Twenty-five people, one conference room, an hour after lunch. By 2 p.m., there are 25 teddy bears on the table, each with a profile card for the child who will get one. That's a GivingTuesday a small team can actually pull off.
It's also where the day is heading. On GivingTuesday 2025, 11.1 million Americans volunteered, 20% more than the year before. The number of people who gave money rose 3%, according to the GivingTuesday Data Commons.
A donation match is still worth doing. On its own, though, it misses what people want from the day, and from work. In a 2017 Deloitte survey, 70% of respondents said volunteering does more for morale than a company happy hour.
So the best December for a small team is one where people do something together, at work, during work hours. This guide shows how to pull that off without anyone whose job it is to organize it.
Three December dates to plan around
Kits ship within three weeks of your order, so order four weeks before your session. December gives you three good dates.
| Session date | Occasion | Order by |
|---|---|---|
| Tuesday, Dec. 1 | GivingTuesday | Tuesday, Nov. 3 |
| Friday, Dec. 4 | International Volunteer Day (Saturday, Dec. 5) | Friday, Nov. 6 |
| Tuesday, Dec. 15 | Year-end team event | Tuesday, Nov. 17 |
If you miss the GivingTuesday deadline, the other two dates still work. If your date is sooner than four weeks away, message us in the chat before you order.
Pick the idea that fits your team
You'll find long lists of GivingTuesday ideas online. A small team needs one, and the right one depends on three things: how much time people can give, whether the team is in one place, and whether there's a budget.
| Your situation | What works | What it takes |
|---|---|---|
| A budget, team spread out | Match donations for the week | A budget line, a list of causes, one email |
| No budget, team in one office | Collect what a local nonprofit needs | A call to the nonprofit, a week of collecting, one drop-off |
| Half a day free, nonprofit nearby | Volunteer together on site | A nonprofit with room for your group that week, transportation |
| Skills a nonprofit could use | Pro bono project | Someone to scope it with the nonprofit, more than one day |
| An hour or two, at the office | Build Impact Kits together | One order, a room with tables |
The last row is the only hands-on option that doesn't need anyone to source supplies, arrange transportation or coordinate with a nonprofit. With Visit.org Impact Kits, the materials, instructions and a prepaid return label come in one box. Your team builds the kits, ships them back, and Visit.org delivers them to a nonprofit partner.
The countdown
Work backward from your session date and the whole plan fits on one page.
| When | What to do |
|---|---|
| Five weeks out | Pick the kit and get approval. Send your manager the total and the date in one message. |
| Your order-by date | Confirm your headcount and order only for people who said yes. The minimum is 10. |
| The final week | The box arrives. Book a room with tables. Mail kits to remote team members. |
| Session day | Run the session, then ship the finished kits back. |
| A few weeks later | Share where the kits went with the team. |
Ordering for GivingTuesday this week? Combine the first two rows: get the yes and place your order by Tuesday, Nov. 3.
Choosing the kit
Kits are priced per participant. Depending on the kit, each person makes one to four items.
| Kit | Price per participant | What each person makes |
|---|---|---|
| Cold Weather Kits for Individuals Facing Housing Insecurity | $50 | Three cold-weather kits for people facing housing insecurity |
| Teddy Bears for Children | $65 | One teddy bear, plus a profile card for the child who gets it |
| Learn-to-Code Kits for Kids | $65 | One coding kit with a binary bracelet, a card game and an intro guide, plus a message written in binary |
| Essential Food Pack | $75 | Three packs with granola bars, dried fruit snacks, crackers, a soup packet and instant oatmeal |
| Hygiene and Basic Needs Kit | $75 | Four kits of travel-size hygiene essentials |
There are three ways to choose. If you want every person to finish with one thing they made, pick the teddy bears or the coding kits. If you want the most items to go out, the hygiene kits give you four per person, so a team of 25 sends out 100. If you want something made for the season, the Cold Weather Kits are built for December and are the lowest price per person.
A team of 25 doing Cold Weather Kits costs $1,250. The same team doing Teddy Bears costs $1,625. For groups of 10 or more, U.S. shipping is free both ways. Sales tax may apply at checkout.
Getting the yes
Put everything your manager needs in one message, so there's nothing to come back with:
We'd like to do a team volunteering activity on Dec. 1 for GivingTuesday, at our team lunch. We'd build teddy bears for children through Visit.org Impact Kits, one per person, and the bears go to a nonprofit partner. It's $65 a person, $1,625 for the 25 of us. Everything comes in one box, and shipping is free both ways. I'd need to order by Nov. 3. Can I go ahead? [link to the kit]
Swap in your own date, kit and headcount. If finance asks, this is a team activity purchase rather than a charitable donation. Your accountant can tell you how to record it.
Running the session
Start with two minutes on who the kits are for. The kit page explains the need and lists the nonprofit partners, which is all you need. If a senior leader can say a few words at the start, even better. It's the first tip in Visit.org's advice on getting more people to sign up.
Then let people build. There are no tools or supplies to bring. If your kit includes cards, leave the last part of the session for the notes, so they don't get rushed if time runs short. A few lines on the table help anyone staring at a blank card:
- "This was made for you by people who wanted you to know someone is thinking of you."
- For a teddy bear: "His name is Max, and he's a very good listener."
- For a coding kit: "You've got this. Keep building."
Take one photo of the team with the finished kits. Pack them in the same box, attach the prepaid label, and name one person to drop it off or book the pickup that week.
Closing the loop
This step is the easiest to skip, and it's the one people remember. Once the box ships back, Visit.org delivers the kits to a nonprofit partner.
When you hear where the kits went, send the team one photo and one line about who got them. Then put the next activity on the calendar while people still remember this one. Visit.org's free 2027 Social Impact Calendar lists awareness days to plan around.
Common questions
What's the smallest group? Ten people. There's no maximum.
Can remote team members take part? Yes. All kits ship to one address, so have the box sent to the office and mail kits to remote participants before the day.
Who receives the kits? A nonprofit partner that supports the cause of the kit. Each kit page lists the partners.
Do we need to bring anything? No. Materials, instructions, packaging and the return label are in the box.
What if our date is less than four weeks away? Message us in the chat before you order.
Pick a kit and order by Nov. 3 for GivingTuesday, Nov. 6 for International Volunteer Day, or Nov. 17 for a mid-December team event.
