Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays? Inclusive Gifts and Greetings for a Mixed Client List or Team

We sell a $35 logo mug gift box, printed, packed and shipped to each person's address. This guide covers the other options too.

Key facts

• Most people don't mind either greeting. In Pew Research Center's 2017 survey, "fully half of the U.S. public (52%) says that a business' choice of holiday greeting does not matter to them, while roughly a third (32%) prefers for stores and businesses to greet customers with 'merry Christmas' during the holidays" (1,503 adults, Nov 29 – Dec 4, 2017) (Pew).
• For a business contact you're unsure about, the Emily Post Institute says "go with something that has a broader sentiment" (Emily Post).
• Hanukkah 2026 begins at sundown on Friday, December 4, and ends at nightfall on Saturday, December 12 (Hebcal). Hanukkah gifts go out three weeks before Christmas ones.
• Kwanzaa runs December 26 to January 1 (University of Notre Dame BFSA), and "Gift giving is primarily for children" (Cal Poly Pomona).
• For Lunar New Year, four is unlucky: "the number four (四 sì /srr/) sounds similar to the word for death (死 sǐ)" (China Highlights).

Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays: which is right for a mixed list?

Both are fine for most people, which is why the default should be the one nobody can misread. Pew's 2017 survey found that "Nine-in-ten U.S. adults say they celebrate the holiday" of Christmas, and that 52% say a business's greeting doesn't matter to them. Among religious "nones", the share rises: "fully 72% say the holiday greeting businesses use doesn't much matter to them" (Pew).

So most of your list won't mind either way, and a few people will notice. An inclusive default costs nothing with the first group and keeps the second.

The Emily Post Institute's holiday-card advice says the same. For someone "you're unsure and don't know the person well enough", with "a business contact" as its example, it says "go with something that has a broader sentiment", on a card "with no religious figures, messages or symbols on the card." It adds: "A greeting for the New Year avoids all of the holiday season's religious associations which can be a nice option for some" (Emily Post).

A name doesn't tell you anyone's holidays. When you don't know, stay inclusive.

Is it OK to give a Christmas gift to someone who doesn't celebrate Christmas?

A year-end thank-you works for everyone. What turns it into a Christmas gift is the wrapping, the symbols and the card, and you control all three.

Give everyone the same gift. A manager asking r/managers for "Inclusive Christmas gifts" for "a team of 12 that are very diverse" got this answer from one commenter: "it really doesn't matter what gift you give as long as it is equal to all on your team." The same commenter also wrote about "making someone feel seen or heard" (r/managers). That's the card's job: on ours, every card greets its person by first name, and the message can name one thing the team did this year.

Leave alcohol out. A personal assistant shopping for a team's Christmas gifts wrote that "several people on the team don't drink for religious reasons" (r/managers).

What makes a holiday gift neutral (our checklist):

When to send: the 2026 holiday dates

The simplest plan for a mixed list: send everyone by Monday, November 23 with an inclusive default, so every gift is timed for the earliest holiday on the list. If that's too early for your budget or your calendar, split the list: the Hanukkah rows by Monday, November 23, the rest by Tuesday, December 15, and anyone you'd rather not guess about with a New Year message by Monday, December 21.

Ships within 2 business days of a complete order (your design, your address list and payment). Ships by USPS Ground Advantage or UPS Ground, with tracking, and usually arrives 2–5 business days after it ships. Delivery dates are carrier estimates, not guarantees, and run slower in mid-December.

One list, the right greeting for each person

You don't have to pick one greeting for the whole list. With Personalized Gifts Delivered, each order carries one message, which can greet each person by first name from your address list, so split the list by greeting: one order says "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Hanukkah" to the people you know celebrate, and another sends an inclusive message to everyone else. One box is a complete order, and each order has its own sign-off.

How to use the templates: [Name] is the person's first name; on a Personalized Gifts Delivered order it becomes each person's own first name. Replace anything else in [brackets] before you send: whatever you type there goes on every card in that order.

Inclusive holiday card messages for clients

No holiday named. Any of these works as the one message for a whole list.

Inclusive holiday card messages for a team

For staff, from the owner or a manager. Name one thing they did, where you can.

More for staff: employee holiday card messages.

Merry Christmas messages, for people you know celebrate

Happy Hanukkah messages (timed for December 4)

Gifts and timing for Jewish clients: Hanukkah client gifts 2026.

Both in one house: messages for interfaith families

Happy New Year messages: no holiday to guess

For anyone who doesn't celebrate a December holiday, anyone you'd rather not guess about, and every card that will land after December 25.

Winter messages with no holiday at all

What not to write on a mixed list

What to know before you order

• Our box is built for December. Its seal says "Happy Holidays", and it holds 4 truffles in a black box with a white mug. For Lunar New Year, China Highlights advises against "gifts in sets or multiples of four" and says to "avoid presents that are largely black or largely white" (China Highlights).
• Kwanzaa gift giving "is primarily for children" (Cal Poly Pomona). For a household that celebrates Kwanzaa, a gift goes with a New Year message, ordered by Monday, December 21.
• Our box isn't kosher-certified.
• The treats. LINDOR truffles contain milk, soy and barley malt (gluten); read the labels.
• Gift limits. Government agencies, many companies and some regulated trades cap what can be given or accepted; client gift limits by industry quotes the rules. Our box is $35, delivered.
• Where we ship. We ship from New York to the lower 48 states and Washington, DC, except Texas for now. P.O. boxes are fine; no Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, other US territories, APO/FPO or international.

More holiday wording for clients: business Christmas and holiday card messages. Every occasion: the card message library.

How a Personalized Gifts Delivered box fits a mixed list

Our box carries no religious symbols and no alcohol. It holds one 11 oz white ceramic mug with your logo printed small, a 1.5 oz packet of Ghirardelli premium hot cocoa and 4 Lindt LINDOR milk chocolate truffles, packed inside the mug, under black tissue closed with a gold "Happy Holidays" seal sticker, all in a matte-black gift box with a magnetic lid. The only greeting printed in the box is that "Happy Holidays" seal; the card says whatever you write. That's a logo mug gift box with Ghirardelli cocoa, Lindt truffles and a personal card, $35 per box, delivered.

Your message is printed on a textured card, sealed in an envelope with a gold wax-seal sticker and laid on the box's lid, so the greeting is read before the box opens. Every card greets its person by first name from your address list, and you see every card before you pay, so a "Merry Christmas" order and a "Happy holidays" order each print exactly what you chose.

Can you pack 25 holiday gifts for a mixed list yourself?

Yes: you can buy note cards, print 25 greetings and pack 25 gifts yourself, and by our estimate 25 logo mug gift boxes take about 9 hours of hands-on work, plus a week or more waiting for supplies:

• The cards: about 45 minutes to write or print 25, and a typo on printed cards means printing all 25 again.
• The packing: about 3½ hours, at about 8 minutes a box (treats, foam, tissue, seal, card, carton, crinkle, tape).
• Everything around it: about 4½ hours to find a mug printer, place about 8 supply orders, clean up the address list, buy 25 labels, drop off the cartons and follow 25 tracking numbers.

The supplies and postage come to about $38 a box with USPS counter postage (about $34 with commercial postage), with $1,192.84 paid up front for the mugs, the supply packs and 25 postage labels, with leftovers, as of Oct 26, 2026 (the itemized DIY cost). Per box, that comes out about even with our $35; the difference is the 9 hours and the cash up front.

With Personalized Gifts Delivered, the greeting is the only part you write, once per order. Add your logo (or type your website and we'll find it), or a photo or a few words for a personal gift; check the preview of your mug and card; add your address list; and pay $35 per box. We print, pack and ship each box to its own address.