T-Shirts for Charities: reordering
By The Velocity Wear Team
A charity reorder is a fresh production run on an existing specification: 50 pieces per design, 10-15 working days from artwork approval, plus transit. The organisations that repeat campaigns smoothly are the ones that kept the job reference, the artwork files and the leftover size counts. Charities lose that information more often than most, because the person who ran the last campaign has usually moved on.
What does a charity reorder involve?
Quoting the original job, confirming the quantity and size split, and approving the artwork again. If the specification is on file, almost no decisions are needed - it is a quantity conversation. If it is not, the new team has to reconstruct the fabric weight, the garment colour, every ink colour and the print position from photographs, which is slow and rarely exact. The wholesale t-shirts page carries the current from-price so whoever signs the repeat is not working from an old quote.
Will the second batch match the first?
It will be a close match from the same specification, with the usual caveat that dyed cotton shifts slightly between dye lots. For a campaign shirt worn in the field that is invisible. It becomes noticeable only when shirts from two runs are photographed together or hung side by side on a stall. If you need an exact set - for a team photo or a presentation - put those pieces on one run rather than assuming two runs will be identical.
What should you keep on file between campaigns?
- 1The job reference and date of the previous order.
- 2Fabric weight in GSM, fit, garment colour reference and every ink or thread colour.
- 3The approved artwork files, including any partner logos in vector format.
- 4The size split ordered, and the count of what was left over by size.
- 5One unworn shirt from the run, bagged and labelled as the physical reference.
Store all of it in a shared organisational drive rather than an individual inbox. Volunteer and staff turnover is the reason this gets lost, and a shared folder costs nothing. The leftover counts in particular are what make the next size curve accurate - charity size splits covers how to use them.
Does a repeat still need 50 pieces?
Yes, on every run. A request for fifteen extra shirts for new volunteers is not something that can be produced, so the choices are to hold until you need 50, or to build the buffer into the original order. The second is usually cheaper: a charity needing 40 shirts is ordering 50 anyway, and a larger single run sits further up the discount ladder, where the saving reaches up to 35% from the 50-piece price - charity t-shirt cost sets out the tiers.
When should you reorder rather than redesign?
Repeat when the campaign identity is unchanged and the shirt worked; redesign when the messaging has moved on or the last run was full of problems the team keeps mentioning. If you do change something material - a new fabric weight, a new partner mark, a switch from print to embroidery - order a sample rather than assuming, since the charity sample post explains what the £150 covers and it is credited against the run. The charities and fundraising page is the place to start when the quantity is agreed.
