Nonprofits need merch too: How Sandlot is helping local orgs get the goods with no risk, low waste 

HelpingHats’ debut celebrates the 10-year anniversary of Made in KC — and helps raise money for a high-profile nonprofit

Sandlot Goods’ newly launched HelpingHats programs aims to help like-minded organizations reach their fundraising goals while also supporting American manufacturing, explained Thomas McIntyre, noting local-first retailer Made In KC serves its test case ahead of a full rollout.

“We want to offer nonprofit organizations an avenue for getting really high-quality products to their donors, even if they don’t have the capital it would typically take to purchase higher-end stock,” continued McIntyre, CEO of Sandlot, Kansas City’s only local hat manufacturer and one of Startland News’ Kansas City Startups to Watch.

“We’re working with some blank stock as we keep our own line moving on half production, so the idea was we could do really small quantities at a time, pull blank hats from our shelves and embroider them, and eliminate that risk for nonprofits,” he detailed.

The HelpingHats program — which allows organizations to choose from headwear, totes, coasters, or a custom experience — is expected to offer quick turnaround times, low risk, no upfront costs, high quality products, quick and frequent deposits, complete handling of all fulfillment and inventory, generous revenue split, and a dashboard with access to real-time stats and payout information, according to the company.

“It’s just really fun to see something like this come together with an American manufacturer and a Kansas City-based company and a lot of Kansas City based nonprofits,” McIntyre added.

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Made in KC’s “Local is Good” hat produced through Sandlot Goods’ new HelpingHats program; courtesy photo

To help celebrate its 10th anniversary, Made In KC launched its Local is Good hat through the program with the funds going to support the local nonprofit Kansas City G.I.F.T. (Generating Income For Tomorrow). The hats are on pre-order through the month of April with a few hitting the shelves at a later date.

“We’re just super excited to have made it this far, for one,” said Keith Bradley, co-owner of Made In KC. “Also, we want to recognize how supportive the Kansas City community is of — not only our business — but supporting local businesses and concepts in general.”

“We thought that this hat was a fun way to celebrate that in a way that’s subtle — that doesn’t scream ‘Made In KC’ — but just celebrates everyone’s love of local, whether that’s their local restaurant, their local farmers market, their local goods shop, whatever that might be.”

As someone who has served as the treasurer on the board of a nonprofit, McIntyre knows firsthand the pain points for organizations when it comes to raising funds with branded or themed specialty products.

“Every time we looked at producing T-shirts, it was too risky to buy the apparel up front, not knowing if people are going to want to engage and purchase a product,” he explained. “You’d end up having to risk $2,000 on a minimum order of quantities to get something, and then hope you sell enough to make it profitable. And if you break even, it was all for not.”

“And anytime we did look to do merchandise or apparel for the nonprofit,” he added, “it was sort by price and we were compelled to pick the cheapest one possible to mitigate that risk.”

By contrast, with the HelpingHats program, instead of getting stuck with excess smalls and double extra larges, hats are one size fits all, McIntyre continued.

“That’s the other beauty of the hat: it’s adjustable,” he added. “You don’t have to worry about sizing. If I really want to support an organization, I’ll buy five and hand them out to my friends.”

With the program, he noted, participating organizations don’t have to provide any money up front and they don’t have to wait to get their money from each sale as Collab Pay with Shopify automatically distributes the money from each sale into the two accounts.

“For small businesses and nonprofits, cash is oxygen,” he explained. “So keeping that stuff flowing for everybody is super important.”

“It’s a win, win, win across the board,” Bradley added. “There’s also no waste with it. We’ve talked to a lot of nonprofits over the years who did a fundraising event and tried to sell merch, and they’re still sitting on dozens, if not hundreds, of items that they are just having to store. This way, we’re only producing what has been sold.”

Bradley said it just made sense for Made In KC to be the launch partner for Sandlot’s new program.

“Sandlot Goods was one of the first companies that we worked with back when we got started,” he explained. “Just as much as we’ve grown in the last 10 years, they’ve grown alongside us, as well. With their new HelpingHats program, we thought it would be good for us to be the first test case for it and a good way to test the partnership between us.”

(Made in KC is now a partial owner of Sandlot Goods, which was founded by Chad Hickman in 2014.)

Choosing KC GIFT — with a mission to close the racial wealth gap in Kansas City by empowering small, Black-owned businesses with grants and professional resources — as the recipient of the proceeds from the hat sales, Bradley noted, felt like a natural fit.

“We’re aligned in a lot of ways,” he continued. “We’re all trying to do the same thing of increasing and helping the local economy. We work with a lot of startup businesses who want to get their idea across the finish line, and that’s what GIFT is all about.”

Made In KC plans to celebrate its 10th anniversary with a novel promotion each month, Bradley shared. It started in March with the best selling 2015 item — a Charlie Hustle light blue heart tee — available at the 2015 price. April is the Local is Good hat.

“It’s been a good time to just pause and reflect and be grateful for the ups and downs we’ve had over the last 10 years being part of the Kansas City business scene,” he added.