October is Joubert Syndrome Awareness month. All month long, the Joubert Syndrome and Related Disorders Foundation is encouraging members of the JS community to take part in the second-annual $31k in 31 Days fundraiser.
You can raise money simply by asking your family and friends to make a donation to the foundation during the month of October. They can donate through the $31k in 31 Days page, your personalized fundraising page (you can create one here), or even by mailing a check to the foundation (please encourage them to make their donation in the name of an individual or family affected by Joubert Syndrome).
But if you’re looking for other ideas, keep an eye on the JSRDF blog throughout October. We’ll be profiling a few successful fundraisers organized by members of the JS community. Fundraisers like this one:
It makes sense that the Munger family would put the phrase “Stronger than Yesterday” on the many t-shirts they sell to raise money for the Joubert Syndrome and Related Disorders Foundation.
For one, it’s a mantra that Katie Munger uses at work, given that she’s a strength and conditioning coach at Texas Tech University. But it’s also a theme she and her husband – foundation president Larry Munger, who also happens to be an instructor in Texas Tech’s Department of Kinesiology & Sport Management – use at home with their three daughters, Peyton, 9; Ellie, 7; and Kamryn, 5.
Both Peyton and Kamryn have Joubert Syndrome, so the family understands that elite athletes aren’t the only ones who need to push themselves to get stronger every day.
The Mungers started selling t-shirts to raise money for the foundation three years ago. The first year, they designed the shirts to appeal on campus at Texas Tech: The design featured an image of Texas built from words that could be used to describe what it takes to either become a champion athlete or overcome adversity “like our kids have to do every day,” Katie noted. The shirts, which used school colors, were popular on campus, but the following year the Mungers decided to go with a design that would appeal beyond the borders of Texas and adopted the “Stronger than Yesterday” phrase. Using “a slogan that everyone can get into” has helped sales, Katie said.
The Mungers worked with a local vendor to design and print their shirts. For every $20 shirt they sell, they generate between $9 and $12 of profit, which goes straight to the Joubert Syndrome and Related Disorders Foundation.
They buy the shirts in advance so that they can hand them out as they sell them, but trying to figure out exactly how many to buy and in what sizes has been a challenge. In the process Katie said she often starts wondering whether people will think the design is cute – and whether her friends who buy shirts every year will want yet another JS tee.
But she’s done just fine so far.
“Every year it takes us a while to sell the last 20-30 or so and it is usually because sizes don’t match up with the need … I usually sell enough to pay the t-shirt bill in the first week or so and then it’s a slow process of over posting and bothering my friends until I have them all sold,” she said.
Even so, at some point in the future she may end up going a different route: Instead of buying shirts in advance, she would commit to buying a minimum number of shirts and then take orders so that she can figure out exactly how many shirts she needs in each size.
She advises anyone else interested in selling shirts to check with the t-shirt company to get a sense of how hard it is to add additional shirts to your order if you sell more than the minimum commitment.
“If it is not hard to order extra you can start small and make a reorder when you need more,” she said.
She also recommends buying soft cotton shirts and finding someone else to help organize the sale. She noted that one of her friends helps her keep track of inventory and payments on a spreadsheet.
If you’re using the foundation logo be sure to check out our Brand Guide describing how it should be used, and please email your proposed design to JSRDF board member Anna Dietzen at adietzen@jsrdf.org to receive approval before finalizing it.
One last thing: If you’d like to buy a shirt from the Mungers, you still can … but sizes are limited. If you want a medium blue tank top or a gray tank top in either medium or extra large, contact Katie Munger via Facebook or email her at Katie.Munger@ttu.edu.
