Success stories

How Colontown uses POD to increase colon cancer awareness and raise funds

December 9, 2024 10 minutes

Throughout our Success Stories, Printify has interviewed dozens of entrepreneurs and online innovators using Print on Demand (POD) to generate life-changing incomes and break free from the 9-5 grind.

But wealth isn’t the only way to measure success. There are plenty of nonprofits, charities, and individuals using POD to increase awareness and raise funds for worthy causes.

Colontown, an online community for colorectal cancer patients and caregivers, is a perfect example. The nonprofit has an important mission and must stay laser-focused on growing and nurturing its large online community. For this reason, it makes no sense for team members to get side-tracked by the intricacies of building and running a complex eCommerce website.

Luckily, Colontown’s Stacey Runfola discovered Printify’s Pop-Up Store, allowing her and her community members to create custom merchandise quickly and efficiently without any upfront cost.

Whether you’re part of a charitable organization or a nonprofit, our interview with Stacey will help you understand the power of POD and how it can help enhance publicity and bring in funds.

How Colontown uses POD to increase colon cancer awareness and raise funds 1

Tell us about yourself and the organization.

“My name is Stacey Runfola, and I work for a nonprofit organization called Paltown. The company’s mission is to create communities supporting people with specific diseases. We help patients and caregivers by addressing social isolation and providing information, education, training, and technology.

I’m responsible for running the space known as Colontown, which is a community for people affected by colorectal cancer. The name Colontown might sound unusual, but we try running our online community like a real town. For example, my official title is Mayor, and we have a general discussion area known as Downtown.

Colontown has over 100 individual groups. Some sections are focused on different stages of the disease, while others are for specific locations, ages, professions, and more. We also have a separate area for caregivers, enabling them to have their own private space away from patients or loved ones.

Although we’re dealing with a very serious topic and have some heavy discussions, we try to keep things as light and positive as possible. We do our best to engage with as many people as we can, helping our members not just with disease education but also with social and emotional support.”

How has Colontown helped you as a member?

“I joined Colontown in 2011 after my husband was diagnosed with stage IV adenocarcinoma of unknown primary. Sadly, the disease took Rick’s life, leaving me widowed in 2014. However, I stayed in the Colontown community and eventually began working for the organization.

I’d say 95% of the people I work with have direct experience with cancer, either as survivors of the disease or as caregivers. Many of my colleagues are active patients, and some even work on projects while in the hospital. Colontown is a unique place, as we allow people who wouldn’t otherwise be employed to work with us. Those members feel like they’re giving something back, and they add a tremendous amount of value. It really is a pretty cool organization all around.”

How Colontown uses POD to increase colon cancer awareness and raise funds 2

How does Print on Demand help Colontown’s mission?

“I guess our organization, Colontown, focuses less on numbers or profit, which makes our story a little different from many of the merchants you interview. We use our print-on-demand store to help with publicity. When people around the world buy our branded merchandise, we not only raise funds but also spread awareness about our mission. Colon cancer can have a certain stigma around it, so when people see our logo or the slogans on our t-shirts, it acts as an icebreaker and helps to open conversations.”

How did you discover Print on Demand?

“Before we began using Print on Demand, we had limited success using a local printing company for fundraising activities. If we needed a bulk shipment of t-shirts so everyone at an event looked the same, it was pretty straightforward to get what we needed. However, when we decided to open an online store, we required a bespoke setup where we could add lots of different designs.

Using a local provider meant adding new products to our website on a whim wasn’t possible. We also couldn’t deal with the complexity of setting up a warehouse and tracking all of the inventory and shipping. We would have had to manually set up the entire operation, and customers would have waited weeks to receive their items.

My background in retail meant that I knew there had to be a better way. After some research and a chat with a partner organization, I discovered Print on Demand and was sold on the concept.”

How Colontown uses POD to increase colon cancer awareness and raise funds 3

Tell us more about your store and products.

“We launched our print-on-demand store in around November 2023. Leading up to the grand opening, we ran a community contest where our members could submit their designs and vote on their favorites. We managed to create a lot of engagement during colorectal cancer awareness month in March, so by the time the store opened, people were already pretty excited. 

In addition to basic t-shirts featuring our logo, we focus on specific aspects of the disease and create items specially designed for caregivers. Other than sticking to basic community guidelines, we encourage our members to come up with as many ideas as possible. Whatever designs prove to be the most popular, we’ll offer them for sale in our store.

The proceeds from our print-on-demand store go directly back to the nonprofit. We’ll never make enough to run the entire operation, but selling merchandise is a great way to raise funds without constantly asking our members for direct donations. People can feel good knowing they’re supporting a good cause, but they also get cool t-shirts to wear or give as gifts. 

We also use Print on Demand to create prizes for our fundraising events. When people hit certain milestones, they win stickers, mugs, or other items. We’re always looking for new ways to use our store to drive engagement and excite our members.”

How Colontown uses POD to increase colon cancer awareness and raise funds 4

What made you choose Printify’s Pop-Up Store?

“We decided that Printify’s Pop-Up Store would be the easiest way to sell our merchandise. I liked the idea that we wouldn’t need to integrate with another platform and would have a complete solution without the associated development costs. I also think that people on Etsy or Amazon aren’t necessarily searching for the kind of items we offer, and many are looking to buy at the lowest possible price. There are limitations to solely using the Prinitify Pop-Up Store, but as we’re not a retail organization, the simplicity and low barrier to entry are extremely important.”

What are the advantages of using Printify Pop-Up?

“The main strengths of the Pop-Up Store are speed and flexibility. A community member can request a new shirt design, and I can upload it and have it ready for sale the same day. I don’t have to deal with the complication of connecting to other platforms, and I can even download reports each month to see what’s selling well and what isn’t. The low cost is also a big advantage. We use Printify’s Premium plan, but could easily run the entire thing for free.”

How Colontown uses POD to increase colon cancer awareness and raise funds 5

How does such a sensitive topic affect your approach to product design?

“We are indeed dealing with a serious subject, but we also need to stand out and create designs that raise awareness and start conversations. For that reason, some of our print-on-demand items are slightly sarcastic and lighthearted, while others are heartwarming. We try to express the personality of our organization and our community members. If we can also highlight our mission, that’s a great win.

As for specific designs, we have cheeky slogans like “Check Your Butt” and “Make Your Butt Matter.” We also use inside jokes or nods to terminology that only cancer patients would understand. One of our most popular shirts uses the phrase “May You Always Be Unremarkable.” In the cancer world, when a scan is described as “unremarkable, ” nothing sinister has been found. I’ve even had doctors ask me about my organization after wearing that design, so it’s been hugely successful and a great publicity boost for us, especially during colorectal cancer awareness month.”

Do you have any other standout products or bestsellers?

“Our t-shirts tend to be the top sellers overall. We’ve started selling items like bucket hats, and we do cosmetic travel pouches for our community members going to the hospital or undergoing clinical trials. Printify’s Catalog is huge, and we’re always looking for new items. We saw that you guys even do print-on-demand coffee now, which looks like an interesting idea.

As we’re raising awareness for colon cancer, underwear is an obvious item for some of our cheeky slogans. We thought writing “With Love From Colontown” across the back of boxer shorts would be funny. We don’t necessarily sell many of those, but having them in the store really helps to show off our personality. 

Lastly, I have to mention the necktie we created, decorated with poop emojis. The board chairman of our organization wore it to an important meeting of colorectal cancer people, which was pretty amazing.”

How Colontown uses POD to increase colon cancer awareness and raise funds 6

Any tips for nonprofits or charities looking to get started with Print on Demand?

“If you’re trying to keep shipping costs down, make sure as many of your items as possible come from the same provider. That way, if your buyers purchase multiple items, they’ll all come from the same place. Of course, it’s not always possible to use the same printer for both t-shirts and mugs, but if you’re selling 20 or more shirt designs, it’s relatively easy to use a single supplier. 

One last thing, unrelated to Print on Demand but still very important, is tax exemption. If you’re an organization like ours, you should carefully weigh the benefits of filing the paperwork, as it might not be a good fit for your company. The details will be different for every business, and in the United States, almost every state has different rules and requirements.”

Quick tip:

If you want more information about the ins and outs of selling print-on-demand products as a nonprofit, check out Printify’s guide. We discuss US federal and state corporate tax rates and why opening an eCommerce store is an underrated way to increase revenue and grow your reach.

Visit Colontown and show your support

If you or someone you know has been affected by colorectal cancer, Colontown’s 9,000-strong online community has over 100 neighborhoods offering support and free educational resources to both patients and caregivers of all backgrounds.

If you’d simply like to support this extremely important cause, make a donation to Colontown or its parent organization, Paltown, by heading to the website’s donation page.

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