Ornament sales have a lot in common with other merchandise fundraisers, but they also have a few unique benefits, including: 

Extra year-end revenue

The end of the year is an extremely important time for nonprofits, as most organizations earn the majority of their fundraising in the last few months, if not the last few days, of the year. Ornament fundraisers provide another incentive for your supporters to give during this important time and can help your year-end campaigns by:

• Meeting supporters’ shopping needs. Most supporters buy from nonprofits because they want to support their cause first and need a new t-shirt or tote bag second. However, with an ornament sale, you can provide supporters looking for new holiday decorations with exactly what they need, especially if you branch out and offer more creative designs. 
• Being a timely gift item. If your organization is running a big year-end fundraiser, ornaments make effective bonus gifts you can send supporters as thanks for their donations. For example, if you’re hosting a crowdfunding campaign, you might send every supporter who gives over $75 an ornament branded to your nonprofit. 
• Demonstrating your nonprofit’s activeness. Supporters sometimes stop giving to organizations not because they no longer support their cause but because they’re not sure if the organization is still operating. Ornament sales are just a small way you can show your supporters you’re aware of the moving calendar year and are ready to take action to make the most of each season. 

Remember, to ensure supporters’ ornaments arrive before the end of the year, start your ornament fundraiser early. Make sure your ornament designs and promotional strategy are already decided far in advance of the holidays. 

Annual reminder to give

When supporters break out their holiday decorations each year, they’ll see their ornaments from your nonprofit and remember to give again. You can make buying ornaments extra worthwhile for your most loyal supporters by changing the designs you offer every year. For example, you might include the year in the ornament’s design and update it the next time you sell ornaments. 

If you do plan to change up your designs each year, be sure to promote your new ornaments heavily in your marketing. That way supporters who may assume they’ve already bought your organization’s ornaments will see there are new ones to get excited about.

Sense of urgency 

All holiday fundraisers are annual events, and with a product sale like an ornament fundraiser, supporters who want to buy one know they have a limited amount of time to do so. Offering limited edition items create a sense of urgency, which can drive more sales, faster. 

You can boost this sense of urgency even more by adding a countdown on your merchandise store. Create a timer that lets supporters know how long they have to buy your ornaments before they’re gone until next year.