Christmas campaign ideas for your German charity

Wish tree, Advent calendar, Christmas market and raffle: ideas for German associations, with the confirmed rules and a six-week plan.

In short For a Christmas campaign, your association does not need a big stage. A wish tree, a donation Advent calendar or a stall at the Christmas market is often enough. Allow six weeks, settle the raffle, collection and donation receipt questions early with the competent bodies, and give people a simple way to donate online.

This article describes the rules in Germany.

Which Christmas campaign suits your association?

First ask how many people will help and how much time is left. Five to ten volunteers can handle any of these formats in six weeks. With only two people, start with the Advent calendar.

  • Wish tree: a lot of warmth, medium effort
  • Advent calendar: 24 days, little logistics
  • Christmas market: meeting people, but permits
  • Raffle: only after the rules are clarified

Wish tree: granting wishes instead of collecting money

With a wish tree, wishes hang on slips of paper on a tree, and donors grant one of them. The format is well known in Germany, for example from district offices in Berlin. It suits associations working with children, seniors or families in need.

Keep it simple: collect wishes, limit them to about 20 to 30 slips, set up the tree, and have gifts brought back by a fixed day. Do not use real names of children, only first names or numbers, and agree the wishes with parents or carers. Set a price limit, for example 20 euros per wish, so nobody is overstretched.

People who cannot be there should still be able to help, so offer an online donation alongside and use it to buy missing wishes yourself. More on planning in the article Planning a Christmas campaign: timeline for associations.

Donation Advent calendar: 24 doors, 24 reasons

An Advent calendar gives every day until Christmas Eve a purpose. Behind door 1 there might be a warm meal, behind door 24 a gift. Each day gets an amount and a short story that you share daily.

The appeal lies in the rhythm. Your supporters come back twenty-four times instead of giving once. Two people can manage it: one photo, three sentences, one link. One example is the campaign 24 gute Taten (24 good deeds).

Prepare all 24 texts before 1 December, ideally by mid-November. A day's delay costs trust. Also plan an e-mail to your supporters, but only to people who have expressly agreed to receive it. The German data protection authorities recommend the double opt-in procedure for this.

Christmas market: stall, mulled wine and good conversations

A stall at the Christmas market gets you talking with people who do not know your association yet. Sell homemade goods, punch or baked treats, and show on a sign what the proceeds are for.

Your municipality decides whether you need a permit. A stall, info board or collection tin in public space often needs a Sondernutzungserlaubnis (permit for special use of public land), in Hamburg for example from the Bezirksamt (district office). Ask your Ordnungsamt (local regulatory office). If mulled wine is sold, trade regulations may also apply. Your city will tell you what applies there too.

On collections: in most federal states a collection permit is no longer needed, but Rhineland-Palatinate, Thuringia and Saarland still have one. Thuringia does not allow children under 14 to collect. You can read everything else in the article Christmas market for a good cause.

Raffle: only with confirmed rules

A raffle is an Ausspielung (a prize draw) and therefore falls under gambling law. Anyone who runs one without a permit commits an offence. The law is a matter for the federal states, so there is no single recipe for all of Germany.

The following framework is confirmed. Under the Glücksspielstaatsvertrag 2021 (the interstate gambling treaty), the stakes of a small lottery may total at most 40,000 euros. The net proceeds must go exclusively to charitable, church or benevolent purposes. Net proceeds and prize total must each reach at least 25 percent of the stakes. Minors may not take part.

The states may be stricter. In Berlin and North Rhine-Westphalia, for example, at least one third net proceeds is required in each case, and in NRW tickets may be sold for three months at most. Tickets sold over the internet are excluded in the general permits we read for Berlin, NRW and Bremen (there limited to 31 December 2024). An online raffle is therefore not a standard option for your association.

In addition, lottery tax must be reported to the Finanzamt (tax office), even if you are exempt. In Berlin and NRW this applies at least two weeks before the start. Ask your competent authority and the Finanzamt before selling tickets. Whether a Spendenquittung is possible for ticket money is not certain, so ask a tax adviser.

Spendenquittung and Zuwendungsbestätigung

At Christmas, donors often ask for a Spendenquittung (donation receipt for tax). Officially it is called a Zuwendungsbestätigung. The association issues it using the officially prescribed template, if it is recognised as charitable and its Freistellungsbescheid (the tax office's exemption notice) is not older than five years.

For donations up to 300 euros, a bank statement is enough for the donor, provided your association, as a beneficiary, states the required details. Donations are deductible as special expenses up to 20 percent of total income. A donation counts for the year in which it is paid, so up to 31 December. An incorrect confirmation can make the association liable for 30 percent of the amount. Clarify the exact wording for the donation page with the Finanzamt.

The timeline in six weeks

  1. Week 1: choose a format, set the team and goal
  2. Week 2: clarify permits and dates with the authorities
  3. Week 3: prepare texts, photos and the donation page
  4. Week 4: announce the campaign
  5. Weeks 5 and 6: run the campaign, say thank you, settle accounts

The full plan with tasks per week is in the article Planning a Christmas campaign: timeline for associations.

How to do it with WeGlow.world

With WeGlow.world you set up a donation page in three steps: amount, personal details and summary. Donors can give once or monthly, each with their own amounts and labels, for example "A warm meal". The page works on a phone. You can set up a thank-you text that is sent automatically after the gift.

Supporters can start their own campaign page and collect donations among their friends. That fits the wish tree and the Advent calendar well. There are also four Christmas experiences, which are still a concept until the official launch. In the Glow Room, every gift becomes a decoration on the Christmas tree in a 3D living room, in the Starry Sky every gift becomes a star. If you want to start, you can sign up here.

Frequently asked questions

The five questions associations ask most often before a Christmas campaign.

How much lead time does a Christmas campaign need?

Allow about six weeks. Ask about permits, for example for a raffle or stall, earlier, because registrations with the Finanzamt need at least two weeks' notice.

May our association run an online raffle?

Under the general permits we read for Berlin, NRW and Bremen (there limited to 31 December 2024), selling tickets over the internet is excluded. Ask your gambling authority whether an individual permit is possible in your case.

Do we need a permit to collect?

In most federal states no longer, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Thuringia and Saarland yes. For stalls on public streets a Sondernutzungserlaubnis is often needed. Ask your Ordnungsamt.

Do donors get a Spendenquittung?

Yes, with a Zuwendungsbestätigung in the official template, if your association is recognised as charitable and has a valid Freistellungsbescheid. Up to 300 euros, a bank statement is often enough for the donor.

How do we reach donors by e-mail?

Only with prior express consent. The data protection authorities describe the double opt-in procedure as required. The supervisory authority of your federal state is responsible.

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