Sustainability

Rethinking Swag: Outreach Without All the Stuff

• Students are not joining your organization because of what you are handing out

  Free items may encourage someone to stop at your table, but a pen, tote bag, or water bottle is rarely what convinces a student to join a club, attend an event, or become involved in a program. 

  Effective outreach is not about covering a table with branded objects. It is about helping students quickly understand: 

  • Who you are  

  • What you do  

  • Why it matters  

  • What they can experience, contribute, or gain by participating  

  • What they can do next  

  Swag may attract a brief glance. A meaningful conversation, activity, or invitation is far more likely to build an actual connection. 

  The goal is not to give students something to carry away. The goal is to give them a reason to come back. 

• Swag should reflect UM’s values

  The University of Montana brand describes our community as respectful and responsible and calls us to be resourceful in our stewardship of the land that sustains us. 

  Those commitments should influence how we promote our departments, organizations, events, and programs. Ordering hundreds of inexpensive items that may be used once, forgotten in a residence hall, donated, or thrown away does not necessarily reflect responsible stewardship. 

  Before ordering promotional products, consider whether the item supports the message and values you are trying to communicate. Your outreach practices are part of your organization’s identity.

• Think about the students you are trying to reach

  Students are not simply waiting for more things. 

  Students move frequently 

  Students regularly move between residence halls, apartments, cities, and family homes. Each move requires them to decide what is worth packing and what can be left behind. Cheap, overly specific, or duplicate promotional items are often among the first things discarded. 

  Students are environmentally conscious 

  Many students care about waste, climate change, ethical purchasing, and the environmental impacts of the organizations they support. Promotional items can send a conflicting message when an organization talks about sustainability while distributing unnecessary products. 

  Students are frugal 

  Students appreciate things that provide real value. Food, discounts, free services, useful resources, and access to an experience may be more meaningful than another branded object. 

  Students want experiences 

  Students are looking for ways to meet people, build skills, contribute to something meaningful, and feel connected to campus. An interactive activity or memorable conversation can communicate far more than a logo printed on an item. 

  Students appreciate immediate value 

  Students are often more likely to engage when there is a clear and immediate benefit. That does not need to mean a physical giveaway. It could be a quick activity, a snack, a drawing, a photo opportunity, a useful tip, or an easy way to participate immediately.

• The Office of Sustainability sees the waste firsthand

  Every year, heaps of UM-branded clothing, drinkware, bags, and other promotional items arrive at Campus Thrift. Some items can be reused, but many receive little interest even when offered at very low prices. 

  That tells us something important: people did not value these items enough to keep them, and other people do not necessarily want them either. 

  The item may have been free to the recipient, but it was not free to produce. It required funding, materials, manufacturing, packaging, and transportation. Its environmental impact does not disappear because it was labeled as a giveaway. 

• When “sustainable swag” still misses the mark

  Replacing a plastic promotional product with a cotton, metal, or reusable version does not automatically make it sustainable. 

  T-shirts 

  Clothing requires substantial resources to manufacture. Highly specific shirts are especially likely to be donated or discarded when students do not like the design, fit, fabric, or message. 

  Ask: Would someone choose to wear this regularly if it were not free? 

  Tote bags 

  Reusable bags can be useful, but many people already own more than they need. Producing another tote bag does not reduce waste when it sits unused in a closet. 

  Ask: Does this person need another bag, or are we giving them one because it feels like a sustainable option? 

  Water bottles and cups 

  People can be particular about the bottles and drinkware they use. Students who regularly carry a reusable bottle probably already have one they like. 

  Ask: Is this replacing a disposable product, or simply adding another reusable product to someone’s collection? 

  The most sustainable item is often the one that does not need to be produced.

• Maybe the best swag is no swag

  A table does not need to be covered in objects to be inviting. In fact, removing the pile of giveaways can create more space for conversation, participation, and a clearer message. 

  Instead of asking, “What should we hand out?” begin with: 

  What do we want students to understand, feel, experience, or do after visiting our table? 

  Once that purpose is clear, build the outreach experience around it. 

   

  Create a table students want to approach 

  A successful outreach table should make it easy to understand what is happening from several feet away. 

  Use one clear message rather than covering the table with brochures and objects. Give students something simple to respond to, such as: 

  • “What would you change about campus?”  

  • “Want to learn a skill in five minutes?”  

  • “Help us choose our next project.”  

  • “Join us for one event. No long-term commitment required.”  

  • “What kind of experience are you looking for at UM?”  

  A welcoming person, a clear invitation, and a meaningful activity are usually more effective than a table full of branded merchandise. 

  Make your outreach memorable, not disposable 

  Students do not need another object to remind them that your organization exists. They need a clear reason to care about your work and an easy opportunity to participate. 

  Invest in conversations. Create experiences. Offer something genuinely useful. Make your table a place where students can do something, learn something, or connect with someone. 

  Share your message without leaving students with more stuff to manage.