Somebody volunteered you. Now you are collecting sizes on a clipboard, chasing three parents who never answered the group text, and hoping the design the coach sketched on a napkin turns into a shirt people actually wear. The fundraiser orders that go smoothly through our shop in Powell all do the same handful of things right.
This is the playbook. How to collect sizes without losing your mind, when a pre-order store beats a bulk order, what makes team art print well, how quantity changes what everyone pays, and where to start. If you would rather hand the whole job to the shop, our school spirit wear and team stores page shows how an online store runs it for you.
Decide How You Are Collecting Sizes and Money First
Nearly every fundraiser headache traces back to sizing and payment. Before you touch the artwork, pick one of these two models.
The Bulk Order
You collect sizes and money yourself, place one order for everything, and hand shirts out when they arrive. It gets you the best per-shirt price because everything runs at once. The trade is that you are the accountant, fronting the order, chasing payments and guessing at extras. It works best for tight-knit groups where you can get a straight answer on sizes.
The Pre-Order Store
A pre-order store is an online storefront for your group. Parents, fans and family pick their own size, pay online, and the store closes on a set date. Then the shop prints exactly what sold and delivers it in one batch. No clipboards, no fronting money, no leftover box of extra larges in your garage.
The trade is that the final count is a surprise until the store closes, and the per-shirt price depends on where it lands. Groups spread across a whole school or a large church usually prefer it. If you want to go this route, say so when you reach out.
| What matters to you | Bulk order | Pre-order store |
|---|---|---|
| Who collects sizes | You | Each buyer, online |
| Who fronts the money | You or the group | Nobody, buyers pay up front |
| Per-shirt price | Lowest, one big run | Depends on the final count |
| Leftovers | Possible | None |
| Best for | Teams, small clubs, crews | Whole schools, big organizations, out-of-town supporters |
Collecting Sizes Without Losing Your Mind
- Use one sheet and one deadline. A shared spreadsheet or a single form, with a hard cutoff you repeat until people are tired of hearing it.
- Post a size chart. A youth large is not an adult small. Share the chart for the garment you actually picked.
- Order a few extras in the middle sizes. Somebody always shows up late, and medium and large go first.
- Take payment at signup. A size without a payment is a wish.
- Write down who gets what before the box arrives. Sort by name on delivery day, not by size.
Artwork That Prints Well on School and Team Shirts
Spirit wear has a look for a reason. Bold type, one or two colors, a mascot or a simple mark, big enough to read from the bleachers. That look prints cleanly, prices well and looks right on a hundred different bodies.
- Keep it to one or two ink colors. Every color is a screen, and a dark shirt adds one more for the white underbase. School colors usually hand you a two-color palette anyway.
- Pick the shirt color before the art. A design built for a white tee often needs rework for a navy one.
- Use vector art if you have it. Logos saved as AI, EPS, SVG or PDF print sharp at any size. A screenshot pulled off a website will not.
- Avoid tiny text. Sponsor names on the back are great for fundraisers, but anything shorter than a pencil eraser is asking for trouble.
- Check who owns the logo. School and league marks often come with usage rules. Get a yes before you print.
If the art is a sketch or an idea, our custom artwork service turns it into a print-ready file. Tell us the garment color and the quantity when you send it. Hats work for spirit wear too, through embroidery or the Hat Design Lab.
How Quantity Changes What Everyone Pays
Screen printing is a setup game. Screens get burned, registered and loaded before the first shirt, and that work costs about the same whether you order 30 shirts or 300. Spread it across a big order and each shirt carries a sliver. Spread it across a small order and each shirt carries a chunk.
That is why pricing runs in quantity tiers, and why crossing into the next tier can drop the per-shirt price enough that a few extra shirts cost less overall. It is also why one combined order beats two separate ones every time. If varsity and JV each order on their own, both pay more per shirt than if they order together on one design.
There is also a floor. The screen printing minimum is 50 pieces or $200, whichever comes first, because below that the setup swamps the shirts and nobody wins. Most fundraisers clear it easily, and tiny ones can use DTF transfers instead. Run your numbers in the live pricing calculator at your expected count, then at the next tier up. Our post on what moves the price of screen printing goes deeper.
The Timeline, in Plain Terms
Every order is different, so we quote turnaround when you book rather than in a blog post. The order of operations is the same every time.
- Art and garment locked. Nothing starts until the design is final and the shirt is picked. Most delays live right here.
- Sizes and payment collected. Your store closes or your spreadsheet locks.
- Proof approved. You see a mockup, you sign off, blanks get ordered.
- Print and finish. Screens burned, shirts printed, cured, counted and folded.
- Pickup in Powell or shipping. Local groups grab them at the shop. Everyone else gets a tracking number.
Give the art and sizing steps more room than you think you need, because those are the ones that slip. Tell us your hard date first and we will tell you honestly whether it works.
Where East Tennessee Groups Start
We are at 7326 Morton View Lane in Powell, on the north side of Knoxville. Groups from Halls, Fountain City, Karns, Hardin Valley and Farragut pick up at the shop, and groups farther out across East Tennessee and the rest of the country get theirs shipped. The shop holds a 5.0 star Google rating across 51 reviews.
If you know your quantity, colors and shirt, open the live pricing calculator and get a real price now. If you are still working it out, use the Get In Touch form, tell us what the group is and when you need shirts.
Questions People Ask
What if I don't know my final quantity yet?
Price it at your best guess and again at the next tier up so you know what the extra shirts would save or cost. Then set your size deadline and lock the number. If you would rather not guess at all, ask about a pre-order store so each person orders their own.
Can we mix tees and hoodies in one fundraiser?
Yes, and it is common. Keep the design and ink colors identical across garments so the same screens carry over. Each garment style prices a little differently because the blanks cost different amounts, so run each one through the calculator.
Do youth sizes cost the same as adult sizes?
The printing work is identical, so the difference comes from the blank garment. Youth blanks often run a bit less than adult, and extended adult sizes run a bit more. Send us the size breakdown and we will price the mix for you.
Do you ship to supporters outside Knoxville?
We do. Most groups take one combined delivery and hand shirts out at practice or school, which is the simplest path. If your fundraiser has out-of-town family and alumni, we ship anywhere in the US, so bring it up when you reach out.
Ready to get the shirts moving? Open the live pricing calculator and price your fundraiser at your expected quantity, or send the details through the Get In Touch form. Call (865) 951-2323 or email Sales@456printco.com if talking is easier. Pickup in Powell, shipping anywhere in the country.
Price Your Order Right Now
Pick the garment, the ink colors and the quantity, and see a real per-piece price in about a minute. The 456 crew follows up to dial in the details before anything prints.
Getting stuck? Send us the details here and we will price it by hand.