What would you pay for charity?

[TheDisneyDoll]

I need a favor from some of y'all if you please. This is not a solicitation I am looking for your genuine advice and thoughts.
I'm raising money to participate in the April Dark Side half Marathon at Disney World, to do this I thought a great way to raise funds would be to design and sell a T-Shirt that fits the theme.
Now i have run into a little problem when it comes to pricing which is why I am asking for your help.
My goal is to raise $3,000 (I need a minimum of $2,500).
The shirts cost $7 with the printing themselves, i have around $3.00 in additional fee's plus $6.00 for shipping all worked into the total price.
The shirts are printed on American Apparel jersey T's, which are a bit softer and nicer than some other options.
So thats roughly $16.00 in fee's.
I'm trying to decide what is reasonable to charge per shirt, and since my main demographic is people trying to save when they can i thought y'all could provide some good insight.
Right now they're at $26.99. I thought since all the proceeds do go to charity it would be okay to charge a little more, but i'm kind of feeling like i am asking way to much, but at the same time the amount raised per shirt needs to be reasonable too.

So i am asking honestly what would you pay for a shirt when you know it costs $16 to produce and that no one is making money it's all going to charity.

again this not a solicitation I have just been staring at this for so long and everything i come up with feels wrong and I need any outside opinion.

 

[afan]

I think it depends on who you are targeting these shirts to. I have friends that raise money for various walks and such and they generally just ask for donations of their friends. Those that can and want to support that cause and/or friend donate. I haven't seen one not meet their goal. Granted this doesn't work for everyone, but I would rather spend 26 bucks knowing it's all going to the cause than to get a shirt I may not want.

 

[havaneselover]

I'm lost. What is the charity this is benefiting?

 

[TheDisneyDoll]

I'm lost. What is the charity this is benefiting?

it's the Noah's Light Foundation for pediatric cancer.
I'm not posting links to any of the pages or anything i don't want it to be spammy.

 

[havaneselover]

it's the Noah's Light Foundation for pediatric cancer.
I'm not posting links to any of the pages or anything i don't want it to be spammy.

Got it. I'd rather give $25 than buy a t-shirt I guess. I have a friend from high school who raised a ton of money for the Susan Komen three day walk on Facebook. And my sil's sister used to do a ride for ms (their mom died from it) and and raised a ton just emailing friends and family.

 

[TheDisneyDoll]

I think it depends on who you are targeting these shirts to. I have friends that raise money for various walks and such and they generally just ask for donations of their friends. Those that can and want to support that cause and/or friend donate. I haven't seen one not meet their goal. Granted this doesn't work for everyone, but I would rather spend 26 bucks knowing it's all going to the cause than to get a shirt I may not want.

I am trying to target the people who don't want to donate for free, or who want something in return. Unfortunately I don't know many people who are willing to just donate money, they usually want a good or service in return.

 

[LJSquishy]

Knowing the shirts cost $16ea to produce, I would probably contribute $30 as my donation, however, I wouldn't expect most people to actually want half or more of their donation money going toward the cost of a themed shirt that they likely won't wear unless they're painting or doing yard work. I'm just being honest. I do fun runs here and there and the shirts I get from those become around-the-house shirts, I'd never go out in public wearing one.

Another thing to consider is some people may be inclined to donate $50, $100, or more for your cause but if you're asking $26.99 for a donation w/shirt, they're only going to donate $26.99 (and only $10-$11 of that is actually going toward your goal). I think you have an opportunity to get better use out of the shirts such as make them a free gift to those who donate $100 or more for example (or whatever number you're comfortable with).

 

[redsonja76]

I don't know why, but the number $24.99 just sounds like a better 'deal' to me than $26.99

 

[TheDisneyDoll]

Knowing the shirts cost $16ea to produce, I would probably contribute $30 as my donation, however, I wouldn't expect most people to actually want half or more of their donation money going toward the cost of a themed shirt that they likely won't wear unless they're painting or doing yard work. I'm just being honest. I do fun runs here and there and the shirts I get from those become around-the-house shirts, I'd never go out in public wearing one.

Another thing to consider is some people may be inclined to donate $50, $100, or more for your cause but if you're asking $26.99 for a donation w/shirt, they're only going to donate $26.99 (and only $10-$11 of that is actually going toward your goal). I think you have an opportunity to get better use out of the shirts such as make them a free gift to those who donate $100 or more for example (or whatever number you're comfortable with).

I hadn't considered that, thats actually really brilliant! thank you thats the best advise i think i've gotten in this whole process (it's been stressful)

 

[TheDisneyDoll]

I don't know why, but the number $24.99 just sounds like a better 'deal' to me than $26.99

That is a good idea too! it does sound like a deal

 

[LJSquishy]

I hadn't considered that, thats actually really brilliant! thank you thats the best advise i think i've gotten in this whole process (it's been stressful)

You're welcome! You may consider looking into group rate movie passes for your local theater depending on how many you'd have to buy to get a discounted rate. That could be a great "free gift" with a smaller donation of $25 or something like that.

Are you crafty at all? If so, use your skills to make things to use as gifts for certain tiered donation amounts.

 

[TheDisneyDoll]

You're welcome! You may consider looking into group rate movie passes for your local theater depending on how many you'd have to buy to get a discounted rate. That could be a great "free gift" with a smaller donation of $25 or something like that.

Are you crafty at all? If so, use your skills to make things to use as gifts for certain tiered donation amounts.

i'm not great at making anything someone would actually want. I did change my fundraising dynamic now though! I have an indiegogo page instead of just having it on my own website.
4 different perks ranging from $5 to $100.

I decided to offer a raffle giveaway for $10 donations. I was planning on doing a youtube giveaway so i had a bunch of stuff already lined up! Some stuff from the Disneyland 60th, and a few other things! I don't think $10 is a bad price for a chance to win over $100 in prizes! Now i just have to find a way to get it out to the disney people.

 

[LJSquishy]

i'm not great at making anything someone would actually want. I did change my fundraising dynamic now though! I have an indiegogo page instead of just having it on my own website.
4 different perks ranging from $5 to $100.

I decided to offer a raffle giveaway for $10 donations. I was planning on doing a youtube giveaway so i had a bunch of stuff already lined up! Some stuff from the Disneyland 60th, and a few other things! I don't think $10 is a bad price for a chance to win over $100 in prizes! Now i just have to find a way to get it out to the disney people.

That sounds great! Good luck to you!

 

[TheDisneyDoll]

That sounds great! Good luck to you!

thanks by the looks of it i'll need it

 

[CalDisneyMomof2]

50/50 raffle tickets? Is that possible to add to the mix?

 

[TheDisneyDoll]

50/50 raffle tickets? Is that possible to add to the mix?

Maybe! Just need a venue for it. I am dedicating my run and the fundraising to someone in my local school, maybe she can help me set up a drive.

 

[MommaBerd]

...on my own website...I was planning on doing a youtube giveaway...Now i just have to find a way to get it out to the disney people.

It sounds like you already have (or are starting to have) a social media presence. Is that correct? It also seemed in your original post that you were targeting a specific group of people you already knew, but now maybe you want to cast a wider net ("Disney people")? Do you have a Facebook/Twitter/Instagram presence? You can use all those tools and more to drive traffic to your indigogo page.

 

[TheDisneyDoll]

It sounds like you already have (or are starting to have) a social media presence. Is that correct? It also seemed in your original post that you were targeting a specific group of people you already knew, but now maybe you want to cast a wider net ("Disney people")? Do you have a Facebook/Twitter/Instagram presence? You can use all those tools and more to drive traffic to your indigogo page.

I do have all of those, but i'm not very popular.... I do plan to use them as tools still though!

 

[teller80]

Ask yourself, "if I were to make a donation to a charity and only half of it actually went to the charity itself, would I be happy with that?". That is what you are doing - half of each donation is going to a t-shirt company. I'd buy glow sticks (ties in with the LIGHT) for a dollar and give those away.

Is it your personal goat to raise $2500 or is Noah's Light asking you to raise that? I'm just curious.

 

[TheDisneyDoll]

Ask yourself, "if I were to make a donation to a charity and only half of it actually went to the charity itself, would I be happy with that?". That is what you are doing - half of each donation is going to a t-shirt company. I'd buy glow sticks (ties in with the LIGHT) for a dollar and give those away.

Is it your personal goat to raise $2500 or is Noah's Light asking you to raise that? I'm just curious.

$2,500 is what I have to raise to be able to participate in the run, my goal is $3,000.
I don't have anyone to sell things like glow sticks too or that would be easy, I was trying for a good someone would at least want.