Written by: Richard Shinnick, Jr.

Newsletter Archive

• September 2007
  (Extending Credit to Youth Leagues: DON'T DO IT!)
• March/April 2005
  (Making A Fortune Shooting Action Pictures)
• January/February 2005
  (Don't take it PERSONAL)
• November/December 2004
  (Sell What Makes Money)
• October 2004
  (Make More Money and Book More Leagues)
• August 2004
  (The Most Important Piece of Equipment)

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Extending Credit to Youth Leagues: DON'T DO IT!

At our company we have a steadfast policy against extending credit to private youth sports organizations. I am talking about volunteer programs such as Little League, Pop Warner, AYSO, etc. Generally, in states other than California, the only time that photographers are asked to ship product and "bill the league" is for special request items such as plaques or extra photos. In California, and couple other western states, many leagues purchase a basic package for every player and disburse this money out of league funds. This is a major purchase and can run in to the thousands of dollars for larger organizations. Often times the volunteer in charge will ask the photographer to "bill the league" after delivery. My advice, DON'T DO IT! Send all product COD.

Here are the reasons:

1st It is an empirical fact that youth leagues take a long time to pay their bills. Often times, checks require two signatures and sometimes all disbursements require a vote of the board of directors. So, even if the organization is "good for the money" you may find yourself waiting 100-200 days and may even wait a full year to get paid.

2nd The person you are dealing with is probably not in charge of dispersing the funds. When you give them the product and a bill, they may or may not forward the bill to the proper league official for payment. Also, and this has happened MANY TIMES, it may turn out that other board members do not "approve" of the purchase, etc. Once you have delivered your product, you may find yourself in negotiations with other people that you have never met and who have no connection to you.

3rd I often hear the following "I don't want to offend the coordinator" and often a coordinator will act "offended" when presented with a COD option, especially when it was not stipulated up front. The truth is that the same person who is offended at having to pay COD will be REALLY OFFENDED when you are calling them 6 months later demanding payment. A very common response will go something like this "Thank you for the great job you did, I gave your invoice to the treasurer, I have quit the board, leave me alone, bye." If you think anyone is going to go to bat for you to get your invoice paid, guess again. When coordinators quit, they quit, period. Be smart and be clear up front that you do business COD, that way when the time comes for delivery, nobody will get offended and you will get paid.

Recognize that most leagues are well run and deal very fairly with their vendors. The people involved in youth sports are generally very nice, responsible and dedicated. When you think about it, however, it is generally those kind of people that will understand and appreciate you and won't mind your COD policy anyway! In other words, if you have a league hesitating or refusing a COD, that is the exact trigger for you to be wary!

4th When board members quit they often do not leave behind any records and "good will" does not transfer. So, when you are trying to collect from a new board of directors based on dealings with an old board member, you will often find yourself having to send and resend the same invoice over and over again at best, and at worst you may be refused payment. For example, I once had a league order photos from my company in an "emergency" as the original photographer had absconded and never delivered. We did the photos and returned them in 2 days. They were "desperate" and asked me if I would "please, bill the league" as it was the end of the season and they needed to give the kids the photos the next day! I did it. One month later, the phone was disconnected. Three months later the old board was out and a new one was in. When I finally got a hold of the new league president, he thought I was the guy who ripped them off! No, no I said, I am the guy who came to the rescue! His exact words, "Well, I don't know who you are, all that I know is that pictures were a disaster last year and we are not paying for them." So, what do I do? Let's see, do I sue the little kids baseball league? That would be great Public Relations on my part! Oh, and of course, I lost the account besides. My fault, I broke my rule.

5th In a normal business, extending credit is something that is done after a credit check and often a personal guarantee is signed by the principals. When youth leagues ask for credit, if you were to ask for a personal guarantee, I can guarantee you that nobody will sign one. Why would they? My point is that the people who run youth league are just volunteers, they have no personal liability. In fact, really, nobody is liable. If the league does not pay, who is liable?

6th Why do youth leagues need credit anyway? The league collects almost all of its money up front and they should have the money in the bank for anything they buy during the season so there is NO REASON to extend credit.

7th If you have a dispute of any kind, you may find that the organization keeps the product AND either does not pay you, or writes themselves a discount whether you agree or not. For example, I was friendly with a photography company who delivered a special job to an organization that purchased photos mounted on plaques for every player (instead of trophies), the total amount budgeted was over $12,000.00. When the photographer delivered he "billed the league." Some parents were unhappy with the photos and although the league passed out the plaques, they refused to pay the invoice, they refused to let him do a retake day and they generally refused to cooperate with him in any way. This one account literally put him out of business.

A final thought: If you are dealing with an institution such as a public recreation department, a YMCA or other group with a facility and paid staff, it may be "ok" to extend credit. Especially with public agencies, however, you should ALWAYS ask for a written purchase order and get a purchase order number that you can reference on your invoice. When you bill a government agency such as a municipal recreation department, their finance department will often not pay bills without a corresponding purchase order. Dealing with government bureaucracies is a whole different topic...

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