Promoting and Building Your Group
Contents
Trademark Guidelines for Promotional Items (For volunteers moderating approved local Freecycle groups only)
No approval required
In general when promoting The Freecycle Network, we have professionally developed brochures which contain general organizational info in brochure format which local moderators are welcome to make use of for promotion. There are both professional-print-ready formats and formats appropriate for printing on one’s home printer (without the green background). Other similar flyers which have been developed by other local volunteers are likewise available in your national modsquad in the files section under "promotional materials."
Such non-saleable printed matter which promotes the overall organization and properly follows the trademark guidelines does not require getting extra approval for their use by local Freecycle volunteers.
Approval required
Anything saleable requires pre-approval. This would include t-shirts, bumperstickers, mugs, bags, etc. You may request this approval from the info team .
Events and event posters. Events necessitate event liability insurance, and we need to make sure the event is not one which is misusing the name, for example, to promote one's own yard sale, etc.
Ultimately the liability may be traced back to the organization and we have learned this can be legally risky and costly if not done properly
Media / City Council / External Website Logo requests. Often external requests are made for use of our logo. These likewise need to be forwarded for approval to the info team. We need someone legally authorized to make such approvals.
To reiterate, local volunteer Freecycle moderators may use the logo/mark within the local approved Freecycle groups following the standard trademark guidelines as noted on Freecycle.org and that they may further use the logo/mark elsewhere such as in promotional, non-saleable brochures (general org info, not specific event info), but any use for items which may maintain a commercial or saleable value, or for specific events or for external use would require direct approval via the info team.
We know that no set of guidelines will ever cover every question, and when in doubt, we simply ask that you ask at [info@freecycle.org the info team] to be safe. The Freecycle trademark represents the goodwill of millions of members making a difference every day. We need to use it with care.
These guidelines are intended to provide our approved volunteers with a general framework for trademark use in promotional material. The Freecycle Network reserves the right to amend the above general guidelines as needed. When in doubt, simply request approval at the info team.
Brochures
The Professional Brochure has a colored/green background unlike the Home Printed Brochure which has a simple white background and won't use up all your ink.
Flyers
The easiest way to prepare the first two flyers for printing is to copy and paste the graphics to a word document or another similar program. Adjust your top and bottom margins to fit graphics to the page. Replace all XXX references with the local Freecycle group name. Print the page. Distribute!
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