Is your school losing its funding? One mid-sized city’s reports are shocking: administrative officials are in talks to close all four of the city’s high schools. Citing crumbling infrastructure and high student dropout rates, officials are asking high school aged children to learn from home via the internet. While this may provide a workable solution in the short term, parents are asking for cost cutting areas in other sections of the city’s budget. High school students are speaking out, and they want to remain in school.
Most schools struggle at least a little bit with funding: teachers consistently report that they spend their own money on costly classroom supplies. Older Americans remember a time when their school’s fundraising efforts involved selling candy bars, but younger Americans are excited to take a new approach to fundraising. High school principals who were surveyed recently reported that a yearly school t shirt fundraiser is incredibly effective, both financially and in terms of school spirit. Decades ago, custom t shirt printing was an expensive proposition, but new production methods can speed up delivery times. Some companies can even print “on demand,” so schools do not have to keep backstock on hand: shoppers just purchase on line and receive their packages in a few days.
More than 2 billion t shirts are sold every single year, and about two-thirds of American consumers report that they own more than a dozen t shirts. Schools who sell t shirts for fundraising at their team spirit store — or online — find that their spirit wear shirts are popular. Most principals report that school spirit fundraisers and events are directly responsible for student achievement: wearing the same shirt to sports events can bring students together. School officials also consistently report that custom school apparel is appealing to students’ extended families: grandparents are more than willing to purchase school spirit wear during a school t shirt fundraiser.
The key to successful fundraising is to have a wide variety of custom spirit wear available. Schools can focus their fundraising efforts on advertising and marketing, and parents can buy custom spirit shirts during any time of the year. Most schools report that they hold fundraisers each year — sometimes five or more — and parents prefer buying custom school spirit apparel because t shirts last much longer than candy or other small fundraising items like pens and erasers. Schools will want to include custom spirit wear hats, baby items like sweatpants and onesies, and backpacks for older children and alumni.
A custom school t shirt fundraiser should also include other custom school spirit apparel. While some students love t shirts, others would prefer to show their school spirit with custom hooded sweatshirts or athletic gear. The market for alumni fundraising may also expand when schools are able to offer a wide variety of custom spirit apparel online. Backpacks, sweatshirts and sweatpants, and baseball hats are all appealing to older students and to alumni; schools should make sure to advertise well in advance of homecoming, graduation, and other major events in order to ensure that their parents and students have time to receive their custom orders.
In an era where some cities are thinking seriously about closing their high schools, any school t shirt fundraiser will be an effective way for students and parents to approach school administration officials. If a group of students shows up at local school board meetings dressed in their custom spirit apparel, they make a very clear statement about their friendship bonds and their school spirit. High school students want to go to prom, to attend athletic events, and to graduate with their friends. While school closures remain relatively rare, parents and teachers should focus their fundraising efforts on fun, wearable custom school t shirt fundraiser events. Custom school apparel — and the friendships forged in high school — last for a very long time.