Crowdfunding campaigns are all the rage right now, and for good reason. People use them to fund personal educational experiences, adventures, nonprofit organizations, and more. With so many causes supported by crowdfunding campaigns, think about the ways you can make yours stand out above the rest.
Once you’ve picked out the crowdfunding platform you plan to use, check out these crowdfunding success tips to make sure your campaign is the best it can be.
One of the most effective crowdfunding tips? Sell custom apparel to support your fundraising efforts.
Who doesn’t love getting a new t-shirt and knowing they’re contributing to a fundraiser for a good cause?
Sell customized apparel in tandem with your next crowdfunding campaign and watch your revenue skyrocket.
Selling custom apparel will make for a more successful crowdfunding campaign strategy because you will:
- Create Additional Awareness of Your Crowdfunding Campaign
- Raise Additional Funds for Your Crowdfunding Campaign
- Reward Donor Contributions to Your Crowdfunding Campaign
Let’s check out the first reason why selling apparel in tandem with your crowdfunding campaign is a great idea.
1. Create Additional Awareness of Your Crowdfunding Campaign
Make the most of your design
Everyone loves apparel! Plus, when your supporters wear your customized t-shirt, they are marketing for your organization or cause right there on their chest or back. What could be better for promotion?
This promotion is best when you put the proper time and effort into your apparel’s design.
Make sure the design you choose for this apparel is up-to-par with marketing standards. Best design tips for your custom apparel include:
- Feature your logo. If you or your organization has a logo, be sure to include it as a part of your design. This helps establish brand recognition for your buyers and supporters.
- Offer various color options. Don’t limit your supporters to just one color. Offering various options will drive sales and spread the design further.
- Come up with a campaign slogan. This slogan can be included in your design to help people remember this specific campaign. Try making it a funny joke or a pun for extra attention.
- Consider your printing methods. Once you have finished your design, consider how you want it to be printed on your apparel, either through DTG or screen printing.
Customize a t-shirt specifically for the campaign. This limited edition t-shirt can be used to bring more attention to your crowdfunding campaign. Each person who wears your design is like a walking billboard for your cause!
And remember, while including your logo on the shirt somewhere is highly suggested, it doesn’t have to be the entire design. Think about how you can creatively incorporate your logo into a larger design or illustration.
Custom apparel stands out in a crowd
Our clothing is an expression of ourselves, it is what we wear to stand out in the crowd and show others what we care about. When you walk down the street and see someone wearing a cool t-shirt, you take notice.
This attention to apparel is a great way to get people to take notice of your crowdfunding campaign, and the cause behind it as well!
Help your supporters stand out with a cool design on their t-shirt. Then, when someone asks them about the clothing, or compliments the design, your supporter can tell the inquirer all about your community’s amazing cause.
It’s a win-win! Your supporter gets to look cool while your campaign receives the attention it deserves. Once people hear about your campaign, they may go to your website to learn more about the cause, and ultimately end up on your campaign page as a new donor.
Custom apparel inspires unity
Once you have created a design to accurately represent your crowdfunding campaign, you are ready to begin marketing it. Consider why people get involved with campaigns such as yours. It’s often because they want to be a part of something bigger than themselves.
Bringing people together in unity is a successful crowdfunding marketing strategy that custom apparel helps facilitate and magnify.
Matching apparel naturally brings a sense of unity to the supporters and team members who buy it. Apparel inspires unity because:
- The one wearing the apparel is showing outward loyalty to the cause they supported. This signal of loyalty helps that person feel closer to others who care about the same cause.
- The members of your group who wear the same t-shirt together have a common visual appearance that brings them together as a group.
- People who don’t know one another personally, but run into each other wearing the same shirt have a commonality that unites them.
Unity is important in marketing. When you bring people together, they tend to feel more strongly toward the cause that they share a passion for. Think about it- this is one major reason sports teams all wear the same jersey (and why selling custom apparel is a great strategy for your next team crowdfunding campaign!)
When people are united, their collective sense of engagement is heightened, resulting in larger donations, better turnout at events, and higher donor retention rates.
Apparel opens up new online marketing strategies
Custom campaign apparel welcomes additional opportunities for new crowdfunding marketing strategies.
People love taking pictures with their friends, especially when everyone is wearing the same outfit. These pictures are perfect to advertise your cause. Encourage your supporters to buy custom apparel, then take pictures and post the photos in support of your organization.
Here are some ideas on how to encourage these pictures:
- Create a social media hashtag for your campaign. Encourage people to post pictures of themselves wearing your community’s merchandise to their Instagram and Twitter accounts. Tell them to include the hashtag for your crowdfunding campaign to support the cause.
- Create a contest for the silliest pictures, the best pictures, and the most unique pictures of your supporters. Offer a small prize for the winner and watch the photo submissions soar!
- Make a scavenger hunt. If you anchor your crowdfunding campaign with an event, make a photo scavenger hunt for people to take pictures around the event with different tables and attractions.
Each of these ideas will not only create more photographic marketing material for you, but it is also a great strategy to keep your supporters engaged.
2. Link Your Different Fundraising Pages Together to Raise Additional Money
Imagine, after someone donates to your crowdfunding campaign, they are brought to a “thank you” page, and there, below the appreciation message, is a link to buy a campaign t-shirt!
Those who donate to your crowdfunding campaign already have shown interest in your mission, so they are likely to purchase your custom apparel as well.
Selling apparel online is a great fundraiser on its own, but when you link two fundraising pages to one another, you’ll find them to be mutually beneficial.
Sites like Bonfire will help you design a unique t-shirt for your next crowdfunding campaign strategy. Once your design is perfected, you can:
- Set up a t-shirt fundraising campaign through their fundraising platform.
- Set up an online store to sell these shirts.
Of course, two fundraisers are better than one. When you link the fundraisers together online, each one is promoting the other. When someone donates to your crowdfunding campaign, they will see your t-shirt sales and want to buy one. Or, someone who buys a t-shirt might want to contribute even more by donating to your crowdfunding page.
Don’t have a crowdfunding campaign set up yet? Let Bonfire do it all. Bonfire offers the option to add additional donations on top of an apparel purchase for your crowdfunding campaign.
Combine the profits from your fundraisers
Having multiple options for accepting donations makes raising money easier and gives the audience multiple options for how to donate and what they want out of it. While some donors might be interested in a shirt, others simply would like to give their gift and move forward. Holding multiple fundraisers allows everyone to donate in the capacity that they prefer and your organization can still get the financial support they need.
Selling custom t-shirts and other apparel as a part of your crowdfunding campaign strategy is easy! Plus, you have so many opportunities to do it. For example, you can:
- Sell online. Set up an online store and include the link on your crowdfunding page as well as in your other online marketing materials.
- Sell at an event. If your crowdfunding campaign is anchored with an event, sell t-shirts at that event to support your cause even further.
- Sell on social media. Buy t-shirts in bulk and sell them on your social media pages as you promote your crowdfunding campaign.
Combine the profits you make from the t-shirts with your crowdfunding revenue, and make the greatest impact possible for your cause!
3. Reward Contributions to Your Crowdfunding Campaign
If you have leftover apparel from another event or fundraiser, offering it as a prize for generous donors is a great way to support your fundraiser. Announcing that a prize will be given to donors is a great crowdfunding strategy to convince people who may be on the fence to donate.
With this successful crowdfunding tip, you can give “thank you” gift prizes of custom merchandise to:
- Your largest donors. This is a great way to appeal to the competitive nature in people as they will try to donate the most and become your largest donor.
- A random selection of donors. Announce early on in your campaign your plan to give these prizes to 10 random donors. More and more people will donate hoping to be one of your selected winners.
- Anyone who donates over a certain amount. Announce you’ll give a t-shirt prize to anyone who donates over a certain amount to your campaign. This will convince many people to boost their donation amounts.
No matter which method you choose, offering prizes to your donors is one strategy for running a successful crowdfunding campaign.
Offer apparel in return for a contribution
Sometimes it takes extra incentives to convince people to contribute to a good cause. Offering apparel in return for a contribution is a great way to appeal to people on the edge about whether or not to give.
Imagine it this way, a person wants to give to your crowdfunding campaign, but they aren’t entirely sure about it. It’s their hard-earned money, so what benefit do they get for giving it away? This benefit is custom merchandise.
If that same person sees that they can get a t-shirt for donating, then that settles it! Not only do they get to contribute to a great cause, but they also receive a tangible benefit in return. What a deal!
Not only does offering apparel convince people on the edge to donate, but it also convinces them to donate a certain amount.
For example, someone may decide to boost their donation amount from $15 to $25 if that’s how much it takes to get a cool t-shirt. This means more revenue for your organization and an awesome reward for your donor.
When you follow these three crowdfunding tips and tricks, you’ll be sure to have a successful campaign. To read more about crowdfunding and custom apparel, check out our resources below:
- Create a T-Shirt Order Form Online. When you are selling t-shirts alongside your crowdfunding campaign, it is important to have a well-designed order form. Check out Bonfire’s tips to design online order forms.
- 10 Best Fundraising Websites. Check out our list of the best fundraising platforms for individuals and nonprofits.
- How to Sell Your Art Online to Make Extra Money. Did you enjoy designing your crowdfunding t-shirt? Use your passion for art to make some extra money using Bonfire’s sales strategies.
Are you ready to create a custom t-shirt?
