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10 Big Reasons
We're excited to launch a new blog series called Best Practices. Check out upcoming posts with tips and tricks to make the awards planning process faster, better, stronger.
For our inaugural Best Practices post we're excited to share a favorite method for making the awards planning process easier, cheaper, and more sustainable: drop shipping. At Rivanna, we routinely ship awards directly to recipients following award ceremonies or announcements. This saves on shipping costs and time, shortens awards ceremonies, and allows you, the award coordinator, to focus on more important issues. And we, and many of our customers, have Lin Hill to thank.
The Origin Story of Drop Shipping:
Lin Hill has been the powerhouse behind the Practice Greenhealth awards program since its inception in 2002. Practice Greenhealth is a non-profit member organization that works with hospitals and medical centers to improve sustainability with programs that range from improved energy efficiency and recycling programs to eliminating mercury and establishing green purchasing policies.
Practice Greenhealth is well known for its highly competitive Environmental Excellence Awards. Like the B Corp assessment, the application process for the Environmental Excellence Awards is intensive and requires tracking and documenting the wide range of sustainable practices within a hospital or medical center.
What began in 2002 as a program with 40 recipients has grown to a venerated sustainability program with over 500 annual honorees earning multiple awards types and distinctions. This expansion introduced some logistical hurdles, so we worked with Lin to develop a drop shipping option and we've never looked back.
The Solution: Drop Shipping
Below we've narrowed down 6 major ways drop shipping is better for you, your organization, your recipients, and the planet.
- Fewer shipments and reshipments: We ship a select group of awards to the actual ceremony. All the rest are shipped directly to the recipients. No more manually mailing awards to no-shows after the event. We eliminate that hassle entirely.
- Efficient awards ceremonies: Fewer physical awards mean faster award ceremonies. Practice Greenhealth gives out physical awards to the Top 25 honorees and then recognizes all other recipients in groups, shaving hours off their recognition event. They still take award photos (we provide them with a few special plaques for photos), but the process moves along quickly. This way, they and their honorees can get right to the celebration!
- Unburdened recipients: Award recipients don't need to travel home with heavy or fragile items. They are honored at the event, then return home to find their carefully packaged and pristine awards waiting for them. No more having to stuff a beloved award into already stuffed carry-on.
- Less stress, more time: Shipping requires care and attention. Unverified or incomplete addresses result in additional charges, not to mention delays. Most award coordinators are delighted to turn the logistics over to us so that they can focus on other program or event priorities.
- Costs contained: Practice Greenhealth eliminates one entire leg of the journey for their awards, saving plenty of money on added shipping and packaging.
- Plant protected: Fewer shipments and less transportation means a smaller carbon footprint, a goal that matters not only to Practice Greenhealth, but to their honorees as well. If environmental excellence is important to you and your honorees, drop shipping is a no-brainer.
We're excited to offer drop shipping to our customers and again we want to thank the wonderful Lin Hill for working with us to develop a drop shipping program that really works. If you or your organization is interested in drop shipping, let Rivanna know and we'll coordinate with you to make it happen.
