Here's the calendar rule for a fundraiser kit drop: launch about six weeks before the day you need kits in hand. The order window runs about two weeks. When it closes, everything is made to order in one run, and product is in hand roughly two to four weeks after the window closes, depending on the season. That's the whole schedule.
I build the pages for our fundraiser kit drops, and the most common way I see one go sideways is launching too late. A program opens the store two weeks before the first home game and learns that made to order means nothing exists yet. So the first thing we ask for is the date you need product in hand. Everything else is subtraction.
Start from the day you need it in hand
Don't start from today. Start from the day kits have to be in hand, and work backward.
- Write down the need-by date. The first game, the spring concert, the banquet. That date doesn't move; everything else does.
- Subtract two to four weeks for production and shipping. One run, after the window closes, and product in hand roughly two to four weeks later. The season decides where in that range you land, and we give you a firm date before you launch.
- Subtract the order window: about two weeks.
- What's left is your launch date. About six weeks before you need kits in hand. Four is the bare minimum when the season is slow; six is the number to plan on.
Already past that date? Move the need-by date or aim at the next event. Launching short and hoping doesn't work.
A fall season drop, worked out
Say your program wants kits in hand by mid-to-late September. Count back:
- Kits in hand: mid-to-late September.
- Production and shipping: two to four weeks before that, so the window closes by mid-August.
- Order window: two weeks before that, so you launch in early August.
Early August feels early, and that's the point. Launch the week the season starts instead and the math doesn't change; you just find out about it in October.
The same math for spring and the end of the year
Same arithmetic, different starting date.
A spring drop. For the spring season or the Mardi Gras stretch, count back from the first date that matters. Two to four weeks of production and shipping, then a two-week window, puts your launch about six weeks out — early in the new year.
An end-of-year drop. Senior gifts, the last concert, anything that has to be in hand before graduation week. Count back from that week and your launch lands roughly six weeks out. Wait until the last week and the calendar has already decided for you.
What the two-week window is for
Two weeks is a good window: long enough that every family sees the link more than once, short enough that the close date stays real. It gives you three moments to talk about it:
- Day one: the launch post. One message, one link, the close date in it, sent everywhere at once: the group text, the team page, the booster email list.
- Mid-window: the reminder. Same link, the close date again, and a plain line that nothing gets made until the window shuts.
- The last 48 hours: the push. Say it at the game, at rehearsal, and in the group text one more time. Deadlines are what people act on.
We send you graphics sized for each channel, so you're sharing, not resizing.
What supporters actually see
A supporter taps the link and lands on a one-page kit store: your logo, your colors, your dates, and who the drop supports.
Three kits, because three tiers means a price for every supporter: a single item, a two-piece, and the full kit. The pieces can be anything we make, shirts, hoodies, caps, cups, with optional name personalization. The supporter picks a kit, chooses the size and color on every piece, and one button adds the whole kit to the bag. Checkout is by card.
For a live example, The Makers Drop is our own, on the same page yours would be: one piece from every maker who sells with us, on a ladder of Kit A $35, Kit B $63, Kit C $119. The price is the price, no codes, no games, and that holds for your drop too.
After the window closes
The page stops taking orders, and we make exactly what sold, in one run. That's where the two to four weeks goes. Made to order cuts both ways: nothing sits on a shelf, and nothing exists until the run happens.
Shipping is your call: to each supporter, or bulk to you sorted by buyer for handing out at practice. Everything ships; there's no pickup counter.
Then the program gets paid: one check or transfer after delivery, with a line-by-line report of what sold. Zero inventory risk: we made what sold, nothing more.
Straight answers
How long should the window be?
About two weeks. If the need-by date is tight, don't shrink the window; move the launch earlier.
Can someone order after it closes?
No. For a kit drop, the window is the window: the run starts when it shuts. If your group needs gear all year, that's a team store: open year-round, everyone pays for their own, and the better fit for outfitting a roster rather than raising money.
Can supporters exchange sizes?
Not after the window closes. Kits are made to order, so we can't restock a size once the run is done. Check the size guide before you order, and when in doubt, size up.
Who handles the money?
Nobody on your end. Every order is paid by card at checkout, so no one is holding cash. You set the split, how much of each kit goes to the program, and the kit price is built around it; we show you the math before anything is published. After delivery, the program gets one check or transfer with a line-by-line report.
What do we need from you?
Four things: your logo or design (or an idea; we'll draw it); who the drop supports and how you'd like it described; your open and close dates and the date you need product in hand; and where the money goes when it's over. We ask for the need-by date first; it sets every other date.
We're a Lafayette family: I build the store, Keri designs, and Adele keeps us honest about what people actually want to wear. If your need-by date is coming up, count back six weeks, start one, and we'll work the calendar out with you. Allons.