Buying a Playground on a Purchase Order or a Grant

Most of the playgrounds we build are paid for by a school, a church, a city or a parks department, and almost none of those are paid for the way a normal online order is. If you are buying on a purchase order, a grant or a board approval, here is how it works on our end.

Purchase orders are welcome

Schools, churches, cities and daycares can buy on a purchase order. You do not have to put a playground on a card. Send us the layout you want, we send you a formal itemized quote you can attach to the requisition, and we invoice against the PO number.

Tax exempt orders are fine too. Send your certificate with the quote request and we will handle it.

What a board or a committee needs to see

Approving a five figure or six figure purchase usually means somebody who has never bought a playground has to sign off on it. What we have found makes that go smoothly:

• An overhead drawing to scale of your actual space with the equipment placed in it, so nobody is imagining a different playground than the one being voted on.
• A color rendering. People who do not read plans understand a picture. This is the single thing that moves a vote more than anything else we send.
• An itemized quote. Equipment, surfacing, borders, freight, install, each on its own line. A lump sum invites questions you do not want in the meeting.
• Compliance documentation. Age range served, accessible route and components, and the manufacturer paperwork your insurer will ask for.
• A lead time in writing so the timeline in the proposal is a real one.

We put all of that together for you at no charge, whether or not you order.

If you are chasing a grant

Tell us early. Grant applications usually want a drawing, an itemized quote and a compliance statement, often in a particular format and always by a particular date. We can shape what we send you to match what the application is asking for rather than handing you a sales quote and letting you reformat it at 11pm.

The other thing worth knowing is that grant awards often come in below what you asked for. It is worth having the layout drawn in phases from the start, so if you get partly funded you can build phase one properly rather than shrinking everything. We will draw it that way if you ask.

Timelines, honestly

Commercial equipment is built to order. Lead time generally runs about 4 to 8 weeks from the day the order is confirmed, and it moves with the manufacturer, the colors and the season. Add the time your own approval process takes and work backward from the date you actually need it, whether that is the start of a school year or a dedication.

If you are up against a hard date, say so on the first call. Sometimes we can help, sometimes we cannot, and you deserve to know which before you commit.

Start here

Send dimensions, photos and the ages of the children and we will come back with the whole package. Request a quote or call (256) 734-5117.