October 6, 2021

Host a WorldCrafts Virtual Market!

Parkview Baptist Church hosted their second WorldCrafts Virtual Market in August 2021. Hosts included Sara Singleton, Sue Harmon, Sandy Furches, and April Janson.

You can support WorldCrafts artisans around the world by hosting a WorldCrafts Virtual Market.

Why a WorldCrafts Virtual Market?

Guests at Parkview Baptist Church’s WorldCrafts Celebration enjoyed interacting with each other, picking up their products, eating special snacks, and learning more about WorldCrafts.

From hand-quilted throws created by artisans in India to paper-bead jewelry crafted by HIV-positive widows in Uganda to lanyards sewn by seamstresses in the Bronx, WorldCrafts offers high-quality products that represent hope to people in multiple countries and cultures.

When you create a WorldCrafts virtual market, you open a window on the world to people in your church and community.

How Can I Create a WorldCrafts Virtual Market?

Parkview Baptist Church in Lake City, Florida WorldCrafts Virtual Market hosts Sara Singleton, Sue Harmon, Sandy Furches, and April Janson with the Kristie Croft, the recipient of the Kyrgyz Nativity that was given away during their WorldCrafts Celebration.

Take the new online self-guided minicourse WorldCrafts: An Overview to learn how to share about WorldCrafts. You will learn tangible ways to support fair-trade artisans around the world and be equipped to teach others about WorldCrafts.
Select a date, time, and social platform for your event.
Download our suggested posts and images to use for your virtual market.
Consider hosting a live video during the virtual market. Order a Display Set to have product to show at your virtual event or order specific products you would like to share at your event. Please plan to only share products currently available for sale on WorldCrafts.org.
Download the WorldCrafts Talking Points document so you have a few talking points to share via posts or video.
Make some of our fun international recipes and send the link to others to enjoy while they participate in the virtual market.
Print out a WorldCrafts map and post the link for others to see all the WorldCrafts artisan groups around the world.
Be sure to use #worldcraftsvirtualmarket and tag Worldcrafts on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Find all the other resources you need to host a virtual WorldCrafts market at WorldCrafts.org/virtualmarket.

Who Can Host a WorldCrafts Virtual Market?

Parkview Baptist Church hosted a drive-thru line for customers to pick-up the products they ordered during their WorldCrafts Virtual Market.

Anyone can host a WorldCrafts Virtual Market! In September 2020, Parkview Baptist Church in Lake City, Florida, hosted their first virtual market and sold more than $2,000 of WorldCrafts products to church members and those in their community. They hosted another virtual market in August 2021 and sold more than $3,200 of WorldCrafts products.

Sandy Furches, the Parkview WorldCrafts event organizer, and her team added some extra steps to make their virtual market even more special. Here are a few ideas they wanted to pass along to other virtual market hosts:

They created a page on their church website for the event that linked to WorldCrafts.org so people could see the products available.
They had customers fill out an order form they created instead of customers individually placing their order online.
They followed up with the women with friendly reminders about the virtual market.
At the end of the event, they placed one order with WorldCrafts to reduce their shipping cost.
When they received their shipment from WorldCrafts, they sorted the items into bags with handles and added the customer’s name and list of product to the front of the bag. They created a “favor” bookmark and put one in each bag. The bookmark featured WorldCrafts.org and encouraged shopping throughout the year.
They had gave-away a nativity by randomly selecting one customer.
They hosted a WorldCrafts Celebration during a two-hour window outside their church entrance for people to drive-thru a pick-up line or park and walk up to browse their display. The four hostesses dressed as and portrayed four artisans: Fan from Asia, Maria from Guatemala, Rose from Kenya, and Faye from Thailand. Each hostess provided two pre-packaged treats from their country to share with everyone. They also provided a brochure on card stock that shared the story of each of their guest artisans. The hostesses provided an empty bag to members of their mission group who came but had not ordered. They used the bag to collect the snacks, brochure, and a bookmark…hopefully encouraging them to purchase in the future.

We are so grateful to the team at Parkview Baptist Church for their support of WorldCrafts artisans around the world. The impact is eternal.

Here are a few photos from their event that you can use as inspiration for your event.

How Does Creating a Virtual Market Impact WorldCrafts?

The hosts of Parkview Baptist Church’s WorldCrafts Virtual Market brought goodies from different countries to share with the customers and guests who were picking up the products they ordered.

WorldCrafts works daily to transform the lives of people throughout the world. As a fair-trade partner, we help artisan groups develop employment opportunities for men, women, and families who would otherwise live in poverty. While we are committed to ensuring our artisans receive fair wages, our commitment does not end there. The artisan groups who become our partners holistically meet the emotional and spiritual needs of every worker as well.

By creating a WorldCrafts virtual market, you have the opportunity to introduce WorldCrafts and share its vision with a new audience. As more people become aware of the plight of impoverished people and see how they can make a difference by shopping responsibly, we can all join hands to shine our Father’s light into the darkness.

Thank you for supporting WorldCrafts as we seek to make an eternal impact around the globe.