Christmas fundraising ideas for charities in the Netherlands

Twelve Christmas fundraising ideas for foundations, schools, companies and neighbourhoods in the Netherlands, with the rules to check for each type of group.

In short Choose your Christmas campaign based on your group: foundation, school or sports club, company or neighbourhood. This article gives twelve ideas, three per group, with a Dutch angle. Check first whether you hold ANBI status, whether a raffle needs a licence and what your municipality's collection rules say. Online, a donation page works as a solid base.

This article describes the rules in the Netherlands.

How do you choose a Christmas campaign in the Netherlands?

Start with your group, not with the idea. A school has parents and a playground, a company has colleagues and a Christmas hamper, a neighbourhood has a street and a community centre. The idea that fits your people and your weeks raises the most.

Looking for a step-by-step plan for the planning itself? Read how to organise a Christmas campaign in the Netherlands. Looking for the general overview with a decision tree of five questions? That is in Christmas fundraising ideas for a charity. Below we go through each type of group.

Three Christmas campaigns for a foundation or charity

As an organisation you already know your donors. You can build your Christmas campaign on existing trust, with a clear goal and an end point.

  • A Christmas campaign with a concrete goal: name an amount and what it means, for example a number of Christmas meals. Put the goal at the top of your donation page.
  • A Christmas email to your donors: ask for a gift in December with a personal story. In the Netherlands, assume you may only email people who gave their consent.
  • A periodic gift (periodieke gift) as a Christmas present: ask donors to give the same amount every year for five years. For them it is deductible without a threshold, provided you are an ANBI.

You will find examples of a good email in Christmas emails for donors.

Three Christmas campaigns for a school or sports club

At school and at the club everyone comes together naturally. Use that moment and do not ask too much of parents: a small campaign with a clear end date works best.

  • Christmas cards for charity: children or members make cards and family buys them. One donation page collects the gifts, so you never have to count cash.
  • Christmas cookies and a Christmas jumper day: one day in the last week of school when everyone wears a Christmas jumper and gives an amount. You invite the parents by email.
  • A sponsored run or Christmas run: pupils or members get family to sponsor them per lap. Supporters each start their own campaign page and share it in their own circle.

Three Christmas campaigns for a company or team

Colleagues like to do something good but have little time. Choose a campaign that fits into one lunch break or one meeting, and let the employer match an amount if possible.

  • Collecting Christmas hampers: the team puts together hampers for a food bank or another local cause. Agree in advance what the recipient needs.
  • Donating the Christmas hamper: the company gives part of the hamper budget to a charity. Employees choose which cause, from three or four options.
  • An advent calendar with daily amounts: every working day in December a small gift from a colleague or team, shared on a page with a counter.

Three Christmas campaigns for a neighbourhood, church or group of friends

In a neighbourhood or church community everyone knows each other. Use that: a cosy local moment draws more than a distant online appeal.

  • A Christmas market for charity: a stall or market in the community centre, the church or on the square. The rules per municipality are in Christmas market for charity in the Netherlands.
  • Christmas bingo or a Christmas quiz: an evening with teams, a well-known charity and prizes of limited value. A bingo requires, under conditions, a notification to the municipality; for a quiz with prizes you first check whether it falls under the gambling rules.
  • Selling Christmas trees or waffles: sell at a fixed spot, not door to door. For door-to-door sales you ask your municipality beforehand.

Which rules apply to your Christmas campaign?

The key rules revolve around three things: giving with a tax benefit, raffles and collecting. We only give what the official sources confirm.

  • Tax benefit: an ordinary gift is only deductible if you are an ANBI (algemeen nut beogende instelling, a registered public benefit organisation) or an SBBI (a support foundation for a social interest). For the donor, a threshold of 1 percent of the threshold income applies, with a minimum of 60 euros and a maximum of 10 percent. Cash gifts do not count.
  • Raffle or tombola: gambling is prohibited unless the law allows it. We treat a tombola as a raffle; that is our reading of the law, not a wording from the Kansspelautoriteit (the Dutch Gambling Authority). For prizes under 4,500 euros you apply for a licence from the municipality, from 4,500 euros from the Kansspelautoriteit. A bingo is a notification to the municipality, at least 14 days in advance.
  • Collecting: collecting money door to door usually requires a licence from the municipality. In 2026 the week of 20 to 26 December is a free period on the collection calendar of the CBF (the Dutch charity watchdog), but your municipality decides.

If in doubt, ask your municipality. For tax questions you can contact the Belastingdienst (the Dutch Tax Administration).

How to do it with WeGlow.world

On WeGlow.world you set up a donation page in three steps: amount, details, overview. Donors give once or monthly, on their phone too. You can set thank-you texts that are sent automatically after a gift.

Supporters start their own campaign page within your Christmas campaign. That way a class, a team or a street becomes its own little group that invites its circle. A personal Christmas email with a link to that page is the lightest way to begin.

There are also four digital Christmas experiences: Glow Room, a living room with a Christmas tree in which every gift becomes a decoration, Starry Sky, in which every gift is a star, Gift Yard, where you choose between forest, village, frozen lake, cabin or library, and Card Wall with envelopes on a string. To be honest, they are a concept until the official launch. Take a look, and only plan around them once they are confirmed.

Ready to start? Create an account, or get in touch. More about the donation page is in a donation page for your Christmas campaign.

Frequently asked questions

Which Christmas campaign raises the most?

That depends on your group, not on the idea. A Christmas email to existing donors takes little time, a Christmas market needs many helpers. Choose what your team can really manage in six weeks, and build a donation page underneath it.

Is a gift to my foundation deductible?

An ordinary gift is only deductible if you are an ANBI. An association without that status only qualifies for periodic gifts, under conditions. Donors can look up your status at the Belastingdienst.

May I organise a tombola at a Christmas market?

In our reading of the Wet op de kansspelen (the Dutch Gambling Act), a tombola counts as a raffle (derived, the Kansspelautoriteit does not use that word itself). Under 4,500 euros in prizes you apply for a licence from the municipality. For any extra conditions your municipality sets, ask the municipality itself.

May I collect in December?

You usually need a licence from the municipality. The CBF has the week of 20 to 26 December 2026 as a free period on its collection calendar, but the municipality decides whether you may collect.

Can I simply email my donors?

Assume consent and an unsubscribe link in every email. According to the Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens (the Dutch Data Protection Authority), the exception for charities applies to phone calls. Check your list before you send a Christmas email.

Sources

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