Fundraising With Custom Enamel Pins
In today’s environment, nonprofits and charities have to work harder than ever to keep their operations funded and open. Whether you’re an educational center, a civic organization, a church group, or any other nonprofit looking for new ways to grow your organization’s bottom line, fundraising with custom enamel pins is one of the best options on the table.
When you’re looking for a fundraising product that actually performs, custom enamel pins are tough to beat. Selling enamel pins isn’t just a great way to bring in money — it also raises awareness for your organization or cause every time one is worn.
What are custom enamel pins, and why use them?
Enamel pins have grown in popularity over the last several years. You may be wondering what they are and how they can help your organization fundraise. An enamel pin is a small fashionable accessory that’s normally worn on the lapel of a jacket. Lapel pins serve little to no functional purpose other than adding an expressive, decorative touch to the user’s overall outfit, or making a statement of creativity or affiliation. That’s exactly what makes enamel pins an extra special fit for fundraising.
Today, many small clubs, public charities and nonprofits are discovering the benefits of custom enamel pins to raise funds for their organizations. Enamel pins are a simple, expressive and creative way to showcase your organization’s logo or mission in a memorable way. Whether you use a mission statement, slogan, campaign message or just your organization’s logo, enamel pins are also a great way to reward your members for donations.
Signature Pins has been making custom enamel pins for nonprofits to use for fundraising efforts for the last two decades, our professional design team has tons of experience working with nonprofits and charitable organizations for projects large and small.
Raising money for a charity or nonprofit with custom enamel pins
Enamel pins are a great way for you to feature your organization’s message. Another common use for enamel pins is to show some kind of affiliation. Whether it is to a country, team, company or nonprofit organization. Our professional design team can work with your nonprofit’s logo, brand colors and message to help craft an enamel pin you can easily fundraise with and be proud to share and market.
A simple example is the very commonly seen pink ribbon enamel pin. It is usually known by the designs color and shape, that this person supports and spreads breast cancer awareness. The creative expression and willingness to promote a message is how enamel pins really fit into the fundraising efforts of nonprofit organizations and charities.
Don’t forget that since there isn’t much function in an enamel pin, they also act as a unisex piece of “jewelry”. Whether man or woman, boy or girl, there are going to be hundreds of pins your members and donors find appealing. This accessibility to everyone of all interests has caused them to rise in popularity.
Why are enamel pins so popular for fundraising?
The line between supporters and the supported charities is now growing closer and closer every year. All of us can use a little assistance sometimes, and we all need to do our best to provide help to others. Here are some recent donation statistics from Qgiv.com:
- 60% of millennials donate an average of $400 to nonprofits each year.
- Three out of four young Americans are willing to raise money on behalf of a charity or organization that matters to them.
- The average American supports at least 3 to 4 charities.
Your organization’s branded materials serve a dual purpose. The primary purpose is to get the nonprofit’s name, mission, and logo out in front of people, while also ensuring a professional appearance.
Companies today give away pens, mugs, bracelets and t-shirts to their members all the time.
Any of those methods will work, but the main idea is this: the more unique your message, the better a unique item will reinforce it. Custom enamel pins have a perceived value some people compare to art jewelry — they capture attention, they make for a solid talking point, and they sell.
Another reason they are so popular is that they are acceptable in business settings. For example, if you are someone who has to wear a suit every day per company policy you aren’t going to be able to express much creativity or personal flair into your outfit each day. Custom enamel pins can not only function as flair, but also as a way to spread awareness and your message.
Fundraising with Custom Lapel Pins
When looking for a fundraising idea, there are certain questions you should ask to help determine which items are best suited for your needs. Does the item sell itself? Is it unique? Is the item desirable to buyers? Is the profit margin acceptable? Is it feasible to sell enough products to quickly meet your goal? Custom enamel pins give you a resounding “yes” answer to each of these questions.
Lapel pins are constructed of durable, attractive and customizable materials that will easily withstand the test of time and taste, holding on to their value well into the future.
So what kind of enamel pins should you look to fundraise with and why?
When most people think of a lapel pin, they’re picturing a soft enamel design of some kind. Soft enamel pins are the more cost effective option for nonprofits and charitable organizations looking to make a start in fundraising with pins. Because of their finish, they have somewhat of a textured effect as compared to hard enamel pins. Our Signature Pins team specializes in making high-quality custom designs, so all of the soft enamel pins you see on our website are examples of products made for our past clients. We also have a ton of examples we can share of fantastic soft enamel pins made for charities and nonprofit organizations in our pin gallery.
Hard enamel pins (also known as Cloisonne pins) take a lot more work to make. Hard enamel pins have a pristine, jewelry-like finish, giving them a higher perceived value. They also have a sharp contrast between colors that helps define even the smallest details in the artwork. This makes them perfect for capturing designs with complex patterns or small text. These qualities make cloisonne pins popular as gifts in employee recognition programs and as membership pins in exclusive organizations and clubs. If you are looking to create a meaningful and memorable gift that stands out from the crowd, hard enamel is the way to go.
Major benefits of each type of enamel pin:
| Soft Enamel Pins | Hard Enamel Pins |
|---|---|
| You get the most bang for your buck | Jewelry-like finish |
| Familiar look and classic appeal | Smooth, polished texture |
| Layered design with depth | Sharp contrast in color |
| Can be made in virtually any shape or size | Higher perceived value |
Using custom enamel pins to spread your nonprofit’s message
Our team at Signature Pins has worked with nonprofit organizations of every type. We know it can sometimes feel difficult to come up with creative fundraising ideas on your own. We love working with nonprofit organizations to help stimulate creativity and brainstorm expressive pin design ideas.
Since we have worked with nonprofit groups that support a spectrum of causes such as: rights and civil liberties, animal rights, land conservation and environmental causes, refugees, education, research and cultural preservation groups, health research and education, support for chronic illnesses and diseases, cancer support and research, support for physical and cognitive disabilities, poverty focused charities, feeding the hungry, supporting military and veterans, supporting firefighters and police, watchdog groups, children and youth, women’s groups… You name it we’ve designed for it.
With years of experience working with customers from every walk of life imaginable, we’ve come to realize that there’s limitless potential for new and interesting ideas. If you and your team need a one of a kind design that will help you raise funds, we’re here to help.
A number of church-related and religious groups are also considered Not for Profit and strive to help give back to their communities, especially to individuals and families in need. Over the years we have helped hundreds of churches as well.
Use custom enamel pins to say thank you to donors, advocates, and sponsors
Custom enamel pins make excellent “thank you” gifts for contributors and donors. One option is to mail a welcome package that includes a creative enamel pin every time you gain a new donor, so they can proudly wear it and show their support. Another is to offer custom pin designs on your website as a donation reward. The best way to keep supporters engaged and coming back is to roll out new designs over time — one for new members, another for donors at a certain tier, or a special pin bundled with seasonal fundraisers.
The most important aspect of fundraising is being able to actually raise and keep funds for your nonprofit. Even the most ornate custom enamel pins are affordable enough to support a significant markup. For example, a group ordering 500 premium full-color 1.5" hard enamel pins typically pays under $2.00 each and can sell them for $8.00–$10.00. That turns a $1,000 cost into $4,000–$5,000 in proceeds — there aren’t many fundraising opportunities that quadruple your original investment. The result: more money to put into your mission, and a meaningful thank-you for every donor in the process.
Your custom fundraiser pins also get serious visibility for your organization, since every public member, employee, and volunteer who wears one becomes a walking billboard for your cause. The reach adds up fast — every wearer sees hundreds or even thousands of people in the course of a normal week.
Whether you use lapel pins as the fundraising product itself or as a reinforcement for other fundraising efforts, they’re always well received. The next time a fundraising project crosses your desk, think beyond the typical and go for the extraordinary. You’ll see quicker sales, easier delivery, and higher profits.
When you need a fundraising idea built around custom-designed lapel pins, contact Signature Pins.
