Step by step guide

The best place to start is to order a free Signature Engraving Information Pack (click here). With that you will receive a sample paver (unless you request an alternative product – eg. brick or brick facing), our Support Flyer (with products & pricing), and a CD containing all order form templates, Engraving Order Record (spreadsheet), etc. in electronic format.

Generally speaking, the most successful fundraisers are run by a fundraising committee/board of directors/P&C, etc. – ie. a group of committed people. If you are not already part of one, you may want to set one up. The next step would be to present all of the information to your committee, show them the Signature Engraving Information Pack and develop a ‘mud map’ for your Signature Engraving fundraising campaign.

It’s best at that stage to form a leadership or ‘steering’ committee who will drive all major aspects of the campaign. From this more focused committee you would form a comprehensive fundraising plan formalising what you established in the ‘mud map’. You will want to draw upon all of the networks at your disposal within the committee structure to assist in your marketing down the track. The next stage is to work out what product(s) you are going to use and where you are going to install them. Remember, like any fundraising program, the most successful fundraising campaigns are those that are well organised and properly planned where everyone involved is driven by the overall goal.

If you survey your grounds and buildings you will generally find an area that could be enhanced or where a new paved area, pathway or wall could be established. Signature Engraving’s products have been used at a range of schools, RSL’s, Rotary Clubs, sporting clubs, memorial gardens, clock towers and monuments, among many others.

For ‘in-ground’ use our most popular products are Engraved Pavers. Fundraisers for paved areas and pathways are great because:

• Often an organisation needs to pave an existing area or around a new building;
• Engraved Pavers offer the broadest range of types/options (including singles, doubles, triples, hand drawings, logo’s, etc.) which allows the fundraiser to provide options for varying levels of contribution; and
• You can lay blank pavers around your engraved pavers so you have a usable paved area/pathway straight away, but also which can then be lifted periodically to drop new engraved pavers in as you receive more donations.

Fundraisers often have an influx of ‘late’ orders once the pavers are laid. You may want to consider running the fundraiser on a quarterly, bi-annual or annual basis – many organisations do this to great effect.

Alternatively, if you are constructing a new building, wall or barbeque area and would like to raise funds, perhaps an Engraved Brick fundraiser would suit. Not only does it raise funds but it also helps construct the building – “killing two birds with one stone”!

The limitation with Engraved Bricks is that you cannot offer double/triple/quadruple/logo panel brick combinations because, generally when constructing a brick wall, each brick course is off-set to the course immediately above and/or below it (refer Figure 1).  Therefore, a double brick combination (with a border tying the two bricks together) will not work. Please note that Signature Engraving does not engrave hand drawings or logos onto bricks.

However, whilst pavers are traditionally placed/mounted in the ground on a bed of concrete or compacted sand, many of our customers have adhered pavers to a wall to allow for the inclusion of Double/Triple/Quadruple Paver sets, and also Business Logos. Past customers have advised us that there are products on the market that are easily strong enough to adhere pavers to walls.

As an alternative to building a new wall, perhaps you have an existing blank brick or concrete wall which could do with some sprucing up. One option is to run a fundraiser using Engraved Brick Facings which you can adhere to an existing wall. These work in particularly well with the Large Clay Tiles which could be used to honour large donations and/or form part of a logo panel – it could be your logo, a sponsor’s logo, etc. A Brick Facing and a Large Clay Tile are the same thickness approximately (1.0 mm difference). Perhaps your logo could be the centrepiece around which all of the Engraved Brick Facings sit.

Make sure you give careful thought to the design of your project. For example, if it’s going to be an Engraved Paver fundraiser, we generally suggest it’s better to space or group the Engraved Pavers in sections and not have them all next to each other. Placing them all next to each other can look a bit ‘busy’ and is a lot for the eye to take in. The more thought and planning you put into the design of your installation (whether in-ground or on/in a wall) the better the result will be and more it will be appreciated over the years. Perhaps consider contrasting colours – that is, the engraved bricks/pavers in red and the blank bricks/pavers in cream. Or perhaps you may want all the names in a red colour and the logo in cream for example. Keep in mind that you get 37 to 38 pavers per square metre (standard sized pavers – 232 x 115 x 50mm).

Naturally our staff are happy to discuss all the options with you and work out what best suits your requirements!

The main considerations when working out the financials are (1) how much you are seeking to raise for your project and (2) how much are you going to charge per brick/paver/facing/etc.?

The first item should be to create a budget. You need to give consideration to:

• Marketing budget (if any)
• Design costs (if any)
• Construction costs

From the above you can determine your overall costs and then set your ‘fundraising goal’. From this you can set your price.

The key to ‘price setting’ is understanding the demographics of your community and therefore their ability to be able to afford to donate to your project. It’s no good charging $200 per paver and selling 5 units, when you could have charged $50 and sold 250 units. Of course, we have had customers who have sold them for $500 or more per paver but they have generally marketed successfully to a wealthy community and/or to business/corporate donors. Therefore, Signature Engraving’s variety of products allows you to perhaps offer 2 or 3 different products, and therefore price levels, to ensure you allow your donors to contribute at a level that they feel comfortable (eg. $50 for a Single Paver, $85 for a Double Paver and $350 for a Business Logo). This approach should see you achieve maximum participation!

The following factors will need consideration:

1. Amount of money to be raised – this should include projected administration/landscaping/construction costs.
2. Size of the area to be paved / wall to be built – this might include engraved and blank pavers/bricks so you should account for the cost of these.
3. How many do I need to sell to reach our target amount ($) ?

Therefore, if you consider your community’s demographics, what products to offer, the amount you need to raise and the total area where the bricks/pavers/facings etc. are to be installed you should be able to work out the final price to charge per unit. There are alternative methods of charging, such as at a ‘per-line’ rate (eg. $30 for one line, $50 for two lines, $60 for three lines). However, most people charge at a ‘per-paver’ rate.

You can always save some money by putting the ‘feelers’ out to see if anyone in your community is a paver/bricklayer/landscaper/builder who might be willing to charge you at a reduced rate, or even install them for free. Otherwise, perhaps offer to pay for their company’s name and/or logo to be engraved onto a paver/brick for free as a “thank you”. It’s free advertising for their business/workmanship and perhaps you could include a dedication thanking them for their services.

Signature Engraving offers free freight for orders over 125 units. However, if you don’t anticipate selling more than 125 engraved pavers/bricks you should include a freight component in your budget calculations. Just contact our office with a guesstimate of the number you anticipate ordering and your delivery address, and then Signature Engraving will get back to you with a freight/postage quote.   Again, perhaps someone in your community works in the transport industry and may be willing to offer a reduced freight rate or deliver them free of charge. Like the landscaping or bricklaying, any free service like that will save your fundraiser a lot of money significantly increasing your profit margin!

If you haven’t already ordered one, you should request a free Signature Engraving Information Pack (click here) which includes a sample engraved paver (you can request a brick or brick facing if that’s what you are looking at – use the enquiry field in the Contact Us form to request this) and a USB stick with order form templates to assist you in creating your own order forms.

If you’re at the Order Form stage, ideally you would use Signature Engraving’s template(s) to create your own form. They include an opportunity to include your organisation’s logo, perhaps write a preamble/mission statement about why you are raising funds, set the pricing and the cut-off date. If you are not confident when manipulating templates in Microsoft Word perhaps enlist the help of a friend with design/editing skills to assist you.

With regard to marketing, you may wish to consider:

• Display – set up a display at an administrative hub (ie. front office) where your potential donors are likely to see it.
• Local Newspapers – include information on how to order
• Organisational Newsletters – perhaps include the order form itself
• eMail “Shout Outs” – obtain or compile an email mailout list – email is free! Make sure you attach the order form
• Notice Boards – again include information on how to order and/or include the order forms
• Ex-student/Alumni registers – mail out order forms with newsletters – perhaps follow up with phone calls!
• Open Days / Fetes / Markets – set up a stall with someone to encourage and assist interested people to fill out forms
• Offer incentives – “buy one paver, get your second one at half price”, “buy one and go into the prize draw…”, etc.

The next step is to simply distribute the forms. The success of the fundraiser will really be dependent on the drive of the people running it!

It’s important, when the forms start to be returned, that they are collated properly and ideally all go to a single point of contact. The forms may
be names/personal messages/logos and/or hand drawn images, all of which need to be processed and/or collated efficiently.

We have included the Engraving Order Record (in Microsoft Excel format) on the USB Stick provided with the Information Pack. If you are unable to locate it please give our office a call and we will be happy to email it to you.

Step 1 – Rename and save the Engraving Order Record as your own (eg. “Federation College Paver Order 2024”) to a file location on your computer.
Step 2 – Refer to the section in the Support Flyer titled “Ordering Name Pavers, Bricks or Brick Facings”. Once you have read through the instructions and understand the system for entering the names/messages into the spreadsheet, you can then begin entering the data.
Step 3 – Note the coloured tabs/sheets at the bottom of the spreadsheet and the titles relating to the type of product to be entered. Click on the appropriate sheet(s) and begin entering the data. We request that any “AND”s be entered as an ampersand symbol “&”. There is no need to centre the text – we will do that.
Step 4 – Double check all the data, spelling, etc. and make sure you complete the “Shipping” tab  (including all your organisation’s details and noting the colour of paver/brick you require. Do a final save to your computer ready to email to Signature Engraving.

It is VERY IMPORTANT to follow the instructions when ‘quality controlling’ the submitting of hand drawn images. Ensure that the following points are followed:

1. Use the Hand Drawn template provided by Signature Engraving to ensure that all drawings are the right size (no bigger than 100 x 190mm). All drawings must be on WHITE PAPER.
2. Ensure that all submitted drawings are completed in THICK BLACK permanent marker (eg. Artline 70, medium point “Sharpie”, etc.) – no pencils, coloured texta’s, ball point pens, or similar. The black marker must be a minimum of 2mm thick.
3. Drawings must be crisp and clear without too much (small) detail – which would get ‘lost’ during the engraving process. Large writing and larger/simpler drawings are the key to a successful result. We request that you keep hand drawn images to ONE NAME PER PAVER.
4. No computer generated graphics or text are to be used in hand drawn images.
5. If you have vetted all the drawings and they comply with the above guidelines then (1) cut out drawing from each form (just inside the rectangular box), (2) take a photocopy of the drawings, and (3) when ready post THE ORIGINAL’s (drawings only) to Signature Engraving with your organisation’s name and all contact details.

When submitting logos there are a few key tips to keep in mind:

1. Ideally, the logo should be in black and white.
2. For best results, the logo should be in true *.eps, *.ai or *.cdr vector (line art) formats. Most organisations/businesses now have their logos on file in an digital format. If they are unable to locate one perhaps their printer, embroiderer or designer may have a suitable version.
3. We can accept high quality black & white *.jpeg or *.tiff images. However, please note that they must be at least 300 dots per inch (dpi) at A4 size to meet our minimum requirements. To test this, if you print the image at full A4 size and the images has pixelated or ‘jagged’ edges, it will not be suitable.
4. We can arrange for a third-party designer to re-create your logo for a fee which will then be provided to you (on USB) in multiple formats (print, web, PDF, etc.) for your organisation’s future use.

The best way to submit your order for engraved name bricks or pavers is by email. The key is to fill the Engraving Order Record with all the data/names/messages and also complete the “Shipping” tab within the spreadsheet. So basically, make sure you include details of:

1. Your organisation’s name (whom to invoice, address) – in the “Shipping” tab.
2. Your full contact details (including mobile phone number, 2nd point of contact, etc.) – in the “Shipping” tab and body of email.
3. Attach your “Engraving Order Record” (Microsoft Excel spreadsheet) with the names entered (in correct format) – remember to mention if you are posting any hand drawings also!
4. List the product you wish to have the names engraved on (pavers, bricks, tiles or brick facings) and any special requests.
5. Confirm the colour of product you wish to have engraved (eg. Red, Cream, or Hickory for pavers, Red or Cream bricks or brick facings, etc.)
6. Provide the delivery address (is there a forklift available at the delivery point?) – in the “Shipping” tab and body of email.

Once Signature Engraving receives your order we will then prepare some proof sheet(s) which we will email back to you, as well as ask any questions we may have.  Once we’ve made any changes/amendments to the proof sheets and settled on the order, we will then issue the invoice.  Just pay promptly on that and you will go into the production queue.  As a ‘rule of thumb’ production times generally run to about 6 to 8 weeks from receipt of payment.  Signature Engraving have a payment before despatch policy.