Yes. Companies run Print Your Cause stores for charities and workplace giving campaigns, and Costco is a working example — employees get merch, and the cause gets support with every order. The store is free to start, there is nothing to buy upfront, and each item is printed on demand and shipped to whoever ordered it. You choose the model: employees pay at checkout, the company covers the orders, or everyone picks an item free through gift codes.
Yes — companies do this, and Costco is one of them
A merch store built around a cause does two things at once: your employees get gear they picked out themselves, and the cause gets support with every order. Costco has run this exact model with Print Your Cause since 2018 — an employee store where everyday merch is an ongoing way for staff to take part in giving back. The full story is in our Costco case study.
The mechanics are the same ones behind the school and nonprofit stores we build every day, and you can see them end to end on how it works. The store is free to start, there is no inventory to buy, and every item is printed on demand and shipped directly to the person who ordered it. That last part matters for companies: supporter orders shipped to all 50 U.S. states in the past year, so a remote or multi-site workforce is not a complication — each order simply goes to whoever placed it.
Three ways to run it, depending on who pays
Company stores usually take one of three shapes, and the shape can change as your program evolves.
- Employees pay at checkout. This is the classic workplace giving store. Staff buy what they like, and because you set the final prices, the difference between each item's base cost and its sale price becomes profit for the cause. Buying a shirt turns into a small act of giving — and wearing it keeps the campaign visible long after the kickoff email is forgotten.
- The company covers the orders. If you would rather bill the organization than ask employees to enter a card, that is a setup we support — our guide on organization-paid orders walks through how it works.
- Everyone receives an item free. Gift codes let each staff member pick something from the store at no cost to them, which lets the store double as an appreciation program. See how to give every staff member a free item. Gifts and gift cards are part of the Essential plan and above.
How the cause receives the profits
You set the final prices in the store, and 100% of the difference between each item's base cost and its sale price is profit for the cause. We send 100% of store profits each quarter or at the end of a fundraising campaign, we also make distributions on request, and payment arrives by check or ACH direct deposit. That fits both shapes of company store: a campaign with a defined end date, and a store that stays open year-round.
Start small, keep it going
A real person from Print Your Cause replies — usually within a business day — and builds the store with you. The build itself typically takes about a business day, every design is reviewed by a print professional before launch, and you approve the store before it goes live. Whether you run a short campaign or keep the store open is up to you: stores can run for a few weeks or continuously, and 86% of selling organizations place more than one order. However long you run it, the store gives your team a shared, visible way to stand behind the cause — which is what a workplace giving campaign is for in the first place.
