Fundraising Idea: DIY Buttons

placesCampus Pride utilizes the time, talent and skills of students, faculty, staff and educators to fulfill our mission of creating safer, more LGBTQ-friendly colleges and universities.

Volunteers help our organization continue to grow in supporting the needs of LGBTQ and Ally student leaders and campus groups. One principal method volunteers support Campus Pride is through fundraising.

How might one setup a volunteer fundraising campaign? Here’s a great idea to check out:

DIY Buttons
Producing custom-made buttons to sell during events is an incredibly simple and fun way to help raise funds! With creativity at your side, the sky is the limit! Think about imagery and text/quotes that would appeal to a wide audience, but also remains LGBTQ friendly. Button making is incredibly easy–Check out Campus Pride’s Queer It Yourself (QIY) Resource on pronoun button making!

Here are a few steps as referenced in the QIY resource on how to create your own buttons!

How-To:

1. Collect Your Materials

Before you can begin making pronoun buttons, you’ll need to own the necessary materials. Here is one website that sells button makers, but feel free to explore other options depending on your needs or budget!
Take note of what materials are included in your purchase. Remember, the button maker is important, but you will also need materials to make the buttons, such as metal shells, metal pin backs, and round plastic mylar sheets. It is also important to verify that you are buying the correct size for your button maker. Button sizes are often described in inches by taking the diameter of the button.

2. Create Your Template and Make Your Buttons

Use your design skills to create what will go on the buttons! You can create your templates using online examples, or create your own! You can design them on your computer and print them out, or hand-draw them. If you are hand drawing them, remember that most button makers require covering your design with a plastic Mylar sheet, so remember not to add any 3-D elements (rhinestones, puffy stickers, etc.) until after the buttons are made!

3. Hand Them Out

Now that you’ve made your pronoun buttons, it’s time to get people to wear them! Try selling them at places such as club meetings, conferences, events, school buildings or anywhere else people are gathering! You can encourage people to pin their buttons to their jackets or bookbags so people can see them at any point!

Now, congratulate yourself on a job well done! Your efforts directly impact Campus Pride in a huge way. With more fundraising campaigns, Campus Pride is able to further advance the tools, programs, and resources provided to LGBTQ college students.

If you’re eager for more fundraising ideas, consider some of these other opportunities:

• Plan a fundraising event (talent show, spoken word night, etc) to collect donations.
• Consider current philanthropic planned events and adding Campus Pride to the donations list.
• Share this post with a link for donations. Tell everyone why it is important to stand together for LGBT collegiate youth