End of Year Warehouse Clearance Sale!

It’s that time of the year again! 

Every year, here at Ashley Farms, we hold an annual Warehouse Sale where we sell our delicious desserts and other food items at great discounted prices. 

This year’s Warehouse Sale will be held on June 12 and 13 10:00am - 4:00pm each day, and here are some of the products that will be featured:

Cheesecake:
We are known for our delicious cheesecake, and we have many different kinds. This particular cheesecake is our Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake – it’s covered in delicious Reese’s chunks and drizzled with chocolate so you can get the perfect mix of peanut butter and chocolate in every bite.

Cookies:
Who doesn’t love cookies? At Ashley Farms, we sell a number of different kinds of cookie dough and every one will be available at the sale. Just pop the ready to bake cookie dough in the over and patiently wait to indulge in delicious cookies Ashley Farms has to offer.

Pies:
Looking for a perfect dessert after a family meal? Look no further than Ashley Farms! Our pies are made to your satisfaction, and all you have to do is put them in the oven and let the aroma fill your kitchen. Shown here is an American classic, apple pie. 

Pizza:
We sell more than just desserts! We also sell mouth-watering pizza that will make your taste buds go crazy. 

This is just a small taste of what you can expect at our Warehouse Sale. Which food items are you most interested in trying? They will all be available starting on June 12, and if you would like to see all of our products and descriptions, please visit our website. 

We hope to see you there! 

  

8 Tips to Follow When Fundraising

When it comes to fundraising, some struggle with where to start. If you are looking for a little guidance, here are eight essential tips to follow that will ease your stress and help you increase your sales. 

1. Publicize Early and Often

Getting the word out early enough is key. If you promote your fundraiser early enough, more people will become aware of it through word of mouth and by exposure to the promotion sources. One popular way of getting the word out is by having your school do an “email blast” through the PTO/Parent Organization school/group website to all of the parents telling them when and where the fundraiser is taking place. Other popular sources of promotion are newsletters, websites, outdoor signs, and the local newspaper.

2. Limit the Number of Fundraisers

More products aren’t necessarily a good thing. Some parents believe it can get to be too much and will eventually walk away from the sale. If you focus on having fewer fundraising products, people will be more apt to buy.

3. Promote the Product as a Gift

Market a product as being a great gift to a friend, loved one, or family member. Individuals prefer this because they are supporting a good cause and also buying a gift for a special someone. Our Gourmet cheesecakes, pies, and cookie dough are always great options because who doesn’t love a sweet treat every now and then?

4. Personalize the Product

Putting a slogan on your product might be helpful when it comes to selling. Adding images helps if you can add it to the slogan. It also engages the sellers and gets the parents and teachers involved.

5. Try a New Product

Try selling one of the new items in the fundraising brochure. There are many things that would strike someone’s interest in our brochures including our new products for 2014. Finding fresh, new things to sell makes a world of difference instead of focusing on selling the same items each fundraiser.

6. Switch the Timing of Your Fundraiser

Timing is everything; individuals who have changed their sale to November or early fall have seen tremendous success. It helps to have your fundraiser when others aren’t going on at the same time. 

7. Use Creative Prize Incentives

Offering prizes for selling five to ten items will increase student participation immensely. At Ashley Farms, we like to reward students for their hard work, and we do this with our Disney World Grand Prize drawing. Having incentives makes students want to work that much harder because they can get rewarded for their efforts.

8. Rethink Your Sales Approach and Sales Territory

Having a child go to a place of business and ask around for orders is actually very effective. Going to churches and the local courthouse are good options as well. You will be amazed at what power young children possess. 

Whether you use one or all of the eight tips during your next fundraiser, we hope they help you exceed your fundraising goals!

Who Loves Cheesecake? We Love Cheesecake!

Mmm…cheesecake, cheesecake, and more cheesecake. At Ashley Farms, there’s one thing that we love, and that’s our signature cheesecakes. Why? Because these beautiful desserts are the foundation of our company - not to mention they are beyond delicious! When it comes to choosing a cheesecake flavor, get your taste buds ready, because with so many varieties it can be hard to choose. From complex to plain and simple, there’s always something to try. Here are a few of our favorite cheesecake flavors:

Chocolate Symphony Cheesecake: This cheesecake sampler brings music to a chocolate lover’s ears! With three slices each of Chocolate Marble Swirl, Chocolate Chip, Chocolate Truffle, and German Chocolate, this sampler is sure to satisfy your sweet tooth!

Oreo Cookies n’ Cream Cheesecake: America’s favorite Oreo cookie meets its match with this one! Oreos are crumbled and combined with our amazing cheesecake to create an Oreo cookie lover’s dream!

Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake: Everyone’s favorite peanut butter chocolate candy combined with our gourmet cheesecake - what’s better than that? This delicious cheesecake is topped with chunks of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups to ignite your taste buds.

Fruit Sampler Cheesecake: Love fruit? Then this cheesecake is for you! This sampler includes three slices of four different fruits to give you a fruit-tastic variety. What fruits can you expect? Strawberry, Blueberry, Cherry and Pineapple!

Turtle Cheesecake: Who doesn’t love the great combination of caramel and chocolate? This cheesecake starts out with our classic New York cheesecake and is topped with creamy caramel, rich and gooey dark chocolate and chopped pecans. Yummy!

Is your mouth watering yet? Some of the cheesecakes listed above may sound like unusual combinations, but they make us realize that eating cheesecake will never get old. Whether you stick with a plain slice of the classic New York Cheesecake (which we offer), one topped with fruit, or a more complex concoction, the options are endless.

At Ashley Farms, we take pride in our cheesecakes, and we believe one thing is for sure: they don’t disappoint. If your group needs to raise money, an Ashley Farms cheesecake sale is the perfect vehicle to get you there - learn about or Intro Package or contact us today!

Write a Review for Ashley Farms!

At Ashley Farms our main priority is satisfying the individuals and groups we work with! We try to go above and beyond to make the fundraising process run as smoothly as possible. Any feedback from organizations we have worked with in the past, whether it is good or bad, helps improve our internal processes immensely. Please follow the instructions below to help us perfect the overall fundraising experience we offer:

Write a “Review” on our Google+ page.

1) Login to your Google Account. Sign in to Google with your email and password or Sign up for an account.

2) Search for a place to review. After you have signed in to Google, search for a place you would like to review in the Google search box.

After you have searched for a place or business of your choice, look for the “write a review” tab. Please note that both places will take you to the same place. Make sure that this is the business you would like to write the review for. If you do not see the “write a review” tab, try to make your search more specific by including the state, city or zip code. In the example below, PA was added to narrow down the search.

3) Write a review. After you have clicked on “write a review”, you will be able to rate and describe your experience. When you are finished click the “publish” tab. Congratulations you have written a review!

Write a “Review” on our Facebook page.

After you log in to your personal Facebook account, simply search for the Ashley Farms Facebook Page using the search bar at the top of the page or click this link: https://www.facebook.com/AshleyFarms

Scroll down the page until you locate the “Reviews” section on the right hand side as shown below.

Select a star rating and type a review in the text box. Once you’ve said some kind words, click the “Review” button and you’re done!

Keep Parents Involved in School Fundraising

Getting parents and students involved is the goal in order to make fundraisers successful. According to one statistic, 77% of parents think their child’s school should fundraise and want to get involved. That’s a promising statistic, and although many parents want to help as much as they can, many aren’t consistently involved. This consistency is needed, but as life continues to become more hectic, parents have turned to helping every now and then or not at all. How can this be changed?

What really matters when it comes to parental involvement is making each parent feel connected. If a solid connection is made, parents will be more willing to continue helping with their child’s future fundraisers. To create this connection, here are some tips to follow:

Give parents hard data about previous successes and accomplishments.

A steady flow of reassuring information of what you are doing and that you are accomplishing great things is what parents need. Feeding parents hard data builds the schools credibility, gives parents confidence, and makes parents happy and satisfied.

Connect with parents often.

Send parents newsletters regarding how your fundraising efforts are going or went if the fundraiser is over. Another great idea is to send letters of thanks. Keeping communication going is extremely important for top of mind awareness for being involved in future fundraising efforts.

Be personal with parents.

You should be tracking parents’ various interests and their participation with various fundraisers. Doing this allows you to tailor mailings to parents’ specific interests, and if you are able to do this, it makes parents realize: “they know me, and they care about me.”

Make it simple.

Make it easy for parents to participate. Keep meetings short and post information about the fundraiser and upcoming events in a variety of outlets – school website, community website, Facebook (social media) and in the school bulletins whenever possible. The easier you make it for parents to get information, the more likely they will be involved.

Always communicate to parents what monies are doing.

This is extremely important! More than anything, parents want to know what their time and effort is accomplishing. Tell them before they get involved, keep them updated as the fundraiser continues with your progress, and follow up when the fundraiser is over with schools success.

Whether you use one or all of these tips, we hope that the idea of keeping parents involved is of new importance. Make 2014 the year that you spread the love and start to keep parents involved for the long run!

The Importance of Supporting Music Programs in Schools

Nobody doubts that having creative outlets available to students is hugely important, not only for academic performance, but for development of children as a whole. A variety of studies have been done on the impact of music on children. The results are clear. Music education is beneficial to children in a variety of ways.

· It’s more than just music. Participating in music education encourages children to use wide-ranging skillsets.

· Music has major benefits for language development. Musical training has an impact on the part of the brain used for language.

· Music affects overall intelligence. Statistics show that children involved with music have higher IQs than those who do not. Musical children also do better on tests.

· An understanding of music can help children excel in other areas. Studies show that students with knowledge of music are able to better solve problems in other areas such as math.

· Music is fun. Music education can be a great creative outlet for children.

Now it is more important than ever for schools to secure funding for music programs. With budget cuts affecting school districts across the country, music is often the first type of program to lose funding or to be cut entirely. But something can be done. You can help your local school’s music program by supporting their fundraising efforts. When a child knocks on your door or a family member asks you to buy something to help support their school, consider it, because in doing so, you are supporting so much more than just music.

New Year, New Products!

We here at Ashley Farms, Inc. hope you had a joyous holiday season and are ready to take on the New Year!

Below you will see some quick photos we did earlier this month to give you a hint of what we will be offering, but the true test is in the tasting!

Here are brief descriptions of our new products:

We take a paper thin whole grain tortilla shell and stuff it full of deliciousness, fold it over, and over one more time and what you have is the most unique new pizza item to come along in years; you really must taste it. The light flaky crisp crust makes this an instant winner. It comes in three different varieties. The original N. Y. pizza, pepperoni and cheese and the incredible mac and cheese. Each variety offers cheddar, mozzarella and provolone cheeses.

Really quite amazing, just heat and serve.

We have a graham cracker pastry shell stuffed full of marshmallow and dark chocolate. It's perfect for kids of any age! Just heat and serve.

Everyone has been looking for something "gluten free" that actually tastes good. Look no more, this might be the most elegant and delicious cake we have ever sold, and it takes a lot for us to say that. Once again, tasting is believing. You owe it to yourself to stop by and have 

a bite!

Pigs in a blanket are still the number one selling hors d'oeuvres in the country, but this is a fun take on that eternal winner. We take a great New York pretzel and wrap it around a delicious all beef mini hot dog. Another sure winner!

Classic New York pretzel sprinkled with chipotle cheese then twisted and baked, yum! We also offer just cheese for those who don't have quite the palate for the hot stuff. You don't know what you are missing!

This is another sure winner. We have been famous for our cheesecakes for over 25 years, but this is a new twist. We took three popular varieties, NY plain, Chocolate and Strawberry and enrobed them in luscious dark chocolate. 12 portions in each box.

Another variation on our already successful line of cheesecakes. Variety has always been a cornerstone of sales. This four pack consists of NY Original, Cappuccino, Black Forest Swirl, and Triple Chocolate. 4 inch cakes make for a nice presentation and a very appealing dessert.

Wow! Need we say more?

A variation on the old stand by, cupcakes- just smaller and on a stick. Always keep in mind we sell through the eyes of a child, so this is a " no brainer". We have five flavors available, but you can put together any combination you wish.

Which delicious treat are you most excited about tasting? Tell us your pick in the comments below!

Ashley Farms, Inc.

Support@AshleyFarmsInc.com

(973) 616-8877