Updates on 2020 Fundraiser Shirts
Our fundraiser was another great success, just as in previous years! We were able to raise $678 through the sales of our custom shirts and through additional donations. The funds will be used to purchase food and water for everybody for the weekend. It won’t take long to go through these funds and if we exceed that amount, we’ll pass the hat when we get there.
Shirt Design Changes
The coordination between Custom Ink and us didn’t go flawlessly but we were able to iron out our disagreements rather quickly.
The first issue was our original design, specifically the 2/4 insignia with the word Marines in it and the EGA. The Trademark and Licensing Office of the Marine Corps does not allow Custom Ink to print the word “Marines” or our beloved EGA without their written consent.
The easiest solution, without the lengthy process of approval, was to redesign the front of the shirt. Take a look:
The above design is what will print on our shirts and the design below is what the original was.
Shirt Shipments
The redesign only took a day to get completed and although that was resolved quickly, it wasn’t the only problem we faced. We chose to use Soffee brand for half of the shirts. Due to COVID-19, Soffee was unable to provide Custom Ink with enough blank shirts for printing to complete our order. Our option here were:
- Go through and pick out new shirt styles and brands
- Ship them to everybody AFTER the reunion
- Or bulk ship them to Missouri for distribution in time for our festivities
We chose to have all of them shipped to Missouri and have shipping charges refunded to those that had chosen individual shipping.
Knowing not everybody that bought shirt will be in attendance this year, I will pick up the shirts from the reunion and ship them to individuals myself after the reunion.
If you purchased a shirt and I have not yet contacted you to make arrangements to have your shirt shipped, contact me via email or the book face chat group.
A Little Rant About the Custom Ink Process
Bear with me for a minute while I put this here, hopefully to remind me for next year…
Here’s what bugs me about the process with setting up fundraiser shirt sales through Custom Ink.
Problem
Our fundraiser was live for 30 days. Custom Ink, you had a WHOLE MONTH to approve the design rather than waiting a week AFTER the fundraiser ended to let me know you can’t print it!
Additionally, you knew you were going to print our shirts once we met the minimum quantity to print but, again, waited until AFTER the artwork debacle to let me know you don’t have enough blanks?
Solution
Inspect the design either before making a fundraiser campaign go live. I know this takes human interaction (payroll staff) and not all fundraisers sell the minimum to print but if that’s you’re excuse, then inspect the artwork immediately after the campaign sells the minimum to print!
This is the second year I used this company for our shirts and I know the Kellers used them in 2018. Last year was WAY more screwed up than it was this year and we experienced the SAME issue with artwork approval, plus many other issues. I even went so far as to contact the USMC Trademark office last year for approval but it really didn’t work out in our favor.
I want to thank Brooke over at Custom Ink for helping resolve the issues rather quickly this year and her replies were fast. I certainly don’t blame her for her company’s awkward process for artwork approval. She helped diminish my nightmarish flashbacks to last year’s fundraiser process. Thank you Brooke.