How to Start a Successful T-Shirt Fundraising Campaign

Making sure your first t-shirt fundraising campaign is a hit can be challenging—and you probably have a lot of questions about how this process unfolds. We’ve created this blog post to help you create a successful campaign from the success of past Campaigns. Whether you’re looking to raise money for an organization, a business, or a cause, this post will give you the info you need to prepare for your t-shirt fundraising campaign and make sure it’s a success.‍

1. Ask what your “why” is

When starting a t-shirt fundraising campaign, it’s important to know why you’re launching it, and to be able to articulate it to potential campaign backers in a way that helps them buy in. Maybe you’re a college organization or club and you need funds for your annual trip, or maybe you’re a local business owner who had to shut down due to COVID-19 and you want to raise funds to support your out-of-work employees. 

Once you find your “why”, that something you really believe in, you can begin thinking about the design and message you want your t-shirts to convey so that others will support your cause through purchasing a tee. Even if you have the most unique, interesting design, you want to be sure that your supporters are inspired by the “why” of your Campaign so that they’re driven to action. 

Let’s take a look at some of our most successful Campaigns: Bento Picnic, a restaurant in Austin, TX, and Hanson’s Cocktail Bar, a speakeasy-style bar in downtown Orlando, FL. Both of these small businesses were raising money to raise relief funds for furloughed employees during the COVID-19 shutdowns.. Their message was clear, and it inspired regulars, friends, and family to support them in their time of need.

Grace Church, another very successful Campaign runner, wanted to help families in need and serve their community. The Church’s t-shirt displayed the message, “good is ahead” -  spreading a message of positivity and hope during hard times while inspiring supporters of the Campaign. As you can see, these Campaigns gave supporters an opportunity to get involved and make a difference - two very powerful “why's” that inspired and spurred supporters to purchase.‍

2. Creating your design

‍Now that you’ve found the “why” behind your campaign, it's time to start thinking about how your t-shirt will look and get creative with it! Whether you’re raising money for an organization or a cause, your t-shirt design is a great tool to communicate your message. Once you submit your design, our team here at Real Thread will create a selling page for you and send your way for approval before you start promoting your Campaign. Check out the photos below of our most popular Campaign designs. 

3. Promoting your Campaign

Now that your selling page is ready, you can start promoting your Campaign! The selling page can only be accessed via the unique link you’ll share with your supporters, so get to sharing as many ways as you can. Ask others who support your organization or business to share the link on their social channels. If you own a local business and have an online presence, be sure to use this to your advantage. You’ll want to create as much exposure for your Campaign as possible, especially with colleagues, friends, and family that believe in your cause. Always remember, you can share this link repeatedly to increase exposure and push your Campaign to success. 

Once your supporters visit your Real Thread Campaign page, they’ll be able to select their t-shirt size and enter their shipping info. We’ll take care of all the rest from collecting payments to printing and fulfilling each supporter’s order. No heavy lifting for you!

Real Thread Campaigns are also no-risk to the seller since we only print Campaigns after enough t-shirts are sold for you to make a profit! Once your Campaign has run its course, we’ll transfer your profits to your PayPal account.‍

Check out our Custom T-Shirt Campaign Success Stories ‍

Bento Picnic‍

Hanson's Cocktail Bar‍

Grace Church‍

Start Your Own Campaign‍

If you’re looking for a way to raise money for your business or employees during this difficult time, check out Campaigns. It’s an easy, risk-free way for you to profit from selling t-shirts online, giving your customers and community a way to support you and/or your business. Get started by filling out the form or reaching out to team@realthread.com.