Spirit Wear That Builds Community - and Earns Your Program a Share
Spirit wear that builds school pride and raises money: a free storefront that earns 10% of sales, or one group pre-order. No minimums, free US shipping.
A good spirit shirt does two jobs at once. It makes a hallway, a bus or a bleacher section instantly recognizable as one school, and it can quietly pay for something the budget doesn't cover: new warm-ups, a field trip, the banquet. Here one design can do both, and you decide how much of the fundraising work your volunteers take on. Part of Spirit Wear for Schools and Teams.
This page is the overview: what spirit wear does, the two ways to raise money with it, and how to design something people wear. When you're ready to run the numbers, print an order form or plan the weeks, go to the spirit wear fundraiser guide.
What spirit wear does for a school
Spirit wear is worn by more people than any team uniform: students on spirit Fridays, parents in the stands, grandparents at the one game they make, staff at open house. A single design ends up on kindergartners and on the principal.
That spread is what makes it a community builder. A shared shirt makes the visiting section at an away game easy to find, and gives a new student or a younger sibling something that says they belong before they know anyone's name. The shirt bought for homecoming gets worn on the next twenty spirit Fridays.
The same spread is what makes it a fundraiser. A team of fifteen can only buy so many shirts; a whole school community, plus aunts and alumni, buys a lot more - as long as buying is easy and the design is one people want.
Two ways to raise money with spirit wear
The storefront: no money handling, 10% share
Put your designs on a free storefront - your program's own page on our site - and share the link in the newsletter, the class group chat and the QR code on the back of the game program. Families order at our listed prices, pay us directly, and each order ships to the family that placed it, free to any US address.
Once your group has signed our fundraising agreement and sent its EIN, W-9 and bank details, it earns 10% of storefront sales as standard, paid by bank transfer with a written statement at least every 90 days. A share is earned when an order ships; a refunded order earns nothing. Nobody on your side collects cash or sorts bags. The details of who can be paid and how are on school fundraiser shirts.
The group pre-order: more work, more control
The other way is the classic pre-order. Your booster club or PTA collects orders and money from families, places one order with us, receives one shipment and hands the shirts out. You choose what to charge families, and the difference between what you collect and what the order costs stays with the group. Because it's one big order, bulk prices apply automatically on each item once it reaches the quantity tier (they don't apply to storefront orders).
The tradeoff is labor: an order form, payment tracking, and an afternoon in the gym with a list and a stack of bags. The fundraiser guide walks through that math side by side with the storefront, so you can see which one leaves more in the account for the hours your volunteers have.
How to choose
| If your group... | Lean toward |
|---|---|
| has one or two volunteers and little time | the storefront |
| wants shirts in hand for one shared date, like a field trip | the group pre-order |
| wants to sell all year, not in one window | the storefront |
| already runs a cash box at events and likes it | the group pre-order |
| has families spread across districts or states | the storefront, which ships to each family |
| can't receive payouts yet (no EIN or bank account) | the group pre-order |
You can also do both: a pre-order for a team that needs shirts by a date, and a storefront open all year.
Designing spirit wear people wear again
The design decides the fundraiser. A shirt someone only wears to the game sells once; a shirt they wear on a Saturday sells to the cousins too. Some approaches that hold up:
- Left chest plus a big back. A small mascot or initials on the left chest reads like a brand; the full mascot, school name and a line like "Home of the Hawks" across the back gives the stands something to show. That is two printed surfaces, so budget the extra surface.
- Established year. "Westbrook Elementary - Est. 1962" in a simple arched layout looks like something from a campus store and suits parents and alumni who'd never wear a cartoon mascot.
- A family line. Keep the front the same and offer a version with "Hawks Family" or "Hawks Grandma" on the back, so relatives have a reason to order their own.
- A sleeve hit. School initials down one sleeve of a tee or adult hoodie.
- Tone, not shout. A single ink color one shade off the shirt - white on Sport Gray, gold on Maroon, navy on Carolina Blue - wears every day. Save the full-color mascot for the design you sell at homecoming.
Two or three designs is usually enough; more choices tend to split orders rather than add them. For more on layout, contrast and legibility, see group shirt design tips and the color guide; for ready-made starting points, browse the school spirit wear idea gallery.
What to offer on the store
A small range of price points lets a family buy a $14.38 Adult Tee for one kid and a hoodie for the one who's always cold. These are the listed prices, each with one printed surface included:
| Garment | Listed price | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| Adult Tee | $14.38 | everyday spirit days, parents |
| Youth Tee | $19.99 | elementary and middle school students |
| Adult Hoodie | $37.99 | fall and winter games |
| Youth Hoodie | $37.99 | cold-weather recess and sidelines |
| Adult Crewneck | $34.99 | parents and staff who skip the hood |
| Adult Long Sleeve | $22.99 | early fall, layering |
| Adult Polo | $25.63 | staff, coaches, front office |
| Canvas Tote | $13.33 | grandparents, teachers, library bags |
Each extra printed surface adds $8.99 to $10.99 depending on the product. Front, back and sleeves all print on the Adult Tee and Adult Hoodie; the polo prints on the front, back or left chest, and it is printed, not stitched. The products page lists every item, and the hoodie vs t-shirt comparison helps if you're choosing just one.
Sizing: youth, adult and the families in between
Spirit wear spans the widest size range of anything a school orders. Youth and adult sizes are not one continuous scale - a Youth XL and an adult Small fit differently - so let families size by fit, not by age or grade. The Youth XL vs adult Small comparison and the size guide are worth linking right on your order form.
On a storefront, each family picks its own sizes, so there's nothing for you to count. For a group pre-order, collect sizes with a link rather than paper: a sizes link takes up to 300 answers with no account needed, and one button adds them to the order. Add a small buffer of adult M and L for staff who decide late. Youth and adult sizes, and different items, all sit in one cart.
Timing around an event
Production typically runs up to 10 business days after checkout, plus shipping, and the cart shows the expected delivery dates before you pay. There is no rush printing and no guaranteed delivery date, so count back from the day people need to be wearing the shirts.
Open a storefront three to four weeks before the event it's built around, with an "order by" date; close a pre-order form at least three weeks out. The fundraiser guide has the full week-by-week plan, and ordering deadlines and timing covers the general rules.
Setting it up with Remi
Remi is the chat designer at /design. Describe the shirt in plain English - "Hawks mascot on the back, small HW on the left chest, gold on Maroon" - or upload the school logo. Refine it in chat until it's right, see it on the garment and color you picked, and then either check out a group order or ask to put the design on a storefront. Designing is free; you only pay at checkout. If your school needs a quote, a PO number or a tax-exempt order, see quotes and purchase orders.
Questions about spirit wear fundraising
How much does our group earn from a storefront?
The standard share is 10% of storefront sales, earned when each order ships and paid by bank transfer with a statement at least every 90 days. To be paid, the group needs to be an organization with an EIN, a W-9, a signed fundraising agreement and a bank account. Worked examples are in the spirit wear fundraiser guide.
Can we set our own prices on the storefront?
No. Storefront items sell at our listed prices, and your group earns its share on top of that without handling any money. If you want to set your own price per shirt, run a group pre-order instead: you collect from families and place one order.
Is there a minimum order?
No. One shirt is a real order, from the storefront or a coach ordering a single replacement. Nothing prints until it's ordered, so there are no leftovers.
Can staff get a different item with the same design?
Yes. The same design can go on an Adult Polo or crewneck for staff while students wear tees. Mixed items and youth and adult sizes all go in one cart.
What if a shirt arrives misprinted?
Send a photo within 30 days of delivery and we'll reprint or refund it. A size ordered wrong or a change of mind isn't returnable, which is why a size guide link on your order form saves everyone trouble.
Related pages
- Spirit wear fundraiser guide - the math, the order form and the timeline
- School fundraiser shirts and storefronts
- School spirit wear guide and school spirit and pride
- PTA and booster club shirts
- Spirit week shirts and homecoming shirts