Organizing a Toy Drive 

The holidays are a time of giving, with many people worldwide exchanging gifts with their loved ones. Still, some families in your community may struggle to provide gifts for their kids. A holiday donation drive may be the perfect solution to these families’ needs. 

Your organization can spread the holiday cheer this year by organizing a toy drive. Giving underprivileged children holiday gifts is an excellent way to give back to your community. This guide provides a toy donation drive checklist and tips for making your drive successful. 

What You’ll Need 

Organizing a successful toy drive takes careful planning. Use this checklist to ensure you have everything you need for your organization’s campaign. 

A Drop-Off Location 

One of the essential things you’ll need for your toy donation drive is a drop-off location for the toys. You’ll also need receptacles to place toys in and signs identifying them as donation bins. 

A Way to Promote Your Toy Drive 

Getting the word out about your toy donation drive to as many people as possible is essential. Your advertising methods might depend on your organization’s needs and reach. 

A Wishlist 

It can be helpful to give donors some direction in what toys would be best to donate to your drive. You might want to create a checklist or registry donors can pick from as they go shopping. 

People to Help 

Volunteers are crucial to making any donation drive run smoothly. You’ll need people to help in all sorts of areas, including: 

• Planning the drive
• Advertising
• Collecting toys
• Wrapping items 
• Delivering gifts

Storage for the Toys 

Once you have all your donations, you’ll need somewhere secure to store the toys before your volunteers wrap them. 

A Way to Distribute Toys 

You’ll also need to coordinate a few volunteers to distribute the toys before the holidays. Schedule your toy delivery far enough before the holidays to prevent last-minute scrambling. 

Focus on Specific Age Groups 

Some toy donation drives are open to toys for any age group. While this might be more flexible for your donors, it can be beneficial to narrow your focus to one age group or a range, like kids in first through third grade. Keeping your toy drive concentrated on a limited age range gives donors more direction in shopping and prevents purchases that don’t match your recipients’ interests. 

It’s also critical to tell donors which age groups your toy drive will focus on. A well-meaning donor could bring a shopping cart full of baby toys, but they’ll be no help if your focused age range is middle school. 

Advertise 

Spread the word about your toy donation drive by advertising as often and early as possible. If your target donors are people within your organization or business, you might use an organization-wide campaign to reach your audience. If you’re advertising your toy drive to the broader community, you’ll need to advertise more widely. 

Consider using a social media strategy to let people know about your upcoming toy drive. There are many free social media tools for nonprofits to use in their advertising campaigns. 

You can also post physical flyers and talk to local businesses in your community. You may be able to persuade a few companies to offer discounts and coupons to encourage donations. 

Use an Online Wishlist 

Using a wishlist for your toy drive may help guide donors as they shop. When you create a wishlist for your holiday donation drive, you can ensure your organization receives donations that do the most good for recipients. 

Your organization may create an online wishlist and share the link with donors. Start by listing the toys your donation recipients might want based on age and gender. You could use generic names or find specific brands to include on your list. 

Use an online fundraising platform like GiveSmart to make your wishlist accessible. Log in to your admin site and add items by choosing “+New Item” at the top of the screen. Then fill out crucial information on each item, so donors know what to get. Select “Donate” as the item type and fill in the price. Once you’ve created your online toy drive wishlist, donors can access it through your page’s items tab. 

Create a Goal 

Another helpful strategy for making the most of your toy donation drive is creating a goal for the effort. Defining a goal for the drive gives your organization and donors a precise finish line and milestones along the way. A clear objective might motivate donors to give extra to meet the target donation amount. 

When keeping track of your fundraising goal, consider using GiveSmart’s fundraising software. We make it easy to keep track of fundraising goals and progress online using a progress thermometer. The software will update the goal’s progress with each donation so you can share it with your donors.

Set up Collection Locations 

You’ll also need to choose collection locations for your toy drive donations. If you’re hosting the drive within your business, organization, or school, select an area accessible to all members or employees. Clearly mark the collection location for the holiday donation drive. 

If you’re organizing a public toy drive, you may need to partner with other organizations to set up multiple convenient locations to reach more donors. However, having several drop-off spots means your organization will have more to manage. Remember that you’ll need to periodically collect the toys and store them securely before wrapping them. 

Distribute the Toys 

With every other element in place, you’re ready for your toy drive! After donors have brought in their gifts, the last step is to wrap and distribute the toys to the children. Your strategy for delivering your donations will depend on the recipients you chose for your drive and your organization’s capabilities. 

You might distribute toys to families before the holidays by dropping them off at specific locations or having family members pick up their gifts. Whatever method you use, get volunteers in on the action so they can see the rewards of their efforts. 

Manage Your Toy Drive With GiveSmart 

Organizing a toy drive requires a lot of planning, but the impact is well worth the effort. If your organization wants to make its toy donation drive the best it can be, using fundraising software can be a powerful strategy for success. At GiveSmart, we understand your nonprofit or organization has unique needs for managing its fundraisers, which is why we developed our fundraising solution with flexible features to support your efforts. 

GiveSmart’s industry-leading fundraising platform enables donor management, donation tracking, online fundraising, and campaign management capabilities. Our tools and 24/7 customer service give your organization the support it needs to further its mission and create a more significant impact. To see what GiveSmart can do for your organization’s toy drive this holiday season, request a demo today.