Merchandising

PayPal created its Charitable Giving Fund as a convenient way to donate to your favorite charities. Seems like a simple enough transaction, right? Unfortunately, Friends for Health and Terry Kass recently slammed PayPal with a class action lawsuit for allegedly redirecting charitable funds to other nonprofit organizations without notifying the donor (or the organization that the donation was originally intended for)...

We all know the Amazon Dash button to be a one-step ticket to replenishing household supplies—laundry detergent, dish soap, paper towels—and your day-to-day necessities—Doritos, GoldFish, Pop-Tarts—for those of us who prefer convenience over human interaction. But did you know you could use the Dash button to support the American Civil Liberties Union and really “stick it to the man”?...

There are lots of good reasons and creative ways to use promotional products: premiums, incentives, giveaways and more. How is your nonprofit using them? We want to know. And we're willing to pay up to find out. In order to better understand how nonprofit organizations use branded merchandise, we're conducting a brief survey to learn what you want from promotional products. Your answers will allow us to help you get your brand noticed and improve your marketing...

The latest celebrity-approved accessory is a silicon bracelet called the Lokai. Like the iconic yellow Livestrong bands of years past, this one promises to distribute a portion of its profits to charity—10 percent, in this case. Like the Livestrong bands, you can wear it 24/7 without worrying about it tarnishing or falling off. But unlike…

For most charities, there's no such thing as too many donations. But what if those donations are all used copies of "Fifty Shades of Grey," the best-selling 2011 erotic romance novel? What if it's enough copies to build a fort? That's the sad state of affairs at an Oxfam International thrift shop in Swansea, South Wales...

A promotional product, when carefully selected, does not jeopardize a person’s view of why he or she is involved with a nonprofit, because it cannot be construed as payment in any form. The product is a reinforcement of the person’s self-label, e.g., “I am a cancer evangelist. I do this work because it’s who I am.” Here are the best practices to make sure that a promotional product works as recognition instead of as an incentive...

Is your nonprofit using promotional products? If your answer is "no" or "what's a promotional product?" then it might be time for a quick lesson in one of marketing's secret weapons. Chances are, you're already familiar with these items. The education and nonprofit sectors as two of the top three promotional-products buyers, and for good reason...

Is the charity-wristband trend making a comeback? Figures from the four charities selling the new Unity band for World Cancer Day (WCD) suggest it might be. For some of the charities, online stock of the bands sold out by Feb. 8, four days after this year’s WCD on Feb. 4. After selling 670,000 Unity bands…

No matter the mission, size or location of the organization, nonprofit professionals always are looking for ways to increase their fundraising numbers and invest more dollars into making the world a better, safer place. One way to do that is through nonprofit merchandising. With the technologies at every organization’s disposal these days, there’s no shortage of ways nonprofits can incorporate merchandising into their plans...

As both a fundraiser and awareness piece for the SAAGNY Foundation, Rhonda Blum created and sold custom-decorated tumblers from Gordon Sinclair for $10 apiece. The mugs carried 12 co-sponsor decorations on them, each sold for between $75 and $100, and were sold at various SAAGNY and SAAGNY Foundation events.