Taking Your Nanny Support Group to the Next Level - part 6

by Kellie Geres, Regarding Nannies Development Team
President, ADCAN ~ Association of DC Area Nannies

 

Promoting Your Group

 

There are many effective ways to promote your group. My favorite by far is VistaPrint. By using their designs or uploading your own you can create an endless array of exposure for your group.

Design postcards to mail out announcing special events and meetings.

Design postcards to give to members to have handy with your group information while at the park as they may run into other nannies on outings.

Design tote bags with your logo or group name.

Put your name on pens

Design business cards to hand out to anyone and everyone – get your name out there.

Design a banner to hang at meetings and events. Get noticed!

Design key chains for members to have as a thank you!

Design mugs, mouse pads, hats, t-shirts, and more and have handy as a giveaway during special events, meetings or as a thank you.

  

Another venue to check out for promotional items is CafePress. Offering many of the above and more options not on VistaPrint, let your creative juices flow.

  

Always be looking for ways to cut costs. Here are some of my tips:

 

Email your newsletter vs. printing it. Offer printing to those who don’t have email, but consider adding an additional fee if you feel extra costs will be involved not covered by membership fee.

 

Email renewal notices.

 

Utilize VistaPrint for business cards, postcards, etc.

 

Use Evite for events

 

Consider business membership, outside advertising.

 

By cutting costs you are able to put more money back into the organization and meet the needs of your membership.

  

Finally, I’ve mentioned many resources throughout these six parts. Here is a handy listing for you to refer to as you take your group to the next level.

 

If you have any questions on any of these parts or would like to discuss ways to improve your group, feel free to contact me at allthingsnanny (at) gmail (dot) com.

 

 

 

VistaPrint

 

PDF995

 

Constant Contact

 

Google

 

Yahoo!

 

Amazon Associate Program

 

EFundraising

 

CafePress

 

Survey Monkey

 

Best Nanny Newsletter

 

Crayola Affiliate Program

 

GoDaddy

 

Website By You

 

Craigslist

 

MeetUps

 

Facebook

 

Nanny Island

 

Evite

 

Blogger

 

WordPress

 

I See Me

 

Weekend RoundUp

In case you missed something this week on Regarding Nannies, here are links to our features for the week.

Monday Moxie :Kellie continued her series on taking your support group to the next level with fundraising.

Tuesday Tips: Alice reviewed the online food journal called Fitday.

Wednesday Creative Nanny: We featured an article from the Michigan Professional Nanny Association about the recipe for a Play date party.

Thursday Table Talk: Kellie's 5th article in her series of taking your support group to the next level discussing dues and supporting members.

Financial Friday: Breedlove and Associates will be writing for us on a regular basis. They approached us at INA and offered to do this. Their first article is information that every new nanny needs to know and every seasoned nanny should already know. What is an independent contractor?


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As we approach our 1 year anniversary, we would love to hear from you!
What were your favorite articles this year, and what you would like to see more of next year.

Next week on Regarding Nannies we will have a list of books for kids and adults that you might want to add to your summer reading list.

Car Games for kids, and tell you about Natures Simple Blends owned by the mother of 4 who just launched her own organic baby food company.

Taking Your Nanny Support Group to the Next Level - Part 5

by Kellie Geres, Regarding Nannies Development Team
President, ADCAN ~ Association of DC Area Nannies

Two questions I hear often from nanny group leaders are … One, should we charge membership dues and Two, should nanny agencies be permitted to be supporting members?

Charging membership dues will provide you with an income to help cover some of your costs – printing, postage, special events. However, they do not cover all your costs, depending on the size and scope of your group. Ranges of amounts charged by groups across the country are $15-$35 annually. You will need a checking account for your group and you can accept checks, cash and PayPal.

So what does membership include?

• Newsletter

• Membership directory

• Access to members only events/services

• Member discounts

• Voting on membership issues

• Area benefits – discounts at area stores

Dues can be determined January – December and pro-rated for new members, but I recommend starting in the month they join and ending one year later.

You also need to determine levels of membership for nannies. I will use ADCAN as example here.

Active (Yearly Dues $35)

Requirements:

1. Currently employed as a professional nanny.

2. Currently employed as an au pair, in-home child care provider and/or mother's helper.

Associate (Yearly Dues of $35)

Requirements:

1. Professional nanny not currently employed as such, or who may be living outside the DC Metro area.

Agency * (Yearly Dues based upon ads submitted to Newsletter. Available at levels of $75 and $125)

Requirements:

1. Any agency or industry related businesses that are involved with nannies in the DC metro area.

Spousal *(Yearly Dues of $15)

Requirements:

1. Any spouse of any current member.

Temporary * (Dues of $15)

Requirements:

1. A nanny/child care provider in the DC area for four (4) months or less.

Newsletter Only * (Yearly Dues of $15)

Requirements:

1. Any person wishing to receive only the bi-monthly newsletter.

Business Memberships / Sponsorships

Reaching out to the agencies in your area and the industry services will help you reach a broader audience of nannies and interest in your group.

By offering businesses an opportunity to support your organization you are generating additional funds for operating your group, and in return you can offer the following to businesses:

• Advertising in newsletter

• Listing on your website and/or blog

• Participation in area events – for example, ADCAN will be taking part in a local child care vendor fair, and we will offer to display our business members’ material on our table, as part of their membership with us.

• Display of their material at meetings on a resource table

ADCAN also offers to agencies that if they pay for their nannies to be members of the organization, we reduce the annual fee for the nanny membership.

Businesses are non-voting memberships, are invited to our meetings and ADCAN offers additional sponsorship opportunities such as NNRW brunch and Holiday Party.

One final consideration, offer advertising to area businesses that caters to children and families.



The final installation in this series will focus on promotional items, ways to cut costs and a listing of resources to keep you going as you take your group to the next level.

Taking Your Nanny Support Group to the Next Level - Part 4

by Kellie Geres, Regarding Nannies Development Team
President, ADCAN ~ Association of DC Area Nannies.

Fundraising!

Your group cannot survive on membership fees alone, and if you don’t charge membership fees you’ll be paying out your own pocket.

At some point you will want to consider a fundraiser. These can be large or small, one-time or ongoing. Discuss with your members what they are interested in participating in, what they are willing to spend, how often they want to be solicited for funds and if they have any special interests in certain products that you could sell.

There are pluses and minuses to all fundraisers. Be in tune with your membership as to their commitment level. Make sure to have one person who will oversee the event and be prepared for limited involvement from members.

Fundraising Options
One-Time / Periodic
Bake Sale
Garage Sale
Pampered Chef, Usborne Books or other direct sales

Ongoing – all of the options listed below are free to sign up and simple to implement. These are just a few of the nanny group friendly sites that have affiliate programs.

• Amazon.com Affiliate Program – one of my favorite and most convenient. Sign up for their affiliate/associate program and funds are directly deposited into your account. ADCAN had special business cards made up via VistaPrint reminding members to utilize Amazon when shopping. This offer can be shared with general public and on your website. Portion of purchase proceeds go directly back to your group.
• EFundraising.com – another favorite. Simply place the link on your site and members and visitors can buy new or renew magazine subscriptions and portion of proceeds go directly back to your group.
• Commission Junction.com – for this site, you sign up for an account, and then sign up for vendor opportunities that you want to participate in. Examples are VistaPrint, and Crayola. These companies then provide you with your own personalized link and when orders are made through your site/link, you get a portion of the purchase price.
• CafePress.com offers you the opportunity to market your group on merchandise and earn money when sales are made from that site. From t-shirts to bumper stickers, buttons and mugs the possibilities are endless.
• I See Me offer personalized books and children’s products and gives nanny groups an opportunity to earn funds with their affiliate program.

The ongoing options above allow for easy accessibility, no organizing or overhead and ongoing promotion of your fundraiser.

Many of these programs require an EIN number and a website to participate and a checking account for funds to be deposited into.

Next up in part 5 – Membership Dues and Business Sponsorships.

Weekend Roundup

In case you missed something on Regarding Nannies this week:
 Here is our weekend Round Up

Monday Moxie: Kellie shares information on setting up a website for your Support Group.

Tuesday Tips: Five Quick Tips from the Cincy Nanny Blog

Wednesdays Creative Nanny: Nanny Gael Ann and her "creative assistant" shared with us another idea for a Fathers' Day Gift.

Thursday Table Talk: Kellie continued her series on "Taking your support group to the next level"

Friday Financial Nanny: Alice updated us on the latest information regarding Smartphones and Iphones.

Next week on Regarding Nannies: We will have more on "Taking your support group to the next level" plus a website review from Alice and more ideas for Summer theme days.

Regarding Nannies will be one year old in July and we will have giveaways, updates, changes and big news!
Stay tuned!!!!