Rebecca Holderread connected Jim Weber, Managing Partner of ITB Partners, to the CEO for a 30-year-old Atlanta area-based not-for-profit. Rebecca is a member of ITB Partners and a fractional CFO. As she had taken a full-time CFO assignment with one of her clients, she was not able to pursue this engagement herself.
When Jim was introduced to the CEO the extent of his understanding was that this not-for-profit needed a new CFO. After a few email exchanges, Jim and the prospective client scheduled a face-to-face meeting, late in the day at the prospect’s offices. The point was to conduct the meeting without alerting the incumbent Director of Finance. Jim said that the meeting consisted of the CEO and two of her board members. The first part of their meeting was an opportunity for Jim to understand the prospective client’s situation.
The prospect is a non-profit organization [501(c)(3)] established in 1988 by the CEO. This company became Georgia’s first licensed therapeutic foster care agency. In addition to placement and care for foster children, the client provides host home care for adults with developmental and physical disabilities, provides behavioral and life skills coaching for foster youth and adults and through a dedicated program, provides support, guidance, and assistance needed by teen mothers & fathers to succeed as adults and parents.
The CEO told Jim that the current Director of Finance refused to provide financial information in a format that enabled the leadership to effectively manage their business. She went on to say that he had failed to provide analysis to facilitate thoughtful decisions. Additionally, whereas the CEO wanted to install a budgeting process, the incumbent had no interest in accommodating her directive. Furthermore, this gentleman had become belligerent and insubordinate toward leadership. The situation had become intolerable, so a change had to be made
Not surprisingly, there were budgeting constraints on the compensation available for a replacement. Based on his understanding of the situation, Jim pitched them on engaging a fractional CFO. He explained the concept to the prospect, ensuring them that they could achieve their objectives without significantly impacting the P&L. The CEO liked that idea and agreed to interview several highly capable fractional CFOs affiliated with ITB Partners. I was the first on the list and met with the CEO. We connected so well that leadership decided not to talk to anyone else. I was hired for the engagement and their Director of Finance was terminated.
CFO Services Engagement:
When I started the engagement, I understood that the client was looking for better team collaboration and alignment with the fractional CFO. The CEO and the new Board of Directors (BOD) expected me to lead the financial position, to provide more timely and insightful financial statements and analytics, budgeting/forecasting, cash flow management, and strategic planning. What I soon learned that the timing of taking on this assignment and the termination of the Director of Finance was problematic. It was tax and reporting season, so I had to scramble.
Focus Areas and Results to Date:
Fully conformed financial statements to GAAP
Transitioned accounting package from desktop to the online version to improve efficiency and data security
Created a new monthly financial statement package meeting both internal & BOD requirements
Refined and extended forward view of cash forecasting, with a focus on liquidity management
Provided counsel/analysis to CEO leading to a favorable outcome in renegotiating a material vendor debt
Developed financial analysis to evaluate the profitability of various programs
Partnered with the CEO, to develop strategies and related financial plans for key programs
Developed annual budget for each dept and consolidated agency
Improved internal controls
With CEO, developed components of strategy and management template for execution of a first-ever, multi-year capital campaign
Ongoing training of new full-time CFO
A year and a half later, I’m still working with the client. I provide ongoing support to the CFO with annual audit, regulatory reporting, cash flow forecasting, monthly financial package, and various financial analyses, as needed. I also participate in BOD meetings, as required.
Jim likes to remind us of the importance of the Fractional CFO. I believe the value-added services I provided for this client proves his point. They were able to achieve their goals to improve the management of their business without compromising their financial resources. Today, they are in a far better position to deliver on their mission.
Thank you for visiting our blog.
Jim Weber – Managing Partner, ITB Partners
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Drew Garner is a C-Level financial executive with over 30 years of progressive leadership roles with market-leading Fortune 100, privately held and private equity-owned companies in the consumer products, retail, construction services, manufacturing and foodservice sectors in both B2B and B2C environments. He has consistently demonstrated strong leadership through collaboration with executive teams to develop and implement strategy, gain organizational buy-in, develop execution methodologies, deliver profitable results and manage positive change in growth companies as well as turnaround scenarios. Drew is a Certified Public Accountant and has an MBA degree from the University of Georgia.
Drew Garner has been a member of ITB Partners since May of 2017. For the past year, and currently, Drew has been engaged as a Fractional CFO for Creative Community Solutions, a Norcross-based not-for-profit.
Please join me in welcoming Drew to his new role as leader/facilitator of the Accounting and Finance Practice Group.
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Your feedback helps me continue to publish articles that you want to read. Your input is very important to me so; please leave a comment.
