The Rubber Silicone Bracelet, Promote and Publicize
Your Charitable Program

So, you’ve come up with the perfect message to emboss or print on your bracelet (see part 1 of this article, steps for designing a custom silicone bracelet here), now you need to shop for the right custom bracelets vendor online. You can order as few as 10 bracelets from some companies, but your message will be etched onto the bracelet rather than die cut, and your silicone wristbands will cost about $9 each—not so good for fundraising.

If you order 1000 silicone bracelets, which is the basic minimum order for most manufacturers, they will cost $.50 to $1.00 each, including the die-cut fee, which runs around $250 - $350, depending on where you shop.

Here’s an exciting story about how an ordinary young person raised money with a silicone bracelet . Olivia Garcia, a 13 year old from Palo Alto, CA was moved by her grandmother’s fight with cancer, and wanted to do something about it. She’s a proactive self-starter and enlisted her parents to help with her charitable project.

They ordered 10,000 silicone bracelets that said “hope” with a pink ribbon graphic, and they have already donated the $8,000 they raised since November 2004 to the Stanford Hospital Breast Cancer research center! The entire Garcia family helps with the rubber wristband bracelets sales and distribution, but Olivia has been the driving force behind the endeavor.

So, back to your fundraising efforts. Once you’ve received your silicon bracelet order, it’s time to publicize and distribute them. You will need to set up an effective distribution system, and send out press releases to your local newspapers. 

To do this, gather all the people together who will be involved in your project and get them to come up with ideas for ways to sell and distribute your silicone bracelet wristbands. Someone might know a reporter for a local paper or may know how to write a good press release.  It's always easier to get publicity for a non-profit effort than for other kinds of business endeavors.

Silicone bracelets really can be a fun and powerful fundraising tool. Best of luck in your fund raising efforts. If you have questions or want to share your successes send me an email.

Learn more about Olivia's experience with her silicone bracelet.

Read about many types of cancer silicone bracelets here