A Gift Catalog is a simple and creative way to turn your organization’s products into a fundraising opportunity. With the Products module in REACH, you can offer tangible gifts, holiday items, sponsorship gifts, and other meaningful ways for supporters to give.

Instead of asking supporters to make a traditional donation, a Gift Catalog lets them choose a specific item or gift that connects their purchase to your mission.

For example, your catalog might include:

• Christmas gifts such as livestock, school supplies, clean water, food, or other gifts that support your programs
• Sponsorship gifts that supporters can purchase for or in honor of a sponsored child
• Mission-focused gifts such as medical supplies, meals, education, or household necessities
• Branded or handmade products such as jewelry, artwork, coffee, or other items your organization sells
• Recurring products that supporters can subscribe to monthly, quarterly, or yearly

See an example of a Christmas Gift Catalog to see how products can be organized and presented to supporters.

Create Your Fundraising Catalog#

To begin, go to Products > + Add a Product.

Each product can include a name, description, image, price, and other details to help tell the story behind the gift. Products can be added individually or imported in bulk.

See Adding Products for step-by-step instructions.

Organize Products with Categories#

Categories make it easy to organize your catalog around a specific fundraising campaign, season, or type of gift.

For example, you could create categories such as:

• Christmas Catalog
• Health and Wellness
• Community Development
• Sustainable Development
• Gifts for Sponsorships
• Education

When creating or editing a product, simply select the appropriate category. Supporters can then browse products by category, and you can share a direct link to a specific category in emails, newsletters, social media posts, or other fundraising campaigns.

For example, you could promote your Christmas Catalog with a link directly to your Christmas-themed products rather than sending supporters to your entire Products page.

Sponsorship Gifts#

Gift Catalogs are also a great way to encourage additional giving from your existing sponsors.

With Sponsorship Gifts, supporters can purchase gifts for their sponsored child or in honor of their sponsorship directly through the Donor Portal.

When creating a product, check the Sponsorship Gift box. You can also:

• Limit the gift to specific sponsorship types.
• Choose whether the product appears on the public Products page or only in the Sponsorship Gift Catalog.
• Set a maximum number of gifts available per sponsorship, or leave it blank for unlimited gifts.

See our Sponsorship Gifts article for more information.

Offer Recurring Products#

A Gift Catalog can also generate recurring revenue by allowing supporters to subscribe to products they want to receive regularly.

This can work well for products such as:

• Coffee or other consumable goods
• Handmade products
• Subscription boxes
• Other items your organization offers on a recurring basis

When creating a product, check Recurring Subscription and choose a Monthly, Quarterly, or Yearly schedule.

You can also:

• Add shipping costs using Shipping Methods.
• Offer seasonal promotions using Discount Codes.

Customize Your Gift Catalog#

By default, the Gift Catalog in the Donor Portal is titled “Gift Catalog.”

You can customize the catalog title, page header, and footer to better reflect your organization and fundraising campaign.

Go to:

Settings > General Settings > Products tab

You can add custom text and, if desired, use CSS styling to further match your organization’s branding.

Add Products to Your Website#

our products are available at:

yourorganization.reachapp.co/products

Products are not automatically added to your website’s menu. To make your catalog easy for supporters to find, add Products to your website’s main navigation.

See Menus for instructions.

Fundraising Ideas#

A Gift Catalog can be used throughout the year – not just during the holidays. Consider creating seasonal or campaign-specific catalogs to give supporters new opportunities to engage with your organization.

Christmas & Year-End Giving
Create a Christmas Gift Catalog with meaningful gifts supporters can purchase for family and friends, while supporting your mission.

Special Campaigns
Create a category around a specific project or fundraising goal, such as clean water, education, medical care, or feeding programs.

Sponsorship Fundraising
Give existing sponsors additional ways to support their sponsored child through Sponsorship Gifts.

Recurring Giving
Turn products that supporters regularly purchase into subscriptions for an ongoing source of revenue.

Themed Giving
Create categories around occasions such as birthdays, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Valentine’s Day, or other campaigns.

A well-designed Gift Catalog gives supporters another way to give that feels personal, tangible, and connected to your mission.

Tips for Those Using Themes#

If you’re using a REACH Theme and have added categories but don’t see the Category dropdown menu, this feature requires a REACH Theme version of Ruby 2.3 or Quartz 2.3.

Follow these instructions to update your REACH Theme.

Note: We recommend using Portal Templates for new portal customization rather than Themes. If you’re still using a Theme, you can continue to use it, but consider transitioning to Portal Templates for your future updates.