Best Practices of T-Shirts For Fundraisers

No matter what kind of fundraising event you’re running, a little bit of branded apparel can go a very long way. For one, custom T-shirts for fundraisers are a great way to boost engagement during the event and afterward. They can help people feel truly connected to your brand and its cause. 

And hey, a shirt beats a pen or a paperweight.  Of course, if you plan to create branded T-shirts for your fundraiser. There are a few things you’ll want to take into account first. We’re going to go over several of the most important best practices. 

• Start with a purpose in mind. Why do you want to offer T-shirts at your event? Are they merchandise to help the fundraiser? Donor gifts? Uniforms for volunteers/staff? Extra marketing materials? 

• Create a unique design. Sit down and think for a moment about your brand. What sort of color scheme and design would ideally encompass who you are and what you do in the context of your fundraiser? If you aren’t confident in your ability to come up with something on your own, it might be worthwhile to hire a graphic designer instead. 

• Know how many shirts you’ll need. You’ll need to make sure you have a rough estimate of the number of attendees before placing an order for custom T-shirts. While it’s probably okay if you order a few too many, you don’t want to end up running out entirely. You can order your custom printed shirts in bulk at T-Shirt Express Ohio.

• Order a wide variety of sizes. People come in all different shapes and sizes. Your events shirts should, too. It may also be worth your time to have your attendees note their size on their registration form to give you some idea of how much to order. 

• Figure out how they’ll be distributed. Will your shirts be handed out at the event? Are you going to sell them as merchandise? Offer them as part of a raffle? Give them to donors as a reward? Send them out later as a ‘thank you’? 

• Have separate shirts for staff and volunteers. However, we’re not likely to have all that many in-person events in the near future. Once we do get back to some semblance of normal, you’ll want to ensure that event staff and volunteers are identifiable by attendees. Custom-printed T-shirts are a great way to achieve this. 

• Don’t forget about marketing. How are you going to let people know about your shirts? Options could include mentioning it as part of event registration, featuring your shirts on your website, allowing people to choose a shirt when they donate, and/or promoting your shirts on social media. 

Whether as specialized perks, fundraising tools, or simpler event swag, T-shirts can be an excellent addition to any fundraiser. Just make sure you have a clear goal in mind when you design yours. More importantly, make sure you give attendees/donors plenty of options for acquiring a shirt for themselves.

There’s no sense putting all that effort into custom shirts if no one is aware of them, after all.  

About the Author: Brad Wayland is the Chief Strategy Officer at BlueCotton, a site with high-quality, easy-to-design custom t-shirts.