From Fundraisers to Fulfillment with Van Wingerden Greenhouses
May 26, 2026 
A new software program helped Van Wingerden Greenhouses streamline its online fundraising sales, which recently topped the $1 million mark. | Van Wingerden Greenhouses
Van Wingerden Greenhouses in Washington state, ranked No. 88 on Greenhouse Grower’s 2026 Top 100 Growers list, has spent the past several years diversifying its customer base. One of its fastest-growing ventures has been school fundraising programs.
“There are a lot of reasons to sell your products to fundraising groups. It’s often a simple program, and because plants are generally sold at a higher cost in fundraisers than at retail, you can get a little more margin out of it,” says Tom Van Wingerden, Sales Director at Van Wingerden Greenhouses. “It’s also stable. If it works for one year at a school, they’ll usually repeat for several years in a row.”
Van Wingerden Greenhouses’ fundraiser program has been around for more than 20 years, and it recently passed the $1 million sales mark. Reaching that milestone also made clear that the ordering process needed improvement, as it was becoming a major drain on time and staff resources.
“We were dedicating multiple people on our team just to handle the phone calls, train new fundraiser operators, and generally work through all the chaos,” he says.
Advice on Fundraising Sales
Are you considering fundraisers as a sales option? Tom Van Wingerden of Van Wingerden Greenhouses offers three tips.
1. Keep It Simple
Fundraiser groups perform better when the program is easy to understand, and simplicity also helps your organization stay efficient.
2. Engage with Your Network
Listen to your customers’ challenges and be empathetic. Seeing things from their perspective can help you develop a better solution.
3. Use the Right Management Tools
We have reduced fundraiser management labor by 50%, freeing up time for value-added tasks while improving order accuracy and financial health.
Enter a New Software System
To address these challenges, Van Wingerden Greenhouses implemented a new proprietary system called Plant Buy that allows schools to track sales from previous years and gives students the tools to enter orders themselves.
“Each student has their own individual log-in and their own web portal that they can share with friends and family via a text, QR code, or social media post,” Van Wingerden says. “Orders can be made directly through the website, and when the fundraising campaign is finished, they just let us know. Their work is done, and we can deliver the plants and a check directly to the school.”
The new process is more efficient for both the user and the greenhouse. Because the fundraising software program connects to the company’s ERP system, all fundraising orders are downloaded into the broader wholesale sales process and fulfilled like any other wholesale order.
“We’re growing the plants from January forward, and if orders and money are being processed the whole way through our production cycle, it essentially funds our production,” Van Wingerden says. “For us, it’s been a huge cash-flow correction.”
Evolving with E-commerce
Van Wingerden Greenhouses uses the Plantsome online platform, which tracks plant sales and offers care advice for consumers. | Van Wingerden Greenhouses
Adding a fundraising software tool has also supported a broader e-commerce fulfillment strategy.
“We typically sell in and around the state of Washington, but if someone selling plants for a fundraiser has family in Kentucky, for example, we’ve set up the platform so we can ship directly to them,” Van Wingerden says.
Almost two years ago, Van Wingerden Greenhouses began investing in an e-commerce partner company called Plantsome, which at the time was developing a plant care app and a related retail branding strategy.
“It’s helped bring down some of the barriers for consumers who might otherwise be hesitant about buying plants online,” Van Wingerden says.
Plantsome also helps the grower track what customers have bought in the past, allowing a company like Van Wingerden Greenhouses to produce more of those plants while also offering care tips that help consumers succeed once they get home. Aside from expanding its customer base, the move toward new software and e-commerce serves a broader purpose.
“We’re operating in a fixed space right now, and we don’t have any immediate plans to build another greenhouse,” Van Wingerden says. “How do we produce more with what we have and provide more value to our customers and our company? Our software systems are focused on addressing those concerns.”
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