Updated Sep. 22, 2019.  Originally published Apr. 30, 2013.

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Three Parts to Organizing Cards & Gift Giving

There are three major parts to organizing our cards & gifts:

1. Keeping track of who you need cards/gifts for, when, and what you have on hand already.
2. Having a method for ensuring that they all get bought (and that cards get mailed).
3. Having a place to keep them.

Who Is On Your List?

The first part is relatively easy, but often overlooked – and it’s easy to end up behind and feeling very disorganized as a result!  To start, we simply need a list of who we need cards and/or gifts for, and when.  I like to start with a birthday/anniversary list.  A standard, running list goes in my household binder of all the important birthdays and anniversaries in our circles.

Now, you can make a separate list (or lists) from here of folks you send cards to and/or folks you buy (or make) gifts for, or you can find a way to mark those on the master list.  Whatever works is fine.  But you need to know in any given month (1) who has an occasion to celebrate, (2) if you intend to send a card, and (3) if you’ll be giving a gift.

If there are other “special” occasions throughout the year, like Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, or graduations, you might want to note those, as well.

If you like to buy all of your cards at once, it might be helpful for you to tally all of these up and make a note wherever/whenever you prefer to purchase them.  (This might go on one of your annual task lists.)  Side note: If you buy them in bulk, DaySpring is an excellent place to purchase them, and I love their Black Friday and after-Christmas sales.

Most of us will also have cards we send “in bulk” for “big” holiday seasons like Christmas and/or Valentine’s Day.  I find it helpful to have lists for these, too.  (For Valentine’s Day, maybe it’s general, like “30 cards for A’s class” or whatever.)  The idea is that you want to know how many cards you need to buy.  I like to have the addresses for my Christmas cards already together in one place (‘though if they’re all together already in your Rolodex or something, you may not need to recopy them).  More on that when we talk about holidays.

Finally, you will need to have a list of people for whom you need to purchase (or make) gifts.  I have a separate Christmas gift list, but for birthdays it’s combined with the card list.  (We do gifts for few specific birthdays.)  I make the list (blank – just a list of names) in January, so I have a big picture view of who to be looking for.  Then I can add ideas to it throughout the year (or pick up items on sale throughout the year) and worry about “finishing it up” closer to the holidays.

STEP 1: Set aside a place for your card/gift list(s) (probably in your household notebook, or somewhere nearby).  If you don’t already have the lists, compile them.

This may actually take some doing the first time ’round.  I had to send emails to in-laws, etc., asking, “When is so-and-so’s birthday?” But now I have the master list and it’s easy to use for cards and for copying into my calendar each year.

[UPDATE 6/6/2013: I just came across a printable at Joyful Homemaking for this purpose.]

Buying/Sending Cards (& Gifts)

So now that you know who you need cards/gifts for, you need to make sure you have the actual cards (and gifts, where appropriate), when you need them!  I find it helpful to have a general selection on hand all the time.  You’ll probably need some non-birthday/anniversary cards throughout the year, such as sympathy or get-well cards, and blank cards for sending general notes of encouragement.  And it’s helpful to have a few extra birthday cards (and gifts!) on hand in case a child gets invited to a last-minute birthday party or you forgot to go buy one and realize it needs to get into the mail.  I like to just buy these in bulk (or as I come across them), and keep a bit of a stash.

But for the people close to you, you may want to pick out individual cards especially for them.  You can either get these all at once, once or twice a year, or you can get them as you need them.  Either way, you need to come up with a system for getting that card-buying onto your calendar.  (Or card-making.  If you used the CardMaker Kit-of-the-Month-Club it would be a fun way to build your stash, and it would be a monthly reminder to actually do it.  Which I would need if I decided to make my own!)  The same goes for gifts – make sure you have planned to purchase/make them in plenty of time.

STEP 2: Decide when you will purchase cards, and create reminders in your calendar/routine lists as necessary so you will know to do it.

In addition, you need to be sure to give yourself enough notice to send them.  The most obvious way to do this is to write a reminder on your calendar about a week before the actual date.  You can do that for all of the birthdays at the end of the year.  Or you could do it a month at a time.  (But if you do that, be watchful for those birthdays that fall on the first few days of the month!)  I’ve even known of people who sent out all of their cards for the birthdays for the month at the start of the month.  (That seems less personal – for those whose birthdays are toward the end of the month – than sending them one at a time.  But if it’s what it takes to get the job done, then, hey, whatever works.  I will appreciate a three-weeks-early-card!)

STEP 3: Create reminders in your calendar/routine lists to send cards.

If you’re really bad about remembering to send cards, you might want to look at a service like SendOut Cards.  With this service,you can schedule cards in advance, and they’ll be mailed on your behalf at the appropriate time.  (If you should choose to sign up, I’d love it if you’d use my dad’s number – 126095 – as your referral.  He uses the service for business and personal purposes and loves it.  He doesn’t really view it as a business, but I’m sure he wouldn’t cry over being used as a referral. 😉 )

Card Storage

There are options for card storage for pre-selected cards.  What I mean is, you can find (or make) a binder designed specifically to hold cards you plan to send specific people for specific occasions.  (A tickler file could be used similarly, if you already have one of those.)  If this works well for you, then use it!  If it doesn’t, you don’t need it.  You could simply pull from your stash of cards all stored in one place – which you will need, anyway, because deaths, for instance, are not scheduled on the calendar ahead of time.

STEP 4: Designate a place (or places) for storing cards.

Gift Storage

Gifts can easily take over your house if you haven’t set aside a place for them.  It is good to have space for gifts which are already purchased/made and designated for someone.  (For example, “this is Jane’s birthday present.”)  It is also good to have a small stash of general-purpose gifts for last-minute use – when your kids get invited to a birthday party, when you need a hostess gift, or have an unexpected need for a last-minute Christmas gift.

STEP 5: If you don’t already have one, create a gift closet/shelf/basket.

I’ve included below a reminder list of some occasions for which you may want to have cards on hand. (I need such a list because I inevitably forget some of these things until after I need the card and have discovered I don’t have anything appropriate.)  Be sure you have some masculine options, too!  An awful lot of cards are floral or otherwise “girly.”  (You might want to print this list out, too, and keep it with your card list(s) or your card stash.)

Occasions for Which You May Want Cards:

• birthdays
• anniversaries
• major card-giving holidays (such as Christmas/Valentine’s Day)
• death/sympathy
• new babies
• engagements
• weddings
• graduations
• illness/”get well soon”
• religious occurrences such as baptisms, bar mitzvahs, etc.
• just because/encouragement/friendship/misc. congratulations
• promotions, retirement, etc.

Resources:

• Date/Card Organization System at It’s Overflowing

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