This is a guest blog.
Donors give to support your work, expecting nothing in return. But what if you could reward and incentivize their support while raising money and spreading awareness of your cause?
This is where nonprofit merchandise comes in. With product sales, your supporters are instantly rewarded for their support, fostering lasting, loyal relationships. Plus, branded merchandise transforms them into walking advertisements for your cause—they’ll spread the word about your nonprofit just by wearing one of your t-shirts or tote bags.
Creating merchandise or custom products for your organization may seem intimidating, but it doesn’t have to be. We’ve divided the process into four digestible phases and provided our top tips for creating and promoting your items. Let’s get started!
Phase 1: Planning and strategy development.
Before you design your products or craft marketing content, establish the campaign’s key goals and details. Start by creating a centralized document containing your campaign’s plans, research, and strategies that your team can refer to.
Within this document, collaborate with your team to determine:
How the merchandise or product will fuel your work. Establish a specific purpose and goal for the product sale campaign—for instance, do you want to raise a certain amount of money or reach new supporters? Alternatively, maybe you don’t need to sell your merchandise. For example, you could give free branded t-shirts to all donors who sign up for your charity race.
Which items you’ll sell. It’s perfectly legal for nonprofits to sell products as long as they closely align with your mission, appeal to your supporters’ interests, and follow all other local guidelines. For example, a nonprofit that aims to eliminate plastic from oceans might sell branded, stainless steel water bottles.
How you’ll promote the items. While you don’t need to write specific marketing copy or create graphics at this stage, you should establish the building blocks for the campaign. Clarify the timeline for the marketing portion of your campaign and the communication platforms you plan to use. Draft an overarching theme or message that you can infuse into each message to make the campaign feel cohesive.
How you will manage the logistics of selling. Decide which platform you’ll use to host the campaign. We recommend choosing one with experience in product sales and with the nonprofit sector. While you can go at this process alone, the logistics of selling (i.e., holding inventory, shipping orders, responding to customers, sending out receipts, managing returns, etc.) are more than most nonprofits can manage successfully.
Additionally, draft and share a timeline for the campaign, including all of the preparations that should occur before the campaign rolls out to supporters. If you’re working with a team, create deadlines for reviewing and providing constructive feedback on product designs or creative marketing content. This ensures you have the time to iterate and improve on designs before arriving at a final product you’re happy with.
Phase 2: Select and design products.
Next, determine what products or merchandise you will sell. Start by brainstorming items related to your mission. Then, based on what you know about your audience, identify those you think they would use or be interested in. Finally, consider other related factors like the average climate in your area and any holidays or occasions that will occur during the campaign.
Some common options to consider include:
Apparel, including t-shirts, tank tops, long-sleeve shirts, and hoodies.
Accessories, like tote bags, hats, lanyards, key chains, and water bottles.
Stationery, such as notebooks, sticky notes, stickers, and pens.
Knick knacks, like magnets, mugs, and mousepads.
You can also get creative and choose items related to your cause. For example, an animal shelter could sell pet bandanas, harnesses, and toys. An organization focused on sustainability might work with a local coffee shop to create a custom, ethically sourced tea or coffee blend, with a part of the proceeds benefitting your organization.
When designing your product, consider using tools like Canva, customizing premade templates, or even working with a professional designer. This ensures the final product is polished, visually attractive, and appealing to your audience.
Phase 3: Set up your online shop.
Once you’ve designed your products, it’s time to prepare your online shop. This landing page is extremely important—it’s where you’ll send supporters who want to purchase your products.
To tailor the shop to represent your brand and cause accurately so potential buyers will trust that the page is associated with your nonprofit. Ideally, opt for a fundraising platform that provides customizable online merch stores. Add your nonprofit’s logo, name, tagline or mission statement, location, and cause. Write a compelling description summarizing your work and how this campaign will further your mission. And, of course, list the products you’re selling!
Phase 4: Promote the products.
As with any fundraising, a merchandising campaign can only be successful if it reaches those interested in supporting your cause. Craft a compelling marketing campaign that entices supporters to fund your mission and receive a high-quality, tangible reward.
To reach and engage supporters, Allegiance Group + Pursuant’s guide to digital marketing for nonprofits recommends taking the following steps:
Define your goals. Clearly define your goal for the campaign—let’s say you want to sell $5,000’ worth of shirts. List the specific marketing objectives (e.g., selling at least 100 shirts at a community event) you must complete to progress toward the goal.
Identify and understand the target audience(s). Who is included in your audience, what are their interests, and what motivates them to support your cause? Adopt strategies that cater to those unique needs and preferences.
Select communication channels. Share messages via the communication channels your audience already uses and enjoys. Observe preferences around communication style and frequency and adapt to those preferences, too.
Develop compelling content. Hook supporters with short, punchy headlines. For example, start with a jaw-dropping statistic related to the problem you aim to solve. Then, explain how buying your product supports efforts to remedy the issue. Pair this content with attractive visuals.
Monitor progress and optimize your strategy. Track your performance during the campaign, not just after. Replicate the strategies that perform best and adjust or retire those that aren’t effective.
Report final results. Determine whether you met your goal. Additionally, measure how much engagement each platform received and which strategies resulted in the highest conversion rates.
Remember that to measure your success accurately, you must track metrics directly related to your goal and the purpose of the campaign. While revenue is almost always important to these campaigns, it may not be your primary goal. For example, if you create exclusive volunteer t-shirts to boost participation in your volunteer program, track how many new volunteer applications you receive.
Bonus: Order fulfillment
Depending on the fundraising platform you choose, you may also need to:
Manage inventory
Process, package, and ship orders
Oversee returns and exchanges
Field customer inquiries
Provide order confirmations, shipping updates, and receipts
Collect and implement feedback
These tasks can quickly add up, amounting to hours of work for your staff. Additionally, shipping costs and materials can cut into your campaign profits. This is why it’s best to work with a merchandising partner who will handle fulfillment and customer updates for you.
Nonprofit merchandising has everything your organization needs to further its mission and build strong supporter relationships: the ability to raise revenue, spread awareness of your cause, and emphasize donor recognition and appreciation efforts by rewarding donors’ support with tangible items.
No matter your size or budget, start by finding a quality, trustworthy manufacturer and online shop to host your campaigns. This will provide a seamless, positive experience for your supporters, maintaining your reputation and credibility within the community.