6 Reasons Why Every Nonprofit Should Be Using Peer-to-Peer T-Shirt Fundraising

Peer-to-peer t-shirt fundraising is a highly effective social fundraising strategy. It allows your organization to harness the power of your community to engage with existing supporters, reach new donors, and raise money for your cause at the same time. It’s a great low-cost and low-effort fundraising opportunity for nonprofits that creates a huge impact within your community – and beyond.

Every nonprofit should take advantage of the incredible benefits of peer-to-peer t-shirt fundraising and here are the top 6 reasons why:

1. Peer-to-Peer T-shirt Fundraising is a Creative Way to Get Supporters Involved

Your supporters are constantly looking for ways to get involved and help your organization reach its goals. With peer-to-peer t-shirt fundraising, they have the ability to raise money on your behalf. By creating individual campaigns that are linked to your initial fundraising campaign, they can sell merchandise and have all profits from sales go directly to your organization.

When it comes to the design of the merch they sell, they have the option to create a new design or use design templates provided by your organization. Providing templates will guarantee a cohesive look across all of the campaigns benefiting your organization! Your supporters will love the opportunity to run their very own t-shirt fundraising campaigns to benefit your nonprofit!

Inviting supporters to hop on board with peer-to-peer t-shirt fundraising expands the reach of your organization. Each supporter who creates their own t-shirt campaign will bring with them a new circle of potential supporters and donors. Peer-to-peer t-shirt fundraising is a fun way to reach new people, organically, and get them excited about your cause. There is no limit to how far your organization can reach with the help of your community.

Peer-to-peer t-shirt fundraisers also help bolster your organization’s social media presence. Your nonprofit can post about its original campaign, as well as share pictures and stories from your supporter’s adjoining campaigns. Encouraging your community to share about your cause and your fundraising campaigns across their social media platforms helps you to reach a wide range of new people.

2. Peer-to-Peer T-shirt Fundraising is Risk Free

If you’ve been holding off on fundraising due to cost concerns, you can put those fears to rest! When you use a platform like Bonfire for your peer-to-peer t-shirt fundraisers, there are no upfront costs to worry about, their platform is 100% free to use, and you have access to their extensive product inventory at no extra cost to you. Plus, there are no hidden fees for not reaching a fundraising goal. This means your organization literally takes on financial zero risk when you launch a p2p t-shirt campaign.

“Working with Bonfire has been amazing. From our initial set up with our Sales Consultant, right through to getting our Payouts! No up-front costs at all, just funds made that go straight to our mission of protecting innocence with technology”

– Emily Pounder, Donor Manager at Child Rescue Coalition

The folks at Bonfire believe wholeheartedly in the power of t-shirt fundraising. Making sure your t-shirt fundraiser campaign is successful is what they love to do. They have the entire process down to a science and they’ve made it as easy as possible for you. Plus, their talented support team is here to cheer you on and help you every step of the way.

Everything is taken care of for you – from order processing to production and shipping. Even customer service needs are handled by support teams. This allows you to focus your energy elsewhere and continue to work towards moving your organization forward.

You have full control over the length of your campaign. With the click of a button you can decide if your campaign runs for a few days or weeks. You also have the ability to set your campaign to run on a recurring schedule that restarts the campaign as soon as it ends. The point is, you have options when it comes to how long you would like your organization’s peer-to-peer t-shirt fundraiser to run. This gives you freedom to have your fundraiser lead up to a planned event or perhaps promote your fundraiser as a limited run of t-shirts.

3. Peer-to-Peer T-shirt Fundraising Enhances Real-World or Virtual Events

Peer-to-peer fundraising pairs perfectly with all types of events. Whether your event is in-person or virtual, peer-to-peer t-shirt campaigns can easily be added onto another event to elevate the overall experience for your supporters and your organization.

Planning a 5K, marathon, or walk-a-thon?

Supporters can create peer-to-peer t-shirt fundraising campaigns to sell shirts for participants in their group to wear on the big day! Even if people aren’t able to be there in person for the event, they could still purchase a shirt from the campaigns to show their support!

If you are planning a virtual event, your audience could be local or it could be worldwide. By offering peer-to-peer t-shirt fundraising campaigns alongside your event, you are giving all of your supporters, near and far, the chance to feel included and get involved.

4. Peer-to-Peer T-shirt Fundraising Allows Organizations to Sell Merch Alongside “Donation-Only” Fundraisers

Selling merch associated with your organization and fundraiser adds an exciting new element to the donation experience.

Giving doesn’t just take the form of online donations. It can include a broad spectrum of ‘giving opportunities’ including volunteering, attending events, being an ambassador and purchasing merchandise from your nonprofit.

The idea is to give the donor options – a menu of things he or she can support that meet them where they are and align with their interests. Simply put, options work.

By offering multiple ways for your supporters to give and get involved, you’ll establish longer lasting connections with them over the course of your fundraising initiatives. And, who doesn’t love a good T-shirt?

5. Supporters Get Something In Return for Their Donation

Creating fundraising campaigns where your supporters receive awesome merch in exchange for their donations is a win-win for your supporters and your organization. Donors don’t usually expect to receive anything in return for their donations (other than the joy of knowing they helped out an organization that they believe in), so receiving a t-shirt is a wonderful bonus!

When your supporters are happy they are much more likely to continue to support your cause and stick with your organization for the long run.

It’s a great way to say “THANK YOU!” to your supporters as well as give them something to be excited about that they will use and love day after day. It’s also an easy way for your organization to advertise, increase your brand exposure, and spread the word about your cause.

6. The Shirts / Apparel Will Continue to Promote Your Brand and Cause Even After the Campaign Has Ended

The merch your supporters purchased throughout the run of your campaign will continue to work for you even after events have ended and the campaign itself is done. Your supporters will continue to wear their shirts out into the world, inspiring conversations and bringing new people into your support community.

Keep this long-term vision in mind when you are deciding on merch designs. Choose designs that speak to your overall message and mission as an organization and choose design elements, words, and colors that will resonate with your supporters.

Peer-to-peer fundraising campaigns that sell merch ensure that your goals live on and continue for a long time to come. Your supporters will wear your shirts proudly – again and again. Get the name of your nonprofit out there on apparel for people to see, spread your message, and spark awareness.

Launch a P2P T-shirt Fundraiser Today

Your organization has the drive and the passion to make a difference, now let’s make sure you have the tools and the teams behind you to make it all happen and to make the journey as enjoyable as possible.

Peer-to-peer t-shirt fundraising builds on what you already have going for you – a community of supporters ready to jump on board and help out. The work you are doing takes a village. Let’s empower the village to get involved.

Guest Author

Kevin Penney

Chief Marketing Officer

Bonfire

e-mail: support@bonfire.com

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