This Beloved Brand Launches a New Line of Colorful Flowers
On September 19, 2023, Crayola Flowers was born. While longtime fans may associate the beloved brand with crayons and markers, this new creative partnership offers even more opportunities for collaboration and joy.
To get all the details on the colorful “fundraising-first” initiative, we spoke to Warren Schorr, Crayola senior vice president of business development, global licensing and experiences; Oren Shapiro, partner and president of Mrs. Bloom’s; and Ari Shapiro, partner and managing director of Mrs. Bloom’s.
Excerpts from our interview are included below, slightly edited for clarity.
What Is Crayola Flowers?
Crayola Flowers is a collaboration between the arts and craft supply company Crayola and the cut flower company Mrs. Bloom’s. The initiative offers “vibrantly colorful, high quality and smile-inducing” bouquets for purchase, all of which are “ethically sourced and shipped directly from farmers to ensure they’re as fresh as possible,” according to Oren Shapiro.
Additionally, Crayola Flowers is unique to other flower companies in that it supports various nonprofit organizations with every flower purchase. Ari Shapiro says this allows consumers to “shop with a purpose and share their passion for their cause of choice,” as well as help others feel “delighted, loved and happy when they receive a Crayola Flowers bouquet.”
What Inspired the Crayola Flowers Partnership?
Schorr says the partnership allows Crayola to “extend our presence into the world of bright, colorful flowers, as well as propel our mission by supporting nonprofits and consumers who share our passion to make this world a better, brighter place.”
Oren Shapiro echoes this sentiment.
“After being involved in several charitable giveback initiatives on a local level for years, [Mrs. Bloom’s] wanted to take the concept to the national level,” he says. “To do this, we knew we had to align with a colorful and wholesome company that shared that same vision, so quite frankly, Crayola was absolutely the only brand that made sense to us.”
Ari Shapiro says the act of charitable giving is uniquely baked into the partnership’s DNA. “We have a saying: Send flowers. Receive flowers. Help amazing nonprofits,” he says. “That’s giving three times.'”
How Does Crayola Flowers Support Nonprofits?
According to Oren Shapiro, the company donates 10% to 50% of every flower sale to a participating nonprofit. Crayola Flowers, he says, has “different ways nonprofits can leverage the platform based on their needs.” These fundraising methods are labeled “Anytime,” “Occasion-al” and “Buy-the-Box.”
Anytime
Through the Anytime option, nonprofits set up an online 24/7 shop for consumers to shop for colorful flowers whenever they’d like. Oren Shapiro says this allows shoppers to capitalize on all of life’s gift-giving moments.
Under this model the nonprofit receives 10% of gross flower sales, he says, excluding additional purchases like vases and taxes. The shopper chooses which nonprofit cause to support.
Occasion-al and Buy-the-Box
This model, Oren Shapiro says, allows the nonprofit to choose the flowers they want to sell for people to pre-order or purchase at an event. “The nonprofit purchases the flowers at wholesale from Crayola Flowers and then sets the sales price and margin,” he says.
This option offers higher donation margins, depending on how the nonprofit prices the flowers.
Additionally, Crayola Flowers prominently features the nonprofit’s mission statement online. Even better, Ari Shapiro says, “with each delivery, there’s an informational card about the nonprofit their gift is supporting.”
Which Nonprofits Does Crayola Flowers Support?
So far, Crayola Flowers has partnered with the following:
- American Cancer Society;
- American Heart Association;
- Autism Speaks;
- Wounded Warrior Project;
- St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital;
- On Our Sleeves;
- Operation Homefront;
- 4-H;
- American Foundation for Suicide Prevention;
- Big Brothers Big Sisters;
- One Tree Planted;
- A Kid Again;
- First Responders Children’s Foundation;
- Dwell with Dignity;
- Maui Strong Fund.
However, Oren Shapiro says, any nonprofit can fundraise with Crayola Flowers.
“We are actively onboarding additional, certified 501(3)c nonprofit organizations onto the platform — from small, local organizations [like parent-teacher associations, animal shelters and religious groups] to larger-scale nonprofits,” he says. “We want nonprofits to think of Crayola Flowers as another powerful tool to help them amplify their fundraising efforts.”
How Can I Buy or Fundraise with Crayola Flowers?
If you’d like to buy Crayola Flowers, visit their nonprofits page, select the organization of your choosing and press the “Buy Flowers” button. From there, you can choose a delivery date and bouquet.
If you’re part of a nonprofit and would like to fundraise with Crayola Flowers, register your organization with the company here.
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