Do you have an event or a cause that you need to raise money for? Need an extra boost to get people to stop and listen and consider donating money? Fundraising can be hard to do. People are usually not too excited about giving their money away. Sometimes it is because they just cannot afford it. But many other times, it is because they don’t know for sure where their donation will go. Based on a first impression, they might not trust the person asking them for money. Or, they might just not believe in the cause.
What can you do, as a fundraiser, to change people’s minds and get them to contribute to your cause?
One great way to advertise your cause and fundraise in a friendly, clever, and informative way, is to design your own custom t-shirts. In this way, you can draw people in with a creative logo, image, or slogan on the front of the t-shirt. You can then inform them about your cause, either with information on the front of your t-shirt, on the back of your t-shirt, or by following up with a dialogue of your own. They will already have been introduced to the topic by your t-shirt, so chances are they will feel more comfortable about hearing what you have to say. They already know you are serious, because you have already spent time and money making your t-shirt.
Another way to use t-shirts to help fundraise is by actually selling t-shirts in order to raise money. For example, if you are in a play, and the theatre company that is producing the play needs money in order to fund the production, a great way to raise money is to design custom t-shirts advertising the play or the theatre company, and selling them to interested people in the community. You can advertise the play by featuring it on the t-shirt, and wear the t-shirts yourselves as a company in order to draw people in. Then, you can sell the t-shirts at local events, at the actual show, and on your website, if you have one. This is a great way to raise money because it is not asking for very large donations. You could sell t-shirts for very small amounts of money, especially if you are able to get a good deal on buying in bulk from the t-shirt designers.
This way, people don’t have to commit to much in order to support you. Asking for a small amount of money broaden your support base—all of your friends can come pay a small amount for a cool t-shirt that will help your play get up on stage. Meanwhile, when anyone who buys your shirts wears them out on the street, they will provide free advertisement for your show. So be sure to put all of the relevant information about your show—or whatever your cause is—on the t-shirts. This way, you can get two good deals for the price of one.
