NDLON: Exploring Merchandise to Bring in New Supporters

The National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON) improves the lives of day laborers, migrants, and low-wage workers by building leadership and power among those facing injustice so they can challenge inequality and expand labor, civil and political rights for all. To build their base of supporters, NDLON initially used their grant from Progressive Multiplier to conduct an email campaign that focused on converting one-time donors to recurring donors.

However, faced with challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2020 election, they pivoted and launched a strategy that utilized merchandise to attract new audiences to the cause. 

NDLON released a set of bandanas that embraced the importance of arts and culture to their work. Featuring the mutual aid message Solo el pueblo salva el pueblo (Only the people will save the people), a phrase central to their Immigrant Worker Safety Net Fund, the bandanas were offered for sale during the COVID-19 pandemic and reinforced the idea of covering the mouth and nose for protection from the virus. The art on the bandanas was created by prominent social justice artists, including Chloé Dukes, Brian Herrera, Yefferson Huaman, Rosa Kusabbi, Ashley Lukashevksy, Jorge Navajas,Teshika Silver, and Ernesto Yerena.

The bandana incentive was promoted to NDLON’s followers on Instagram by asking supporters to purchase one supporting the Immigrant Worker Safety Net Fund. The first set of ads targeted NDLON’s key demographic of women aged 23-34; two tests afterward automatically placed ads where they performed best on Facebook and Instagram and brought men into the target audience. 

Through the grant, NDLON generated nearly $46,000 in bandana sales and brought new supporters to the cause. Given the popularity of the bandanas, they will sell their leftover stock through their website and expect to generate another $65,000. Based on initial results, they anticipate that this project will bring in more than 160 sustaining gifts over the course of a year. They plan to reinforce engagement among those who purchased bandana with emails and targeted ads. 

NDLON improves the lives of day laborers, migrants, and low-wage workers. They build leadership and power among those facing injustice so they can challenge inequality and expand labor, civil, and political rights for all.