University Fundraising T-Shirt Success
Giving days have become one of the most important strategies universities use to fundraise and create excitement from a wide donor base. To achieve this goal of fostering excitement and encouraging donors to give, branded merch is often deployed for a few key reasons. First, merch is long proven to build excitement and incentivize actions. Second, collegiate donors have emotional connections to the college and branded merch strengthens this bond to the brand.. Third, branded merch allows them to show off their school pride. 

When considering branded merch options for giving days, t-shirts are usually part of the conversation. T-shirts are a perfect fit as they are universally beloved, relatively inexpensive and lightweight to mail.    

There are a number of opportunities to integrate t-shirts into giving days. The most common is using the shirt to incentivize donations. Other options include having staff wear them to create awareness and use them in influencer campaigns, as Chapman University successfully did.

To ensure the success of t-shirts in a campaign, there are a few key details that can create demand for the product and result in the donor wearing it long term. These include:

• Fabric Choice – My advice is to not go cheap with an inexpensive shirt. Follow retail trends and provide shirts that are soft, ringspun, lightweight and wrinkle resistant. Or choose a t-shirt made from recycled material or organic cotton.       
• Artwork – The t-shirt decoration can make a big difference in creating excitement for the product. Make the art different and unique to the event to create a FOMO experience. One idea to drive engagement and interest is to have an artwork contest from current students and/or alumni. Or another idea is to have a choice of artwork options to let the donor receive a t-shirt in the color and with the artwork that most resonates with them.   

• Sizing – Apparel can be challenging with the range of size options needed to fulfill a project like this. Providing a Large or XL and hoping all donors will be ok with receiving this generic size is not a good option. Providing a product for each donor in their size is imperative for the success of the t-shirt campaign. For campaigns where a t-shirt is sent for each with donation, one solution is to use an online portal for the donor to choose their size. Then after the event, the correct sizes can be put into production and sent to donors.     
• Ladies Sizing – Always consider including ladies fit  t-shirts in the campaign. Women who prefer a  ladies’ fit will appreciate this consideration, as unisex sizing is typically  men’s sizing. Ladies t-shirts are often priced similarly or the same.    

When thinking through branded merch for giving days, t-shirts should always be part of the consideration. However for the product to be sought after or valued, the artwork, fabric and sizing  need to be carefully thought out.University Fundraising T-Shirt Success