July gets hot here in the Cedar Valley! Our newest member of the business partner program is no stranger to heat & yes…a little bit of fainting.

We are very excited to announce…and you may want to sit down for this one just in case…that The Fainting Goat Smokehouse Bar & Grill from Waverly, IA has graciously decided to offer our wonderful family of founding members a whopping 15% off of your dine-in meals at their delicious restaurant!

We love, love, love that our business partner program continues to mushroom outside of the Cedar Falls city limits because it is our vision to cater to the entire Cedar Valley community. We will all benefit from a full-service, cooperatively-owned grocery store in Cedar Falls!! And now our members will benefit by saving a healthy chunk of change when they dine-in at The Fainting Goat!! A veteran-owned farm-to-table concept with local Iowa beer on tap & beef, pork and poultry all are raised right here in Iowa, to support our Iowan farmers! Grill fresh. Grill local.

We are so grateful to all of our business partners for their trust & support in the efforts of the Cedar Falls Food Co-op. Be sure to take your member card with you when you go out & about and take advantage of these offers! It’s good for all of us & our community as a whole. Finally, please check out our online business partner specials page for a full listing of all of our current business partners and the full details of each offer as sometimes restrictions may apply. Thanks!

Who can best recruit new members? Existing members! For every friend you recruit to join, you’ll be entered into a drawing to win a $25 Cedar Falls Community Main Street Gift Certificate.

When you get a friend to commit to joining the Co-op, have them add your name to the “How did you hear about the Co-op” section of the membership application. Once they turn in their application with payment, you’re entered into the drawing. It’s that easy!

Become a Membership Maven for a month

The CFFC Membership Committee has used monthly projections to determine that in order to open the store in 2018, we need to incur 370 members per year (which averages out to about 30 new members per month). To reach this goal, we need the enthusiastic support of active member-owners.  It takes the initiative of all owners to make the store a reality.  So, would you consider a one-month volunteer role as Membership Maven?

As a Membership Maven, what will you do?

It’s simple…you agree to help the Co-op reach its monthly membership goal. A membership committee member or our outreach coordinator will meet with you before your month begins to help you brainstorm a plan that will be effective. Then, during your assigned month, you (or your Maven team if you choose to work with a friend or several) commit to doing the best you can to reach our goal. This may include the following:

• Hosting a house party
• Asking friends to host a house party
• Making phone calls to people you know who aren’t yet members
• Plugging the Co-op on social media
• Talking about the Co-op and benefits of member-ownership in the community

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The Co-op Carrot and friends proudly marched in this year’s Sturgis Falls Parade. The brand new bicycle from Bike Tech was on display, too. New members who joined by the end of June were entered in a chance to win a sweet ride!

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The Co-op is growing, and the sooner we can raise 1,000 members, the sooner we can open the store. Who can best recruit new members? Existing members!

If you get a friend to join the Co-op, you’ll be entered into a drawing to win a $25 Cedar Falls Community Main Street Gift Certificate. These gift certificates can be used at any business in the downtown district. And if that isn’t enough, here’s the icing on the cake: There’s no limit to how many times you can be entered into the drawing…for each new member who joins, you’ll have an equal number of entries in the drawing. Plus, we’ll have a drawing each month, so you can be entered to win a gift certificate in June, July, August, and so on.

How does it work?

When you get a friend, co-worker, neighbor…anyone!…to commit to joining the Co-op, just have them add your name to the “How did you hear about the Co-op” section of the membership application. (Or write your own name in that section for them.) Once they turn in their application with payment, you’re entered into the drawing. It’s that easy!

Special thanks to Cedar Falls Community Main Street for their support of this incentive campaign!

The fine print

To be eligible to be in the monthly gift certificate drawing, you must be a member of the Cedar Falls Food Co-op and have your name clearly included in the referral section of a membership application. Hard copies and online applications are both eligible. All names submitted in a given month will be entered into a drawing. Previous winners of the drawing are eligible for future drawings. The prize is a Cedar Falls Community Main Street $25 gift certificate. Please note gift certificates need to be used within at least 6 months. Co-op Board members and their families are not eligible.

Co-op members from last year might remember our awesome member drive where we worked hard to gain 30 new members in the month of June, which included a bike giveaway sponsored by Bike Tech. That campaign was such a success, and we had such a great time, that we’ve decided to do it again! All NEW members who join the Co-op in the month of June will be entered into a drawing to win a women’s Electra Cruiser, courtesy of Bike Tech. This applies to all new applicants, so those choosing to join by the payment plan will be included in the drawing. The winner will be announced in early July.

We have a number of great advertisements planned for this, with the help of some of our amazing members. Be sure to “like” us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, and share our posts to help get the word out about this awesome giveaway. If you have friends and family who have been considering joining, let them know that this is the month to do it! Every person we each tell about the co-op is one step closer to making our dream a reality. Help make June our Best Month Ever and join today!

As the Cedar Falls Food Co-op’s membership continues to rise, more and more members are stepping up to help the Co-op grow. They’ve made the commitment by purchasing a share in the Food Co-op and now they want to have the store open as soon as possible. They know that the sooner we get 1,000 members, the sooner we can open. They are taking the concept of ownership to heart and are encouraging other members to join. Cedar Falls teacher and Food Co-op member Donna Mallin is among those who utilized one of the most effective tools to recruit new members: house parties.

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