Where can I find coupons to send?Coupons can be found in many, many places. The most common place is in the weekend edition of your local newspapers. They can also be found in magazines, on the shelves at the grocery store, on product packaging, printed off the internet, or in your mailbox.
What kinds of coupons can they use overseas?Most manufacturer's coupons can be used. There are of course exceptions, such as products that are sold only in certain geographical locations in the U.S. For instance, milk coupons for your local dairy brand are not sold on an overseas base, and so would not be used.- Coupons for products such as vitamins, joint supplements, hair colorings and cosmetics are not in high demand.
- Coupons for baby products, including diapers, baby wipes, formula, and skincare items are in very high demand.
- Coupons that are to used at a specific store (such as those found in a weekly sales flyer) cannot be used overseas.
How much does it cost to mail coupons overseas?Postal rates for envelopes and packages being mailed to a military APO/FPO address are the same rates as envelopes and packages mailed within the United States. The United States Postal Service offers several sizes of flat rate mailers which can help keep your postage cost down, if you are sending a lot of coupons. For more information, please see the USPS website here.
Do the coupons need to packaged in a particular way?Coupons should be cut and sorted into a few categories, especially when you are sending more than a small envelope full of coupons. If coupons are sorted into the following categories, it will help the military families find what they need more quickly. - Food products (including beverages)
- Health and Beauty Items (soaps, lotions, medications, hygiene items, etc.)
- Baby items (including diapers, wipes, baby foods and formulas)
- Pet items
- Non-Food (including household cleaning products, and anything else that doesn't fall into any of the other categories)
Zippered plastic sandwich bags are a great way to separate the coupons and are lightweight enough that it won't greatly affect the postage costs.
Are there any coupons that I should not include in my mailings?There are several coupons that should not be included as they will not be able to be used. - Coupons that are past the 6 month expiration point (When mailing, be sure to allow adequate mailing time. For instance a coupon that is currently 5 months past the expiration date may not be received before the 6 month window is over.)
- Coupons that are ripped or that have the expiration date cut off partially or completely.
- Coupons that are store specific. For instance, a store coupon found in the weekly Walgreens sales flyer will not be able to be used overseas.
- Coupons for regional products. For instance, Garelick milk products are frequently distributed throughout New England, but these products are not found on overseas bases, so there's no need to include them in your mailings.
Do the coupons need to be expired for me to send?Absolutely not. Sending current coupons will provide the military families with more time to use the coupon. A coupon that isn't due to expire for 2 months will be useful to our military members for up to 8 months from now.
Where can I send coupons?Coupons can be sent to any overseas U.S. military base. We suggest that you find someone stationed overseas to be your contact person to send your envelopes and packages to, rather then sending directly to the Family Support programs on base. With the personal contact, you are much more likely to receive notification that they have received your package, and you will also have a better idea of what coupons are in need on that base. If you do not know of anyone stationed overseas, ask within your community as anyone with a family member or friend who is stationed overseas may be able to put you in contact with someone who would be interested in receiving coupons, or contact your local recruiter's office or local national guard family support programs for additional information.
Most often, a person receiving coupons will take out what their family can use and then share the rest with their friends or deliver their unused coupons to the family support programs to be distributed.
Due to privacy and security issues, we do not maintain a public list of overseas military members who are interested in receiving coupons.
I'm on a limited budget myself, is there a way I can support our families without the postage costs?Yes, there certainly is a way that our military families can benefit from your coupons. There are several organizations around the country that are involved with coupon projects that you may be able to drop off at one of their collection points. Our directory lists organizations that accept your donation of coupons to be sent overseas.If there's nothing listed in your local community, please inquire within your community to see if any organization (such as Marine Corps League, American Legion, VFW, DAR, Kiwanis, Rotary Club, Lions Club, a Senior Center, Church group, MOMS group, etc) has such a project. (If you are involved in a group and would like to be added to our directory, please fill out your information here.
I would like to start a coupon project within my organization. Can you give me some advice on how to start one?Starting a coupon project requires only 3 basic things.
- Coupons. Have your organization's members collect coupons and put the word out within your community.
- Money for postage.
- An address to mail the coupons to. Finding a contact who is willing to receive coupons can be difficult but it's not impossible. Inquire within your organization and within your local community and chances are great that someone will know of someone who is stationed overseas.
To break it down a little further for you:
- Coupons
Start with the members of your organization. You can create a flyer that your members can hand out to their family members, friends, relatives and neighbors letting them know what you'll be doing and why. By starting this way, it will start off slowly, but it will allow you to get a routine going before you start getting overloaded with coupon donations.
You'll get coupons that are already cut, but probably a good percent of the coupons will still be in full inserts, but again use your members. They can help you cut the coupons and sort them into the various categories (Food, Health/Beauty, Non-Food, Baby and Pets)
Some organizations count the face values, just so they have an impressive dollar amount to keep the momentum going for their contributors, but it's not necessary.
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Money for postage
Depending on how big of a response you get will determine how big of a envelope/box you'll need to mail them. There's several flat-rate mailers and boxes available at the post office, but you can also just use regular envelopes or manila envelopes if you don't have enough coupons to fill the others. Remember it's the same prices as you would pay to mail the package to someone here in the U.S., but depending on the size of the package, you may need to fill out a customs form, which you can ask for at the post office counter.
Raising the money to be used for the donations is probably going to be your biggest concern, but it can definitely be done. Some fundraising options are bottle drives, or a raffle or ask outright for donations, really anything that will bring in some money. You might even want to check with any military organization in the area (American Legion, VFW, Marine Corps League, etc) or a service organization (Lions Club, Kiwanis, Rotary, etc) to see if they would help co-sponsor you and have them cover the postage for your project. Offer to do all the work in exchange for them paying all the postage. Really the means are endless, you just have to go after it.
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A person to send your coupons to
Inquire within your local community and find out if there's anyone with ties to your town/city that is stationed overseas. If there is, then contact that person and tell them about the project to see if they would be willing to be your contact person.
Once you are established and have your routine going, then you can expand to see about getting more coupons brought in by dropping off information at businesses (they might want to put a collection box in their employee lounge) or see if the library would put out a collection box, churches, senior centers, etc. Your local radio station or newspaper might work with you by running a PSA to help promote the project.
Lastly, once you're up, please remember to add your group to the directory at www.couponstotroops.com .
Best of luck with your project!
