Make Your Fundraising Beautiful with Artist-Driven Merchandise
A roundup of popular creative collaborations with environmental nonprofits
Using art and design alongside environmental causes to capture the public’s attention isn’t a new phenomenon. If you’re a 90’s kid, you probably remember t-shirts with artwork of tigers and polar bears with messages threatening extinction. Over the years, the designs, style and messages may have changed but the goal remains the same: to use merch to promote nonprofits in a fun, accessible and relatable way.
I asked around my networks and asked people what their favorite current artist/nonprofit collabs are and here were a few of the top choices:
Left to right: American Prairie Reserve & Seth Neilson, American Rivers & Sarah Uhl, Center for Biological Diversity & Rachael Rios, Wild Oregon & Maria Gamez, Cairn Project & Bryn Merrill, Protect Our Winters & Hannah Eddy.
American Rivers x Sarah Uhl
Check out the collab: American Rivers x Sarah Uhl
Check out the artist’s work: Sarah Uhl
Cairn Project x Bryn Merrell
Check out the collab: Cairn Project x Bryn Merrell
Check out the artist’s work: Bryn Merrell
The Outdoor Alliance x Brinkley Messick
Check out the collab: The Outdoor Alliance x Brinkley Messick
Check out the artist’s work: Brinkley Messick
Parks California x Jeremy Collins
Check out the collab: Parks California x Jeremy Collins
Check out the artist’s work: Jeremy Collins
Protect Our Winters (POW) x Hannah Eddy
Check out the collab: POW x Hannah Eddy
Check out the artist’s work: Hannah Eddy
Center for Biological Diversity x Racheal Rios
Check out the collab: Center for Biological Diversity x Racheal Rios
Check out the artist’s work: Racheal Rios
American Prairie Reserve x Seth Neilson
Check out the collab: American Prairie Reserve x Seth Neilson
Check out the artists work: Seth Neilson
Native Fish Society x Always with Honor
Check out the collab: Native Fish Society x Always with Honor
Check out the artists work: Always with Honor
Colorado Trail Foundation x Andrew Dengate
Check out the collab: Colorado Trail Foundation x Andrew Dengate
Check out the artists work: Andrew Dengate
I think we can all agree that there are some really talented artists in this lineup who are supporting meaningful and effective nonprofits with their creativity. While having a shop selling this artist-driven merchandise might help raise some funds, it likely isn’t going to be a large source of income for an organization. Paying artists a fair wage, sourcing ethical and environmentally responsible materials and paying for shipping and packaging, it’s realistic to expect overhead to be pretty high on some of these products. The primary value in these partnerships comes from raising brand awareness and sparking conversations – it’s like a beautiful walking billboard that’s also likely to actively advocate for the cause they're representing given the opportunity.
Art Beyond the Merch
Merchandise just barely scratches the surface when it comes to using art for raising awareness.
Idaho Conservation League’s Artist in Residence program
Artist-in-residence programs are a popular way for artists to get access to resources to complete specific projects – this often means funding or a stipend for their time and materials and free lodging and studio space. ICL’s Artist in Residence program gives Idaho-based artists an opportunity to share their love for Idaho’s environment through art. This is just one example of the many Artist-In-Resident programs that are available for nature-loving creatives.
Gus Reynolds and his friends were inspired to start GRP after a trip to Argentina where they saw glaciers melting before their eyes – he wanted a way to take this experience and turn it into art. GRP’s goal is to bring art and creativity into the environmental world through public facing art. Their mission is unique in that they target audiences who aren’t already educated about climate change or environmental issues and people from all sides of the political spectrum. Now that’s a challenging but worthwhile mission!
Artists from around the world submit designs to be used in a library of “open-license visuals that inspire climate action.”
What other creative ways have you seen art and conservation or good causes working together? I’d love to hear your thoughts!
I’m Margo! A graphic designer who works with conservation-minded nonprofits and brands on projects like logos & branding, annual reports, maps, and infographics. I work with my clients to create beautiful and meaningful design that amplifies the marketing efforts it takes to ignite action and change. Visit my portfolio to see some of the projects I’ve collaborated on with nonprofits to protect the environment.