A Giveaway Calendar for Fall and the Holiday Season
The stretch from early September to the end of December is the busiest season for most small businesses, and the busiest season for giveaways. That makes planning ahead more important, not less. When everyone is running a giveaway in the same week, the ones that do well usually had their prize, rules and posts ready in advance.
Here's a calendar for the rest of 2026, with key dates, suggested timing and an idea or two for each.
The season at a glance
| Date | Moment | Suggested giveaway window |
|---|---|---|
| Mon, Sept 7 | Labor Day | Late August to Sept 7 |
| September | Back to routine, start of fall | Any time in September |
| Sat, Oct 31 | Halloween | Mid to late October |
| Thu, Nov 26 | Thanksgiving (US) | The week or two before |
| Fri, Nov 27 to Mon, Nov 30 | Black Friday, Small Business Saturday (Nov 28), Cyber Monday | Run-up in mid November, or over the weekend itself |
| Tue, Dec 1 | Giving Tuesday | That day or the week around it |
| Early to mid December | Holiday gifting | Close early enough to ship before your carriers' holiday cut-offs |
| Thu, Dec 31 | New Year's Eve | Last week of December |
Your audience may also celebrate other festivals through the season. If they do, they're worth planning around in the same way.
September: ease back in
Labor Day (Sept 7) marks the unofficial end of summer in the US. An end-of-summer giveaway works well, as does something that celebrates the people who keep your business running.
The rest of September is a good time for a "fresh start" giveaway: organisation, routines, new hobbies, autumn wardrobe. Competition for attention is lower than it will be later, so it's also a good month to try a new format, such as your first multi-winner draw.
Plan by: late August for Labor Day; early September for anything later in the month.
October: Halloween and cosy season
Halloween falls on a Saturday this year, so plenty of people will be celebrating over the weekend. Costume-themed comment prompts ("describe your costume in three emojis") tend to make fun, easy entries. Close the giveaway a few days before the 31st if the prize is something people would use for Halloween itself.
October is also a good moment for "cosy" prizes: candles, blankets, hot drinks, books.
Plan by: the end of September.
November: gratitude and the big shopping weekend
Thanksgiving (Nov 26)
A gratitude giveaway is a natural fit: "Comment with something you're thankful for this year." Entries are often warm and personal, which makes the comment section a pleasant place to be. Consider several smaller winners to match the theme of sharing.
Black Friday to Cyber Monday (Nov 27 to 30)
Everyone is shouting about discounts this weekend. A giveaway can stand out by offering something different: a chance to win the thing people were planning to buy anyway. Some businesses prefer to run their giveaway in mid November as a lead-in, building an audience they can then tell about their offers. Small Business Saturday (Nov 28) is a good hook for local shops.
Plan by: late October. This is the date most worth getting ahead of.
December: giving and gifting
Giving Tuesday (Dec 1)
A chance to connect a giveaway to a cause you care about, for example by partnering with a local charity on the prize. Keep the giveaway itself free to enter. Raffles where people pay for a ticket are a different thing with their own rules, so check before mixing fundraising and giveaways.
Holiday gifting
"Win a gift for someone you love" works well in early December. The key constraint is shipping: carriers often publish holiday delivery cut-offs, and the winner will want the prize before the day. Close the giveaway, pick the winner and substitutes, and ship with a margin.
New Year's Eve (Dec 31)
A low-key "thank you for this year" giveaway in the last week of December is a nice way to end the season, and a good moment to look back at which giveaways worked.
Plan by: mid November for anything that ships.
How many giveaways is too many?
You don't need to run something for every date on this list. For most small businesses, two or three well-run giveaways across the season beats one every week. Pick the moments that matter most to your customers, and use the rest of the time for regular content and offers.
Set yourself up once
- Write reusable rules: a template you adjust for each giveaway.
- Keep your block list up to date (Silver and above) with staff and recent winners.
- Check your comment limit. Busy holiday posts can outgrow a plan; the pricing page lists how many comments each plan loads.
- Set up branding and the countdown (Gold and Platinum) once, so every reveal looks consistent.
- Running on several platforms? Platinum's multi-network draws combine entries into one pool.
Get the first one on the calendar
Pick your first date, set your prize and write your rules. When entries close, draw your winner on RaffleSelect.