suggestion for candy sponsors or free candy bonus bags ?

a witch from canada · #1 (**permalink**) 08-19-2008, 02:25 PM

ok just dawn on me that halloween this year is a friday

, i usualy make bags except for last year i bought enough for 800 and seing the turn out the weekend before the 31st i went and got more candy for halloween night thank god or i wouldnt have had enough , so this year if it is a friday and last year a week day i got over 1000 i am almost scared to think about it and the cost of candy this year as it will be friday , saturday and sunday ......

do you guys have suggestions about sponsors for candy or how to ask stores for bonus candy bags when i purchase a certain amount ? because i am scared of the cost of candy this year if it is a friday we will have ALOT more then last year and we had ALOT last year .....

i am a home haunt non profit so it is hard to ask for free stuff or sponsors

any suggestions ?

UnOrthodOx · #2 (**permalink**) 08-19-2008, 03:06 PM

Your best bet is to ask small businesses. A local mom and pop joint.

Speak directly to a manager who can at least instruct you who you need to talk to.

Explain what you're doing, and the numbers you expect.

Offer to allow them to imprint their logo/name on the candy bags you are making in return for the discounts. Or maybe even a sign out front with their name/logo. You might not be in it for money, but the company WILL be. Understand that, and treat them thus. Maybe they can put a little flyer in the bags, or coupons, even.

And make it clear, those are the KIDS, many more will see their advertising once the moms and dads look through the candy. If you have time to research it, you might even break it down to how much that advertising is per person that sees it. Should easily be as cheap/cheaper than a newspaper ad per person.

You may be pleasantly surprised.

IF you're going to ask a WalMart type, you MIGHT be able to get a volume discount STILL. Explain the situation, and the qty you are looking to purchase. There may even be websites for such a thing, but I'm not sure. You might want to go in with a couple neighbors to up that qty even further.

We'en12amEternal · #3 (**permalink**) 08-19-2008, 03:11 PM

Hmm, that's an interesting idea. Do your grocery stores donate to local organizations? Here, for our school PTO we get donations of candy or money from local businesses for us to buy candy to throw out at our homecoming parade. Wonder if you offered to put up a signs saying "Sponsored by XYZ co." if they'd donate a few bags. Worth a shot, since as you said, candy prices are crazy high - I'm starting to buy & put away bags now!

a witch from canada · #4 (**permalink**) 08-19-2008, 03:23 PM

i live in the country so we have one small grocery store here and he doesnt even buy candy bags for halloween ( store sucks big time) we asked last year ....i too usually start getting bags every week early but geez if last year one night we had about 1000 kids on halloween night alone a good number the weekend before i cant imagine this year with halloween being on a friday , i aleready have my budget taken for the prop material i still need to get to finish props thats why candy shopping this year is going to be hard ....and thats why i also was stuck with ideas for sponsors since i buy candy a few at a time because of expenses ...

i'll try and ask the bigger grocery store next town and see from there , their usually alot more expensive too for candy bags....

UnOrthodOx i like your suggestion , will tell hubby he is way better in asking things like this then me

ChrisW · #5 (**permalink**) 08-19-2008, 05:08 PM

AWfC - I wonder if you talked with the local paper's features editor about doing an article about you and your haunt - show them your pics from last year, tell them how many TOTers you get, and have the article go into WHY you do it every year. If you get a positive response (and you probably will - editors are ALWAYS looking for Halloween-themed or related stories that time of year) you could then approach a sponsor with the opportunity of having their store mentioned in the story, along the lines of "Seeing the extend that (Mr.and Mrs. AWfC) go to bring magic to the kids on Halloween ,(your sponsor store) decided to help out and donate goodies to the hundreds of kids who show up to enjoy the Halloween display."
It's worth a shot...

the dogman · #6 (**permalink**) 08-19-2008, 05:29 PM

have you looked into wholesale? i know places like Sam's (Walmart affiliate) and other public wholesale stores sell large bags of candy for less than regular retail so that might help your budget a bit and if you could get a local sponsor to agree to split the cost for a little advertising like the others have suggested you could have more than enough candy for halloween.

what ever you do, keep in mind that Hershey's has announced they will be bumping up their prices due to the higher cost of production, so candy is gonna get pricey the closer halloween gets.

Nevarstar · #7 (**permalink**) 08-20-2008, 06:18 AM

You might try talking to the candy manufacturer or distrubtor directly. They might want the semi-free advertising that they would get by donating or selling at a discount.