Custom T-Shirts for your Team, Group or Event to build Community and create Memories
Introduction
The time has gone where custom t-shirts were the domain of large orders and large companies. Now, with the availability online of websites that will help you create your custom t-shirt, you can have small groups of t-shirts created with exactly the design you'd like. Upload your company's logo, your event's logo, your summer camp's name or the name and date of your event and then select the colours and sizes and there you go, you've got your custom t-shirts all ready.
Who would get them?
There are endless possibilities of who might be interested in, or who would benefit from having small orders of custom t-shirts printed. Below is a list of just a few such groups:
- teams
- youth groups
- charity event volunteers
- charity event participants
- summer camp volunteers
- summer camp campers
- small company social event volunteers
- small company social event participants
- trade show workers
- trade show volunteers
- giveaway for signups
How much do they cost?
A simple white t-shirt with one colour of text on the front printed 20 times will cost about 12$(i) per shirt. If you go up to 40 or more items the price drops below 10$. If you order 100 items the price then drops below 8$ per shirt.
If you were to pick a colour t-shirt instead of plain white, add about 50 cents per shirt.
If you were to add a second colour image or text to the front, add about another 1.50$ per shirt.
Obviously the more colours you add the more expensive it will be, so consider what your budget is and design your t-shirt accordingly.
How do you pay for them?
You may already have a budget for your team, organization, camp or group to pay for these shirts. In other cases, you may have enough to subsidize the shirts, but would ask the people getting the t-shirts to pay a portion of it.
My plan for the summer camp that I help to operate for next year is to pre-design the t-shirt with the theme and get the pricing. When a person registers to go to the camp they will be given the option to also add a t-shirt to their registration that they would then receive when they get to camp. Depending on how our fundraising goes, we should be able to subsidize the t-shirts a little bit to make it so that it is an even 10$ or an even 8$ that people pay for their t-shirt. By having the registration early enough in advance of the week of camp, the campers can specify the size they want and then the order can be placed with enough lead time to get free shipping.
Building community and creating memories
There is something about everyone having the same custom t-shirt that is reminiscient of having a uniform. Being in a uniform can help a group feel as if they are very united and have a purpose. This will help to build a community with all of the people who have the t-shirts. By keeping the t-shirt after the event, we can be reminded of that event and that sense of community each time we see it in our homes, or when we wear it again.
Note i: All of the prices here are from customink.com. It is likely that prices at other custom t-shirt design websites are similar.
