THREADFundraising Jump to the videos

Christmas 2025 ask watch

Seven ways homeless charities ask for donations at Christmas.

Last Christmas we collected the Facebook ads, landing pages and videos from seven homeless charities. Same season, same cause, very different asks.

We're not judging anyone, and we don't know which ads worked. We just collected them.

Christmas ad from Crisis
Crisis
Christmas ad from St Mungo's
St Mungo's
Christmas ad from SHP
SHP
Christmas ad from Centrepoint
Centrepoint
Christmas ad from Shelter
Shelter
Christmas ad from The Salvation Army
The Salvation Army
Show charities that use

The asks

Every price we could find

Each dot is an amount a donor was asked to give. The scale squeezes the big numbers together so everything fits on one line. Tap or hover over a dot to read it.

Tap a dot.You'll see the amount and what the charity said it would pay for.

Side by side

What each one put in front of donors

Animals, children, things you can hold, who's pictured and what the ask looks like. This only covers what we collected, so "No" means "not in what we saved".

CharityOpens withAnimalsChildrenTangible itemsAsksAsk formatWho we see
CrisisCrisis at ChristmasA night-time street, or a red graphic with price tagsNoNoYes. Stocking gifts: period products, a hat, a mobile top-up£5 a month. £29.80 most repeated. £8 to £422Regular gift, stocking gifts, costed outcomes, a virtual gift for a loved oneAdults, at night and at a table
ShelterEvery 12 minutes, and a place nameA time (12 minutes), a number of children, or your townNoYes. A child in school uniformNo£29 (advice). £250,000 match. No other amountDonate now, match funding, a place name on the adAn adult and a child. A hidden face holding a sign. A presenter
Depaul UKUrgent Winter AppealAn urgent appeal and a night-time portraitNoNo. Young peopleNoNo amount in our capture. Donation doubledDonate now with match fundingYoung people and staff
CentrepointSponsor a room, and Christmas giftsA room for £12, a stopwatch, a gift menuNoNo. Young peopleYes. A meal, toiletries, a bed£12 a month. £10, £15, £50 giftsMonthly room sponsor, one-off gifts for yourself or a loved oneYoung people, at a table and outdoors
SHPThe Christmas ShopA price badge on a faceYes. A dog's present at £9NoYes. Dinners, a jacket, a dog's toy£1 to £50. £11 most repeatedOnline gift shop, plus a monthly gift optionAdults in paper crowns, and a dog
St Mungo'sBuild a stocking, and petsA stocking, or a person and their petYes. People and their petsNoYes. Socks, toiletries, a jumper£4, £11 and £14 items. £20 on the filmA virtual stocking you fill item by itemRough sleepers and orange-jacketed staff, some with dogs. Illustrated people and dogs
The Salvation ArmyWinter AppealA headline and a six-amount donate boxYes. A dog in a sleeping bagYes. On the appeal page and in the Be a Star filmYes. A box of groceries£9 to £168. £19 most repeatedCosted gifts and a six-amount donate formAdults, a family, older people, a dog, children

Spot the dog

Three charities, three dogs

Dogs appeared in the Christmas ads of three of the seven charities. SHP sold a present for one. St Mungo's made them a reason to give. The Salvation Army put one in the picture.

SHPA Dog's Christmas Surprise, £9
St Mungo's'Help save two lives this Christmas'
The Salvation Army'Bitterly cold and alone on Christmas day'

Same ad, different town

Ten places, ten numbers

In December Shelter ran the same black and red ad over and over, changing only the town and the number of children. Here they are, biggest number first. Click one to enlarge.

Birmingham11,279
Manchester4,678
Bristol2,058
Brighton & Hove1,337
Sheffield686
Oxford269
Cambridge105
Exeter63
York58
Bath & North East Somerset55

The case files

One campaign at a time

What each charity ran, described plainly. Click any ad or page to enlarge it.

Crisis

Crisis at Christmas

Several looks, one campaign: a night-time street, a price-tagged stocking, and a warm dinner table.

Crisis ran several looks at once. One was a dark, empty street and a hooded portrait, with headlines about the longest nights and emergency accommodation. Another was a bright red 'Crisis Stocking' with gifts at £10, £10 and £8, plus a virtual gift to buy for a loved one. A warm dinner-table portrait asked for £5 a month. Two ads attached a price to an outcome: £280 for emergency accommodation and £422 for one-to-one support. In our ad log, £29.80 came up far more than any other amount. The chief executive, Matt Downie, also filmed a selfie-style message in front of a Christmas tree at one of their hotels.

Most repeated amount
£29.80, in 246 of 805 entries in our ad log. £5 a month came next, in 96
What the money is shown buying
Stocking items, emergency accommodation, one-to-one support, a virtual gift for a loved one
Who is pictured
Adults. A night street and portraits, then a paper crown at a table
Landing page line
"Give now to help someone begin a life out of homelessness."
Animals / children
None in what we captured

2 videos in the cinema below

Landing pages

Crisis homepage: 'Give now to help someone begin a life out of homelessness.'
Crisis at Christmas Appeal page: 'This Christmas can be someone's first day of life out of homelessness.'

Shelter

Every 12 minutes, and a place name

A clock, a child, a match-funding offer, and ten towns with their own number.

Shelter's homepage says that every 12 minutes this Christmas a family will lose their home, over a photo of an adult and a child in school uniform in a cramped room. On Facebook the line was a count of children: 172,420 through November and early December, 175,025 by the last days. In December Shelter ran the same black and red ad ten times, each with a different town and number, from 55 in Bath to 11,279 in Birmingham. From mid-December the first £250k of gifts was matched by the Hands Family Trust. A £29 gift was said to pay for urgent housing advice for one person. We saved two of its films: a 60-second film with song lyrics as captions, and a 22-second piece to camera.

Most repeated in the copy
The £250k match, in 81 of 273 entries in our ad log. A £29 gift appears in 15
What the money is shown buying
Urgent housing advice, and a call answered on the emergency helpline
Who is pictured
An adult and a child in school uniform. A person holding a sign, face hidden. A presenter to camera
Landing page line
"Every 12 minutes this Christmas, a family will lose their home."
Animals / children
Children yes. Animals none

2 videos in the cinema below

Ten town-by-town ads, below

Landing pages

Shelter homepage: 'Every 12 minutes this Christmas, a family will lose their home. No family should face homelessness alone.'

Depaul UK

Urgent Winter Appeal

A doubled donation, a night-time portrait and a one-minute film with the words on screen.

Depaul's homepage carried an 'Urgent winter appeal' with a match-funding offer: 'Your donation will be doubled, meaning twice the impact.' The photo is a dark night-time portrait of a young man in a hood. The video lasts a minute and is captioned word by word. It starts with the Nightstop service, then a staff member speaks, then a caption reading 'I feel really lucky' appears over a young person seen from behind. It ends on a figure: 7,522 safe nights for young people at risk last year. Our ad log holds one Depaul ad from the period.

Headline ask
Donate now, with the donation doubled by partners
What the money is shown buying
'Twice the impact' for a young person. Safe nights in the video
Who is pictured
Young people and staff, including an executive director
Landing page line
"Help turn fear into hope for a young person this winter."
Animals / children
None in what we captured

1 video in the cinema below

Landing pages

Depaul homepage: 'Urgent winter appeal. Help turn fear into hope for a young person this winter. Your donation will be doubled.'

Centrepoint

Sponsor a room, and Christmas gifts

A room for £12 a month, and a menu of small gifts from £10.

Centrepoint used a purple and orange look and two kinds of ask. The main one was to sponsor a room for £12 a month, told through a young man called Ben. A stopwatch ad says one young person faces homelessness every 4 minutes. Alongside it were one-off gifts: toiletries for £10, a Christmas dinner for £15 and a warm bed for £50, each presented as a present 'from yourself or a loved one'. One portrait ad carries an 'Urgent Christmas appeal' badge.

The videos name Centrepoint on screen. The two static ads are attributed by their purple and orange look and the orange appeal badge, which Centrepoint also used on a 2026 ad. The portrait has no dated 2025 capture.

Most repeated amount
£12 a month, in 224 of 388 entries in our ad log
What the money is shown buying
A room, toiletries, a Christmas dinner, a warm bed
Who is pictured
Young people at a Christmas table in the videos. A person outdoors in the stopwatch ad. A person in a red hooded top in the appeal ad
Landing page
Not in our capture
Animals / children
None in what we captured

2 videos in the cinema below

SHP

The Christmas Shop

A shop with a price on every plate, and a present for a dog.

SHP (Single Homeless Project) turned the appeal into a shop. One crimson template carried many faces, each with a round price badge: 'Gift a Christmas Dinner to a homeless Londoner, £11'. Beyond dinners, the shop offered a Dog's Christmas Surprise at £9, dinner and pudding for two at £25, and a winter jacket with dinner at £50. A second set of ads was about dogs: dog-friendly hostels, a bundle of toys, treats, jumpers and a Christmas dinner for a dog, 'thanks Santa-Paws'. A page asked givers to add a £1 Christmas card with a message of support, and a story page introduced Amy.

Most repeated amount
£11 for a Christmas dinner, in 312 of 409 entries in our ad log
What the money is shown buying
Dinners, a dog's present, a winter jacket, a £1 message card
Who is pictured
Adults at a Christmas table, in paper crowns. A dog called Bensai
Landing page line
"Give a homeless Londoner a heartfelt gift."
Animals / children
Animals yes. Children none

Landing pages

SHP homepage: 'Make it Christmas. Buy a Christmas Dinner for a Londoner experiencing homelessness today.'
Appeal page: 'Give a homeless Londoner a heartfelt gift.'
The Christmas Shop: dinner £11, dog's surprise £9, dinner and pudding for two £25, winter jacket and dinner £50
Gift page: 'Why should I leave a message of support?' with a £1 Christmas card
'Amy's Story' feature with Read Her Stories and Buy A Gift buttons

St Mungo's

Build a stocking, and pets

A virtual stocking you fill item by item, and a run of ads about people and their pets.

St Mungo's built its Christmas around a virtual stocking: pick cosy socks (£4), toiletries (£11), a jumper (£14) and add them up, in flat orange and navy illustrations. A black and orange photo series ran beside it, with frontline workers in orange jackets and rough sleepers, some with dogs. A third set was about pets: 'people and their pets will be forced to sleep on the streets. By donating today, you could save two lives', with illustrated dogs, a pet-friendly room, a Christmas tree and a dog. The 30-second animated film ends on 'Give £20 today'.

The pet ads ran 20 November to 30 December 2025. The stocking ads ran from 7 November into January. The £4, £11 and £14 images carry no run dates in our capture, and we did not capture a landing page.

Headline ask
Build a stocking, with items from £4. 'Give £20 today' on the film end card
What the money is shown buying
Socks, toiletries, a jumper, a warm hat. Frontline teams finding people. Safety for a person and their pet
Who is pictured
Rough sleepers and orange-jacketed frontline staff, some with dogs. Illustrated people and dogs
Landing page
Not in our capture. Ads link to mungos.org/stocking and mungos.org/donate
Animals / children
Animals yes. Children none

1 video in the cinema below

The Salvation Army

Winter Appeal

Three costed gifts, a donate form with six amounts, a dog in a sleeping bag, and three very different films.

The Salvation Army's winter appeal covers more than homelessness. Families in poverty and lonely older people appear alongside people experiencing homelessness. The appeal page lists three gifts. £9 towards one-to-one support in a Lifehouse. £19 towards a box of groceries so a family can share a Christmas meal. £45 for lunch and friendship for 18 lonely older people. The donate form offers six amounts from £9 to £168. The photo ad we found shows a man in a sleeping bag with a dog asleep beside him: 'Bitterly cold and alone on Christmas day'. We captured three films: a 10-second 'Be a Star' fundraising invitation, a supporter's testimonial, and a minute-long first-person story.

Most repeated amount
£19 (ad copy: one-to-one support. Appeal page: a box of groceries), in 164 of 220 entries in our ad log
What the money is shown buying
One-to-one support, a box of groceries, lunch for 18 older people
Who is pictured
Adults, a family, older people and a dog. Children in the 'Be a Star' film
Landing page line
"Support our work this winter."
Animals / children
Animals yes. Children yes

3 videos in the cinema below

Landing pages

Appeal page with donate form: £168, £95, £45, £28, £19, £9
Three costed gifts: £9, £19, £45, each with its own photo and Donate button
Appeal copy: 'We want to reach out to the people who are suffering the most'

The cinema

Press play

11 videos, in the quality we saved them. Trigger warning: one of The Salvation Army videos mentions suicide. Sound on.

Crisis 0:35A message from the chief executiveSelfie-style, filmed at one of the charity's hotels in front of a Christmas tree. On-screen captions. Closes with 'please do consider donating today'.
Crisis 0:29Fill your Crisis StockingRed animated graphics. Which gifts will you add? Period products £8, a mobile top-up £10, a hat £10. Ends on 'Fill your stocking'.
Shelter 1:00A family's day, with song lyricsCaptions are mostly the lyrics of a pop song, with a few spoken lines and sound cues, over scenes of a family at home and a boy in school uniform. Ends on '84,240 families homeless this Christmas. Donate today'.
Shelter 0:22125 families a dayA presenter speaks to camera in a knitted jumper. Ends on '125 families become homeless every day. Donate today'.
Depaul UK 1:00Nightstop: 7,522 safe nightsWord-by-word captions. A staff member and a young person speak. Ends on a pale blue screen and the Nightstop logo.
Centrepoint 0:13A Christmas meal for £15Smiling young people at a table, a plate of Christmas dinner, then a purple Buy now button at £15.
Centrepoint 0:15Toiletries for £10Young people hold up wash bags. Ends on a purple 'Send a Christmas gift' bauble at £10.
St Mungo's 0:30Now is the time to respondHand-drawn animation of rough sleeping in freezing weather, with a dog by a sleeper. Ends on 'Give £20 today'.
The Salvation Army 1:00A supporter speaksA supporter, Dianne, talks to camera, cut with people the charity supports. Ends on a donate web address.
The Salvation Army 1:00A first-person storyA man, Wayne, tells his own story. Text cards introduce him first. Trigger warning: mentions suicide.
The Salvation Army 0:11Be a StarBlue glitter star graphic and photos of children. An invitation to fundraise for the charity this Christmas.

What stands out

Eight ways they differ

What we noticed in the ads we collected. No scores, no winners.

  • From £1 to £422

    The smallest amount we found was £1, a Christmas card with a message. The largest was £422, a costed outcome. Same cause, same Christmas.

  • Three dogs

    SHP sold a present for a dog. St Mungo's ran a series about people and their pets: 'you could save two lives'. The Salvation Army's photo ad has a dog asleep beside a man in a sleeping bag.

  • Ten towns, one template

    Shelter ran the same black and red ad ten times, changing only the town and the number of children. 55 in Bath. 11,279 in Birmingham.

  • Two stockings

    Crisis and St Mungo's both used a virtual Christmas stocking you fill with gifts. Crisis chose from warm essentials, period products and a mobile top-up. St Mungo's added up socks, toiletries and a jumper.

  • A price, a clock or an offer

    Some opened on a price (SHP, Centrepoint, The Salvation Army, and some Crisis ads). Some opened on a time (Shelter: every 12 minutes. Centrepoint: every 4 minutes). Two opened on an offer: your gift, doubled (Depaul, Shelter).

  • A shop, a form, a match, a stocking

    Gift shop (SHP). A donate form with six amounts (The Salvation Army). A room for £12 a month (Centrepoint). A regular gift (Crisis). A £250,000 match (Shelter). A virtual stocking (St Mungo's and Crisis).

  • Who gets to speak

    Crisis put its chief executive on camera, filmed at a hotel. Depaul's film features its executive director. Shelter used a presenter. The Salvation Army put a supporter and people it supports on camera.

  • Giving to a cause, or giving to a person

    'Buy a Christmas Dinner for a homeless Londoner' (SHP). 'Show a homeless young person you're thinking of them' (Centrepoint). 'Help someone begin a life out of homelessness' (Crisis). 'A family will lose their home' (Shelter). 'Bring people and their pets into safety' (St Mungo's).

Over to you

Five questions for your next team meeting

  1. If a supporter saw three of these in one scroll, which details would they remember?
  2. Who chose your price points, and how do they look next to £1 and £422?
  3. What do you show first: a face, a number, an object, an animal or a place?
  4. Is your Christmas ask a gift to a person, a share of a cost, or a membership of something?
  5. What would a supporter of one of these charities notice about yours?

Meanwhile, in AI search

What AI says when you ask where to give £50

Ads aren't the only place people meet a charity. We asked an AI assistant where to give £50 to a UK homeless charity, and saved the answer.

It named four charities

  • Shelter
  • Crisis
  • St Mungo's
  • Centrepoint

It described Crisis as "Best all-round, highly trusted charity" and Shelter as "Best if you want systemic impact", and said a local charity often has the biggest "felt" impact per £50.

Not named in that answer

  • Depaul UK
  • SHP
  • The Salvation Army

Asked for local help in Croydon, it listed Crisis Skylight Croydon, Caysh, Nightwatch Croydon, The Salvation Army's The Well and Evolve Housing + Support, plus local church winter shelters.

This was one conversation on one day. AI answers change each time you ask, so treat it as a snapshot, not a ranking.