In July 2011, the United States Fund for UNICEF raised a cry for help to send aid to more than 2 million children whose lives were at risk from starvation in the Horn of Africa. The crisis suffered from a distinct lack of awareness. With more than 6 children succumbing to starvation every hour, there was virtually no media coverage whatsoever. Our task was thus twofold: we desperately needed to raise money from both prior and new UNICEF donors while simultaneously raising awareness of the ongoing crisis.

Our solution was Good Shirts: a clothing line developed with artists Christine & Justin Gignac and Threadless.com. We created 12 shirts ranging in price for any budget. On each shirt an aid item was depicted. That shirt then costs the exact price of the aid item. So, if someone donated $24.30 they received a shirt with a measles vaccine. And if someone donated $300,000 they received a t-shirt with a cargo flight. All parties involved donated their time and resources with the understanding that 100% of donations going directly to UNICEF. The successful launch relied on PR, social media, support from celebrities and, in a broader sense, people simply wearing their shirts. After all, each Good Shirt is a literal means for people to spread the word about the famine in the Horn of Africa. To date the collection has generated a little over $354k in donations.

Good Shirts sold. And sold well (consider for a second that someone actually bought a $300,000 cargo flight shirt). By the end of the run, the project had garnered $355,000 for UNICEF with over 2,100 shirts purchased. Equally important, considering the urgency of the crisis, was the speed at which funds were raised, with 90% of profits earned in under 2 months. These rapid sales were due in large part to support from media channels like the Wall Street Journal and Buzzfeed, celebrity tweets and both UNICEF and Threadless.com’s Facebook communities.