[Fundraising] Shirts and CafePress

[Michael P. Gerlek]

Update:

* I've finished setting up look/feel of the CafePress -- it's not great,
but it'll do unless/until someone else wants to improve things.


* I've added a wide range of products.  If you have other ideas, such as
shirts with something printed on the back or a logo variant, send us
your ideas.


* We are going with a fixed markup of 25%.  This works out to about $5
for a shirt, which was our target -- but by using a relative percentage,
you don't have to pay $5.99 for one little button.


* I am working w/ Gary to work out the where-does-the-money-go issue.


* Per-individual Lands' End shirt orders are just too complicated to
support.  So in order to drive up donations and provide a tangible
benefit, we will at some point be adding an especially nice CafePress
shirt that has a special "I Support OSGeo!" logo on it -- at a price
point of $50 or something.  (This work is pending us getting some logo
design support.)


* The launch plan will be to (1) notify webcom, so as to get a link on
our homepage, and (2) send out mail to the discuss list.


Unless otherwise notified, I plan to go live with this on Friday!


-mpg,
 Official OSGeo Shopkeeper




> -----Original Message-----
> From: Michael P. Gerlek [mailto:mpg at lizardtech.com] 
> Sent: Friday, August 18, 2006 6:48 PM
> To: fundraising at fundraising.osgeo.org; 
> dev at visibilitycommittee.osgeo.org
> Subject: [Fundraising] Shirts and CafePress
> 
> I have embraced the "Don't ask, just do!" model -- to wit, check this
> out:
> 
>     http://www.cafepress.com/OSGeo
> 
> 
> So, I would like to make the following proposal for the 
> selling shirts &
> stuff:
> 
> * CafePress will be used to sell shirts and other stuff directly to
> members
>   - shirts, bumper stickers, teddy bears, what have you
>   - quality is "good" but not "great"
>   - profits go directly to foundation
>   - we don't need to handle payments, returns, shipping, etc
> 
> * Lands' End will be used for bulk orders of "really nice" shirts
>   - to give to volunteers at shows
>   - for VIP give-aways at shows
>   - shipping would go directly to show venue (or 
> mpg/LizardTech, if need
> be)
>   - VisCom will manage these orders directly
> 
> Three specific issues need resolution:
>   - I'd like to get some help tweaking the "store front" 
> design (someone
> with a
>     sense of style)
>   - I'd like some suggestions on pricing (how much do we want 
> to make?)
>   - I need to coordinate with Treasurer Gary in arranging accounts and
> such
> 
> Also, we might have some discussion about how this direct-sale process
> affects the idea of "contribute $X to become a Foundation sponsor, and
> get a free shirt".  (I'd suggest the shirt-for-membership 
> idea is a good
> one, and we use the "really nice, super-exclusive" Lands End 
> shirts for
> this purpose.)
> 
> 
> All that being said, the CafePress site is technically live right now
> and ready to roll.  If we advertised it tomorrow, orders 
> would start to
> appear.
> 
> 
> -mpg
>