Plant Sales

Plant Sales

Native plant sales raise funds for nonprofit and educational institutions. Windy Ridge Tree Farm is proud to sponsor sales that benefit these organizations. Groups from the Audubon Society to local school fundraising groups and foundations have discovered that offering native plants to supporters provides ample funding revenue from sales of
a resource inherently valuable to communities. Plant sales are fun, and your supporters will be delighted with their purchase!
The benefits of plant sales for schools are tremendous:
Children learn about free enterprise; children gain experience collecting payments and making change; children learn
about ecology and making signs for their plant sales.

Plant sales may take one of two forms:
  1. A variety of plants are offered for sale at an advertised event. These plants are provided by Windy Ridge Tree Farm without advance payment, and those that are not sold are returned. The organization pays wholesale prices for all plants, which are sold at retail prices. The difference is kept by the organization as profit.
  2. Plants are pre-ordered by organization supporters. The plants ordered are picked up and paid for (wholesale prices) at Windy Ridge Tree Farm.
Tips for planning a successful plant sale
Before the sale: Set a special name for your sale. Build it into an annual event. Set a goal or goals for your sale. Make sure everyone knows the goal for the sale. Policies to decide on before the sale: If someone doesn’t like what they purchased, what will happen? Have a backup plan in case someone gets sick and can’t be there to help - drive a truck, unload, sort plants. What if people don’t pick up their plants? Where will they go? Who will take care of them? If the order isn’t delivered correctly, who will go for more?

Working backwards: Set a date for the pickup of plants. If you are having a pre-order sale, it’s best if your plants arrive any day except Friday. Sometimes people may not pick up their plants on the day of the sale and plants will dry out if left over the weekend.

Set a date for handing out pre-order forms. Create some fun advertising for the school newsletter and the school entrance.

Find a place for the plants to be picked up by parents - not in the sun! Tarps are great for protecting the floor from water if the pick-up area is inside. If you also bring your own broom and dust-pan you’ll save yourself time and hassle if accidents and mess happen!

Make copies of the order forms. Have the copy tagged to the order on pickup day. Keep the original order forms in a binder in alphabetical order by purchaser.
The Day of the Sale
Picking up your order: Take a check out to Windy Ridge Tree Farm when you go to pick up your plants. You will need to have trucks to pick up your orders. The trucks should have covers, canopies, etc., to keep the plants from getting windblown during transit. Drivers will need to help load their trucks. Have your plants arrive several hours before
pickup so you can group each order by name.

Unloading your trucks: Small wagons can be back savers on this day! Have extra people to unload the trucks.

Organizing the orders: Have helpers organize plants by species in alphabetical order. People can more easily help find plants to fill orders. Group plants together for each order. Tag each order with a copy of the order form. Arrange orders in alphabetical order by last name.

Picking up orders: 

Have people ask for their order. People may need help with large orders... wagons work well here, too!

Thank everyone who was any kind of help!
Share by: