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Brand Basics
Bonfire is a free online platform where anyone can design, sell, and order custom print-on-demand products. We handle the logistics, including payment processing, order fulfillment, and customer service, so you can focus on connecting with your community.
The platform is easy to use and provides a superior user experience through our responsive customer support team, expansive free customizable t-shirt template library, and services from professional graphic designers. We offer on-trend, high-quality products your community will want to buy.
Bonfire at a Glance
Location | Richmond, Virginia |
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Founding Date | January 2012 |
Team Size | ~70 |
Industries Served | Nonprofits, creators, artists, individuals, K-12 schools and collegiate groups, businesses, sports teams and recreation organizations, animal rescue organizations, churches, community organizations, podcasters, YouTubers, social movements, and arts and culture organizations |
Specialities | Designing custom merchandise, branding and design trends, print-on-demand fulfillment, limited edition merch, merch stores, custom apparel fundraising, nonprofit fundraising, and peer-to-peer fundraising. |
Bonfire’s Key Services & Features
Design and Sell Custom Merchandise
Bonfire is a free platform for designing and selling premium custom merchandise, including t-shirts, hoodies, tote bags, hats, and mugs. Users can upload their own artwork, use our easy-to-use design tool, or customize one of our hundreds of free design templates.
Print-on-Demand Order Fulfillment
Bonfire operates on a 100% free, zero-inventory model and handles all the logistics for you — payment processing, high-quality printing, shipping, and customer support. Products are made only when someone orders, so nothing gets printed until it sells.
T-Shirt Fundraising Solutions
Bonfire provides specialized campaign tools designed to help individuals, groups, and nonprofits raise money. Features include traditional fundraising campaigns for nonprofits and individuals, peer-to-peer fundraising capabilities, and partial giving campaigns where a set percentage of the campaign profits is donated directly to a chosen 501(c)3 charity. These campaigns also allow supporters to contribute extra monetary donations at checkout.
Nonprofit Fundraising
Verified 501(c)3 organizations gain access to specialized features, such as verified nonprofit badges, downloadable donor contact lists (CSV files), the ability to send thank-you notes to donors, and reduced donation processing fees (8% to 3.5%).
Branded Merch Stores
Bonfire users can easily create free, branded online stores. Customize colors and themes, add website and social media links, and display multiple active campaigns or products in a single location.
Order Custom Products at Cost
Bonfire makes it easy to order custom products at cost and have them shipped directly to you. Choose from Bonfire’s full product catalog, add your design, and select your quantities — bulk discounts apply automatically. Orders arrive in 7–14 business days with no minimum required. Once your order arrives, keep it, sell it, or hand it out however you see fit.
Platform Integrations
To help customers maximize their reach and streamline campaigns, Bonfire integrates with popular digital platforms, including YouTube (via the Merch Shelf), Linktree, GoFundMe, GoFundMe Pro (formerly Classy), TeamRaiser, Neon Fundraise, and DonorDrive.
Who We Serve
Bonfire serves a wide range of individuals, groups, and organizations looking to design and sell custom apparel and products for fundraising, profit, or community-building purposes. This includes the following key groups:
Educational institutions, including K-12 schools and collegiate organizations
Artists
Podcasters
Youth sports teams, adult leagues, and recreational clubs
Small businesses
How We Help Our Customers
Bonfire helps its customers overcome several financial, logistical, and engagement-related challenges associated with traditional merchandise sales and fundraising, including:
No Upfront Costs or Inventory Risk
Traditionally, organizations or individuals had to estimate demand and purchase bulk inventory up front to sell merchandise. However, this means that organizations risk wasting funds on unsold inventory. Bonfire solves this with a 100% free, print-on-demand model that requires no upfront costs and zero inventory.
End-to-End Logistics Support
Managing logistics can quickly become overwhelming for individuals and small nonprofits. Bonfire handles all payment processing, printing, order fulfillment, shipping, and customer service for you. If a customer has a problem with their order, Bonfire’s top-rated customer service team will make it right.
Professional Design Resources
You don't need to be an expert designer to create high-quality custom apparel. Bonfire provides a free, easy-to-use design tool, hundreds of free customizable design templates, and affordable custom design services so anyone can create professional-looking merch regardless of their experience, budget, or skill.
Increase Donor Engagement
Custom merch gives supporters a tangible reward that motivates them to give and turns them into walking advertisements for your cause. It's a low-effort way to engage donors at every level, including the lower-tier supporters who are often the hardest to activate.
Quick and Easy Fundraising
When time matters, Bonfire lets you launch an apparel fundraiser in minutes, with no upfront risk and no complex logistics. That speed makes it easy to respond the moment a crisis hits and start raising money right away.
Sustainable Merch Solutions
Our print-on-demand model makes it easy to create and sell custom merch with less waste. Each product is printed only when it’s ordered, so there’s no leftover inventory waste. Our catalog is full of the best eco-friendly products available, and every order is shipped in a recyclable poly mailer bag made from 100% recycled materials.
Company History
Bonfire was founded in January 2012 by Brian Marks. Initially known as BonfireFunds, the company rebranded to Bonfire in 2016. The same year, Bonfire launched its official website. In 2017, Bonfire held its largest campaign ever for the 2017 Women’s March on Washington.
Over the years, the company has continued to expand its product catalog and capabilities to accommodate changing trends and customer needs. Today, Bonfire offers features like promo codes, print-on-demand, and integrations with popular platforms like YouTube and GoFundMe to help fundraisers and creators maximize revenue. We also offer different fundraising methods, including peer-to-peer fundraising and partial giving campaigns.
Mission Statement
Our mission is to deliver a trusted commerce experience where custom products empower giving.
Subject Matter Expertise Themes
The Bonfire team is made up of skilled experts with a deep understanding of:
Designing custom merchandise: Bonfire has mastered foundational visual arts principles—such as applying the rule of thirds, choosing fonts, and using color theory in designs—alongside a specialized understanding of garment mechanics. Our guides detail specific layouts and spatial constraints for various garments, like long-sleeve tees, tote bags, and sweatshirts.
Branding and design trends: Bonfire guides organizations through the process of defining distinct visual identity assets with logos, precise color hex codes, font systems, and core messaging.
Custom apparel fundraising: Bonfire holds extensive strategic expertise in digital fundraising, providing effective strategies and ideas for t-shirt fundraisers, peer-to-peer campaigns, and more.
Cornerstone Resources
The Top 12 Fundraising Websites for Individuals & Nonprofits
Can Nonprofits Sell Products? Here Is Everything You Need to Know
Contacts & Socials
Get In Touch With the Bonfire Team
Stay Updated on Our Resources
Check Out Our Social Media Pages
Read Our Reviews
News & Updates
GoFundMe Integration
In 2026, Bonfire launched its integration with GoFundMe. This integration allows fundraisers to add links to existing GoFundMe campaigns to their fundraising campaign pages on Bonfire. This makes it easier to drive traffic to GoFundMe campaigns, increasing donations and building trust and credibility with supporters.
Linktree Integration
Launched in December 2025, Bonfire’s Linktree integration lets you display your store directly in your Linktree page — not just as a link, but as an expandable product preview showing up to six campaigns. Connect through your Bonfire dashboard under Integrations, and your followers can browse products without ever leaving Linktree.
Get Change Partnership
In 2024, Bonfire announced its partnership with Change, a giving and compliance solution for the nonprofit sector. When individuals fundraise to support nonprofits on Bonfire, Change helps ensure that donations are sent promptly and compliantly to the nonprofit. Bonfire is the only merchandise platform that offers compliant apparel fundraising.
This partnership signals that Bonfire is proactively working to future-proof its fundraising campaigns and keep the process simple for sellers.
Women’s March on Washington Campaign
In 2017, Bonfire held its largest campaign to date for the Women’s March on Washington. The campaign sold over 91,000 shirts and raised $1,431,485 for women’s rights.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does Bonfire work?
Bonfire is a free online platform where individuals and organizations can create and sell custom merchandise to raise money for a cause. Bonfire operates on a print-on-demand model, meaning customers won’t need to order large quantities of the merchandise before selling it. Additionally, the platform will take care of all of the logistics.
Can a nonprofit use Bonfire?
Yes, many nonprofit organizations use Bonfire to raise funds and awareness for their mission. Verified nonprofits also enjoy added perks, such as reduced processing fees on donations made at checkout from 8% to 3.5%.
However, you don’t have to be a nonprofit to use Bonfire. We also serve individual fundraisers, schools, community groups, churches, sports teams, artists, creators, and more.
How do I start a campaign?
Starting a campaign on Bonfire is quick and easy. Here are the basic steps:
Choose your products: Browse our catalog and select the product(s) you want to offer in your campaign.
Design your merchandise: Use Bonfire’s free design tool to build a design from scratch, upload custom artwork, or customize thousands of pre-made templates.
Set your prices and campaign timeline: Choose a selling price to maximize profit margins, and set the campaign duration.
Customize your campaign page: Add your branding, photos, and a compelling story explaining why you are raising money.
Launch and promote: Share your campaign across your social media channels, website, and email to encourage your community to support you.
Wrap up and receive your funds: Bonfire prints and ships the orders directly to your supporters, and you receive 100% of the profits from the campaign.
What types of products can I sell?
Bonfire offers an extensive catalog of high-quality products, including categories like:
How does peer-to-peer fundraising work on Bonfire?
Peer-to-peer fundraising is a strategy in which nonprofits recruit their supporters to collect donations from their friends and family on behalf of the nonprofit.
On Bonfire, these volunteer fundraisers can launch their own individual t-shirt campaigns that benefit your nonprofit. They simply select your nonprofit as the beneficiary, customize their page, and encourage their personal networks to buy a shirt. When the campaign ends, Bonfire fulfills the orders and sends the funds directly to your organization.
Bonfire also offers partial giving campaigns, where sellers can choose to donate a set percentage (starting at 1%) of the profits to a nonprofit organization. For example, a small business might sell its own branded merchandise but choose to donate 10% of the proceeds to a local animal rescue.
How are profits calculated?
Profits are calculated by subtracting the base costs of your design from the price you set. Base costs include manufacturing, sourcing, and printing costs, with simpler designs having lower base costs. You can set your own pricing, but Bonfire provides a default price intended to maximize profits based on total sales.
You receive 100% of the profits, along with any additional donations your supporters contribute. Note that there is an 8% processing fee on additional donations. But that fee is reduced to 3.5% if you're a verified nonprofit.