How to Set Up a Group Package Order:

We need a single contact person to serve as a communicator between our company and your group. This contact person can enlist help for various tasks, but will be the one we call if we have questions, or vice-versa. Usually this is the person to whom we ship the order. The contact person should familiarize herself with the deadlines and also be sure to collect phone numbers and e-mail addresses from other members of the group. At any time, if there are ANY questions, just call us. We are always ready to explain, make suggestions, send samples, or help in any way we can!

At one of your first meetings, you'll want to discuss apparel colors, diploma cover colors, and the styles of diplomas that we offer. If you have not ordered from us before, it is helpful to be able to show one of our sample kits. Call ahead and request one - we send them free of charge to groups that expect to have 8 or more graduates.

Once you have an idea of what most people are interested in, it will be easier to determine what ordering method will work best for the group. Generally, the more diverse the group, the easier it will be to let each family order their own items. (Option "A" below, "Private Web Page with Coupon,"). They come to the group's private page, add the coupon to their shopping cart to obtain the correct pricing, they pay us directly, and everything is shipped to you, individually packaged. However, if you have a substantial number of people without the ability to PLACE their order online (remember, they do not have to pay on line), and if there is someone willing to collect information and money and then place the whole group's order on line, the "alternate" method may be your best choice. (Option "B" below). We have two "decision Guides" below - one for each type of order. It would be helpful to print these out and bring them to your meeting.

Note: If you have only a few people who are not able to place the order on line, you may want to consider asking for a volunteer or two who would help those without internet access, placing the order on their behalf. As a last resort, group members without internet ability may call us and order their items by phone. Such orders ARE counted in your number of packages, but those ordering by phone are charged at the regular "web" price for each item instead of receiving the group's discount on the package.

Your group can provide part of all of the payment for the orders placed on line... just let us know you'd like to have it set up that way when you fill out the form to request your ordering page. Often the group pays for the "basic package" and the families pay for any upgrades or options they want that adds to the cost. You tell us how much to subtract with the group's coupon on each order, and when everyone has finished ordering, we'll send the group an invoice. Once all payment has been received, we ship the order.

Graduation Announcements: We have a separate section of information to help with the decisions if you are interested in adding announcements to your group's ordering page. You may want to print the "announcement options for groups and schools" page for your meeting, as well.

Once you've made decisions about how and what to order, use one of the two sections below ("A" or "B") to get started.

	A. Private Web Page with Coupon for Individual Ordering Individual ordering means that each family will go to the private page, add the coupon to their shopping cart, and place their order, paying us directly. They may pay on line with a debit or credit card, call in a card number, or mail a money order. We print and fill the orders as they come in, and then ship them all together to you once the deadline has passed. (Or we can ship to each family individually; the only difference is that the shipping cost is higher.) If "individual ordering" will work for your group, we suggest allowing about 3 weeks for the families to place their orders (however, this is up to you; some groups do it in much less time), and we will need a day or two to get your page up, so keep that in mind when you choose your deadline. We have a .pdf page ("decision Guide," below) you can print and take with you to your meeting so that you will have all of the information needed to start the ordering process. Once the information is determined and you've chosen a deadline, use the second link below to request your group's private ordering page. If you want us to add a custom announcement to the page, the third link allows you to give us the information we need to get that set up.
Print this page and take to a meeting as an outline for decision-making
When you are ready, use this link to request an ordering page for your group's packages
If your group members want to order a common, custom announcement, use this form to have us set it up

OR...

	B. One Person Placing Order on Behalf of the Group If one person will be placing the order on behalf of the whole group, the ordering process is simplified by using a single diploma style (for example, the Standard Diploma) and deciding on a common seal design, paper, and cover for all of the diplomas. This way the amount of information that needs to be collected is minimized, and so is the amount of time it will take the contact person to place the order online. We have a .pdf page ("Decision Guide," below) that you can print and take with you to your meeting to help guide the discussion, as well as a paper order form that you can print and hand out to each family to collect their information. If you are not able to reach a consensus on a common seal, paper, and diploma cover, call us and let us help you decide on the best way to proceed. Keeping most of the elements the same makes things much simpler for the person who is going to place the order. Once the information has been collected, use the link below to let us know you are ready to order. We will direct you to an order form online which will allow you to give us each student's information.
Print this page and take to a meeting as an outline for decision-making
Print this hand-out to collect information and payment from the group members
Use this link to let us know that you are ready to order

We will put up a private page for you, and will e-mail the link to the contact person once it is ready. They pass it along to all the group members, emphasizing the importance of ordering by the deadline. The private ordering page has your group's name and deadline at the top, gives complete instructions, and has the coupon that each family needs to add to the shopping cart to activate their discount and shipping. The coupon is active as soon as we put the page up, so you may begin immediately to place orders. (View a sample group page here.)

On the Friday morning before your deadline, we will e-mail the contact person with a list of those in the group that have ordered. The report will also include a list of the items on each order. She (or a helper) should call those that have NOT yet ordered and remind them of the deadline. The group's web page will come down at midnight (Monday night) of the deadline date. Anyone that has not ordered by that time will have to place their order without the benefit of the discount coupon.

Once your deadline has passed, the packages will be shipped in 1 - 3 weeks. If families have placed their orders individually, the box will contain individually packaged bags for each group member, containing their items and a copy of their receipt. We suggest that the entire shipment be brought to a meeting where the parents can inspect and sign the diplomas, and the apparel can be checked for size. Let us know IMMEDIATELY if there are any problems. We will not be able to help you if you wait until two days before the ceremony to check the items! If you have added a group announcement to your ordering page, the announcements will be shipped separately a week or two after the rest of the items. If there are any problems with items that have been ordered, we deal with the person that placed and paid for the order. In most cases (ordering method A), that is the actual family that placed their order. If the group leader has placed the order, then they are the one that would contact us if there is a problem with an item.

Complete Information About Ordering Packages: