Like many school groups with fundraising programs, the Christie Elementary School PTA usually sold cookie dough for its fall fundraiser, that is until organizers discovered BRAX Fundraising.

With BRAX, the Texas elementary school exceeded its original goal of purchasing a couple iPads and bought 13 instead.

This school is just one of the many money-raising programs that have tipped their cups to the fundraising company located in Wilmington.

Going on over a decade in business, BRAX has swiftly cornered a niche market, secured a national clientele and grown to 40 employees located throughout the U.S.

In an industry dominated by consumable goods, like wrapping paper and cookie dough, the success of BRAX Fundraising and its trademarked, reusable plastic SpiritCups has been a surprise to many including its owners, Peter Hexter and John Alexander, who began the company as a somewhat one-off.

Hexter and Alexander previously worked with a company that produced beer steins and mugs with licensed sporting logos on them. One day Hexter’s daughter was in need of extra money for her cheerleading team. When she asked her father for the money, he instead offered to give her leftover Tampa Bay Buccaneers mugs to sell around town.

She and her teammates were able to quickly sell the mugs and raise the additional money. And while they were excited to have the extra money, Hexter and Alexander realized the hidden potential selling sports cups could have in the fundraising market.

Together they created BRAX Ltd. in 1999. They started reaching out to various contacts to find manufacturers and distributors, and in 2004 BRAX Fundraising became the first company to license with the National Football League for the sole purpose of youth fundraising.

Almost 10 years later, BRAX Fundraising not only sells its traditional, holographic SpiritCups, but it also offers customers SpiritPopcorn and SpiritTravelCups. The designs also are now licensed to feature teams of the NFL, MLB and over 100 top college programs as well as all five branches of the military.

Why it works
Having a strong relationship with the NFL is key, BRAX Fundraising president Todd Elgart said.

“We created a whole new licensing plan,” Elgart said. “They [the NFL] want kids to become fans at very young age. We actually brought this category, the fundraising category, to their division and created a whole new market with a fundraising initiative to bring in young kids.”

The company’s connection with the NFL gave BRAX the credibility it needed to expand, Elgart said.

“Securing the exclusive NFL license has enabled us to keep growing,” he said. “There are some other fundraising drinkware companies that don’t have the NFL licensing and just aren’t able to survive.”

Ryan Hedspeth, BRAX vice president of sales and marketing, added that the quality of BRAX’s products sets it apart from many competitors.

“With the relationship with the NFL, which is one of the strongest brands in the country, a level of quality had to go with the sort of ownership of that brand,” Hedspeth said. “There are a lot cheaper ways to produce products like this, but we like that we are all-American made, and the quality of our products will never change.”

But it’s not only the NFL that BRAX represents. Throughout its growth period, BRAX formed partnerships with the MLB, the Collegiate Licensing Company, the Licensing Resource Group, the Amateur Athletic Union, the Boomer Esiason Foundation, Dixie Youth Baseball and Softball, Fuel Up to Play 60, The Miracle League, Optimist International, Pop Warner Little Scholars Inc. and USA Football.

Those connections gave BRAX the backbone it needed to thrive.

Moving forward
Even though it has seen considerable success, the laid-back company is continuing to work at establishing itself in an industry that generates almost $2 billion annually, Hedspeth said.

Elgart and Hedspeth cited the company’s new initiatives for reaching school systems, technological advances and online ventures as strong indicators for future success.

When BRAX first began, it targeted the youth sports market, but in 2009, the company switched its marketing strategy and began working to attract schools.

“Currently, we’ve made the switch of instead of just having our BRAX team and now having independent sales representatives,” Hedspeth said. “We had never played with that idea before, but now we have infiltrated 43 independent sales representative groups, which equates to about 85 people going out there and talking about BRAX to supplement our sales force.”

By this time next year BRAX intends to have about 200 individual sales representatives working under the BRAX umbrella, Elgart said.

BRAX also recently teamed up with a company in Berkley, California to digitize order forms.

“So now what happens is customers send us their order forms, and we have a team downstairs scan it, digitalize it and turn it into a CSV file, which means it’s now on Excel, and you can sort it and import it to the e-store,” Hedspeth said.

This streamlined process will not only cut down on ordering mishaps, but also make the customer experience easier, according to Hedspeth.

Making the customer experience as painless as possible is the company’s ultimate goal, which connects to BRAX’s newest efforts of creating an entirely online fundraising program.

With the new program, Hedspeth believes BRAX will offer not only more fundraising options but also have a controlled setting to introduce new products, such as 8-ounce tumblers and sippy cups.

For a company that began with just two men and a big dream, BRAX has grown into a formidable player in the fundraising industry.