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WHY WE EXIST
Growth happens on the ice, the field, and in late-night meetings.
College and high school clubs, along with community organizations, are where real growth happens, on the ice, on the field, in rehearsal rooms, and in late-night meetings. But keeping those programs funded is harder than it should be. Rising costs, limited time, and clunky fundraising systems force student leaders and organizers to act as full-time administrators instead of focusing on the teams and communities they care about.
At the same time, many groups want custom merch that actually represents them, but it either doesn’t exist, requires large upfront orders, or becomes another logistical headache to manage.
Club Shepherd exists to fix that. We make it easy for clubs and organizations to create and sell the merch they actually want, while simplifying fundraising into something clear, transparent, and sustainable, so leaders can spend less time chasing dollars and more time doing what they showed up to do.
Our Story
Club Shepherd started with a simple truth learned the hard way: club sports and community organizations are expensive.
Our team has spent years involved in both athletics and community organizations. One of us played club hockey for four years in high school and seven years in college. Another has been deeply involved in community organizations for years. Different environments, but the same challenge kept showing up: money.
Ice time, travel, gear, tournament fees, event costs, supplies—none of it is cheap, and most of it falls directly on the people involved.
At the same time, we kept seeing another gap: a lot of organizations simply don’t have merch at all. Not because they don’t want it, but because creating it is complicated, risky, and time-consuming. You either need to front money for bulk orders, guess sizes and demand, or take on yet another logistical burden.
Year after year, the same pattern repeats. Run another fundraiser. Sell another batch of shirts. Chase people for payments. Hope everything balances in the end.
Even when someone steps up to take ownership, the process is inefficient and exhausting. It depends on getting enough people to help with the least appealing parts: tabling for hours, sorting orders, handing out merch, tracking spreadsheets, and coordinating logistics.
We have seen this problem from different sides, and it always leads to the same conclusion: there has to be a better way.
Club Shepherd was built to be that better way.
What’s Broken with Traditional Fundraising
Inefficient, time-consuming fundraisers
Students and coaches spend weeks organizing events that barely move the needle. Selling door-to-door, tabling on campus, and running “one weekend only” drives takes a lot of energy for very little return.
Ambiguous impact for supporters.
When participating in merchandise-based fundraisers, buyers often have no clear understanding of how much their purchase actually benefits the club. When margins are unclear, people are less likely to support.
Too much work for too few people
Most fundraisers rely on a small handful of students to do almost everything. The same names kept ending up on every sign-up sheet, leading to burnout and administrative overload.
Bulk merch with more risk than reward
To “get a deal,” clubs place large bulk orders. Boxes of unsold sizes often ended up sitting in storage, tying up money that clubs can not afford to lose.
Messy finances and unclear tracking
Treasurers are left juggling spreadsheets and cash boxes. Reconciling who paid, what is owed, and how much actually reached the club is time-consuming and error-prone.
Long wait times and expensive shipping.
How many times have you placed an order through a fundraiser and forgotten about it before it even arrives? Massive shipping costs only add to the frustration, making the overall experience feel even less worthwhile.
WHY IT WORKS
Instead of asking students to gamble on bulk orders and outdated processes, we created a platform that runs on on-demand production. Every club gets its own online storefront with designs tailored to its identity. We automate the logistics, production, fulfillment, and delivery; and track funds clearly so treasurers get clarity instead of chaos.
The Solution: Club Shepherd
No upfront cost
Clubs never pay for inventory or take on financial risk.
No inventory or bulk orders
Every item is produced on demand, eliminating waste and leftover stock.
Built-in transparency
Supporters see exactly how much each purchase goes to the club.
Minimal effort required
No sorting orders, no hand delivery, no managing spreadsheets. We handle everything.
Designed for real teams
This was built by people who have lived through the fundraising process and know where it breaks.