About Treering

Since 2009, you’ve trusted us to capture and print your priceless memories, and we reflect on this honor every holiday season. In addition to helping schools raise nearly $2 million in the 2022 school year, we printed over 600,000 custom pages in 2022—that’s a lot of joy. Thank you for trusting us with this invaluable task. We wish you all the best this holiday season and we can’t wait to get to work in 2023. Happy holidays!

What to expect in 2023

• Semi-monthly training through Yearbook Club
• Design contests for editors and parents
• Your memories arriving within three weeks of clicking Print Ready
• New predesigned “About Me,” “Year in Review,” and “Best of…” pages
• Superior support as you design, market, and distribute your best book yet
• Weekly blog articles to provide inspiration and resources – subscribe and have them sent to your email

Staff pictured

Top: Chrissy K. (Customer Success Manager), Jason S. (Customer Success Manager), Jen C. (Customer Success Manager), Niri B. (Customer Success Manager), Brian M. (Director of Engineering) with Titan

Bottom: Melizza T. (Community Advocate Team Supervisor), Codey V. (Community Advocate Team – Quality Assurance), Daneesha B. (Community Advocate Team), Ramona E. (Community Advocate Team), Robelyn O. (Community Advocate Team)

Since 2009, you’ve trusted us to capture and print your priceless memories, and we reflect on this honor every holiday season. In addition to helping schools raise nearly $2 million in the 2022 school year, we printed over 600,000 custom pages in 2022—that’s a lot of joy. Thank you for trusting us with this invaluable task. We wish you all the best this holiday season and we can’t wait to get to work in 2023. Happy holidays!

What to expect in 2023

• Semi-monthly training through Yearbook Club
• Design contests for editors and parents
• Your memories arriving within three weeks of clicking Print Ready
• New predesigned “About Me,” “Year in Review,” and “Best of…” pages
• Superior support as you design, market, and distribute your best book yet
• Weekly blog articles to provide inspiration and resources – subscribe and have them sent to your email

Staff pictured

Top: Chrissy K. (Customer Success Manager), Jason S. (Customer Success Manager), Jen C. (Customer Success Manager), Niri B. (Customer Success Manager), Brian M. (Director of Engineering) with Titan

Bottom: Melizza T. (Community Advocate Team Supervisor), Codey V. (Community Advocate Team – Quality Assurance), Daneesha B. (Community Advocate Team), Ramona E. (Community Advocate Team), Robelyn O. (Community Advocate Team)

We made magic happen

Beginning the evening with a conversation on themes, a tour of the new look for Treering Yearbooks app, and a magic show, we transitioned to expert-led breakout sessions. The Magical Katrina wowed us with her close-up magic and improv skills.

Breakouts to make your stress disappear

Attendees had their choice of four breakouts:

Fundraising with your yearbook

I’m the yearbook coordinator… now what?

Teaching yearbook

Selling more books

Bag of Tricks

While magicians don’t usually reveal their secrets, we gave up a few of ours. Scan the QR Code below to access them.

Check out the full list of upcoming Yearbook Club webinars for even more training opportunities.

Wouldn't it be great if your yearbook could help buy your school new Chromebooks or iPads or fund a new STEAM program? We think so too! Treering has already helped schools raise more than $11 million (and counting) and funded all kinds of wonderful things for schools. Make money from something you already do: add any amount to the price of your yearbook as a fundraiser.

Our books are so fairly priced that you don't need to feel guilty about adding a fundraiser to the cost of the book. Let's say the core price of your book is $45, and you add a $5 fundraiser. If you sell 500 books, you will have raised $2,375 for your school! That could cover the cost of a few educational field trips!

Full disclosure (because, hi, we love transparency): Treering charges just 5% processing to cover the credit card and bank fees.

Fundraising in Action

Mercury Mine Elementary

"Treeing's fundraising tools helped my school build a yearbook program that no longer creates a drain on our finances. Now with Treering we MAKE money on our yearbook program. Funds raised from the yearbook go to our school's 501c3 Parent Teacher Group and help us to support the school’s programs and services. Our PTG strives to promote communication, understanding, and cooperation among students, parents, faculty, and the Miner community. Our goal is to promote a supportive and engaging community atmosphere and Treering helps us reach those goals." - Erin

Augusta Circle Elementary

"We use Treering’s fundraising tool in two ways. First, we add to the cost of the book, making $1 off each book sold. We also sell celebration ads to parents. We use our extra funds to provide yearbooks to 5th graders who may otherwise not be able to buy one, so that all graduating students leave with a yearbook. Last year, we raised enough money to refinish the outside basketball courts, which were worn down, cracked, and had become hazardous, plus added two new basketball goals! This year we hope to add a large sunshade over part of the playground with the money we raise through the yearbook. We are so grateful for Treering!" - Ansley

Presidio Middle School

"We give books to 8th graders who are moving up to high school. I give away about 60 books to 8th graders. We call it a contest, [students have to fill out an online form to enter] but it susses out students who might not be able to afford a book and don’t want to ask for a free one." - Janet

PSA on Fundraising With Yearbook Ad Sales

Typically, yearbook ad sales are one way teams do their fundraising.

Generally speaking, schools sell yearbook ads for one of three reasons:

1. To pay back existing publisher debt
2. As an opportunity to teach business skills (sales, advertising, negotiation, and more)
3. As a fundraising effort to purchase new equipment

Number one can happen for myriad reasons: perhaps you bought far too many books last year, maybe your budget was slashed, or you inherited a yearbook program in the red. Negotiate, negotiate, negotiate with your publisher for more school-friendly terms. (Thank you for coming to our TED Talk.)

While selling ads is a good way to teach students about business, it’s not a necessity for every yearbook program. Virtually any fundraising opportunity can be turned into something teachable, and selling ads is probably the most resource-intensive of the bunch. This reality is what makes ad sales particularly alluring because they quite literally become part of the finished product.

If you want to add business development consider teaching:

• Problem-solving
• Goal-setting and project management
• Team leadership
• Social media marketing to promote your program, book sales, and crowdsourcing

All that and a bag of chips

We started the night Clueless about yearbooks, and then with a Full House on October 6, 2021, we got Jiggy Wit It: from theme brainstorms to marketing plans, and photo and collaboration tips in between, this is how we do it!

Watch our first-ever live training event for five questions to help develop your theme. Also, you’ll hear actionable ideas to get more photos from your community as well as how to get more yearbooks in more people’s hands. Lastly, learn to take one subject and get eight photographs.

As the student rising to the call of leadership, the teacher who is a champion of her students, or the parent hero stepping in, you should have a say in your schedule. You can work out on-demand, watch TV on-demand, why not publish on-demand? Adhering to multiple deadlines while committing to book sales and page counts is impossible when you don't even know how many events will take place this year. At Treering, we believe that schools, parents, and students should be given the flexibility and freedom to build a yearbook without the stress of ANY commitments.

Flexible Deadlines: Finish Your Book When You're Ready

With Treering there's only one deadline: the day you want to finish your book. Three weeks from that day, your books will arrive to your students. Period. Want to change that date, no problem. The date can be moved at any time, to any date you need. The choice is yours.

Flexible Distribution: Ship Your Yearbooks to Your School, or Directly to Each Student's Home

We offer free sorting (alphabetical, by grade, by classroom) and free bulk shipping to the school. If you want more time to capture prom or graduation, you can have the books shipped directly to each student's home for a flat-rate shipping fee. It's your choice!

Flexible Details: Decrease (or Increase) Your Pages or Even Cancel Your Book

Should something change and you need to decrease your page count, we will let you do that anytime before you hit print ready! Need to cancel your school's book altogether (we hope not), you can do that without worrying about incurring any fees. Your school never pays us anything, and your parents only pay if they decide to buy a book.

No contracts and no minimums mean no worries and no stress.

Flexible Collaboration: Collecting Content from your School is Easier than Ever!

For the sake of inclusivity and to capture all aspects of school, it's important to get photos and help from your community. (Repeat after us: "I can't do it all!") Our shared folders and mobile app make it extremely easy to collect content from your school. By making it simple for everyone to submit photos, you're guaranteed to have everything you need to build a unique book this and every year.

Flexible Designing: Thousands of Innovative Page Ideas at Your Fingertips

Complete book looks, including layouts, fonts, graphics, and color palettes, are free for all Treering customers. Don't worry, they are flexible enough that you can make them even more to your liking. You can even upload your own spreads.

Choosing the right yearbook company is no small feat. To help guide you through this crucial process and ensure the perfect fit for your school community, Treering has crafted a list of ten essential questions every adviser should ask potential yearbook companies.

1. What is the real price per book, including all fees?

Determining the actual price per yearbook can be complex, although it shouldn’t be. There’s a reason: hidden fees (similar to this $30 hamburger!). Here are a few you can ask about now so you’re not surprised later:

• Minimum book requirements
• Missed-deadline fees
• Shipping costs (include customs fees for books printed outside the US)
• Software subscriptions
• Training and support costs
• Custom cover upgrades
• 100lb. paper upcharge
• Personalized pages costs
• Online photo storage fees

Request a detailed quote that breaks down all expenses, deadlines (more on these in a bit), and exclusions. Some companies offer per-book pricing that encompasses all these elements and more.

2. Are there any costs for which the school is responsible?

We believe the yearbook shouldn’t cost schools a single penny. Zip. Nada. Zilch. Traditional yearbook companies often burden schools with additional expenses.

Explore options that remove schools from the financial equation completely (except for the ability to earn money - see number eight!). Treering, for instance, adopts an all-inclusive, per-book pricing model. Families handle online purchases, and schools stick to the fun part - designing a beautiful book.

3. How user-friendly and powerful is the yearbook software?

Effective yearbook publishing software should be user-friendly and collaborative, facilitating the quick design of beautiful pages. Seek platforms with professionally curated templates, InDesign compatibility, unlimited photo storage, and seamless integration with popular services like Google Drive, Dropbox, and social media platforms.

Request a live demonstration to gauge the software's capabilities. See how to add and move a page in the yearbook, whether portrait pages auto-adjust when roster changes arise and what system they provide to help you collect and organize photos. Even better, request a free trial and explore the features for yourself.

4. How are each student's memories captured in their copy of the yearbook?

Raise your hand if you were ever disappointed when opening your yearbook because you were only featured once or twice.

Treering believes every child deserves to see personal memories in their own custom yearbook. In today’s world, where children have photos documenting their entire lives, it would be wonderful to include these unique memories in their individual copies of the yearbook.

5. Are you locked into a specific quantity of yearbooks?

One of the reasons traditional yearbook companies still use printing presses is because they’ve invested a good deal of money in them, resulting in a revenue model strongly favoring the publisher.

With this model, schools must commit to a certain number of books in advance. If you predict incorrectly, you’re either stuck with costly leftovers or you have students who can’t purchase a book. One of the benefits of Treering’s flexibility is that you don’t have to take this gamble.

6. How many deadlines does your yearbook company require?

Streamline the yearbook creation process by focusing on a single deadline—the day the book needs to be print-ready. Treering empowers editors to control and change this date at any time without incurring fees.

7. What's the turnaround time?

A yearbook publisher using digital, on-demand printing technology and domestic printers can guarantee that your yearbook will arrive within three weeks of clicking the print-ready button, allowing you to document more of the school year.

Ask about inclusive pricing that includes bulk shipping to the school and custom presorting for easy distribution. (Bonus if they provide a free, printed proof so you can ensure your final product is perfect before it goes to print!)

8. Can I raise money with the yearbook?

The yearbook can be a great way to raise money for essential areas like technology and supplies. With traditional yearbook companies, these fundraising dollars often go to paying a yearbook invoice instead.

If you add a fundraiser to the core price of your yearbook, you’ll want to make sure your school -  not your yearbook company - receives those funds.

9. What is the cost and level of support you'll receive?

Many yearbook companies will provide you with a local rep, which can be great if that person is readily available anytime you need them. Everyone edits their yearbook at different times, and you'll want someone who works on your schedule.

Make sure you’ll have help when and how you need it, see if they charge for different levels of support, and ensure you’ll have free access to help videos, training events, and articles.

10. How is the yearbook print quality?

Request a sample so you can see their print quality for yourself. Don’t worry; you don’t need to be an expert to judge the quality.

First, do the “see-through test.” Hold up a page - can you see through it? You’ll be able to easily see images from the other side of the page if the paper is less than 100lb. Next, do the “pull test.” Grab a page in the middle of the book and bounce the book up and down. Does the page rip or pull out? Finally, do the “fade test.” Leave the book out in the sun for a day. Does the cover start to fade? If it’s not UV-coated, it might.

Materials matter. Your yearbook not only holds the memories of the school year, but it’s something people hold onto for a lifetime - and should last that long.