Fundraiser Merchandise Guide
Merchandise is a good fundraiser when the maths works and a quiet disaster when it does not. This page is mostly about the maths, because that is the part that decides whether you finish the year with money raised or a box of unsold shirts in a cupboard.
The Two Models
1. Buy up front, sell at an event
You order a quantity, pay for it, and sell at a game, a gala, or a school event. Best margin per item, and you keep everything above cost. The risk is entirely yours: whatever does not sell, you own. Sizes are the usual failure — the mediums go first and you are left with 3XL.
Works well when you have a captive audience and a rough idea of numbers. A booster club at a home game knows roughly how many people will be there.
2. Pre-sell, then order
Collect orders and money first, then place one order for exactly what sold. Zero inventory risk, zero leftover stock, no wrong sizes. Slightly less margin per item because you are not buying at the deepest quantity, and it takes two to three weeks longer end to end.
For most first-time fundraisers this is the right answer. The margin you give up is smaller than the money you lose on unsold stock, and there is no minimum forcing you to over-order.
If collecting the money is the part you dread, an online merch store handles it — supporters order and pay themselves, and nobody on your committee is chasing cash or running a spreadsheet.
Working Out Your Margin
Take your cost per item, decide a selling price supporters will actually pay, and the difference is what you raise. Worked example using a standard tee:
| Per shirt | Across 50 | |
|---|---|---|
| Your cost | $19.99 | $999.50 |
| Sell at | $30.00 | $1,500.00 |
| Raised | $10.01 | $500.50 |
Two honest notes on that table. Costs come down at 25 pieces and up, so your real margin is better than shown — ask for the quote figure rather than working from the published one. And a $30 shirt is an easy sell for a cause people care about; the same shirt at $45 is not. Price it where your supporters actually are.
What Sells for a Cause
- Tees and hoodies. The reliable ones. Hoodies carry a higher price and a higher margin, and people wear them more.
- Hats. One size, no size breakdown to manage, no leftover 3XL. The easiest item to run a fundraiser on.
- Drinkware. Low price point, broad appeal, good for a raffle or add-on sale.
- Totes. Cheap to sell, and the design gets seen everywhere afterwards, which is worth as much as the money.
The design matters more than for corporate work. People buy fundraiser merch because they want to wear the cause — a memorial, a team, a season, a milestone. A design somebody is proud to be seen in outsells a logo on a blank shirt every time.
Planning It
- No hard minimum. Order twelve if that is what sold. Nothing forces you to over-commit.
- Design help is free at 25 pieces and up, with two rounds of revisions — useful when a committee is deciding.
- Full color costs no extra. We do not screen print, so a detailed memorial or team design prices the same as a one-color one.
- Allow four weeks if you are pre-selling: two for the sale, then 7–10 business days from design approval to delivery.
Tell Us About Your Fundraiser
Send the rough numbers, your date, and what you are raising for. We will come back with product options, real pricing, and an honest view on which model fits — including telling you if merchandise is the wrong tool for what you are trying to do.