1 year of TWC
Hello from TWC’s founder! It’s nearly the 1 year anniversary of the conception of this project and I figured I’d offer some insight into how this all came about before we head into a big celebration month!
The idea for this project was born immediately after my experience at the Homeless World Cup in August 2019 but it would be another 3 months before the official launch in November. Those 3 months were spent doing one thing: RESEARCH.
The majority of my research was focused on how to create and deliver products that would maximize what charities received as a donation. I extensively researched drop shipping, 3rd party retailers like Society6 and Redbubble, and in-house manufacturing but none of those options would offer quality, affordability, AND maximized donations. I did not want 25% of a purchase to be donated, I wanted ALL of it to be donated, which led me to the solution of self-funding and outsourcing the manufacturing.
After that was decided, the most important aspect of this project was set in stone: I didn’t want to handle money. There are legal and tax implications when you take money from people or “donate proceeds” and it would require a high level of trust from participants and constant transparency from us about where your money was going and when. I wanted every participant to own their donation and the choice of where it would go. By removing TWC as the middle man, our participants give directly to the charities and thus always know 100% of their money is landing exactly where they expect it to. I envisioned this as a charity-first initiative rather than an online store that benefited charities, if that makes sense.
I also spent significant time researching and planning for:
Obtaining samples of everything we planned to carry then and in the future
Procuring fundraiser/non-profit discounts with select manufacturers
Budgeting for commissions and matching donations
Packaging and shipping all of this around the world at no cost to the participants. Check out our about us to see some interesting stats about the reach of this project.
The charities we’d fundraise for. We have requirements in place for selecting a new charity and we focus most on the organizations where the highest percentage of money raised goes toward the work. To go from that initial research to partnering with one of the charities now is absolutely incredible to me, sometimes I can’t even believe how far we’ve come in this area alone. We intend to build out our partnership program and that will allow even closer collaboration with these organizations in the future.
After all of that was in place, it was time to find artists, get the word out, and convince everyone that they could trust I would take good care of their designs and orders. Ultimately I wanted to create a community based on giving, learning, shared experiences, and love.
I get a bit choked up when I think about our first sticker, the Michael Sheen tweet “Gonna take my punkass to bed.” It was just a test run then, to see if anyone would buy into this charity-first idea. I hand wrote my thank you notes. I packed them in flimsy white envelopes and hoped they’d reach far off places in one piece. From that first tweet sticker to carrying a signed Michael Sheen design on our 1 year anniversary...it’s all a bit surreal. This started as a 1 man operation and is now a team of 2 owners, 9 people in support and design roles, 3 resident artists, over 100 participants, 35+ artists, our partnered charities, and supporters from all around the world. It’s a community now, our mission come to life, and I am so immeasurably proud of this little project. I cannot wait to show you what we have coming!
If you’ve ever interacted with us, participated with us, designed for us, or spread the word about us...thank you.
I love you all.