Fund Raisers and Spiritwear

Booster and School Fund Raising Ideas

Fund raising can be easier than you think. With the proper planning, you can raise funds for your sports fund raisers, school fund raisers, booster clubs, student council, band, glee, senior classes, FFA, FHA, honor society, language clubs, cheerleading squads, class reunions, etc.

Buying imprinted products and then re-selling with a mark-up, can be difficult if you deal with suppliers with have restrictive minimum orders or set-up charges. Never buy more product than you can sell during one or two sales events. Otherwise your fund raising account will be tied up in inventory.

When selecting custom products for sports fund raising and school fund raising, make sure that the company you work with offers in-house decoration. Those who "outsource" will most likely not give quick response and the best prices. Look for a supplier that offers the whole gamma of sports decoration choices: screen printing, heat transfer printing, digital printing, embroidery, and tackle twill lettering.

You can subsidize the cost of spirit products by enlisting a sponsor. Sponsor's name/logo can be printed on the products. There are many different spirit product categories you can choose from. Identify what other groups and organizations have sold. Even though you may have had success selling umbrellas or sweatshirts last year, find another product since buying a second umbrella or sweatshirt is not practical or needed.

If your organization can purchase about (72) pieces or more of one particular product, you should be able to DOUBLE the money you invest! For instance, a printed t-shirt makes for a great sports fund raiser. When purchased in quantity, you can easily double your cost of these shirts (say $5-$7.50) and sell for $10-$15.00 each.

Though you may not double the cost of other items that are produced in lower quantities don't hesitate to offer these. More variety is good and creates multiple product purchases. You still can offer an adequate mark-up to make money.

Don't purchase too broadly however. You will need to manage stock keeping units (SKU's). Apparel for instance, comes in sizes, styles and colors and spreading your available dollars over lots of styles and colors will create lots of out-of-stock size and color lost sales. Think narrow and deep when you merchandise apparel. This will give you best pricing as well.

Related Articles

Apparel Fundraisers
Imprintable Promotional Products
Spirit Products
Custom Patches