Great idea on the umbrellas.

Parents and other relatives are much more likely to order products with the children's school name and mascot on them.

A local Christian school was looking for non-traditional fund raisers. We put the school name and mascot on one side, with a scripture printed on the other. The school sold them for $5 each and ran out in less than the typical 3-4 week fundraiser schedule. And instead of a 50% profit, the mug netted them over 70% profit.

The most unique item I did for a school has to have been yardsticks. It was a boarding school. All the HS students took 10 yardsticks home with them over the Thanksgiving vacation. Of course, the yardsticks were imprinted with the school name, etc.

The presentation was a little different - The students were instructed to take them to family and neighbors asking for a $3 donation for one or $5 for 2
It worked very wel - every student came back with cash and no yardsticks.

Business owners get hit up frequently for every school in their town or area of a larger city. Consider printing up caps in the school's color scheme. Use the primary color scheme with either gold fabric or gold imprint and offer them for a $25 dollar donation. The business can display the cap, and let everyone know he is supporting the school. In some cases, you may be able to do two color combos for gold and silver sponsors - Set the prices your market will bear - $25 and $15 or even $50 for Gold and $25 for Silver.

Just remember - imprinted products can't be returned the way unsold chocolate bars can.

Dennis