Hands presenting a wrapped gift box tied with a ribbon bow

The holidays are when most people give. According to the Blackbaud Institute's 2025 Trends in Giving Spotlight, December alone accounts for roughly 18% of annual charitable giving, and more than 36% of all charitable revenue is raised in the last quarter of the year.

For a company, that season is a chance to give as a team. Giving to charity during the holidays helps people who are struggling with money or loneliness, and it gives employees something to do together that they will actually talk about in January. It also shows your company's values in action, which matters to the people you are trying to hire and keep.

Here are ten corporate Christmas charity ideas, from a simple donation drive to a hands-on charity build at your holiday party, plus when to plan each one.

Holiday Giving Ideas at a Glance

Organize a holiday donation drive.
Build gifts for kids as a team.
Assemble care packages.
Turn the holiday party into a give-back.
Sponsor a family in need.
Host a fundraising event.
Volunteer as a team.
Give on GivingTuesday.
Match employee donations.
Run a holiday-themed team building activity.

Why Holiday Giving Belongs at Work

Holiday giving puts a company's values into practice, in front of the employees who are deciding whether to stay.

Today’s workers, especially Millennial and Gen Z employees, often look for employers whose values match their own. Volunteering as a team also lifts the room: in the Deloitte Volunteerism Survey, 70% of working Americans said volunteer activities are more likely to boost morale than a company-sponsored happy hour.

Corporate events that give back build stronger cross-functional and cross-generational teams, and they even help employees develop friendships at work.

10 Corporate Christmas Charity Ideas for Your Office

Once your organization has committed to holiday giving, the next step is a plan: what you will do, who is responsible, and the date for each activity. Here are ten ideas to choose from.

1. Organize a Holiday Donation Drive

Collect cash or in-kind donations for local food banks, homeless shelters or community organizations. Popular holiday donation drive ideas include:

A coat and blanket drive for a shelter
A toy drive for a children's charity
A canned food drive, with a friendly competition between departments
A book drive for early readers
A sock and hygiene-kit drive for people experiencing homelessness

Set goals for participation and results, promote the drive early, and put volunteers from different departments in charge so it doesn't fall to one person. Then make the drop-off a moment: our Operation Toy Donation turns a toy drive into a team activity, with groups assembling and decorating toys and care packages for children in need.

2. Build Gifts for Kids as a Team

Hands-on charity builds are some of the most requested activities we run in the season. In Bike Build Donation®, teams of 10 compete in challenges to earn bike parts, then assemble and safety-check bicycles for local kids. Wagon Build Donation does the same with full-size red wagons for preschoolers, and Bears and Blankets has teams make stuffed animals and blankets for children who have experienced trauma.

A nonprofit representative (sometimes with the kids themselves) can be there to accept the gifts, which is usually the moment people remember.

3. Assemble Care Packages

Care packages work for almost any cause: troops deployed overseas, people in shelters, hospital patients, seniors in assisted living.

Our Donation Nation Care Packs activity combines friendly competition with packing care packages for the group of your choice. Items are chosen around the needs the nonprofit identifies, whether it's a homeless shelter, food bank, hospice, animal shelter, nursing home or veterans' organization. Operation Military Care and Helping the Homeless focus on service members and unhoused neighbors.

Need help connecting with the right nonprofit? Best Corporate Events has built relationships with national and local charities to match your activity with a deserving group, and we can often bring a representative to your event to accept the donation and thank your team.

4. Turn the Holiday Party into a Give-Back

If the team is already together for a holiday party, the giving can happen there. A Charity Game Show runs a game show such as Best Corporate Feud or Jeoparody! with a donation built in, and Minute 2 Win It! for Charity pairs quick party games with a donation for a cause you choose. Both run about 1 to 2.5 hours, so they fit around dinner.

5. Sponsor a Family in Need

Employees can join forces to provide holiday gifts, clothing, groceries and other necessities for a family. It is direct, tangible support, and it gives teams a shared purpose for a few weeks.

Partner with a local nonprofit, social services agency or faith-based organization that can connect your business with families and share their specific needs. A clear wish list keeps contributions practical, so volunteers know their gifts will be used.

6. Host a Fundraising Event

A bake sale, silent auction or charity raffle combines fun with giving. Teams can contribute baked goods, donate items or experiences for auction, or volunteer to run the event.

Pick a charity that resonates with employees and set a fundraising goal. Promote the event early, and invite departments to sponsor a table or donate prizes. Small incentives, like recognition for the top fundraising team, keep the energy up.

7. Volunteer as a Team

Nonprofits often schedule activities around the holidays for children, families in need and seniors in assisted living. Find an opportunity that fits your company's purpose and your employees' interests, and sign up as a group.

Following the volunteer shift with a catered lunch or a social hour rewards the group and gives people time to talk about what they did.

8. Give on GivingTuesday

GivingTuesday, the Tuesday after Thanksgiving (December 1 in 2026), is a natural date for a company campaign. Announce a cause in advance, ask employees to give, and report the total company-wide that afternoon. It pairs well with idea 9.

9. Match Employee Donations

In our earlier post on why your company needs a CSR program, we noted that matching employee charitable contributions is a common feature of such programs. A company match doubles the value of each gift.

If you offer matching gifts, explain the details clearly and promote the program in more than one channel. Recognizing contributors, publicly or with a small token of thanks, encourages more employees to take part.

10. Run a Holiday-Themed Team Building Activity

Many team building activities can be themed for the season. Our holiday and Christmas team building activities include festive versions of our most popular game shows and challenges, as well as charity builds like Mini-Golf Build and Food Donation, where teams design mini-golf holes out of canned and boxed food that then goes to a local food bank. They work as a break during year-end meetings or as the main event at a holiday party.

When to Plan Holiday Giving

Start in October. In our booking records from 2022 through 2025, October was our busiest month for charity activities. Nonprofits plan their own holiday season early too, so a give-back in early November is easier to staff and easier for the charity to receive than one in the week before Christmas. Our guide to charitable team building covers timing, scale and choosing a nonprofit in more detail.

Holiday Giving FAQs

How can a company give to charity during the holidays?

The most common options are a donation drive, a hands-on charity build where teams assemble gifts like bikes or care packages, sponsoring a family, a fundraising event, and matching employee donations. A charity activity at the holiday party combines the celebration and the giving in one event.

What are good holiday donation drive ideas?

Coats and blankets for shelters, toys for children's charities, canned food for food banks, books for early readers, and hygiene kits for people experiencing homelessness. Ask the receiving nonprofit what it needs most before you start.

When should we book a holiday charity event?

Book in October for an event in November or early December. Charitable activities need a nonprofit partner and donated materials, so they take more lead time than a party alone.

Can a charity activity be our holiday party?

Yes. Charity game shows and builds like Bike Build Donation® run 1 to 2 hours for groups of 30 to 1,000+, so they fit inside a holiday party or year-end meeting.

Plan Your Holiday Giving with Best Corporate Events

Corporate holiday giving reaches past the season. For teams, it is a chance to connect beyond daily tasks. For the community, it means meals, warm clothing and gifts at the time of year when need is often greatest.

For charitable team activities that help specific groups, such as children, veterans, people with mobility issues, cancer patients or people impacted by Alzheimer’s, work with a partner that already has relationships with local and national nonprofits. If giving at the holidays is the start of something bigger, our post on how to start an employee volunteer program covers the next steps.

Explore the complete list of charity team building activities from Best Corporate Events, or get a quote to start a conversation about your holiday event.