Schools and Universities use Promotional Products more than many might imagine. Not only do you find promotional products featuring the schools logo and mascots in the school bookstore for resale, but they’re also used at a variety of special events (e.g. walks, runs, earth day events, etc.). Promotional products are also excellent fundraising tools for schools, universities and student organizations. This blog provides some ideas and insights into how promotional products can be used on campus as well as some of the most popular and most innovative products for such causes. Also, check out our Promotional Product Ideas for Non Profits page from the left menu of our blog for additional fundraising ideas! For more specific information on the promotional products including those discussed in our blog, visit www.bnoticed.com or call us at 877.300.5005.

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Resale Ideas for the Bookstore

Imprinted-Shirts

Screened T-Shirts featuring the school’s logo and/or mascot in school colors are a mainstay at school and college bookstores. Since bookstore sales often help fund school activities, their popularity can be important to schools both in terms of demonstrating school pride as well as helping to cover costs of some activities and services. To help increase sales to support these worth causes, consider expanding the selection of t-shirts beyond what is often a generic cotton unisex shirt to include:

• Styles that are more gender specific. Girls often prefer a more feminine fit than the standard t-shirts offer
• Popular and trendy brands (e.g. American Apparel). Kids today are more brand conscientious
• A wide range of color choices. Let the logo/imprint stay true to the school colors and expand the selection of garment colors to include a wider range of choices. Kids value individuality more than ever before. And, face it, if your school colors are green and white, not everyone looks good in green and wants to be stuck wearing a white T-shirt all the time.
• Consider incorporating the schools logo on trendier designs. Walk through your local department store and see the type of styles that kids are wearing today and use that as inspiration for a t-shirt design that the kids will want to wear!
• Consider using alternative imprint techniques beyond standard silk screening such as glow inks, dye sublimated imprints, wet-look inks and distressed imprints.

For more information on Imprinted T-Shirts or about screen printing and alternative decorating techniques visit www.bnoticed.com or call 877.300.5005.

Drawstring Backpacks

Drawstring Backpacks are surging in popularity both on and off campus. They’re available in an array of colors and styles to suite just about any school’s color pallet. The school or event’s logo can be imprinted via silkscreen or embroidery in most cases. While silk screening is generally less expensive for larger order quantities, embroidery can be more cost effective for lower quantities and tends to be more durable overall. There are event styles that include reflective strips to help ensure safety at night. And, best yet, there’s a large selection available at very reasonable prices without excessively high order quantities.

Tip! Drawstring backpacks can be great for gift and giveaway items since you can load them up with other products, reference materials, etc.

For more information about Drawstring Backpacks, visit www.bnoticed.com or call 877.300.5005.

Custom Rally Towels

Custom Rally Towels great for cheering on the school sports teams or wiping a brow during a walk! They’re reasonably priced and come in a wide range of colors to match just about any school’s colors. With the schools logo, mascot or slogan, they’re a great addition to the school bookstore or for sales at games and events.

For more information or a full selection of Rally Towels, visit www.bnoticed.com or call 877.300.5005.

Rubik’s Cube

As noted in a recent msnbc report, Rubik’s Cubes are making a big comeback in schools as more and more teachers use them as instruction aides. As such, Rubik’s cubes and similar cube puzzles could be the perfect addition to the school bookstore. There’s a variety of different types available including key chain versions!

For more information or full selection of Rubik’s Cube products, visit visit www.bnoticed.com or call 877.300.5005.

Resale Fundraising Ideas

Fundraising Cards

Fundraising Cards are plastic cards that students can sell to supporters for a flat fee which provide discounts at local businesses (e.g. 10% off dry cleaning, large pizza for the price of a small, etc.).

While there are fundraising card package programs offered to schools through a variety of companies, a developing your own custom program for your school may make more sense. Why?

• While package programs may advertise “thousands” of businesses accepting the cards, a closer look at the businesses accepting the cards often show that there are relatively few in each location. While they’ll add businesses that you solicit to accept the card, those businesses will typically have to accept the card regardless of whether they’re sold by your school or another school. If you’re going to have to solicit businesses to accept the cards, you may as well create your own program which will help distinguish you from other schools that also sell fundraising cards.
• The cost associated with having your own custom card printed can be much lower than purchasing cards through packaged programs. This allows your school to keep more of the proceeds.
• While package programs typically sell the cards for $10 each, as a custom program that you develop, you set the price based on the program you want to offer and the price your community will pay.

These plastic credit-card size fundraising cards are customized to your needs. Typically, schools will include the name of the school and logo or photo on one side and the businesses and discounts offered on the opposite side. The price of the printed cards will vary based on the thickness of the card, number of colors used for the imprint, and quantity of cards ordered. There’s even eco-friendly options using recycled or corn plastics. There may be a nominal set up and artwork charges depending on the specific product selected and artwork provided in addition to any applicable taxes and shipping costs. Typical proceeds can be in the 85-90% range or even higher for larger quantity orders.

For more information about Fundraising Cards, visit www.bnoticed.com or call 877.300.5005.

Fundraising Scratchers

Fundraising Scratchers are cards featuring 30, 50 or 60 scratch-off patches that disclose a nominal donation amount ranging from 25 cents to $2 or so. Students ask supporters to donate whatever value that is revealed when the supporter scratches off their selected patch. In exchange, supporters receive a sheet with coupons for discounts at local merchants.

Like the fundraising cards, a variety of companies offer fundraising scratcher programs in which they provide the cards and coupons for a fee based on the number of cards. While some companies offer scratcher cards in a quantity as few as one, the costs can be as much as $30 per card and only drop to $10 at 100 cards. And, like with the fundraising card, the merchant coupons may or may not be representative of your community’s businesses.

Instead of using a package scratcher program, schools can create their own scratcher program featuring their own customized artwork and tailoring the number of scratch-off patches, donation amounts, and coupons to their specific school and community. While cards are sold in larger quantities, the costs can be significantly less leaving more proceeds for the schools.

For more information about Fundraising Scratchers, visit www.bnoticed.com or call 877.300.5005.

School Wristbands and Bracelets

Imprinted Wristbands and Bracelets, also known as awareness bands, continue to be popular items to show support for a variety of causes as well as simply to communicate messages. They can be great fundraisers. Imprint them with your school, group or team name to let supporters show their support or commemorate a major school event (e.g. regional championships, etc.). Wristbands are made in a wide range of colors and styles as well as from different materials including silicone, rubber and neoprene (i.e. wetsuit material). Because these are relatively low cost items, especially in higher quantities, they can be sold for as little as $1-2 each and generate 50% or more in proceeds to your school! Because they can be ordered in mixed colors, supporters may even be included to buy one of each color for a complete collection. At this low price point, it’s easier to sell a larger number of products generating more proceeds that some higher cost fundraising products.

For more information about school Wristbands and Bracelets, visit www.bnoticed.com or call 877.300.5005.

Custom School Calendars

Custom School Calendars can be great fundraisers because they not only help to raise funds for the school but also meet a need for many school supporters. A variety of calendar options are available including the ability to utilize custom pictures for the cover and each month as well as the ability to customize the date blocks. This can provide a lot of options to tailor a calendar to be even more marketable than a generic stock calendar at retail stores.

For a school fundraiser, calendars could use photos of the school facilities, students, teachers or community landmarks. Another idea is to include photos of annual events from prior years for the appropriate month which can help remind participants of the event and encourage participation. Why not involve students and create a photography competition for the photos used in the calendar. Guidelines might include that photos have to be taken on campus or at student events. For younger age a groups, have a competition among the students to submit drawings appropriate for each month.

The ability to customize the date blocks on the calendar can make it a valuable tool for parents and community supporters. Since most schools plan key events well in advance, dates for monthly PTA meetings, school holidays, parent teacher meetings, report card days, teacher education days, etc. can be labeled appropriately on the calendars. This can help parents plan their time as well as help local businesses who support school events or who gain business following key events.

Calendar costs vary based on the level of customization and quantities purchased. For more information about Custom School Calendars, visit www.bnoticed.com or call 877.300.5005.

American Flags and Patriotic Products

Show your school’s patriotism and encourage your community to do the same by selling American Flags prior to patriotic holidays like Memorial Day, 4th of July, Veterans Day and Labor Day! It could be a fundraising opportunity for each of these holiday allowing schools to leverage the same supplies and marketing approach each time. As an alternative (or in addition), schools could sell American Flag Lapel Pins,Flag Stickers or other Patriotic Products as well.

For the complete selection of other Patriotic Products, visit www.bnoticed.com or call 877.300.5005.

Custom Totes

With more and more locations pursuing legislation to ban plastic grocery bags, Custom Totes could become an ideal fundraiser for schools. In California, for example, the state Assembly passed legislation that would ban plastic bags at grocery stores and bars beginning in Jan 2012 and expanding to other locations like convenience stores and drug stores. While that bill still has to be passed by the state Senate, legislation is already in place in San Francisco. Los Angeles’ ban begins 1 July 10. In addition, stores like Whole Foods have cut out plastic bags and COSTCO doesn’t even offer bags any longer. Too, many stores will be charging for paper bags, from 5 cents to 25 cents in many cases. Based on that, it’s reasonable to expect there to be increasing demand for grocery totes over at least the next few years which can make these great fundraiser items. While tote sales can work year round, they would be particularly appropriate in conjunction with community earth day events providing students an ideal venue for sales.

There are a variety of styles available for totes. Imprinted T Shirt Style Totes are similar to today’s plastic grocery bags in size and style. Traditional Custom Grocery Totes however are shaped more like large paper bags with the ability to stand open for easier loading and unloading of groceries. There are also Customized Insulated Totes that can help keep refrigerated and frozen foods cold longer. There’s even a couple of innovative grocery cart totes that expand and hang from the sides of grocery carts. For grocery shopping, totes with at least an 8 inch gusset are recommended. These larger totes can accommodate the same amount of groceries as multiple plastic grocery bags.

Imprint bags with your school logo, mascot or a creative design. While one color screen imprints are typically included in pricing for totes, there are a variety of imprint options depending on the specific tote chosen including full color imprints, all-over imprints and embroidery.

For a complete selection of Custom Totes, visit www.bnoticed.com or call 877.300.5005.

Imprinted Dog Tags

Custom Dog Tags can be great school fundraisers because they’re relatively inexpensive providing the opportunity for a good profit margin even at low resale prices. They can be imprinted with a schools name, logo, mascot, motto or other message. They’re also good sale items to coincide with school events. There’s a larger variety of dog tags than many might be aware including the more traditional Embossed Dog Tags, Silicone Dog Tags, Full Color Dog Tags, Domed Dog Tags and even Light Up Dog Tags. There are even Music Download Dog Tags and many others available!

For a complete selection of Custom Dog Tags, visit www.bnoticed.com or call 877.300.5005.

Make the Most of Fundraising Events

At the Car Wash

Take a lesson from the professional car washes. Offer an upgraded full-service wash and some optional services. Instead of just washing the car, bring along a couple shopvacs and offer a full-service package including vacuuming out the interior. Get some tire cleaner like Armor-All and include a tire touch up for a nominal surcharge. And, when you go into pay at the professional washes, they almost always have a space where they sell a variety of novelty type items. If people didn’t buy it, they wouldn’t do it. So, why not sell T Shirt Styled Auto Air Freshners imprinted with your school logo and make a little extra money.

For a complete selection of Customized Auto Air Fresheners or Auto Accessories, visit www.bnoticed.com or call 877.300.5005.

Fundraising Strategies

Use Volunteers to Optimize Proceeds

While there are a variety of fundraising companies out there that offer packaged fundraising programs, you’re basically cutting them in on the action and sharing your donor’s money with them. In many cases, you can purchase the same or similar items that they offer in bulk quantities from a promotional product company at lower costs. While this may require a little more volunteer effort to design cards and solicit business support, it may not be as much as you think, consider:

• Many packaged Fundraising Cards and Scratcher programs cite thousands of business that offer coupons or discounts as part of their program. However, there may be relatively few in your community or they may not be businesses that really are attractive to your supporters. While many of the package programs allow you to sign up businesses to participate in the program, those businesses may have to accept cards from any schools selling the same cards. In other cases, the local businesses you sign up may require additional fees. If you have to solicit business support anyway, why not create your own program and capture more of the proceeds while tailoring your business selection to those your supporters will find valuable.
• Most promotional product companies, like BNoticed, will accept artwork created by outside sources provided it meets the suppliers specifications (e.g. typically, vector artwork created using illustrator is the best choice for most applications) which enables you to utilize volunteer talent and resources. For those who prefer, BNoticed and many other distributors offer optional artwork services at very reasonable costs.

Recognize the Reality of High Expectations

Many package fundraising programs will cite low minimum order requirements. We found one such program that will even sell a single Fundraising Scratcher card for $30 while citing that it will generate $70 in proceeds. While low minimum order quantities can sound great, how many schools are really going to buy a single fundraising card or be satisfied with a fundraiser that generates $70? And, remember, every scratch-off spot on the card has to be ‘purchased’ in order to generate that $70 maximum profit.

Realistically, even a school with 250 students that hopes to generate $25,000 in sales will likely need to purchase more than 250 cards (1 per student) to achieve that goal. This is because there will always be some sellers that do not sell their full cards. On the other hand, some students will sell their full card and can sell more. In addition, some parents might be willing to take cards to the office even though they know that they wouldn’t sell all the spaces on a card. However, when paying higher prices for additional package program cards, schools may be reluctant to have “extra” cards on hand. As a result, they risk losing sales and not maximizing the potential for the program.

By creating their own program and purchasing customized cards and scratchers in bulk, schools can afford to have extra cards on hand so that they don’t have to rely on all spaces on all cards being sold. Since cards are purchased in bulk, pricing continues to decrease as more cards are purchased helping to further maximize proceeds.

Uniquely Avoid Competition

As school districts face increasing budget cuts, there’s a growing push for school fundraisers to help pay for services and activities. As a result, more and more schools are having more and more fundraisers. Even in the best of economies, supporters have limited budgets for philanthropic causes. As a result, schools can be expected to face increasing competition from other schools and organizations for limited donor dollars.

To have a successful fundraiser in the increasingly competitive environment, it’s more important than ever for schools to develop a thoughtful fundraising strategy. This strategy should include:

• Sell Something Unique: If everyone is selling chocolate bars, supporters are going to get burned out on chocolate. Whether its cookie dough, candles, fundraising cards or chocolate bars, the standard fair for fundraisers raises the risk that competition will impact sales and proceeds. To limit competition, find more unique products to sell which can still generate about a 50% or greater profit. With the huge selection of promotional products (e.g. BNoticed’s website includes over 600,000 products), there are plenty of options out there to choose from. Because promotional products are sold in bulk quantities, many can be resold and generate 50% or greater proceeds.
• Value Counts More Than Ever: With budgets limited, many people are forced to cut back on discretionary spending for items like candy and cookies. Look for items that provide greater value in meeting a supporters needs and have longer life spans. Items like quality pens, calendars, journals, padfolios, backpacks, travel cups and tote bags can help donors meet a personal need while supporting your cause.
• Distinguish Your Products: Not long ago, BNoticed participated in an outdoor festival and displayed a sampling of promotional products. One Stainless Steel Water Bottle in particular continued to capture participants’ attention because of its amazing one-color decoration of a peacock. We could have sold that sample bottle dozens of times over that day. The ability to imprint custom designs on many products is a major advantage of promotional products. It enables schools and organizations to offer a fundraising product that is truly unique to their supporters.
• Leverage School Loyalties: Many products sold by schools today fail to leverage the fact that supporters buy products from schools in an effort to show their support of the school and its students. Adding the school’s name, logo, mascot, or image to a product can allow supporters to demonstrate that they’ve supported their local school and students. This can be particularly true for parents, family and friends of students as well as local businesses. For example, consider Custom Ribbon and Custom Wrapping Paper, that says “We Support Our Students at Jefferson Elementary” or even a pen engraved with La Jolla High School Supporter.
• Leverage Business Supporters: Look for win-win opportunities with local business supporters. Provide them with free advertising on flyers, at events and on fundraising related materials in exchange for their support. In addition to participating in discount offerings associated with Fundraising Cards and Scratchers, local retail businesses could be solicited to sell fundraising products like awareness wristbands or school calendars. In addition, you might sell advertising space on some products like calendars or as inserts to products using the proceeds from the advertisements to help defray product costs which will increase profits from sales.

Would You Like Fries with That?

Take a lesson from the fast food industry with their “Would You Like Fries with That?” and “Would You Like to Make That a Combo Meal”, find complimentary products to sell which give you the opportunity to turn the sale of one product into a two product sale. For example, if you’re going to sell custom Custom Wrapping Paper, suggest Custom Ribbon to go along with it! Here are some other good combinations to consider:

• Customized Necklaces and Imprinted Bracelets
• Screened T Shirts and Embroidered Caps
• Custom Coloring Books and Crayons
• Imprinted Pet Leashes and matching Pet Collars
• Logo Coolers and Custom Bottle Openers
• Embossed Journals and Imprinted Pens
• Customized Hand Sanitizer and hand lotion or Sun Screen

Be Noticed (or BNoticed!) and Get Publicity

For major fundraisers, it’s important to get the word out about the event and your cause. There’s a variety of approaches to achieve this, some traditional and some not so traditional, including:

• Include information about your fundraising events on school newsletters and other publications well in advance of the event.
• Where possible, plan events for the full year and include them all on a Custom School Calendar fundraiser.
• Issue press releases using one of the various on-line press-release services. However, don’t just rely on the on-line PR services to get your message out. Hand-deliver the press releases to key community media outlets including community and city newspapers, radio stations and local television stations. Contact each media outlet’s community liaison representative and solicit their support in getting the word out.
• Get media and local dignitaries’ attention with an innovative, unique and unexpected announcement. For example, send them a large cookie decorated with the event information. Better yet, get the message across that it’s a school event by putting the cookie into a Customized Lunch Box! TIP! These days, it’s important to include full return addresses including the school’s name (and preferably a pre-printed label) when sending package to media and local dignitaries to avoid having packages appear to be suspicious. Hand deliver them in unsealed boxes to avoid the issue entirely!
• Ask your business supporters to display advertising flyers or posters in their businesses. TIP! Consider providing businesses with a Cling Decal Flyer of a reasonable size (avoid anything lager than 11 X 17) that can cling to glass doors and windows without the use of adhesive or tape. They’ll be easy to remove and won’t leave a residue which can make businesses more likely to display your poster.
• Consider making a statement that media outlets can’t resist. Give media a newsworthy message or picture that they can’t resist sharing with their audience. For example, picture 500 elementary school kids wearing Bright Orange Spirit Wigs posing for pictures for a fundraising walk with a note that they’ll all be wearing their orange hair for the walk. You’re much more likely to get the media to announce the event. Too, they’ll be more likely to come back to cover the actual event in order to capture the live video of the spectacle… which can generate additional ‘after the fact’ donations.

For more information about these ideas, the products mentioned or other product ideas, visit www.bnoticed.com or call 877.300.5005.