Which Companies Donate Prizes for Holiday Fundraisers?

Companies that donate prizes for holiday fundraisers fall into four groups: gift-card donors, gift-basket and grocery companies, candy makers, and family attractions. Target, Books-A-Million and Olive Garden give gift cards or certificates; GourmetGiftBaskets.com, Wawa and Trader Joe's supply baskets, gift items and food; Spangler Candy donates near its home in Bryan, Ohio; and Great Wolf Lodge, Urban Air and Crayola Experience fit a family-outing prize. The catch is timing. Most of these programs ask for weeks of notice and some ask for months, so requests for a December event belong in the mail by October.

This guide is part of our fundraiser donation answers library. It covers which companies fit holiday raffles, bazaars and family events, how far ahead each one asks you to write, and which programs to skip at this time of year. Every lead time below is the one the company states on its own site.

When to ask: work back from your event date

Lead time decides which of these companies you can still ask. The table runs from the longest notice to the shortest. For an event in mid-December, a three-month lead time means asking in mid-September, and an eight-week lead time means asking by mid-October.

A stated lead time is a minimum, so send each request ahead of it rather than on the last possible day. Our guide to how far in advance to request donations shows how to plan the whole calendar backward.

Gift cards for holiday raffles

Gift cards are the easiest holiday prize to display and hand over.

• Target donates Target GiftCards to 501(c)(3)s and accredited schools. You fill out the request form, print it, and bring it to your local store with an IRS letter verifying your status. Target says GiftCard donations are available from February through December, as funding permits, and that it does not donate merchandise.
• Books-A-Million donates a $20 gift card to schools, churches, organizations and charities in the communities it serves, by emailed request form, but not for online auctions.
• Olive Garden donates gift certificates or food through the general manager of your local restaurant, requested in writing on letterhead.

For more restaurant certificates, see restaurants that donate to fundraisers.

Baskets, food and treats

A holiday raffle runs on baskets. GourmetGiftBaskets.com sets aside a budget each year for community contributions and takes requests through an online form at least seven days before the event. Wawa donates soft pretzels or Wawa water, or a selection of gift items and coupons for an auction or fundraiser, to community and youth organizations near its stores. Each organization gets one in-kind donation per calendar year, and donated products cannot be resold.

For cookie walks, breakfast with Santa or a bazaar bake table, grocers are the better ask. Trader Joe's accepts written requests for food and beverage donations on your letterhead, delivered to the store, and limits them to one per organization per year from the company as a whole, not one from every store.

Candy is the prize that looks most like the season, but the candy makers give near home. Spangler Candy, whose brands include candy canes, limits most donations to organizations in the Bryan, Ohio area that benefit children and families. Lindt, which gives only near its Stratham, New Hampshire headquarters, has paused its program: its page says, "Our donations program is suspended through the end of the year. It will resume in mid-January 2027." If Bryan is not your area, build the sweets basket from a local candy shop or bakery and anchor it with a gift card.

Family outings for the new year

A family-outing prize gives winners something to look forward to after the holidays. Great Wolf Lodge reviews requests within two weeks and contacts every requesting organization by email, approved or not. Urban Air considers every request made through its online form, though it cannot donate to every event. Crayola Experience donates admission valid for one year to 501(c)(3)s, approving one request per organization per year.

Church and faith-based holiday events: read the exclusions

If a church or parish is running your holiday bazaar or raffle, eligibility rules differ from company to company. Books-A-Million names churches among the groups it supports. Wegmans, by contrast, says it does not fund requests from faith-based agencies for religious purposes, though it can consider humanitarian aid such as food for people in need. Read each company's eligibility rules before you send a church request, and put your 501(c)(3) status in the first paragraph when the company requires it.

Programs to skip this season

• Baskets Galore donates its gift baskets, one per organization per calendar year, but says donations are not available from October through December because of holiday demand. Ask it for a spring event instead.
• Yeti says it cannot offer in-kind product donations. Its fundraising program sells select products to qualified nonprofits at a discount, so budget for it as a purchase.

A holiday request checklist

1. Pick the event date and count back. Use the table above and send the longest-lead requests first.
2. Check eligibility and area. Most of these programs require 501(c)(3) status, and several give only near their stores, resorts or headquarters.
3. Name the donation you want. Ask Target for GiftCards, Olive Garden for a gift certificate, and Wawa for gift items and coupons, rather than "anything you can give."
4. Say how it will be used. State that it is a raffle or bazaar prize and give the date.
5. Watch the early limits too. Crayola Experience asks you not to apply more than 30 days ahead.

When the donations arrive, the tricky tray and raffle planning workbook helps you theme and assemble the baskets, and our donation request letter template covers what each request should say. For raffle prizes that work in any season, see companies that donate raffle prizes.