Looking The Part As A Charity With Promotional T-Shirts

Image says a lot about a company but is that the same for a charity?  What would you think of a charity raising awareness of animal cruelty being dressed up in a suit to sell their cause out on the streets?

What about a charity spreading the word of God in a suit – is that different?  It all depends on the charity – for the most part charities are not about dressing up in your smartest attire to raise awareness, but they are about being relatable to the target audience.  

There is no point trying to raise awareness or funds without first having a clear picture of who your audience are and how they would be best approached.

I know personally I stay away from the men in suits with their clipboards on the highstreet – they are usually trying to sell me something I don’t want and won’t leave me alone until I make up a really ellaborate excuse to leave.  But this isn’t the reaction you want from people you are targeting.

Take Shelter for example – very large charity who are often on the high streets raising awareness and trying to get donations.  You can spot them a mile off in there red t-shirts and they look very much like normal people.

You can also see who they are before they approach you so an image or reaction has already been invoked before they begin selling their charity.  Having an image like this is important and this image needs to be established and known locally.

Having branded t-shirts is a great way to be seen whatever you are doing – out on the streets fundraising or out at an event.  It means you are seen and heard.  There is a fear of the unknown, so having a logo on a t-shirt prior to approaching anyone is a good way to ensure you don’t scare people away as well as let people who really don’t want to talk to you walk the other way.

And there is nothing wrong with this.  There are some people that won’t believe in your cause and you should never think you can target everyone – so having your name there gives people choice and freedom to be interested or not.

Getting your image and logo out in the public is always a good thing, and t-shirts are a good way to do this.  Although they aren’t the smartest of clothing items, a team wearing the same t-shirt will always look more professional that a team of differently dressed people.

And this doesn’t just apply to street fundraising.  What about the youth group thats out there dressed in casual clothes with it being hard to differentiate between older young people and staff members.

Or a local event where you are giving out information on a stand, how does it look to the public if its hard to differentiate between people who are gaining and people who are giving information out?  Get some branded t-shirts and straight away you have an easily identifiable team of people.

So whats your image and how do you want the public to see you?  Well that all depends on who you are trying to satisfy.