Our Mission Statement

Our mission is to promote awareness of and build community within, the lawn greetings industry worldwide, through a network of reputable lawn greeting companies.

The specific purpose of the Lawn Greetings Association, Inc., is to support growth and development of the commercial lawn greetings industry through a variety of means, including market development, voluntary adherence to a Code of Ethics, research, etc.

This corporation is a non-stock trade association and is not organized for the private gain of any person. The corporation is organized exclusively for the trade association purposes within the meaning of Section 501 (c) 6 of the Internal Revenue Code. It is an association of persons having some common business interest, the purpose of which is to promote that common interest and not to engage in a regular business of any kind ordinarily carried on for profit.

As a 501 (c) 6 organization, the corporation may work for the enactment of laws to advance the common business interests of the organization’s members.

Finalization to establish Non-Profit 501 (c) 6 status with the State of Ohio is pending and will be announced upon completion.

History of the LGA

Beginning as an online forum group, several industry business owners congregated to "talk shop" about their experiences with owning such a business. They often discussed topics which ranged from general small business concepts to where to purchase materials to how to construct their inventory, to customer relations, marketing for the industry and personal chit-chat.

Today, the LGA is the leading authority of the lawn greetings industry. We have over 1000 subscribed members of our online forum at lawn-greetings.com/forum with dozens of posts each day. Many "newbies" to the industry state that our forum is a wonderful resource and that the individual posts have helped them start their own lawn greetings business. Members of our forum have been known to start many industry trends, and the talent among the group is often shared with one another in many forms. Our forum and association is widely known as the greatest resource for all that involves lawn greetings and we often refer to our members as "family".

The LGA will provide members with an online community that provides industry information, business management tips, vendor relations, marketing ideas, and additional benefits to help the lawn greetings owner grow their business. Future plans include hosting an annual trade show event and adding more benefits to offer our members. We believe that because the lawn greetings industry is expanding exponentially, we will do our best to provide resources to you to help you have a successful business.

To that end, our association has future plans to become profitable and retain a solid leadership position in the marketplace by providing:

• Online facilities - Online forum open for industry discussion and community building.
• Family-oriented community support - Our members offer each other emotional and technical support among each other.
• Aggressive marketing - starting from a local perspective and working to a state and national level, eventually working on a global scale.
• Member Incentive Program - Discounts from popular selected vendors to the industry.
• Easy access and exposure - By providing the online directory as a leading customer resource.
• Major resource for all topics in the industry.

Milestones

The Lawn Greetings Association has a big year forthcoming. In order to achieve the sales and marketing goals that have been outlined in this business plan, the company has deadlines to meet and ideas to implement. Some of these are outlined below:

• January 1st, 2006 - The LGA has been declared official by President, Michelle Reed, and will be the birth date of the association.
• January, 2007 – System upgrade of the forum is implemented along with a new banner advertising system.
• January 30th, 2007 – The LGA has successfully opened a PayPal account to receive funds.
• August 6th, 2007 – The LGA retained Attorney Peter McGory, Sandusky, OH, to complete the Non-profit Incorporation process. Fee was $1000 paid.
• August 10th, 2007 – The LGA successfully acquired a vendor’s license and Fed. ID Number. The vendor’s license is out of Sandusky Co. for the state of Ohio.
• August 11th, 2007 – The LGA successfully opened up a bank account with Key Bank, Fremont, OH.
• October, 2007 - The Lawn Greetings Association, Inc. has become an incorporated entity with the State of Ohio.
• November 13, 2007 - Code of Regulations was adopted and approved by the Board of Trustees.
• November 17, 2007 - The website Lawn-Greetings.org was created.
• December 10, 2007 - Affiliate programs were established with several companies including Linkshare and Commission Junction. Others were added to our Advertising Banner program.
• Janurary 2nd, 2008 - Peter McGory steps down as our Attorney, he is replaced with Attorney Jim Reinheimer of Fremont, OH. Fees will be transferred to Reinheimer & Reinheimer and an additional balance will be paid to retain services.
• Janurary 3rd, 2008 - Membership drive begins!
• February 10th, 2008 - The LGA officially declares April: Lawn Greetings Month, and encourages all members to put out all their flamingos on June 23rd for Pink Flamingo Day.
• March 1st, 2008 - Deadline to submit nominations for Operating Officers.
• March 8th-30th, 2008 - Official elections for Operating Officer committee positions.
• April 1st, 2008 - The April is Lawn Greetings Month campaign was officially kicked off.  A website dedicated to this event was created, LawnGreetingsMonth.com
• April 8th, 2008 - The PinkFlamingoDay.com website was launched and an application was submitted to Guinness World Records to set a record for the "Most Pink Flamingo Yard Displays set out in one day, June 23rd".
• April 18th, 2008 - Guinness World Records denies the associations application.  However, the event is still going forward to set the record.  Another application will be submitted next year to break this years record.