1. Decorate your bank/credit union lobby or waiting area with a giant stocking filled with toys and give a stocking to each new customer opening an account in excess of a certain dollar value (e.g., opening a new checking account with a minimum balance of $1500, or some threshold deemed appropriate by management).
2. Raffle off one or more giant stockings to bank or credit union customers, with each new account qualifying for one raffle entry.
3. Give one or more giant stocking filled with toys to a deserving charity (orphanage, homeless shelter, home for battered women and families, etc.) when a certain threshold of new capital is achieved by a bank or credit union.   Again, management would decide what level of new account money would trigger a donation.
4. Use a MONEY TREE to capture the spirit of the holidays and foster healthy internal competition for opening new bank or credit union accounts.  Decorate the tree with pictures of all account representatives and display the number of accounts opened by each rep during the holiday period.  The rep who opens the most accounts during the qualifying period receives a giant Christmas stocking filled with toys.
5. As a variation to Promo #4, the winning account representative could pick a local charity to be the recipient of the giant stocking filled with toys.

1. Use flyers/mailers to advertise the giant holiday stockings with toys.
2. Put it in your store window, or display prominently near the front entrance.
3. Put it in your print, TV, and radio ads for the promotion period.
4. Put it in your end-cap in the holiday aisle.
5. Hang multiple giant stockings throughout the holiday section of your store.

It’s so easy, that even a fuzzy, holiday-loving blogging bear can do it!

Ready to get your giant stocking promotion started?  Order your stocking(s) now.

1. For the loving parent, grandparent, or other relative having a large shopping list consisting of many children, do yourself a favor and simplify the shopping experience by buying a giant stocking filled with name-brand toys.  So as not to show favoritism, have each child pick a number out of a hat to determine the order of selecting a toy from the giant stocking.
2. As a variation to Promo # 1, buy 2 stockings–one containing toys for boys, with the other having gifts designed for girls.
3. Donate a stocking to a deserving nursing home or assisted living facility.  Each senior citizen or resident could purchase a raffle ticket for some nominal amount like 25 cents or 50 cents.  The winner could give toys from the stocking to grandchildren or other children visiting them during the holidays.  (Proceeds from the raffle could be used to help fund social or entertainment activities for the facility.)
4. When holding a holiday bingo, give one or more giant stockings with toys as prizes for special bingo games like “blackouts,” “round robins” (bingo games where numbers around the border of the card must be filled to win), etc.
5. Hold a Scrabble Tournament where the ultimate winner receives a giant stocking filled with toys.  Such a tournament should prove popular and fun not only at adult dinner parties, nursing home socializers, and so forth.

With that in mind, what better way to showcase a giant stocking filled with toys than to display it at a bingo parlor or casino–2 favorite gathering places for grandparents and senior citizens? Here are 5 ways to use these 2 venues as promotions for large Yuletide stockings.

1. Use casino gambling points/credits as the basis for daily giveaways of giant stockings filled with toys during the holiday promotion period.  If the casino patron achieves a certain point total during the day, he or she automatically qualifies for the daily drawing.
2. Hold a “thank-you” dinner or party for your loyal high rollers or gold- and platinum-card gamblers.  All attendees would automatically receive one entry for the giveaway of a giant stocking with name-brand toys–such a giveaway could occur at the end of the dinner or party, forming the perfect ending for the holiday gathering.
3. Use a giant stocking with toys (in lieu of cash) as the prize for “special games” conducted during the bingo session.   Special games generally involve paper bingo cards on which the bingo goer marks numbers called with a colored dauber.
4. Have a special raffle during or after each bingo session with the prize being a large Christmas stocking with toys.  Raffle tickets could be purchased when the patron buys his or her hard cards prior to the session.  Proceeds could be used to defray admin costs,  or as a charitable donation to a worthy organization.
5. Give each winner of a “special game” the opportunity to select or receive one name-brand toy from a giant Christmas stocking.

Here are 5 ways to use a giant stocking at your next office Christmas party:

1. Your company buys one or more giant Christmas stockings with toys, and uses them for decorations.  After the party, they can be donated to orphanages, homeless shelters, or any number of worthy children’s organizations.
2. The boss (or some Santa wannabe) can give a toy from the giant stocking to each child or let each child select a gift from the holiday stocking.
3. Raffle the stocking(s), with proceeds used to defray the cost of the party, fund the next holiday shindig, or help a charitable organization.
4. Hold a holiday Adult Spelling Bee.  Charge each office staffer who participates $10 for the right to participate in the spelling bee.  Last person standing wins a giant Christmas stocking filled with name-brand toys. The winner gets to designate which charity gets both the participation money and the giant stocking.
5. Have a little fun with your fundraiser by having a “Worst Holiday Sweater” Contest for both men and women.  Each participant pays $10 for the right to compete.  During the promotion period, employees get to vote on who they think has the worst holiday sweater–both male and female.  Each vote costs $5, with proceeds going to fund the office Christmas party or to some deserving charity.  The winners are announced at the Christmas party, with each winning a giant stocking filled with toys.  The stockings could be further donated to a local orphanage.

1. Prominently display the giant stockings with toys in display windows, near the entrance of your store, or as end-caps for your seasonal aisles.
2. Every purchase made during the promotion period qualifies the customer for one raffle entry to win a giant stocking filled with toys.  The name, address, and/or email address could generate hundreds of future mailings.
3. Reward loyal customers who achieve a certain purchase level during the promotion period or buy a high-ticket item with a giant stocking filled with toys.
4. Open a new store credit card, and receive a free toy from the giant Christmas stocking; or, as an alternative award one raffle entry for a drawing during the promotion period.  In either case, you’re expanding your customer data file for future mailing.
5. Be creative and arrange to have the giant Christmas stocking filled with toys, gifts or signature brand items from your store.  This reinforces  loyalty not only to the brand in question, but to your retail establishment, in particular.  (Be sure to contact us if you desire a custom-filled giant stocking.)

5 Promotion Ideas Using Giant Christmas Stockings at Auto Dealerships

1. Everyone who test drives a new car earns one raffle entry for a giant Christmas stocking filled with name-brand toys.  This promotion can be combined with other seasonal ads for the dealership (as an enticing footnote or asterisk to an already planned advertising campaign).   It’s a fun way to attract potential customers and give one lucky individual the opportunity to win a giant Christmas stocking for his family or favorite charity.  Plus, the raffle tickets can be used as leads for future mailings.
2. Anyone who buys a new car during the promotion period receives a giant stocking filled with toys.
3. Put a giant stocking in the front seat of every family car in the showroom.  Each child (age 10 and under) visiting the showroom with their parents gets a toy from the giant stocking.  (If this promotion is used in conjunction with Promotion #2, the family receives a giant stocking with toys with the purchase of a new car.)
4. Any new customer who services their new or used car at the dealership during the promotion period receives one raffle entry for a giant stocking with toys. (Type of service option could warrant more than one entry.)
5. Any new customer who buys parts from the auto dealership, receives one raffle entry for a giant Christmas stocking filled with toys.

1. Raffle off one or more giant Christmas stockings during the holiday period prior to Christmas break.  The fundraiser can be advertised through various media including PTA newsletters, flyers, letter from the Principal, etc.
2. Design and produce holiday greeting cards, creating sets of 10 or more.  The child selling the most cards wins a giant Christmas stocking filled with toys.  (This promotion allows children to show their creativity and artistic ability; and would be a logical tie-in with a fundraiser whose proceeds would be used for art or music enrichment at the school.)
3. Have a traditional baked goods sale.  The child who collects the most money for the sale of his family’s donated baked goods wins a giant stocking filled with name-brand toys.
4. Have a Crazy Hat Day for both students and teachers.  Each participant pays $5 (or some other nominal amount) to wear their craziest or funniest looking hat.  Those who don their most bizarre hat get their hand stamped to certify that they’ve contributed the participation fee, and qualify for one raffle entry to win a giant stocking with toys.  Proceeds go to a local charity (for example, an animal shelter); and some lucky person wins a stocking filled with name-brand toys that they can share with family members or donate to another charity (for example, a local orphanage).

Here are five ways you can spread the joy this season by donating a Giant Stocking:

1. Include a giant stocking with toys as part of a Christmas dinner provided for a needy family.  The giant stocking with toys would allow some less-than-fortunate children a chance to experience the joy of the Yuletide season.  It would also enable children of the donating family to experience firsthand the life lesson of sharing their time and treasure with others in their community.
2. As part of a season-of-giving program designed to help the less fortunate in the community, your church, PTA, or other civic action group could collect money for or accept donations of large Christmas stockings filled with toys.  The stockings would be distributed to deserving families in the neighborhood.
3. Donate one or more giant stockings with toys to any number of charitable organizations including homeless and domestic abuse shelters; rescue missions; children’s hospitals; etc.  The opportunities for donating are numerous, with the smiles created and joy from giving priceless.
4. In conjunction with #3, donate your time by playing Santa Clause (or one of his elves) and giving away toys from a giant stocking at a party or dinner hosted by a charitable organization for homeless or needy families.
5. Raffle off some giant stockings filled with toys, and donate the proceeds to a worthy charity.

Although there many different cultural takes on this tradition around the globe, there are two stories that are believed to be the source of the tradition: the story of a poor old man and his three daughters, and the Norse legend of Odin.  

An Old Man and His Three Daughters

One story of the first stories about the Christmas stocking centers around a poor old man and his three daughters. Since his family had lost all of its money, the old man feared for the future of his three daughters because he had no money to give for their dowries. As the story goes, Saint Nicholas heard about the old man and decided to help him secretly. When the family was fast asleep, Saint Nicholas went inside their home and placed one bag of gold in each of the washed stockings his  three daughters had hung above the fireplace to dry. The next morning, the family was ecstatic to find the gold and the daughters of the old man were finally able to get married.

It is said that this story inspired other children to hang their stocking near the fireplace mantle, hoping that Saint Nicholas would visit them and place gifts in their stockings. Ins some cultures, oranges were placed inside the stockings as a symbol of the bags of gold that St. Nicholas gave to the daughters of the old man.

The Norse Legend of Odin

Another story that commonly comes up when researching the history of the Christmas stocking is the Norse legend of Norse god Odin and his flying horse. Children would put carrots, straw and even sugar in their boots as food for Sleipnir, Odin’s flying horse, and as a way to repay the gratitude, Odin would replace the stocking stuffers of children with treats such as candies.

In Holland, people still follow the tradition and fill their shoes with hay or a carrots as food for the horse. In Hungary, they practice the same tradition, except that they put their shoes beside the door or the window sill.

Stocking Stuffers Throughout the Years

In the past, parents would just put very small gifts, such as candies or fruits as stocking stuffers for their children or grandchildren on Christmas morning. Nowadays, the pressure is on parents to include the season’s hottest branded merchandise and toys so their kids can take playtime to another level.

Christmas stockings are an integral part of the Christmas holiday  — an iconic symbol of the joy and wonder the season brings to children throughout the world.  That is why our 8 ft. and 6 ft. Christmas stockings filled with toys are the ultimate expression of your commitment to Christmas, and the perfect for gift for the special boys and girls in your life during Christmas.