If I needed to source coffee mugs, bumper stickers, t-shirts, etc. for a promotion/fundraiser,

[Flaxbee]

how would I do so?

It's for a fund raiser, so we can't spend a fortune because the goal is to keep as much of the funds raised as possible, but the items would need to be nice quality.

I have no idea how or where to do this. Any suggestions are appreciated! Help!

Also, if you have any suggestions for good promotional items, I'd also like those suggestions. There are lower-donation levels and according items (bumper stickers, etc), and higher-donation items (??)... :shrug:

[freshwest]

1. Do mean sourcing like Cafe Press, that makes DU's merchandise? Or eBay or Amazon?

I'm not quite sure I'm understanding what you need.

[Flaxbee]

2. yeah, I guess like CafePress.

So, if you donate $5, you get a bumper sticker or a key chain

$10 = coffee mug
$25 = t-shirt

Or whatever - I don't know the metrics, really, of how much these things cost if purchased / personalized for a cause or the best places to find them so I don't know what to offer in exchange for certain dollar donation items.

Have I explained that better? :)

[Chan790]

3. Give me a moment...

there are companies that do that kind of marketing/promotional work, specifically targeting the NPO sector but I don't recall them off the top of my head. Technically, any marketing/promotional-sales company can do that kind of work for you, at a price far below CafePress or Zazzle provided that you're buying a few dozen or a hundred-plus of each item. Try the yellow pages, there are companies doing that promotions work in just about every community in the country and most of them are small businesses that employ local labor and I always advocate supporting local businesses.

Your price points are a bit too low though. $5 for key-chain/bumper-sticker works (depending on the key chain), but you might want to think more like $20 for a mug and $40 for a t-shirt. Just from doing that kind of work before, you're at risk of not seeing a significant return at those price points unless you order the merch after the event to meet your donor demand...otherwise you're going to have to guesstimate and do so on the high side of expectation or risk undersupply.

[Flaxbee]

7. thanks, Chan790 ... your input is very useful.

I suspected my price points might have been too low - thanks for confirming.

[hyphenate]

4. You can start with a trip to

www.makestickers.com. They have bulk pricing for bumper stickers, and their rates are really good. If you have your own sayings or logo, you can send then a copy of a design you've made, and they will make them from it. Or you can use one of the many designs they have and supply just the saying. You can play around with lettering, fonts, and see what looks best.

For other materials, you will want to google "promotional products" which will give you a list of sites that specifically sell branded items. For instance, www.branders.com.

Depending on how high you will want to go in terms of donations, the best promo items are always things like jackets or sweatshirts.


I find Cafepress expensive. But that might just be because I know how much (for the most part) items sell for when you're buying bulk, and I prefer to go a different route.

If you want something that can be used over and over, you might want to invest in a button-maker (www.badgeaminit.com) and just keep ordering the button supplies when you need them.

Are you near a big city? If so, you should check to see if there is a trophy making company in town, as they often have some items available for branding, too.

I used to deal with a lot of these things, but it was years ago now, and I can't remember all the companies I used to deal with. Another search that should yield results might be to look for "incentives" which are often given out by companies to employees for such things as the highest sales for a month, best customer reviews, etc.

Good luck with the fundraiser!

[HopeHoops]

6. Badgeaminit is awesome. I got mine 25 years ago and it still works.

Buy the buttons, magnets, mirrors, etc. in bulk - much cheaper that way.

I've gotten a few messages from Andrea DeMartino, Marketing Executive.

"business cards, pens, t-shirts, hats, magnets, tote bags, water bottles eco friendly items, mugs, key chains stress balls, trade show items, umbrellas flasch drives and much more".

No web site on the message I just found, but the contact is [e-mail] if you are interested.

[Flaxbee]

8. thanks a lot, hyphenate! Great information to work with

I really appreciate it! :hi:

[hyphenate]

5. Another thing you can think of

is find out if the organization is a 501 (c)(3) organization, where people can get their donations as a tax deduction if it's over a certain amount. You might be able to include as a disclaimer that the donation is, in part, deductible. You might find people willing to take a lower priced item even for large donations if they know it'll be able to be written off. Before you take my word on that, you should have someone directly check the rules on that, as I'm not a lawyer, just someone who used to notice that sort of thing on items I purchased from charities in the past.


Another thing you might try, too: depending on the kind of organization you are helping to raise money for, you can think of companies that offer items that in some way pertain to the charity. When I was helping out years ago with an animal charity that was presenting awards, companies that were "animal'friendly" would send little items. For example, a company that made pet shampoo send out small bottles to the attendees, while Frederick's of Hollywood (yes, that Frederick's!) gave guests a garter belt in their gift bags (leopard print, no less!). If it's something like the Charity auction I used to attend, the organizers would get some of the studios to send them promo materials for the auctions, which is where the auction mainly made its money. Some of the actors who came and helped the bidding often brought along scripts from their shows, or some small props, etc. So you might want to check something like that as well. Most companies have a main number you can call, and tell them you want to talk with whoever is in charge of charity information.

[TreasonousBastard]

9. Have a Staples nearby? The Copy&Print counter might have some samples...

of this kind of stuff. Local print shops, camera shops, etc might have the same kinds of stuff.

http://www.staplespromotionalproducts.com/

Lots of things, like bumper stickers, are tough to find locally and you pretty much have to slog through the web to get good deals.

[LanternWaste]

10. If you are looking for high volume quantities

If you are looking for high volume quantities (500+ of each type of product you mentioned) send me an IM, PM or whatever it's called (the massage thingy on DU)