Holiday Cards

idchrbee

I wanted your opinion or perhaps your company's practice on sending Holiday cards. My company is considering sending emails rather than holiday cards and I'm wondering if anyone has done this in the past and what type of response they received? We would be sending one email to all customers, vendors, and employees.

What is your thought on appropriateness and thoughtfulness of this idea?

If you're company has done this, how was it received?

Thank you!

SMace

I think cards are a waste of money. But I don't even like birthday cards. Why not make a charitable donation in the amount it would cost and have all your reps tell your customers what you did. Give it to toys for tots, or some other holiday organization.

Whirlwind

I think a charitable donation in appreciation of your customers is a great idea.

I like cards of a personal nature, but cards from my insurance agent, car dealer, etc. are boring and wasteful.

NaeNae55

We started sending calendars (instead of cards) last year. The calendars tri-fold into the size of a regular Christmas card. We have seen them hanging up in various places. Since our name is on them it is good advertising.

We also make several charitable donations at this time of year. We tell the charity we are making it on behalf of our clients. Each envelope we mail out with a calendar has a note which tells what we did. We have been doing this for years and it works well for us. We get our name out there, we keep in touch with the people we want to keep in touch with, and we also help some of the local charities. We send out about 1200 calendars.

Hope this helps.

Nae

marc

As a recipient of charitable donations of this nature, I can tell you that they are both popular and appreciated.

We provide a variety of services for children and families. Should any of you need a good charity for this purpose, we stand ready to receive.

I promise you, the money will be put to good use.

Paul in Cannon Beach

I think the last thing the world needs is more e-mails.

Not that "corporate" holiday cards are any better.

I like Smace's idea. For your really special clients, send them a nice card with a handwritten note.

Otherwise, put the money to good use through a charity like Angel Tree which buys toys for the children of incarcerated parents.

marc

We have a couple of similar programs. During the holidays, we are the middle man arranging family christmas gifts for income challenged families and community donations.

We also do parenting classes for inmates about to be released. Lots of them have no idea how to re-integrate with their loved ones, especially children whom some have never seen. It's also a good program.

But off my soapbox about how cool our group is, the basic premise is good and their are lots of deserving charities out there who can really use the dollars.

JEL

I can identify with several of the comments. We, too, are considering the calendar instead of cards.

I do like receiving hand signed cards, from human service agency we partner or work with and from vendors we know personally. I don't really care to get them simply as mass mailings, either.

We, too, are a non-profit agency trying to serve a large list of needy individuals. Our holiday card list is over 300 which is large and expensive for our small operation. We would like to acknowledge our partners/collaborators during the holidays, but it is getting very expensive and operating funds are shrinking. We operate several housing programs and programs for low income families, children, and struggling small businesses. We haven't made a decision for this year, yet. Yes, I know, we are running out of time.

I'll keep watching the forum for a good solution.

JEL

System

Am I the only one around here who likes getting Christmas cards? It's nice to get a card signed by someone I know (even if I've never met them in person). I don't care much for the ones that don't have a signature - that's just a mass mailing.

An e-mail greeting? No.

James Sokolowski
HRhero.com

Dutch2

I too very much look forward to sending and receiving Christmas cards. But... not so much at work from vendors, etc. When you know they were a mass mailing to everyone on their client list. If someone takes the time to hand write a short note that really means alot.

HRinGA

we still send cards to a select group of clients. They are hand addressed and personally signed. That's the rule. If we ever got caught sending out a mass mailing, boy would it be trouble!
We run our own charity event as well during Christmas, so the cards are a nice gesture.

dlail

Thank you. I was starting to feel lousy about this. An e-mail is tacky, better to send nothing. We do company cards to a mixture of customers (some of whom are overseas), vendors and business group associates, totalling about 300. I like getting cards too, especially in a mail order business where there is less "face" time.

Open1

If the emails are well written, sincere and thoughtful, it might go over well in a high tech company. Short of that, I'd stick with paper cards (or calendars and donations! th-up ) with handwritten notes/signatures on the inside. I enjoy seeing the wall by the president's office decorated with all the colorful cards and especially the ones where they have cleverly integrated holiday spirit into their cards. This is easy to do for a chimney repair company, but others have to work at it. :-?

Sort of off topic - Marc, please send the name and address of your organization to me at [email]hr1@rmillc.com[/email]. I sent small donations to various charitable organizations last year in lieu of gifts for some of my "already have everything/hard to buy for" extended family members, noting that the donation was made in their honor. It went over really well!

marc

Coming your way - thanks for your interest.