Designing a CSA Flyer & Sign Up Sheet

Designing a CSA Flyer & Sign Up Sheet

A few weeks ago I let all of you in on one of our latest projects, the Rabbit Ridge Farm CSA.

While I’e seen a lot of posts about planning a CSA and how-tos for the hands-on aspects of running a CSA I’ve never seen a post about the paper work side of things. I hope to do a few more posts on how we plan to keep track of everything but to start things off I decided to share our flyer and sign-up sheet. As I worked on these two things I kept coming back and adding aspects that I had originally overlooked.

Okay so what’s on the flyer?

• Our farm name.
  This one is a given. It can be part of your logo or alongside it in a nice prominent font.
• Our logo.
  If you don’t have a logo you need one! We designed our own using a drawing I did, our home printer/scanner, and Canva. Logos help customers build a relationship with your business. If you’re not comfortable designing you’re own they’re totally worth the investment.
• Description of our farm.
  This one is a big deal! You need something that gives your customer enough information but is short enough that they’ll actually read it. When you’re writing this really try to think about what exactly you’re selling and who your ideal customer is. We know that our target customers are eco-conscious people who are tired of the lack of organic and local options in the area. With that in mind we highlight our organic, sustainable permaculture and farming techniques.
• General CSA description.
  With this you can’t just focus on what you’re doing you need to describe exactly what a CSA is and how joining one could benefit the customer.
• Product list. I wrote ours as “possible” product list and noted that somethings may not be included and there may be additions we didn’t mention. All I promised was that they’ll get a full share of our products each week. What can I say? We’re new to this and there’s just so much in farming that’s unreliable. So either aim for relaxed customers who want to be a little surprised each week or make sure you can absolutely deliver on your promise.
• A logistics section.
  This gives your customer those nitty gritty important details. Include the cost, the timeframe: how long it will run and the dates, and pickup details: whether it’s at your farm or a set meeting spot.
• Class.
  Alright sounds weird but make sure you’re flyer is classy! I don’t care if your a dirty, patchouli smelling, barefoot farming herbalist your flyer has to look good. This is a make it or break with many customers. They won’t believe you can give them a good deal if you can’t even make a nice looking flyer.

Now onto the signup sheet. Typically we hand this out right with the flyer so they get all the info.

Here’s what’s on the sign up form:

• Full name
• Full address
• Best phone number to contact.
  Since almost everyone carries a cellphone it’s probably best to get it. That way if you get a flat tire on your way to drop off the shares you can call and warn people you’ll be a little late instead of having them wonder and then having to reschedule entirely.
• Food allergies.
  This is something it’s definitely best to know upfront especially if you’re making any sort of value added products. You can either make plans to accommodate or find alternate arrangements. For example we offer bread in our CSA and it’s not gluten free. If we get a customer with Celiac’s they can either give it to a friend who will enjoy it or it’s totally not a big deal for to swap it for more of another product since we have such a small CSA.
• Additional product requests/comments.
  Another weird piece of our CSA plan is that we have a few products that are option. Everyone will get a box of they same value it may have different contents though. Also I added the comments section because again we’re total CSA newbies and our customers may have questions or concerns we haven’t thought. Better safe than sorry!
• Payment type.
  This one is mostly for me to help me keep track of everything.

If you’d like to see an example or learn more about our CSA you can download a PDF version of these forms by clicking here.

You should keep copies of all the sign up forms for tax and record keeping purposes.

If you’re new to the CSA thing talking with potential customers can be extremely stressful. When you create helpful, professional looking material you’ll be able to advertise with ease. If you’re still on the fence about this whole CSA thing check out these 8 reasons you should go for it!

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