The spirit of Christmas is all about kindness and generosity, making December and the giving season an ideal time to fundraise. I’ve put together a list of the top 14 Christmas fundraising ideas to spark your creativity and help you spread a little Christmas cheer.
Updated on : Added key takeaways, refreshed images and ideas, summarized costs and effort for each idea, added a timeline checklist, a table comparing virtual vs. in-person fundraisers, and included FAQs.
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In 2025, 37% of all online revenue donated to nonprofits came in during December.
The end of the year is a time to reflect on values, spread generosity and cheer, and get in those last-minute donations before the end of the tax year. If your nonprofit and donors celebrate Christmas, a Christmas fundraiser can be a great way to inspire even greater giving while providing a fun holiday experience for your community.
I’ve come up with 14 Christmas fundraising ideas to inspire you.
Key Takeaways 💡
Choose a Christmas fundraiser that fits your resources and audience. Consider your budget, volunteer capacity, community, and whether an in-person, virtual, or hybrid approach makes the most sense.
Combine fundraising methods to increase your potential. Add donations, ticket sales, merchandise, or other paid activities to your Christmas event or campaign where appropriate.
Make giving easy across every fundraising channel. Online campaigns, peer-to-peer fundraising, and cashless in-person payments enable supporters to donate wherever they engage with your Christmas fundraiser.
Top 14 Christmas Fundraising Ideas
Before I explore these Yuletide fundraising ideas, here’s a quick breakdown of the cost and effort for each, as well as which type of organization each idea will work best for:
Christmas Fundraising Idea
Cost and Effort
Best For
Matching Gifts
No cost; requires partnering with a major donor or corporation.
Any organization wanting to increase giving momentum.
Gift Wrapping Service
Low cost for wrapping supplies; minimal effort with volunteers.
Local nonprofits, faith-based organizations, and schools.
Christmas Gift Drive
Low cost and low effort; donors give to your donation form instead of dropping off gifts.
Organizations who run gift drives and would like to expand their impact.
Ugly Sweater Contest
Costs vary depending on event supplies (like refreshments); medium effort required.
Companies wanting to encourage workplace giving and local nonprofits.
Polar Plunge
Costs vary depending on event needs and permitting requirements; medium effort required.
Larger nonprofits and healthcare nonprofits who have a wide network of donors and supporters.
Christmas Cookie Swap
Minimal to no cost; low effort.
Small nonprofits, churches, and schools.
Storytelling Campaign
Minimal cost; medium effort.
Small, medium, and large nonprofits.
Ski-a-Thon
Higher cost; higher effort.
Large, established nonprofits.
Christmas Cards
Costs vary depending on supplies needed; medium effort.
Small nonprofits, churches, and schools.
Christmas Caroling
Low cost; medium effort.
Small nonprofits, churches, and schools.
Meet Santa Event
Medium to low cost; higher effort.
Local nonprofits, churches, and schools.
Sell Christmas Trees
Medium to high cost, depending on equipment needed; higher effort.
Local nonprofits, churches, and schools.
Letters to Santa
Low cost; medium to low effort.
Small, medium, and large nonprofits, as well as churches and schools.
Ornament Decorating
Medium cost; medium effort.
Local nonprofits, churches, and schools.
1. Matching Gifts
A matching gift is a great way to encourage urgent giving around Christmas.
Identify a major donor or corporate partner who may be able to make a large donation to “match” smaller donations coming in. For example, a company may be willing to donate $1,000 if donors give $1,000, leading to $2,000 total for your mission.
Adding a matching gift to your Christmas campaign will help donors feel even better about their holiday giving.
Another option? Ensure donors claim any gift-matching benefits their employers offer with a tool like Donorbox’s Double the Donation integration, which enables donors to instantly check whether their gift is eligible for a match.
This is an excellent Christmas fundraising idea, especially if you’re a local nonprofit, faith-based organization, or a school. Many people enjoy wrapping gifts for the holidays, but many would gladly pay to have someone else do it!
You can take this idea one step further and host a gift-wrapping party following these steps:
Get several volunteers on board to help.
Schedule a day close to the holidays when people from your local community can come pay to get their gifts wrapped.
Try to get wrapping supplies (wrapping paper, boxes, tape, scissors, bows, etc.) donated by a corporate partner to maximize the donation amount.
Make the atmosphere festive and inviting with some Christmas decor, music, and lights.
Charge a small fee for every gift wrapped.
Pro tip: Use a tool like Donorbox Live™ Kiosk or Mobile to make collecting cashless, in-person payments and additional donations seamless.
3. Christmas Gift Drive
Collecting toys and other Christmas gift donations for those in need during the holiday season is a popular fundraising idea. Have you considered taking your next drive online?
Instead of (or even in addition to) asking donors to select, purchase, and drop off physical gifts at a designated location, create an online fundraising form to collect monetary gifts.
Then, gather a few staff members or volunteers to use the funds raised to purchase physical items, wrap them up, and distribute them to area children and families. You can even take this one step further and purchase holiday meals, decorations, and more for your recipients!
This Christmas fundraising idea can take place in person or online, making it a flexible option.
Nothing says Christmas quite like an ugly Christmas sweater. For an in-person event, sell tickets or request donations from your contest entrants. Have an emcee run a brief fashion show and collect votes before announcing the winner.
For a virtual contest, have your participants donate to enter to win and share pictures of themselves in their sweaters. Post their pictures on social media and collect votes to choose a winner. This is a great way to spread the word about your organization, too, as participants will share their posts to encourage friends and family to vote.
5. Polar Plunge
Many Polar Plunge event organizers have discovered that people love the daring aspect of doing something they wouldn’t ordinarily do, especially if it’s for a good cause. Recreate the fun, chilly event to raise funds for your nonprofits.
Organize a Polar Plunge and raise funds through the following methods:
Charge participants a flat entrance fee.
Have participants solicit donations through pledges. The pledges will often pay for the amount of time (in minutes or seconds) the plunger lasts in the water.
The second option generally brings in a larger amount of donations. Start recruiting participants at least several weeks in advance, and if possible, get a couple of local celebrities to participate. Make sure to heavily publicize your event with flyers, press releases, and a social media campaign.
Make fundraising easy for your participants with a tool like Donorbox Peer-to-Peer. They can create their own custom fundraising pages and solicit donations from their network. Any funds they raise flow directly to your Donorbox account.
Baking Christmas cookies is a tasty and nostalgic tradition for many during the holiday season.
A Christmas Cookie Swap is a great way to spread some holiday cheer. Ask each person or family attending your event to bake a few dozen of their favorite cookies to bring along. Charge a flat fee for participating.
Then, every attendee gets a chance to take a cookie or two from everyone else, ensuring they leave with a cookie plate full of different types and flavors.
Pro tip: If you’d like to make this a free event, you can still raise money through paid activities like gingerbread house decorating or a craft area for the kids. You can also sell things like winter drinks, baking supplies, snacks, and more – check outthis blog post for ideas on what to sell at your next fundraising event.
7. Storytelling Campaign
Compelling stories, especially ones accompanied by videos and photos, can really set your Christmas fundraising efforts apart.
Design a Christmas campaign using stories of the people your nonprofit organization helps. Whether you pick seven, 10, or 12 stories, the important thing is to use inspiring stories and share them widely.
They use powerful stories that tug at our heartstrings.
There is a clear call to action.
The need is clearly identified and specific.
Social media shareability options are available for supporters to spread the word.
Updates to donors are frequent.
This Christmas fundraising idea is great for nonprofits of all sizes! If you have the capacity and talent on your team to write, produce, and share the stories yourself, you don’t need much of a budget to pull this off.
8. Ski-a-Thon
Ski-a-thons are an amazing holiday fundraising idea forwinter sports lovers and snow enthusiasts. They also make for a perfect wintertime alternative to marathons, fun runs, and 5ks!
These ski-a-thons can be held like a traditional race, or you could simply invite skiers to hit the slopes for fun.
Charge an entry fee for participants. Usepeer-to-peer fundraising to allow your participants to collect donations and give your fundraising efforts a boost.
9. Christmas Cards
Greeting cards are highly popular this time of year, with many people sending them out to their friends and family. Why not take advantage and sell Christmas cards to raise funds?
There are many ways to execute this Christmas fundraising idea, including the following:
Design your own Christmas cards and sell them online. These can have a general Christmas theme or be tailored to your nonprofit. If yourbudget allows, commission your artists and photographers to produce a suitable design for the cards.
Allow your logo to be used on commercial cards. This is a more hassle-free option, but you do receive only a percentage of sales (and you often share the card with other nonprofits).
Create handmade cards. This is an excellent option if you’re a smaller charity with a few dedicated volunteers ready to cut and place stickers and images. This is also a great option for schools – let kids get involved in crafting!
See how Mission Boronyavo sold bundled Christmas cards as tickets using Donorbox Events to raise funds that provide relief in Ukraine:
10. Christmas Caroling
This type of fundraising idea is perfect forchurch choirs, high school clubs, local music talent, and groups of family and friends.
Choose a night, gather up your carolers, and stroll around town performing for local businesses, senior centers, and even individuals. Don’t want to travel? Pick one location and invite the community to come to you!
Set up acrowdfunding campaign and encourage people to donate in the days leading up to your caroling excursion.
They can even submit song requests on your donor wall. Then, select a few of the donors to win a visit to their homes or businesses from your carolers! If you’re performing in one place, randomly select a few of the song requests and publicly recognize the donor who submitted it.
You can also puttext-to-give to use here. Create signs to carry or place at your venue with the text-to-give number and code, encouraging listeners to give in support of your mission.
11. Meet Santa Event
What kind of Christmas fundraising idea list would this be without Santa Claus? Create a North Pole event where, after paying a fee, children can get a picture with Santa. You can also have two different fees: one for a photo with Santa, and one that also includes a gift from Santa.
In Santa’s Village, you can also sell hot chocolate, hot cider, and other Christmas treats and drinks. Also, selling wreaths, candles, and decorations can make the entire experience more enticing and help you collect even more funds.
12. Sell Christmas Trees
What better way to tap into the spirit of the season than by selling Christmas trees?
To pull off this Christmas fundraising idea, partner with a Christmas tree supplier and secure a large, outdoor area to display and sell your trees, like a church parking lot.
Charge buyers a fair but increased amount from the cost of each tree, making sure to point out that their purchase is supporting your mission. You’ll need volunteers to help buyers strap their trees to the roof of their cars.
Have the software and hardware handy to collect cashless, in-person payments.
13. Letters to Santa
Writing letters to Santa is a beloved Christmas tradition. This year, your organization can step in to make it even more magical for children in your community, while bringing in important funds for your nonprofit!
If you’re running a stall at a fair or at a Christmas market, you can also set up some tables and a box so kids can write a letter to Santa and post it. Have the children write their name and address clearly so Santa knows where to send a letter back!
Parents or guardians can then pay (either ahead of time or on the day) to have their child receive a personalized return letter from Santa. Create four to five templated letters that people can choose from (prices usually vary from $5 to $10).
Participating families will receive a customized letter back from Santa, making the holiday extra bright this year.
14. Ornament Decorating
Exceptionally suited to schools, colleges, and community organizations, this Christmas fundraising idea is one of the most fun ones out there.
For a small fee, participants have the chance to create a Christmas ornament of their very own. Provide a variety of ornament options and all the craft supplies needed to make them unique!
Everyone can take their ornament home and put it on their own tree, or you can choose to use all the ornaments to decorate your school/library/community tree.
How to Plan a Christmas Fundraiser
The steps to plan your Christmas fundraiser will vary depending on which of the 14 ideas you choose from the list above. However, here’s a sample holiday campaign timeline checklist you can use to understand when certain milestone tasks should be completed.
A Christmas Storytelling Campaign Timeline Checklist:
Second week in November: Gather the stories and images you plan to use in your campaign.
Third week in November: Craft the key messaging of your campaign. Build your donation page.
Fourth week in November: Finalize all materials and channels to be used.
First week in December: Build out emails and social media posts ahead of time.
Second week in December: Launch your campaign.
Third week in December: Continue running the campaign with scheduled posts and engagement on social media.
Christmas week: Launch one final push to encourage giving before the holiday.
After Christmas: Acknowledge donors and wish them a happy new year.
Virtual vs. In-Person Christmas Fundraisers
While Christmas fundraisers typically have the dual purpose of bringing the community together, virtual fundraisers are also a great way to bring in donations.
Here’s a quick comparison to help you choose.
In-Person Fundraisers
Virtual Fundraisers
Pros
- Get the community together for a positive experience
- Many opportunities for giving
- Can reach donors from all over
- Lower costs
- Not bound by time
Cons
- Limited reach
- Requires more resources (supplies and volunteers)
- Lack the in-person energy and momentum that can drive donations and build relationships
Conclusion
An entertaining Christmas fundraising idea will help generate more donations for your cause, especially during the giving season. To make the most of your fundraising this Christmas, try combining two or more of the ideas presented above. I hope I’ve inspired you to come up with an idea of your own as well!
As always, if you need a fundraising partner this holiday season and beyond, Donorbox is here to help with powerful features and resources to amplify your impact.
Sign up today to start fundraising in fifteen minutes.
Christmas Fundraising Idea FAQs
1. Are Christmas donations tax-deductible?
Whether Christmas donations are tax-deductible or not depends on the type of organization soliciting them. Donations to official 501(c)(3) organizations are tax-deductible, regardless of the time of year during which they are made.
2. What is the most profitable Christmas fundraiser?
The most profitable Christmas fundraiser is generally an online or peer-to-peer campaign. These fundraisers require little to no setup costs and are highly scalable, bringing in more donations without the stress of a large fundraising event.
Ilma is a content writer with over eight years of experience, specializing in nonprofits and social impact, marketing, language, and psychology. She draws on years of volunteering in the nonprofit sector to craft thoughtful, research-informed pieces. Ilma is also a therapist passionate about mental health and often weaves this perspective into her writing.
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