I write about a doll donation I make every year on my craft blog. I buy dolls and then crochet clothes for them to donate. I've even started hunting for accessories to add to the donations to make the gifts more fun. I've been fortunate to have family and online friends add to my donations each year. The last few years the needs just keep getting greater and for many who want to help their own needs can make helping more challenging too.
One thing I've learned from doing this donation is the worst time to buy the items I need is when I need to donate them. For the best deals I hunt year round and store the dolls and accessories I find until I'm ready to donate.
I decided to write this blog after coming across doll deals some better than others that I will store and use for both this year's donation and future donations. Stores often have sales when people are least likely to think about buying toys. I've heard from friends and read other postings from people who find their deals in stores. I tend to shop online mostly, but have felt good about the deals.
I realize for many this year is going to be hard and you have to honor your budget. If you are budgeting money to donate to a toy drive I do suggest you do check out those toy deals when you feel comfortable doing so and look for good deals. I donate a variety of dolls, Barbies, baby dolls, Glitter Girls, Our Generation, My Life to name a few. This past week I found some amazing bargain basement Barbie prices and a decent deal for a Glitter Girl Doll.
While my focus has been dolls for donation, over the years I've bought toys year round for family when they had a specific interest in Lego's, toy cars, etc. because again finding items on sale is always preferable to waiting until the event is closer and having to pay full price. Even with inflation stores still have deals for items children want because they don't want to carry inventory forever. You can find good toys to donate at a reasonable cost if you start early and stick to your budget.
Another item people often donate to toy drives at Christmas are art supplies. Generally during the summer months stores begin have amazing sales on name brand crayons, markers, colored pencils and other supplies. The named brand art supplies are often cheaper in the summer months to buy and store until you need them for donations then the generic brands will be come the Christmas shopping season.
I've mentioned this before but for those who like to donate to elders who some times get neglected at the holidays, coloring is still a popular hobby. Colored pencils are a nice thing to include in a donation and are far cheaper during the school sales than later.
Just a note about shipping. For those like me who do most of their shopping online there is a huge advantage to ordering early when you find deals. First, you are in no hurry to get the items as it just delays how long you have to store them. I've had deals from both Target and Amazon for taking slower shipping options and being willing to delay my shipments. Amazon varies the deals but I recently got a dollar off my order from Target by being willing to delay my shipment. Since I don't need the stuff until November I'm more than willing to wait. I have Prime so my shipping is always free with Amazon but with Target and Walmart I do tend to wait until I have enough items to qualify for free shipping.
Not everyone who has helped in the past will be in a position to help this year with providing donations to children's toy drives. However, for those of us in a position where we can help, we can make our money go farther by looking for deals now and putting stuff aside to donate when we find something at a price we can afford. Remember that each donation will make a child's Christmas brighter this year.
