Fundraising with Merchandising: Maximizing Impact for Your Cause
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Merchandising is a fantastic way to raise funds for your cause while also increasing brand visibility. By creating and selling branded merchandise, you can generate revenue, engage supporters, and promote your mission. Here’s how to effectively use merchandising as a fundraising tool, along with some recommendations for print-on-demand services.
Benefits of Merchandising for Fundraising
Enhancing Brand Visibility
Branded merchandise acts as a walking advertisement for your cause. When supporters wear your t-shirts, use your mugs, or carry your tote bags, they spread awareness of your mission. This increased visibility can attract new supporters and create a sense of community among your existing base.
Creating a Sense of Belonging
Offering merchandise can help create a sense of belonging among your supporters. Wearing or using branded items makes supporters feel like part of a larger movement. This emotional connection can lead to increased loyalty and ongoing support.
Generating Revenue
Selling merchandise provides a direct revenue stream. Funds raised through merchandise sales can support your programs, projects, and operational costs. By pricing items strategically, you can ensure a good profit margin while keeping products affordable for your supporters.
Steps to Effective Merchandising
Identify Popular Items
Start by identifying items that are popular and useful. Common merchandise includes t-shirts, hats, mugs, tote bags, and stickers. Consider conducting a survey among your supporters to understand their preferences. Offering items that your audience wants increases the likelihood of sales.
Design with Impact
Create compelling designs that reflect your cause’s mission and values. Use your organization’s logo, colors, and slogans to ensure consistency with your branding. High-quality, visually appealing designs are more likely to attract buyers. If you don’t have in-house design expertise, consider hiring a graphic designer or using online design tools.
Utilize with Print-on-Demand Services
Print-on-demand services allow you to create and sell merchandise without holding inventory. These services print items as orders come in, reducing upfront costs and risk. Here are some popular print-on-demand platforms:
- Teespring: Known for its easy-to-use platform, Teespring allows you to create a wide range of products from t-shirts to phone cases.
- Printful: Offers a comprehensive catalog of customizable products and integrates with various e-commerce platforms.
- Redbubble: Ideal for creative designs, Redbubble allows you to sell your art on products like clothing, stickers, and home decor.
- Zazzle: Offers extensive customization options and a variety of products, from apparel to accessories.
- Bonfire: Specializes in custom apparel with an emphasis on fundraising campaigns.
Promote Your Merchandise
Effectively promoting your merchandise is crucial to maximizing sales. Utilize various channels to reach your audience:
- Social Media: Share posts featuring your merchandise, highlighting new designs and special offers. Use high-quality images and engaging captions.
- Email Newsletters: Include information about your merchandise in your newsletters. Provide links to your online store and highlight special promotions.
- Website: Create a dedicated section on your website for merchandise. Ensure it’s easy to navigate and includes detailed product descriptions and images.
- Events: Sell merchandise at events to take advantage of in-person engagement. Set up a merchandise table at community events, fundraisers, and meetings.
Legal and Licensing Considerations
Ensure you comply with legal and licensing requirements when creating and selling merchandise. If your cause is part of a larger organization, such as a chapter of a national nonprofit, you may need permission to use the organization’s logos and branding.
For example, Rotary clubs must use licensed vendors to produce merchandise featuring Rotary Marks. Unauthorized use of logos can infringe on trademark rights and harm the brand. Always seek permission and use licensed vendors when necessary.
Conclusion
Merchandising is an effective way to fundraise and promote your cause simultaneously. By offering high-quality, branded products, you can generate revenue, increase visibility, and foster a sense of community among your supporters. Utilize print-on-demand services to manage costs and streamline production. Promote your merchandise through various channels to reach a wider audience and maximize sales. With careful planning and execution, merchandising can become a significant part of your fundraising strategy.
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Frequently Asked Questions
A shopper starts shopping online by first going to iGive.com.
The shopper, your supporter, identifies your cause as the one they support. If your cause is not already on our list of causes either they or you can add it. This tells us where to send the donation. This only has to be done once unless the shopper wants to stop or change causes.
The shopper then identifies the merchant where they want to shop that day from our categorized list of over 1700 merchants. Once they click on that merchant, they are finished for the day with iGive and taken directly to the merchant’s website. If they have shopped there before, they begin shopping. If it is their first time shopping at this merchant’s website, they will have to follow the merchant’s instructions for registering there by providing their name, delivery address, payment method, email address, and perhaps some other information depending on the merchant.
When they are finished shopping, they check out as usual. They are done and only have to wait for their order to be sent to them.
Meanwhile, back at iGive, a message is received from the merchant which documents the transaction. Periodically the merchant adds up what they owe iGive in the way of commission and sends iGive the money. This sometimes takes a month or more after the shopping trip because the merchants want to take into account returns, exchanges or other modifications to the total amount they collect.
iGive then adds up all of the commissions that they have received that are designated to be shared with your cause and sends you the accumulated portion for your cause. This is usually added up on a monthly basis for the period since the last donation to your cause.
There is no cost to the shopper or to your cause.
iGive works with all types of causes — big or small, local or national, and regardless of whether they are a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit or not.
Merchants pay iGive a commission from the shopper’s purchase because iGive referred the customer to them. They want customers to shop at their store, and shoppers with iGive want to shop at stores that support their cause. iGive utilizes that commission to facilitate a donation to your cause on behalf of the shopper.
The money sent to your cause is the incentive iGive offers shoppers to use iGive.com as the entry to online shopping at our 1700+ affiliated stores.
This is different from when a cashier asks if the shopper wants to round up or add a dollar to donate when the shopper checks out — in that case, the shopper is paying slightly more to donate to the store’s chosen cause—not the shopper’s. With iGive, the shopper pays the same amount they would if they didn’t use iGive. Your cause receives a donation from iGive for all of your supporters who use iGive.
The amount the cause receives depends on how many of your supporters use iGive and the amount of money they spend shopping online. You can increase the amount of the donation by encouraging your supporters to use iGive.com when shopping online. Your cause does not pay iGive anything.
iGive has a wide range of participating stores. These are listed at iGive.com either by category of merchandise or a comprehensive list of all merchant affiliates. This includes popular online retailers in categories such as clothing, electronics, travel, and more. See the list of affiliated stores here.