Universities have a lot of money. Get hold of it. Make a commitment to get some kind of money from your school every semester: bring a guest lecturer, hold a conference, SOMETHING. Don’t let that funding go to some fratboys. Use it to fight with. For example:

Each year the Student Government allocates a limited amount of money to student groups for various special projects. Students are encouraged to stop by the Student Government office (4th floor of the SSB) at the beginning of the semester or call 471-3166 for more information.

Much of the work you will do as an activist requires no more (and no less) than compassion and motivation. On the other hand, making fliers, setting up tables, and forming groups (especially here on campus where you have to pay fees for EVERYTHING!) also requires money to cover costs. Here are a few ideas of how your group can raise some money and get the word out about your cause at the same time.

Selling Products and Services

If you have some money to invest, you can purchase T-shirts, buttons, bumper stickers, and books to sell at your table and at meetings. If you don’t have the money to do this right off the bat, you can wait till you have enough to invest in these later on. Always have merchandise to sell at speaking events, film series and other public outreach.

Silk Screening

If you don’t want to buybuys t-shirts and patches with messages already on them, you can make your own! Silk screening is a fun and less expensive way to get your own message out there.

Materials you will need:

Speedball photo emulsion
Speedball Sensitizer
Silk (you can get this at most art supply stores…some sell it in bulk)
A silk screening frame (wooden frame with a groove on the underside to hold the screen in place).
Plastic clothes line (to hold the screen in the groove of the frame)
A piece of clear glass just large enough to fit inside the frame
Transparencies (more info. below)
Speedball water-based textile silk-screening ink in the basic colors: white, black, red, green, etc.
A squeegee
A hair dryer
A dark towel
Piece of black cardboard
Blank T-shirts (try looking at thrift stores to avoid buying sweatshop shirts…or find them for free at your friendly, neighborhood Wal-Mart)
Fabric for patches (it’s pretty cheap if you get it from the sale rack at Hancock Fabrics on Lamar and Ben White)

You can buy all this stuff separately or get a starter kit at Miller Blueprint in Austin. Yes, this stuff is pretty expensive, but it will last for many, many silk-screening sessions!

How to silk screen:

The image you want to screen must first be put onto a clear transparency. You can either get transparencies and print on them from your computer, or go to Kinkos and do it with a copy machine.
Prepare the frame and the silk. Cut a piece of silk slightly larger than the frame and apply it to the frame. You will probably need two people for this task since it has to be very smooth and taught. You can use a spoon to secure the clothesline and screen in the groove of the frame.
Mix 4 parts photo emulsion to 1 part sensitizer in a small bowl (1tbs:1/4 tbs). Apply the mixture to the screen and spread evenly on both sides of the screen with an old credit card or driver’s license. Allow the screen to dry completely. You can even dry it with a hair dryer. Do this in a dark room with as little light as possible (bathrooms without windows are generally good places to do this).
Place the transparency image on the screen (inside the frame) face up. Do this while in the dark room. Place the clear piece of glass on top to hold the image in place.
Cover the screen with a dark towel to protect it from the light. Place the black cardboard underneath the screen (so it absorbs the heat, and lets the emulsion harden).
Take the screen outside and expose it to direct sunlight for 30-45 seconds. Be careful not to over or under expose the image.
Place the towel back over the screen and go back to your dark bathroom.
Rinse the screen in the bathtub to remove the emulsion. You should be able to see your burned image on the screen.
Dry the screen completely with a hair dryer.
Now you are ready to put your image on shirts/patches!
Lay down some old newspapers on your hard,
flat work surface so the ink doesn’t make a mess.
Place your fabric/t-shirt on the work surface.
You may want to tape down the corners of the fabric
so it doesn’t slide. It’s also a good idea to put a piece of cardboard inside the t-shirts so the ink doesn’t bleed through to the back.
Place the screen on top of the fabric/shirt and center the image. Spoon a line of ink onto the screen just above the image. With the squeegee, smooth the ink across the image to push it through to the cloth underneath. Run the squeegee across the image a few times to ensure that you covered all of it. You should push firmly, but don’t get carried away…the ink could smear if you press too hard.
Carefully lift screen off the fabric. Pull straight up or else the ink will smear.
Let the newly screened fabric air dry for about a minute then “heat set” it using a hot iron. If you don’t heat set it, it will fade when you get it wet.

Bake Sales

Vegan bake sales are a good way to get a little extra cash for your group. If you have a big tabling event on campus, have a few members make some cookies, brownies, breads, etc. to bring to the table. Since you are not supposed to sell items at your table, don’t call it a bake sale. Just say you have free food and most people will take some and leave a small donation in your donation jar. You do have to have permission to serve food (fill out a form in the SSB).

Donations

Donations are always good if they come in the large variety, but it is very rare that individuals will donate more than a few dollars. However, there are plenty of other types of donations you can seek. Some businesses around town will gladly donate goods and/or services if they know it’s for a good cause. Ask print shops and art supply stores to give you discounts. You can also ask local business to donate used office equipment. Ask grocery stores, bakeries, or restaurants to donate the food they have left at the end of the day. Donations like this are especially helpful when you want to have food events on campus.

Garage Sales

This is a good, easy money-maker, since plenty of people always need to get rid of stuff that other people feel they need to buy. (You’ll make more money if your goods are clean and well displayed.) Tag clothing with size labels and make sure prices are clearly marked. You can advertise for garage sales pretty easily in the Texan and the Statesman.