Thinking of starting a teddy bear or toy drive this Christmas? Toy drives are some of the most popular ways to give back around the holidays, but they can cause a lot of stress for donors and organizers alike. Traditional toy drives require donors to shop for gifts, drop off the gifts at a central location, and then organizers must arrange a mass donation drop-off. Covid restrictions add another hurdle to this whole process, making it difficult for donors and drive organizers to accomplish their goals.

Whether you’re part of a club, church, office or you’re just an individual wishing to make a difference, Donor360 can make this year’s teddy bear drive a breeze! With us, you can organize your drive online, give 30% of every teddy bear purchase back to the charity, have the toys delivered for free, and more!

The Easiest Teddy Bear Drive Ever!

Starting a teddy bear drive on Donor360 is the modern approach to traditional toy drives. It gives donors the opportunity to donate toys, funds, and cash donations at the same time. Some of the perks of a Donor360 teddy bear drive include:

• Donors can enjoy easy online shopping for donations instead of having to go out and purchase the gifts themselves.
• All plush toys available in the Donor360 catalog are organic, Fair Trade, and eco-friendly.
• Donors will not need to drop off the toys anywhere, instead, they will be shipped directly to the charity free of charge.
• 30% of the plushie purchase price will go to the charity, in addition to the toy itself.
• Donors can also add additional cash donations at checkout.
• An automatic donation receipt will be sent to the donor after they checkout. 

How to Start Your Teddy Bear Drive on Donor360

Starting a teddy bear and toy drive on Donor360 is incredibly easy. Begin by heading over to www.donorthreesixty.com and sign in to your account dashboard. If you don’t have an account already, make sure to sign up first.

1. Start a New Campaign

Once you’ve signed in and are on your dashboard, click Start New Campaign. First, you’ll choose what charity you want to support. With Donor360, you can support any of the 1.6 million registered local or national charities in the United States. You’ll need to enter the charity’s exact name or EIN. If you don’t know it, you can find it on www.guidestar.org. 

2. Design Your Campaign Page 

Donor360 provides beautiful, ready-made campaign pages. Our campaign builder allows you to see how your campaign will look as you edit it in real-time. As you input information on the left of the screen, you’ll see the content populate on the right. 

Add Descriptive Details

Under the Details tab, you can enter some basic information about your holiday teddy bear drive. Here you will choose a name for your campaign, for example, Holiday Teddy Bear Drive Benefiting the Children of Louisville. You’ll be able to create your campaign URL. We recommend picking something easy to remember so people can find your campaign directly. 

Next, you’ll pick the monetary goal for the drive. Remember that 30% of the teddy bear or plush toy price will go to the chosen charity and donors will also have the option to add a cash donation when they check out. You can decide how/when your campaign will end - either on a set date or when a certain dollar amount is reached. You can check the charity’s website to see if they need in-kind donations for the holidays by a certain date.

The last step on the details page is to tell people about your drive by adding a description. This is your opportunity to give some details about the charity you’re supporting and get donors excited about the cause. If you’d like, you can also add a video here to give supporters an inside look at the nonprofit’s work and goals. 

Add Engaging Media

In the Media tab, you have the option to add 1-5 photos that show what your fundraiser is all about. With the charity or organization’s permission, you can use photos from their website to highlight the specific cause you’ll be raising money for. Another option is browsing for stock images online or using photos from past teddy drives you have done. 

To make your campaign pop, you can add a video to give donors a look at who they will be helping. If you can’t find a video from the organization on YouTube or Vimeo, you can record a short clip describing why this charity would benefit from donations and why it’s close to your heart. When finished, just add the video’s YouTube or Vimeo embed code to your description to bring it to life. 

3. Choose Your Favorite Plushies to Collect

Now, it’s time for the fun part! Take a scroll through the Products tab to choose which plush toys you’d like to include in your holiday campaign. You’ll find all sorts of critters from bears to monkeys to turtles! All plushies are made by Bears for Humanity and are organic, Fair Trade, and eco-friendly. To make things even sweeter, each time a bear is purchased, Bears for Humanity will donate a second bear to a child in need. Two little smiles for the price of one, now that’s what the holidays are really about. 

4. Check and Submit

Before you submit your campaign details for approval, have a look over everything to make sure it looks right on the campaign preview. Once you’ve got everything looking the way you want, click Submit Details. Your campaign will be reviewed by our team and approved within 24 hours. 

5. Set Up Donation Configuration

Directly after you submit your campaign for approval, you’ll be able to set up shipping details in Donation Configuration. To have toys delivered directly to the charity, toggle on the Ship for Free to Charity option. When the order is shipped directly to the charity’s address, donors will receive a tax receipt of their entire order. 

Holiday Cheer for Children, One Teddy at a Time

This holiday season many children could use an extra helping of kindness and love. As a time of increased generosity, many people are excited to help others but may not know where to direct their donations. Setting up a teddy bear drive on Donor360 makes it easy for people to get into the holiday spirit and make an impact in a child’s life who needs it the most. Starting a campaign is as simple as following a few steps and it can make a difference in a child feeling special this holiday season.

If you have questions about setting up your holiday teddy bear drive with Donor360, feel free to reach out to our fundraising synergist and storyteller at: kristen@donorthreesixty.com