Swag & Merchandise
Client / Employer
Achievement First
Project Status
Ongoing
Role
Sole designer & program manager
Deliverables
Event swag and apparel, graduation and celebration gifts, recruitment tabling materials, and student artwork holiday gift
Overview
Demand for swag kept growing across Achievement First’s schools and teams, from graduations and celebrations to recruitment tabling. Built and run the network’s swag and merchandise program, delivering for 10+ events a year and owning design, vendor sourcing, budget, quality, and turnaround on every order. Wherever possible, orders go to vendors from the communities AF serves. The program has become one of the ways AF builds culture and community across its schools and offices.
The Challenge
Every request came with its own audience, budget, and deadline, whether it was a graduation gift, a board gift, or recruitment tabling. Each item still had to look and feel like Achievement First while keeping quality and costs under control.
Key Design Decisions
Community vendors first. Source from vendors in the communities AF serves when time, budget, and production needs allow, rather than defaulting to the largest supplier.
Shared vendor sourcing. Building an internal directory of pre-vetted vendors so teams no longer start from scratch on every order. The work extends into a formal vendor RFP and AF’s first internal custom swag storefront, to keep quality and pricing consistent across the organization.
Students as designers. 15+ students create artwork grounded in AF’s values that becomes the staff holiday gift. As part of a professional development track, they present their work to leadership, so the gift carries the mission as well as the brand.
Outcome
Delivered swag and merchandise for 10+ events a year, including network convenings, graduations, board gifts, recruitment tabling, and the AF25 anniversary celebrations and events.
Managed a $30K+ AF25 budget, with about $18K on swag at roughly $20 per person, produced through embroidery, screen printing, custom hard enamel pins, and laminated decals.
Engaging 15+ students through the student artwork holiday gift program.
Schools and teams continue to ask for more, making swag a regular part of AF culture.
