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School spirit wear is a key aspect of a child’s educational experience and the PTA or PTO’s fundraising toolkit. It instills a sense of belonging and community and physically represents the school’s brand in the community. Spirit wear is also a key fundraiser for school organizations funding supplemental programs at the school. Many school organizations leave their spirit wear on autopilot and raise a couple hundred dollars. However, with some targeted efforts, we have seen schools raise $5,000-10,000 from spirit wear alone. How, you ask? This article will outline 5 things we have seen be successful.
Starting Spirit Wear Sales
1. Diversify Your Products
The more you have to offer, the more you’ll attract. An important part of diversifying your product line is knowing how to appeal to different segments of your customer base. Make sure you start your store with a broad selection - everything from a broad range of sizes (child to adult), to a selection of different colors, to various products (winter to summer). The range of products ensures you are reaching many people. Introduce new products 3 to 4 times/year for an extra boost. This allows frequent buyers to build their spirit wear wardrobe without running out of options and draws new buyers with items that may appeal to them.
Your school’s graduating class becomes representatives in their next step (whether middle school, high school, or college). Similarly, because they are moving on, they, and their families, are more likely to want to buy spirit wear before they go. Adding a special line of graduation logos to your school’s spirit wear collection can help drive a new sales set. How you go about this can vary - you can add the class year to your existing logo or hold a competition for the graduates to design and vote on a logo. Either way, give those graduates a special spirit wear send-off!
3. Shout it Out from the Social Media Rooftop!
We can’t escape social media, so leverage it! Studies show that the content we consume from social media platforms greatly influences our buying decisions. So, what better way to market your spirit wear than social media? Pull out all the stops: Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and any other app that your students are using. Use these platforms to publicize the existence of your store and highlight any new apparel or logos added. You can also run a campaign asking students to post different spirit wear items on social media with a link to your store or feature a different item every week or two. Finally, you can run a spirit wear Fridays campaign and post pictures of students/teachers/staff/parents in their spirit wear every Friday! If you're getting low engagement on social media, recruit a couple of people and make personal asks for them to post. Once a few people are posting, others will follow. Get creative, have fun, and see the results of your efforts in boosted sales.
4. Discounts, Discounts, and Discounts
Small or large discounts tend to draw people in and encourage them to buy, driving your fundraising dollars higher. By holding a sale for your online spirit wear store, you will likely increase your potential customer base and end up selling products to people who wouldn’t have normally made a purchase. You should consider offering coupons at key times, like back to school, fun runs, and the holidays, to maximize the discounts your community gets.
5. Make the Buying Process Easier
Convenience is king, so spend some time making the buying process easier. Provide customers with an online store so they can shop anytime. Providing an easy-to-remember link (e.g., www.shopmyschoolname.com), various delivery options, and product filtering options make things easier.
So, there you have it, some of the best surefire ways to increase your school’s spirit wear sales. Stick to these, and you’ll surely see a boost from last year’s figures!
Need help with your school spirit wear sales? K-12 Clothing is here to help!