A post entitled “General Store” gave me this idea when I saw its title, although it turned out to be about something else.

I think that Khan Academy should sell items such as t-shirts and coffee mugs with their logo. This could be as a fundraiser. This is different from prize items that people have suggested for getting a certain amount of energy points.

Khan would not necessarily have to maintain the inventory and do the shipping. I know there are online sites that sell logo items for other web sites. One such place is cafepress.com. Students and graduates often wear logo items of their alma maters to show their pride. (Ditto for parents for their kids’ alma maters, and perhaps faculty members, too.)

Although I don’t envision these items being given away for energy points accumulation, they could be among the prizes for various competitions here. Plus, individual teachers and schools could buy them (maybe at a bulk rate) to recognize achievements in their classes that use Khan Academy. (Parents, too, especially those who home school.)

I realize that because of the international scope of this site, there could be issues involving the handling of foreign currency and shipping to places outside the U.S. (extra cost, extra time to get there, customs, licensing), so if Khan Academy does not want to do this, I will fully understand. Also, with most of the current students being kids trying to stay within budget on allowance money, they’d possibly have to ask their parents to buy these things for them (and that doesn’t always work - well, maybe Santa Claus or an equivalent figure in your culture can bring it to you!).