July 5, 2018 | Read Time: 3 minutes
Socks are becoming the new tote bags when it comes to fundraising premiums.
Public radio stations, environmental groups, and a laundry list of other nonprofits are attracting donors by offering them socks that show off their favorite causes.
Beth Szelog, who works on membership drives at New Hampshire Public Radio, said she got the idea to offer socks as a gift to donors when she noticed fashion socks becoming the rage among celebrities on late-night television and elsewhere.
For its fall 2016 membership campaign, NHPR offered socks designed in house, featuring a New Hampshire landscape with trees, mountains, and boats. They were so popular that the next year, NHPR offered people who donated $10 or more per month the combo of a pair of socks and a mug featuring a purple finch wearing headphones. The purple finch is New Hampshire’s state bird.
The success of the campaigns has, well, knocked their socks off.
Last year, of all the donors who requested premiums, 75 percent asked for socks. Unprodded, they began posting pictures of their socks on social media.
At an NHPR event in last fall, David Folkenflik, a media correspondent for National Public Radio, wore the purple finch socks in front of an audience.
“We didn’t tell him to,” said Patricia McLaughlin, director of communications and marketing. “He actually did it on his own.”
NHPR plans to bring the socks back for a third time in its upcoming fall fundraising drive.
Other NPR stations like Boston’s WBUR and KUTX in Austin have adopted the idea, collaborating with Austin-based manufacturer Sock of the Month Club to offer socks with local themes and enticing listeners through images posted on social media.
Holiday Gifts
David Glass, vice president of marketing at the World Wildlife Fund, also started noticing how many people were wearing socks with themes.
During last year’s holiday season, the fund rolled out a set of socks with three different designs, featuring sloths, pandas, and a giraffe, and offered them as gifts in exchange for donations.
“We had a little fun looking at them internally and thinking, ‘Oh, I would wear those’ or ‘my spouse would wear those’ or ‘my mom or dad would wear those,’ ” he said.
The socks quickly became the most requested thank-you item before the holidays, Glass said.
Promoting Gay Rights and Parks
Retailers have noticed the appeal of charity-related specialty socks, and have started offering them as part of their marketing efforts to help good causes.
In June, the Human Rights Campaign teamed up with retailer J. Crew on an apparel line for Pride month. The campaign, called “Love First,” includes men’s, women’s, and kids’ shirts, as well as socks linked to the charity. The retailer says it will donate 50 percent of the purchase price of items in the collection to the group. And in April, the National Park Foundation launched a five-year partnership with Hanes, the apparel company known for its socks and hosiery.
“The goal is to bring the power of parks to as many people as possible, and this partnership does that in innovative and creative ways,” Carole Crosslin, communications director for Hanes Brands, wrote in an email. Hanes sought the deal because it wanted to raise its profile as an environmentally conscious apparel company.
Hanes hopes to raise $4 million over five years for the park foundation. The company started its marketing arrangement by offering T-shirts with park themes, and they became so popular they will be sold in stores and online later this year. The foundation and the manufacturer plan to expand the line to include sweatshirts, hats, and, of course, socks.
