“Daddy”, my 11 year old daughter excitedly exclaimed. “All I have to do is sell seven Holiday wreaths and I earn enough money to go on the school trip to the amusement park at the end of the year!”

As I reviewed the info packet with an advertising professional’s eye, I casually asked, “What do the wreaths look like?”

My daughter pointed to a photocopied, black and white line drawing that was totally void of warmth or cheer. I looked at the drawing and immediately became depressed. Then I became irritated.

The ability of a businesses to “think things through” is paramount to launching a successful promotion or for a non-profit to launch a successful fundraiser. Unfortunately, no one thought this wreath fundraising thingy through.

Without a photo, you’ve got 11 year-olds trying to sell warm, Holiday cheer by showing people a crude drawing that evokes about as much warmth as sticking yourself in the eye with an icicle.

One of the best tactics you can employ to help you “think it through” is to role-play the steps of your promotion or fundraiser. Walk it through. Use props. Have fun and actively look for problems or difficulties. If possible, role-play the activity with an outsider, someone who has had nothing to do with the planning of the activity, event or promotion.

I saved a client an embarrassing moment just the other day, because I helped her “think it through”.

Jan asked me to print up some raffle tickets for a fundraiser for the church. She wanted “Need Not Be Present To Win” printed on the ticket. No problem. Then I asked her to explain to me how the raffle would work — verbal role-play.

“Well, we’ll draw the first ticket,” she explained. “The person with that number comes forward and chooses the prize they want. Then we draw the next ticket on down the line.”

“That’s great, Jan,” I replied. “But how does that work with the whole, “Need not be present to win” thing?

A moment of silence was punctuated by a blank stare. We then revised the drawing protocol to facilitate the attendance issue.

As for my daughter’s wreath fundraiser? All I can say is, “Thank God” for grandparents, aunts and family friends who don’t have the heart to say “No”. In two hours of going door to door my daughter managed to sell one wreath. That’s when we invoked the friends and family tactic.

Then my wife asked me how many we were buying. I noted she said, “how many” not “are we”. I then quickly role-played in my head a scenario where I said, “none”.

Boy, that wreath sure looks nice on my front door.

Stumble it!