The Internet has brought all manner of fundraising opportunities to nonprofit organizations, many of which we've covered here. You can set up an online shop, create an auction, or simply collect donations through your organization's website, for example. Another option is to create a CaféPress works by allowing you to designate the products you want to sell to your supporters. With minimal effort, you can upload your organization's logo or other graphics, and CaféPress will add them to the products you have chosen. Because they use print-on-demand technology, you don't have to order, pay for, and store inventory. Instead, your supporters simply order the products directly from CaféPress and have them shipped.
There are currently at least 70 products to choose from, with each having a base price. You then add the amount that you want to earn, and the total appears as the actual price when customers browse your online "shop." So, if a t-shirt has a base price of $9.00 and you sell it for $15.00, your organization gets $6.00 for every sale made. As a bonus, you don't even have to collect the payments, rather they go right to the company, and a commission check is sent out monthly.
There are other ways to use this technology, too. If you have a particular event and want to distribute matching shirts to staff and volunteers, you can simply order them at the base price. This also applies to purchasing volunteer appreciation gifts, donor incentives, and take-away items for nonprofit fairs and other events.
In order to utilize your CaféPress store to its fullest potential, consider adding a link or a banner ad on your organization/s website, and don/t forget to announce it in your organization e-newsletter with a link directly to the shop. Encourage them to support your cause with their holiday shopping, too!
