The title of this article over an image of clothing hanging on a sales rack.

4 Clothing-Related Events to Host for Your Nonprofit

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All nonprofits aim to host engaging events that generate a positive impact on their mission, whether that’s through inspiring donations, recruiting volunteers, or increasing program awareness. However, even the most experienced nonprofit professional needs event idea inspiration now and then.

If you’re looking for a creative and unique idea to host for your nonprofit, consider a clothing-themed event. These tend to appeal to many audiences — after all, everyone has their own unique style that can help them form connections with other supporters. Let’s look at four clothing-related events your nonprofit can host to inspire action and support from your community!

Clothing Drive

If your nonprofit provides resources to community members, a clothing drive is a sustainable and impactful way for you to collect helpful items. These events are very simple to plan and host — all you need to do is spread the word in your community that you’re collecting clothing during a set period. Let everyone know where they can drop off their clothes, such as at set collection bins or at your office.

Types of clothing you might want to collect at your clothing drive include:

  • Basics. These are everyday clothing items that anyone might wear, which are useful items for many different types of nonprofits.
  • Seasonal. Winter coats, jackets, and wool pants are especially helpful for nonprofits aiding people experiencing homelessness, as thick layers of clothing keep them warm during the winter months.
  • School. Education-related nonprofits may accept donations of school uniforms and other school supplies to provide for families in need.
  • Recyclable. If your nonprofit supports animals, accepting clothing is still an option! You can take old clothing and repurpose it into bedding, toys, and blankets for the animals under your care.

After the designated collection period, work with trained volunteers to sort through the items you’ve received and make a note of these items. Once you’ve taken stock of your inventory and checked that everything is in good condition, distribute them among your beneficiaries.

This idea is a win-win, allowing you to provide your beneficiaries with clothing items they need without any extra spending. Plus, supporters who may not be able to contribute financially to your organization may be open to donating old clothes, allowing you to inspire greater giving than before.

Thrift Store Pop-Up

Thrift store pop-up events are run similarly to clothing drives. However, instead of distributing the collected items to your organization’s beneficiaries, you’ll instead sell them back to your community at a low price. This allows you to generate funds to aid your mission.

Here are a few tips to make hosting your thrift-store pop-up a breeze:

  • Comprehensive marketing. For this event, you’ll need to conduct two rounds of marketing — first, you must spread the word about your clothing collection efforts, then promote the pop-up itself. Create a thorough marketing plan to support each round, sending messages through multiple channels to maximize the number of community members you reach.
  • Streamline donation sorting. Create a system beforehand so that you’re well-prepared once you start receiving donations. Designate storage spaces for the clothing and sort items based on garment type (such as tops or bottoms), quality, and other key factors.
  • Strategic pricing. ThriftCart recommends taking the item’s condition and quality, brand and rarity, seasonality, and other key factors into consideration when setting your pricing. However, keep in mind that people generally expect secondhand clothing and items to be priced more affordably than new items.

If your thrift store pop-up goes well and garners a positive community reception, consider researching how to open a thrift store to serve as a sustainable revenue source. In your store, you can stock items besides clothing, such as furniture, home goods, and books. For example, take a look at Habitat for Humanity ReStores, which are home improvement thrift stores run by local Habitat for Humanity organizations.

Branded Apparel Sale

Branded merchandise sales are a tried-and-true nonprofit fundraising idea that you can easily spin to feature clothing and apparel. When deciding on the clothing to sell, consider the following details:

  • Types. The most popular types of branded apparel include t-shirts, hoodies, and hats, but you can also sell other items if you know there’s an interest in them.
  • Sizes. Offer various clothing sizes to meet the needs of all community members, regardless of their size or shape.

To maximize the revenue you generate from your sale, host this event in tandem with another fundraising event, such as a fun run, carnival, or field day. Use the opportunity to create event-exclusive apparel such as a fun branded t-shirt. Since your supporters will already be attending the other event, they won’t want to miss out on the exclusive items and may also snag a few other clothing pieces as well.

Clothing Auction

Another popular nonprofit event that you can put a clothing-related spin on is the auction — after all, clothing items can fetch a high price at auction. While your nonprofit may not have access to items as sought after as those worn by celebrities, you can still easily turn a profit with a clothing auction.

This type of event is extremely flexible and can take many formats, including the following:

  • Live. When most people think of auctions, they think of live auctions, where a dedicated individual announces items and facilitates bidding on them.
  • Silent. In a silent auction, items are displayed to attendees. They’ll walk around, read descriptions, and make bids through bid sheets. Once a set deadline has passed, the individual who made the largest bid wins the item.
  • Online. Online auctions are live or silent auctions, simply hosted through an online format. Usually, online live auctions are streamed to attendees and silent auctions are hosted through dedicated auction websites.

If you’ve previously hosted a clothing drive or thrift store pop-up, you may already have donated clothing on hand. When sorting through those items, keep an eye out for anything particularly valuable or sought-after. You can include these in your auction. Additionally, feel free to bundle several items together and auction them off as one lot.

Or, connect with your nonprofit’s major donors and sponsors to see if they’d be willing to donate any clothing of interest to your auction. When doing so, take Winspire’s advice and create auction item procurement letters, in-kind donation forms, and an auction wish list so potential donors and sponsors have all the information they need right off the bat.

As you host these clothing events, be sure to track relevant key metrics and data. Then, analyze the information you’ve collected to evaluate the event’s success and make any necessary adjustments to boost your nonprofit’s success in the future!